Stan Sergeant Reviewing Ernie Ball Cobalt Flats

A great player. How much of a change if any in string tension is there over rounds and how to the Cobalt Flats compare with the D'darrio Chromes?

 

Depends. They have a lot less tension than Chromes but aren't as loose as TI's. Typically they are looser feeling than most round wounds (Daddario or Ernie a Ball for example). I think they feel very similar to DR Pure Blues as far as tension goes. They are VERY comfortable strings to play. My favorite flat by far. Initially they sound very similar to a roundwound but eventually mellow out quite a bit. They don't do the old school thump thing without rolling back the treble a hair but they do have a mid forward presence and the highs cut more than average. Pretty killer slap tone believe it or not. A great overall string.

 

Took me a second to notice - does he have these strung upside down? Or are my eyes going bad?

Either way - great player!

 

yeah, seems he's like a typical left handed player who learned his playing using the normal right handed bass guitar. So, when he has a true left handed bass guitar, he ends up strung it upside down.

 

it sounds like rounds...

 

True about TIs, definitely not as loose tension. Chromes are definitely stiffer (of the same gauge), but they aren't looser than round wounds. I was using Super Slinkies for years on my Stingray (45-100), standard tuning, swapped them for Cobalt flats and they're close in tension, but cobalt flats are in fact, slightly higher tension. Didn't have to adjust the truss rod, and it wasn't a huge difference, but there was a bit of a difference. Flats are usually stiffer anyways, unless they're round core and small gauge like TIs.

DR Pure Blues, Sunbeams and other round core roundwounds have even more flexibility and that loosey feel than any EB and hex core string. I wouldn't compare them to that, I'd say they're closer to their Slinky roundwound equivalent.

Cool strings, but the "round tone, flatwound feel" wasn't for me. I was looking for more of that traditional flatwound tone. I just got a set of EB traditional flats (45-100) in the mail, will be testing those. I had those in the lighter gauge (95-40) but they're too light for me.

 

The Cobalt Slinky strings are Roundwound, not Flat