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Pyramid Gold Flatwounds

T

tiredman9

Aug 15, 2005
263
0
New York
#1
Hey guys-what do you all think of the pyramid gold flatwound strings.

I've tried a lot of bass strings and prefer flatwounds and am currently using the Rotosound 77's. I've tried lots of other flats but the Rotosounds are the best so far.but im by no means set on them. Do any of you have any experience with Pyramid Gold Flatwound bass stirngs...just want to hear some opinions before i shell out 60 bucks on strings, thanks
 
#4
I tried those strings on my old Acacia custom fretless 4-string a couple of years ago. The sound was lovely on the A, D and G strings, but for some reason the E string was dead and unusable. Couldn't figure out why, so I went back to the SIT set.

Perhaps I just got a bad set of Pyramid strings? I hope so. They felt very nice on my fingers.
 
#5
I used Pyramid flats on a single-coil P bass, and they were delightful. The A, D, and G strings have a sound that I can only characterize as "melodic." That big E string is supposed to sound dead. You can hear Paul McCartney using that sound on Beatles records. Another prominent user of Pyramid flats was Phil Lesh of the Dead.
 
#6
I have a set on my Hofner. To be honest from all the hype I heard I thought they would be da bomb.

What crap. First I emailed Pyramid to ask a few simple questions. Not only would they not answer some easy things like the real gauge and tension, but they said those items were company secrets.

(Such bull - I had a luthier with a string gauge check and he gave me the exact gauges)

The G & D sounded nice but [surprise] the E & A sounded like roundwounds. What a shock for such expensive strings.

I emailed Pryamid and they sent a nasty response basically saying "If you want that Hofner sound then put on Pyramid Gold, because nothing else will do it."

I've heard other similiar stories about these "great" strings. For the price, the nasty answers (and lack of answers), and the rotten sound, I'm done with Pryamid.

Going to try the TI short scale flats next. I have used the LaBella Beatle Bass set and liked them alot plus they are half the price.
 
#8
Froovs,

I've had the strings on for over 6 months and although they have settled in a good bit, with a more even flat sound, I still don't think they are so hot.

They don't feel as glassy as some have described, not as even across the strings as other string sets I've had on the Hoffy, and to be honest they just don't sound that great.

I'm going to play them out (or just toss 'em) and try some other strings. TI makes 100% nickel strings too with a silk inlay and round core that I really like.

The LaBella's & D'Addarios were much smoother feeling than the Pryamids, and definitely a more balanced sound across the board.

I have also talked to quite a few others who have had very similiar stories about these strings, including dead strings/sets. Of course others praise them so to each their own.

Next stop TI flats.......................

Gene aka Fret
 
#11
the Thomastiks are the king of flatwounds, if you can get used to the *much* lower tension and not so smooth feel

if your used to heavy old school flats the jazz flats will give you quite a surprise with just how soft and loose they feel

that said i have them on all my basses except one

cheers
Lucy
 
#13
I've flirted with the Pyramids a few times, and I tried very hard to like 'em for a while...but the gauges are not for me. I've got a micrometer and if memory serves me correctly, the Pyramids measured out to be 40, 56, 72, 105. I'm sorry, but... YUK. They feel very wrong to me.

I like those TI flats though. And the La Bellas. And the Rotosounds. And on some basses, the GHS flats are nice too.

My .03
 
#15
I liked these strings BUT the E string made them unusable (IMO ) - very dead sounding ! I loved the sound of Thomastik-Infeld Flats , but found them to light . Finally settled on La bellas ML. I wish Thomastik would make different gauges . I used their strings in the mid 70's(Then called DR .Thomastiks I believe) and they were using that same light gauge.
 
#17
I tried Pryamid flats, too. And I also experienced them stating "the dead E is not a bug, it's a feature".
I am not too amazed - actually, I like strings to sound even. A totally different E string sound is the least I'd accept, because I think it would force me to develop different kinds of attack on different strings. Bad habit, that would be.
 
#18
I tried 'em once, and pretty much got the same results I'm seeing here. It seemed to me that they were "graduated" in brightness, the E being very thuddy and the G being pretty bright. After a few months of settling in, most of the brightness was gone, and I could get a fairly even sound from them, admittedly with the E still being darker. I finally decided that they're not really my thing.
 
#19
I'm an administrator on a board that has a lot of Beatle tribute bands and wanna be's on it (The Beat Gear Cavern Invalid Link Removed ) and most of those guys swear by the Pyramids for their Hofners and their other Beatle copy instruments. I've tried them and in my opinion they are not worth the money and mostly depend on their Beatle association.

LaBella Beatle flats are a much more playable set for the hofner style basses, and why someone would put Pyramids on any other bass is beyond me.
 
#20
The only Pyramid flats I've tried have been on Hofners and I didn't like them all that much. I agree with most of the posts above about their sound.

I use Thomastic JF 344s now. I find them nicely balanced and very musical sounding and they last for years. The sound improves during the playing in period. Then settles out to where they seem to stay without changing. Over 6 years on my P bass, and still sounding good recorded or live.

One thing about the low tension I've noticed. They seem unusually loose when you first put them on and this can be disturbing to some people. But after they've been well stretched in, like the last set I put on an Artcore a couple weeks ago, the feel tightens up and they no longer feel floppy at all. I did have to back off the truss rod a bit, but I can set the action pretty low, at least lower than I'd ever want to play, without any fret buzz. Of course, the Artcore I have has beautifully levelled and finished frets and an excellent neck. On a lesser fingerboard and neck, like my Fender, I had to do some fret levelling and a bit of work shimming the neck, but it plays as low as I need too.

I don't notice any annoying roughness to the surface either. There may be other flats that are smoother feeling, but not enough for me to give up the TI sound.

I think that despite the higher price of the JF344s over most other flatwounds ( I can get them for about $45 US -some places may sell even cheaper) they are actually a bargain when I consider the extremely long useful playing life.
 

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