Rotosound RS77 end wrap color

[sumeursault]

I bought a used bass with flats on it and I'm trying to identify what they are. The previous owner thinks they're Rotosound Jazz Bass 77 Monel Flatwounds (RS77LD). The tuner end wrap is purple-ish, naked at the bridge with all gold ball ends. Can anyone confirm?

 

[Timothy Brosnan]

I don’t think those are Rotosounds, they usually have red, or blue.

I’m thinking maybe GHS, or La Bella.

 

[JMacBass65]

Not Rotos.

 

[michael_t]

Dark wine silk at the tuner end with no silk at the ball end with gold ball ends = an older version of La Bella Low Tension Flats. (Current version has lighter burgundy silk with color-coded ball ends.)

Would you be able to post a pic of the strings at the bridge?

 

[sumeursault]

Yeah, they seem fairly low tension.

 

[sumeursault]

 

[michael_t]

View attachment 5319741

Thanks for the pic. Those DO look like La Bella for sure.

 

[michael_t]

Yeah, they seem fairly low tension.

There you go... Another mystery solved!

 

[2F/2F]

I don't know what they are...but anyone who says they're 77s has never played on 77s.

 

[MrAB4003]

I bought a used bass with flats on it and I'm trying to identify what they are. The previous owner thinks they're Rotosound Jazz Bass 77 Monel Flatwounds (RS77LD). The tuner end wrap is purple-ish, naked at the bridge with all gold ball ends. Can anyone confirm?
View attachment 5319720

Rotosound 77s have red silks and red, white, and blue ball ends (like the British flag / Union Jack).

 

[shadven]

Red

 

[HaphAsSard]

Rotosound 77s have red silks and red, white, and blue ball ends (like the British flag / Union Jack).

If I'm not mistaken, long*-scale Rotososound Jazz Bass 77 flats:

- historically came with brass ball ends, red silk at the bridge, red silk at the headstock
- in 2016 or so, ball ends became colour-coded for all products, and have been since (silks still red and red)
- at a certain point (2019?), silk at the bridge became black (stayed red at the tuner end)
- around 2022 (I think), no silk at the bridge anymore (still red at the tuners).


* [short- and medium-scale Roto flats were a pale-ish blue last I checked; I'm not sure if they still are, but I would imagine the evolution was similar to the above, in that the bridge end is now likely to be naked and colour-balled, and silk solely at the headstock.]

 

[ravlin]

Those are probably Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats, I have those on a bass and 77s on another. Are they stiff or slinkey?

 

[sumeursault]

Those are probably Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats, I have those on a bass and 77s on another. Are they stiff or slinkey?

Slinky (low tension)

 

[ravlin]

Slinky (low tension)

Likely Slinkey. Like I said, I have both, same tuning and the strings couldn't feel more different in terms of stiffness. I also have La Bella's (blue ends) and those also feel stiff by comparison to the EBs.

 

[michael_t]

Those are probably Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats, I have those on a bass and 77s on another. Are they stiff or slinkey?

Ernie Ball Slinky Flatwound (aka Cobalt Flats) = purple silk at BOTH ENDS.

The early La Bella Low Tension Flats DID come with the dark wine silk exactly like the ones in the OP's pic.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Just FTR: Gibson flats also have brass ball ends and their silk colour is close, but a touch clearer (more burgundy, maybe?) and, more importantly, silk is at *both* ends, so these are *not* them.

 

[MrAB4003]

If I'm not mistaken, long*-scale Rotososound Jazz Bass 77 flats:

- historically came with brass ball ends, red silk at the bridge, red silk at the headstock
- in 2016 or so, ball ends became colour-coded for all products, and have been since (silks still red and red)
- at a certain point (2019?), silk at the bridge became black (stayed red at the tuner end)
- around 2022 (I think), no silk at the bridge anymore (still red at the tuners).


* [short- and medium-scale Roto flats were a pale-ish blue last I checked; I'm not sure if they still are, but I would imagine the evolution was similar to the above, in that the bridge end is now likely to be naked and colour-balled, and silk solely at the headstock.]

You might be right! I got a set of Roto 77s for my Jazz Bass back in 2014 just to try out flats. I don't remember the colors of the ball ends, but I can't forget the red silks on my bass.