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String thru body flatwounds?

#21
edfriedland said:
LaBella actually makes a set of flats specifically FOR stringing through the body. They tapered the 1/2 in front of the ball end and gave it a silk wrap. I use them on my Fender 51 P reissue, and they sound great - classic LaBella flats.

From their website:

Thru-Body Flat Wound String
(Available in all of the above sets)
La Bella Strings introduces the first successful flat wound bass string meant specifically for electric basses where the strings pass through the body.
These flat wound bass strings are specially designed for instruments with string openings through the body. This design adds a unique resonance as the strings pass through the solid wooden body and over the bridge from underneath. With this configuration, the resulting sharp angle located at the bridge can cause the flat wound outer wrap to crack, fray or break with standard strings. To avoid any damage to the string. La Bella Strings has engineered a durable yet flexible section near the ball-end. Both the string and great sound remain intact.
Click to expand...

Yup, got a set on my Stingray Classic... no problems.
 
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#23
I have used Fender 9050CL's through-body, no issues.

If you use La Bella flats, they do recommend you use a different set for through-body, the best known set being the 760FL-MUS Mustang bass set for the original vintage through-body bridge.
 
#24
edfriedland said:
LaBella actually makes a set of flats specifically FOR stringing through the body. They tapered the 1/2 in front of the ball end and gave it a silk wrap. I use them on my Fender 51 P reissue, and they sound great - classic LaBella flats.

From their website:

Thru-Body Flat Wound String
(Available in all of the above sets)
La Bella Strings introduces the first successful flat wound bass string meant specifically for electric basses where the strings pass through the body.
These flat wound bass strings are specially designed for instruments with string openings through the body. This design adds a unique resonance as the strings pass through the solid wooden body and over the bridge from underneath. With this configuration, the resulting sharp angle located at the bridge can cause the flat wound outer wrap to crack, fray or break with standard strings. To avoid any damage to the string. La Bella Strings has engineered a durable yet flexible section near the ball-end. Both the string and great sound remain intact.
Click to expand...
Super old post I'm commenting on, but if you're still out there, what gauge were you using? And do you still string the same labellas through body?
 
#26
BlueRock said:
Collin Bass said:
Super old post I'm commenting on, but if you're still out there, what gauge were you using? And do you still string the same labellas through body?
Click to expand...
The only ones I could get recently for a '55 reissue P bass was the 760FS-TB set that's .045 .065 .085 .105.
Click to expand...
Yes, the 760FS-TB and its five-string version the 760FS-B-TB are the only remaining thru-body sets La Bella makes:
760FS-TB Deep Talkin’ Bass Flats – Standard 45-105, Thru-Body
The FX, FL, FM and 0760M have existed in the past, and may still be found NOS here and there on the net.
 
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#29
LennyJ said:
Anybody put Colbalt flats string thru.

thanks
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EB Group flats are fine string through.

20211230_170431.jpg
 
#32
Some flat strings do it, some don’t. The only ones I’ve tried it with are Chromes, Dunlops, and Fenders, which are now basically a variant of Chromes. I think most would be ok with it, although I’ve heard LaBellas don’t do so well.
 
#35
I have the "Jamerson" Labella's .110 "heavy's" - they are called 1954 vintage now. If you run your finger over the string that is passed over the roller you can feel the flat windings puckering up at that one spot on all strings. That kind of bugs me and the D has a slight tone variation happening.
When I go in to get the fretless neck planed I am thinking to put a set of those LaBella Through Bass strings that are tapered on both ends with silks on both ends. The E is reduced to a 105 which might necessitate a nut replacement. I do like the heavy gauge though.
It might be a coupla years before that happens.
 
#36
Geogio said:
I have the "Jamerson" Labella's .110 "heavy's" - they are called 1954 vintage now. If you run your finger over the string that is passed over the roller you can feel the flat windings puckering up at that one spot on all strings. That kind of bugs me and the D has a slight tone variation happening.
When I go in to get the fretless neck planed I am thinking to put a set of those LaBella Through Bass strings that are tapered on both ends with silks on both ends. The E is reduced to a 105 which might necessitate a nut replacement. I do like the heavy gauge though.
It might be a coupla years before that happens.
Click to expand...

I used to get that with flats on my 1984 Stingray. Today I have the LaBella "Flexible Flats" (on a more recent Stingray) with no issues (albeit these don't come in that heavy a gauge).

