Pyramid Gold Flatwound. my 2 cents

[Grapevine921]

what makes them my favorite is the lack of sustain or the quick decay. it sounds like so many of the motown/soul records bass that i love. a lot of people will put a foam mute, i find the pyramid decay so quickly, you don't need a mute, it's built into the string. that "dead E" sound is what i love. eventually the rest of the set mellows to be the same, it just takes a little playing. In addition to that, i also love the tone, they are super heavy/thick in the bass and midrange, (especially the midrange, the mids are so beefy and fat) and light up top. as a soul/blues/jazz guy, i want all beef, no sizzle, and that's what they provide. basses i use with them have been fender jazz and hofner club bass. Labella are a nice string too, they sound great on fenders (hello jamerson, jerry jemmott, etc.), they are a classic for a reason. most unique flats are nice. TI are cool for more of a woody sound with midrange/trebly type flat sound with lighter deep bass. GHS precision flats are nice and similar to Labella just a different flavor.

the pyramids are handmade and finished, that's why you get black all over your fingers after playing them fresh out the pack. that's graphite or some other polishing compound. a week later you won't have that anymore, but it's something else unique they do that makes them smooth.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm definitely going to have to give these a try soon

 

[GwenOnBass]

After more string trials than I can reliably list, Pyramid Gold flats turned out to be the perfect match for my semi-hollowbody Chowny CHB-1.

 

[markjazzbassist]

After more string trials than I can reliably list, Pyramid Gold flats turned out to be the perfect match for my semi-hollowbody Chowny CHB-1.

the hollowbody world does seem to be their forte. they come stock on Hofners, Jack Casady and Phil Lesh famously used them with their Guild Starfire basses, they pair well with a hollowbody.

 

[Pier_]

Are there still a lot of happy users of pyramid golds (long scale)? I can't find much recent information on these strings.

I use them on my three Hofner basses (500/1 Cavern, 500/1 Mersey and 500/2 Club).

the G string, when new, is bright, but after some days playing they start to balance, the E sounds less muted and the other strings mute a bit.

I've tried also the long scale set on an Epiphone Jack Casady, and they were pure magic on that bass:

here you can hear them: Dropbox

this is the same bass with rounds: Dropbox


I didn't like them on the Fender Mustang, where I liked only the GHS P-flats. I also tried the Labella, but they made the bass sound "all basses - no definition at all", and I couldn't stand them (with for me Labella sound that way after a week... all basses, zero definition).

also, the Pyramid (and GHS) have a smooth/velvety feeling, and not the glassy/gluey feeling of other flats.

Pyramid have a "bouncy" mellow tone with a lot of definition on the mids, even on Hofner basses.

I still have a set of Labella 760FL on a Jazz Bass, but I don't use it much because it feels like having glue between fingers and strings