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Pyramid or la bella

#2
I have a set of Pyramid flats here, just got them and haven't tried 'em yet. My LaBella flats are punchy, strong attack and feel a little stiff. Sound great but maybe not as "vintage" as I'd hoped. They've been on 4 or 5 years now. I've never had them strung through.
 
#3
Both are great sounding flats, but the voicings are a bit different, and it will come down to a matter of taste.

The Pyramids have a very thumpy E string that can sound awesome on short scale HBs, and a fat and throaty midrange.

The LaBellas are a bit more defined in the upper registers without being trebly. It also depends on the guage, the tonal balance changing a bit. Only the sets made by LaBella to be used string-through should be installed this way. I'venever heard them myself, don't know if they sound different.

Everyone has their own idea of vintage, but both of these sets are the sound of the '50s and '60s, given the amplification or recording methods of the era. Maybe a foam mute would give the above poster the sound he has in his head?
 
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#4
you can't do either thru body. the labella can if you get the specific "thru body" set though.

the labellas have a nice low end with a low mid bump and scooped mids and high mids with some treble content. Nice sounding string.

The pyramids if you got .40-.105 will have a punchy midrange on the D and G and A, while the E will be old school foam muted dead sounding. A more even set is the .45-.105. I've used pyramids for a while now and unless you have a very bright bass that you want tamed or would like the deadest thuddiest tone, i would not use them. Get the labella. THe pyramids go dark and dead quick and due to the nickel the top end is non exisitent except the G string. unbalanced set.
 
#8
Coolhandjjl said:
Pyramids have high tension that puts lots of people off. Cheese cutter was one term I read.
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(I only have experience with their short scale incarnation but) not IME. Decently flexibility and not particularly high tension (proper) that I could detect. Where have you used them on?
OTOH I've seen La Bellas described as very stiff (except for their recent "low tension flexible flat" offering, but I'd surmise their 760FX mustn't be unbearably taut either) but I wouldn't know, never tried them.
 
#10
markjazzbassist said:
you can't do either thru body. the labella can if you get the specific "thru body" set though.

the labellas have a nice low end with a low mid bump and scooped mids and high mids with some treble content. Nice sounding string.

The pyramids if you got .40-.105 will have a punchy midrange on the D and G and A, while the E will be old school foam muted dead sounding. A more even set is the .45-.105. I've used pyramids for a while now and unless you have a very bright bass that you want tamed or would like the deadest thuddiest tone, i would not use them. Get the labella. THe pyramids go dark and dead quick and due to the nickel the top end is non exisitent except the G string. unbalanced set.
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Hasn't you only tried the one set? I put two sets on two basses and only one had a dead E string, after swapping the strings around it was clear that I had a dud, got a replacement for that E and all was fixed. I hear it's a common problem?

I've tried both, the Pyramids both felt and sounded much better than the LaBellas to me.
 
#11
My Am. Std. P is currently strung (thru-body) with Pyramids, and they replaced a set of LaBellas.
IMHO, the Pyramids have a much better (i.e. tighter & thumpier) sounding E, but I preferred the A, D & G tone of the LaBellas.
The Pyramids tone is well balanced, but also a bit bright sounding - I really like their tone when using a pick & palm muting.
The LaBellas felt like they had less tension, and if it were not for the dead sounding E, I would have kept them on. They seemed better suited to fingerstyle, which I play about 95% of the time.
Perhaps the LaBella set I was using had a bad E string. I will try another set of them down the road...
 
#14
dannybuoy said:
Hasn't you only tried the one set? I put two sets on two basses and only one had a dead E string, after swapping the strings around it was clear that I had a dud, got a replacement for that E and all was fixed. I hear it's a common problem?

I've tried both, the Pyramids both felt and sounded much better than the LaBellas to me.
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i've had 4 different sets of pyramids and probably 10 sets of labella 760fl. the dead e isn't a problem, its how it supposed to sound. the thicker guage set all 4 string sound like that, that's what i was saying. the A D G of that set don't match, too bright and punchy unlike that E.
 
#15
vistacruiser said:
My LaBella flats are punchy, strong attack and feel a little stiff. Sound great but maybe not as "vintage" as I'd hoped.
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One Drop said:
Maybe a foam mute would give the above poster the sound he has in his head?
Click to expand...

+1 on the foam mute One Drop, I use one occasionally and it works to get more thump. To be fair this P/J bass has DiMarzio's also, so vintage doesn't just come naturally. It can pull off the vintage P tone to a point, but is great for a lot of aggressive blues rock styles. I plan to keep the Labellas on, while switching to a more vintage SD SPB-1 pick-up. Try that for a while and then go try the Pyramids. At that time the LaBellas will be kept for use on an Eb tuned Jazz bass which is in the planning stage now.
 

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