I suppose the "break angle" from the bridge/routing to the rollers/saddles may differ on different bass models/manufacturers, etc.

And some strings are just no-go's for through the body bridges.

y.m.m.v.
 
#38
I do the string through and yes it is kind of a bend at the bridge and as far as I know LaBella is the only company that sells a string through option with two wrapped cores on each end of the string. But until one of my strings fails I'm not going to worry about it. Another problem about that LaBella offering of a string through string option is that I use a heavy .110 with the nut slots fitted to the heavier gauge.

My fretless also is going to need a neck shim at some point but until I can no longer adjust the intonation it seems to be set to itself with the nut slots and the bridge just about grounded out, but that's just going to have to wait till there's a failure primarily because the turnaround time for one of the better technicians around here is months - literally at least 3 months and that's just too long, I will probably do it myself but I'm not going to do it until there is a failure. It's called RTF (Run to Fail) which has been cataloged and statistically analyzed to be the most cost-effective approach to maintenance. If you keep pulling things apart and then fiddling with them you'll have failure at a much higher rate than if you just left it alone until the product failed itself. So... I pack a back up.
 
#39
autoglide said:
I've been told that you shouldn't use flats strung thru the body because of the sharp bend as it turns over the bridge, which can cause premature failure of the strings. If so, are some flats better adapted for thru body stringing than others? Any remarks & experiences by members appreciated on this subject.
Click to expand...
This is a double "it depends" thing. Depends on the bass, and it depends on the flats. So;
The Bass. Break angle over the saddles can, indeed, mess up your flats. But, the break angle can very a lot from bass to bass. On my Carvin LB-20, for example, if I string it thru-body (and I have), the break angle over the Hipshot A bridge's saddles is just shallow enough, that I could use most flats that way. La Bella DTF's, or Galli Jazz Flats, would be a crap shoot; but, I wouldn't worry about any of the other flats I use. My '93 Fury Anthem lined fretless bass, is thru-body only. It was made with angled ferrules, and it's maker's bridge design allows for a shallow angle over the saddles. I could use any flat wound you could think of on it, with no worries at all. I had a set of TI JF324s on it - for about a day (long story). They fit fine, but... it wears Roto 88 Tapes, now. So, the break angle depends on the particular bass and bridge. Next;
The Flats. La Bella does, indeed, warn against stringing their DTF's thru-body. Some people do it, and get away with it. But, maybe God loves them; maybe it's their bass/bridge - who knows? But, La Bella does make flats that are intended to be strung thru-body. They're the ones with a "TB" suffix. As for all the other flats? IME, whether or not they'll work depends on the tightness of the outer wrap. Flats that are super slick - like the Galli's - have the outer wrap so tight together that there's almost no visible gap between them. No gap means a pretty stiff string; that can be the Kiss O' Death, when combined with a sharp break angle. Flats with gaps that your fingers can feel - like TIJF's - are more flexible, and thus more likely to survive a sharp break angle over the saddles.
So, bottom line? Depends on your bass and your bridge - and it depends on the flats you want to use...:whistle:
 
#40
This is one of those things that works fine... until it doesn't.

I think LaBella is the only string manufacturer that specifically warns against this but I've seen flats from other manufacturers unravel at the saddles too, when strung through the body. It's not something that will necessarily happen the first week or month, or even the first year. But based on what I've see at the workshop it's looks very much like going through-body can shorten the life of flats. At least SOME types of flats.

Personally I would only do this with flats that are specifically designed for it (like LaBella's Mustang flats) or MAYBE with certain types of extremely flexible, lighter gauge flats.

It's only a set of strings of course, which can be replaced relatively cheap. But with flats you want them to last. Preferably a very long time! Most flats need to mature over YEARS to unleash their full potential. I would be very angry with myself if a nicely broken in set of flats unraveled at the saddles, because I had ignored all warnings and strung them through the body...

(...which in my opinion offers no tonal benefits whatsoever as long as the break angle over the saddles is also sufficient when strung through the bridge, which is nearly always the case, except on weird bridges like on Danos, which don't offer string through anyway, which means you've got no choice in the matter...;)).


To sum it up:

If I break a set of roundwounds I get mildly annoyed.

If I break a set of broken in flats...:mad::banghead::(:dead:

Why risk it?

(Unless your bass is through body ONLY and you REALLY need to install flats on it and you are fully aware of the potential long-term risk.)
 

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