**The LaBella 760FL Deep-Talkin' Flats LOVE Thread**

[Kyle_S]

Just trying my first set of these on my MIJ P-Bass. I really love the sound and the feel of them. I'm also pleasantly surprised at how easy they are to play. My previous flat experience is limited to LTF's and 40-100 Chromes, so I was kind of afraid these would be too stiff for me. But nope - honestly, they feel just right.

Only downside is a chorus-y sound on the open low E string. I'm assuming this is a problem with my bass and not the string, because it's happened with other strings, too. So I guess I'll have to troubleshoot that and hope it's not a problem with the nut, since a problem with the nut means either paying for a pro to fix it or finally buying the tools and learning to fix it myself. And I just wanna play bass, dammit. Why can't things just...work?

 

[PikeoftheLake]

Just trying my first set of these on my MIJ P-Bass. I really love the sound and the feel of them. I'm also pleasantly surprised at how easy they are to play. My previous flat experience is limited to LTF's and 40-100 Chromes, so I was kind of afraid these would be too stiff for me. But nope - honestly, they feel just right.

Only downside is a chorus-y sound on the open low E string. I'm assuming this is a problem with my bass and not the string, because it's happened with other strings, too. So I guess I'll have to troubleshoot that and hope it's not a problem with the nut, since a problem with the nut means either paying for a pro to fix it or finally buying the tools and learning to fix it myself. And I just wanna play bass, dammit. Why can't things just...work?

Is your pickup too close to the E string? You could try lowering the pickup and see if the chorus sound goes away

 

[Kyle_S]

Is your pickup too close to the E string? You could try lowering the pickup and see if the chorus sound goes away

Doesn't look too close (I set it according to Fender's measurements a while back) but I will try lowering it just to check. I assume if it was the pickup, I'd be hearing the chorus sound on all the notes and not just the open one. Fretted notes are totally fine, it's just the open string - which is why I fear it may be a nut problem.

I left extra winding on the string (four wraps) to make sure I had a good downward break angle, I've set the witness points at both ends... Weird thing is, if I press down hard on the witness points again at both ends, the chorus sound will go away for a little while. But it keeps creeping back in.

 

[PikeoftheLake]

Doesn't look too close (I set it according to Fender's measurements a while back) but I will try lowering it just to check. I assume if it was the pickup, I'd be hearing the chorus sound on all the notes and not just the open one. Fretted notes are totally fine, it's just the open string - which is why I fear it may be a nut problem.

I left extra winding on the string (four wraps) to make sure I had a good downward break angle, I've set the witness points at both ends... Weird thing is, if I press down hard on the witness points again at both ends, the chorus sound will go away for a little while. But it keeps creeping back in.

Hmmm it does sound like a nut issue then. Strange.

 

[SoulReflection]

Doesn't look too close (I set it according to Fender's measurements a while back) but I will try lowering it just to check. I assume if it was the pickup, I'd be hearing the chorus sound on all the notes and not just the open one. Fretted notes are totally fine, it's just the open string - which is why I fear it may be a nut problem.

I left extra winding on the string (four wraps) to make sure I had a good downward break angle, I've set the witness points at both ends... Weird thing is, if I press down hard on the witness points again at both ends, the chorus sound will go away for a little while. But it keeps creeping back in.

Maybe post a pic showing the string and the depth it sits in the nut?

 

[Kyle_S]

Maybe post a pic showing the string and the depth it sits in the nut?

Honestly, my tablet camera is so mediocre I'm not sure it'd produce a detailed enough picture to be be useful.

So I unwound the string, snipped off the end where it was bent into the hole, re-strung, reset witness points, and... No more chorus sound! I wonder if something weird happened when I strung it up the first time or if I just wasn't pressing down hard enough when setting witness points, but somehow the problem has been solved. I half-expect when I go back to the bass later or tomorrow the weird sound will be back, but for now I am a happy bass player.

One thing that's really impressing me with the La Bella's right now is the sound I get from playing close to the neck. It sounds so woody, and when I pick just hard enough to get a tiny bit of fret clang, it's the closest I've ever gotten to an upright tone. What a beautiful sound!

 

[Moondog]

Just trying my first set of these on my MIJ P-Bass. I really love the sound and the feel of them. I'm also pleasantly surprised at how easy they are to play. My previous flat experience is limited to LTF's and 40-100 Chromes, so I was kind of afraid these would be too stiff for me. But nope - honestly, they feel just right.

How do you like them compared to the LTF’s?

 

[iiipopes]

La Bella doesn't make the medium-scale set anymore. I stumbled across a couple of NOS sets which I use for my medium scale "funk machine": a Jaguar H bass. The stock MM pickup which Fender moved up to the P-position actually has great tone when upgraded with '62 wiring: 250 Kohm audio taper pots and a .047 tone capacitor. Yes, great strings. I used it recently to support a gospel anthem at church to positive reception by the choir director, clergy, and congregation generally.

 

[Kyle_S]

How do you like them compared to the LTF’s?

I wish I had a better recollection of what the LTF's specifically sounded like, but I can say overall I like the 760FL's more. I prefer the slightly thicker strings as far as feel goes. I've never been one for really heavy gauges (Ernie Ball's 105-85-70-50 roundwound set is as heavy as I go), but the 760FL's provide just enough resistance to my fingers as I pluck through them.

The biggest difference between the two sets I think is that the LTF's are round core, so they have a looser feel, whereas the 760FL's are hex core like the rest of the DTF sets, and so they feel a bit stiffer. Both sets sound great, so I think it mainly comes down to which feel an individual prefers.

 

[winston]

I like the 760FLs best out of the LaBella flats I've tried (LTF and Olintos). I would say the FLs always have a "thing" but it brings a smile to my face and works in a lot of situations. When I put them on I thought "oh there's that sound I've heard all my life" that no other flatwound quite has.

The Low Tensions sound like a cartoon drawn with those fat Crayola markers, kind of blurry but cutely endearing. That said they can tame the brightest sounding bass, are fun to play and kind to the neck.

So far I am not a huge fan of the Olintos. E is way deader out of the gate than the other 3 strings, and though I think they are billed as a more modern flat - 4-month old DR Legends, 10 month old Dunlop Flats, and 15 yr. old Sadowsky Black Label flats I have in rotation are all much brighter and growlier. Liking them more tuned down to Eb on my G&L SB-1.

 

[Moondog]

The Low Tensions sound like a cartoon drawn with those fat Crayola markers, kind of blurry but cutely endearing.

Hmm, not at all sure what you mean by this.
Could you elaborate? (and compare with 760FL)
Thanks!

 

[BuffaloBass]

a sound with alot of "bloom", like a fat tipped carpenters pencil vs a 0.5mm Pentil is how I interpreted it. DE-compressed if you will.

Looking for a set of flats to give my Aerodyne a more "upright" sound for some bluegrass/acoustic I've been involved with. The $90 LaBella flats seem way too pricey for an experiment. Wonder if the 760s will do the trick.

Is your pickup too close to the E string? You could try lowering the pickup and see if the chorus sound goes away

3.5mm is the right height, if I recall from AERO.

 

[TDR1138]

I just picked up a set of 760FLs used locally for dirt cheap. I am impressed! Supposedly they’re 10-12 years old, but they still have some great brightness and life to them (for flats, at least). Put them on my LB-100 where they replaced a 10 year old set of Fender 9050ML. I didn’t have to adjust a thing - truss rod, action, intonation we’re all spot on. I think they have just a hair less tension than the Fenders, and just allowed the neck to flatten just a little bit.

I’m really enjoying the balance and feel of these strings as much as the tone. They are just such a joy to play that I am having a hard time putting the bass down.

I’ve got a 760FS-M set on a SG bass that have been on for about a year. They definitely have a little more of a thud to them, though I’m sure the scale length factors in a bit there. And I’ve got some LTFs that have bounced around on a few basses, currently on a Squier P, that have even more of a thud than the SG. So I was quite surprised with the 760FL set being so punchy. But pleasantly surprised.

I’m already thinking that my next string purchase (at least flats) will be another set of these for either my L-2000 (currently wearing TIs) or L-1000 (currently wearing GHS P-flats). The TIs are too soft for my taste, and the E string is almost too lively, doesn’t balance with the rest of the set. The GHS are the opposite - the E is a little too thunky compared to the rest. These 760FLs are the Goldilocks set - just right!

 

[SteC]

I've had these strings on my MIJ P bass for a few years and they sound amazing. Sometimes I feel like the low E is a little indistinct on the low notes and open string. I was reading that Ed Friedland article and it seems like to some extent that's a characteristic of a lot of flats. Has anyone tried going up to a .109 or .110 for the E string?

 

[bassfiddlesteve]

I've had these strings on my MIJ P bass for a few years and they sound amazing. Sometimes I feel like the low E is a little indistinct on the low notes and open string. I was reading that Ed Friedland article and it seems like to some extent that's a characteristic of a lot of flats. Has anyone tried going up to a .109 or .110 for the E string?

I think it's a character of old-school flats like La Bella and I've noticed the same thing in the heavier gauges. I think a heavier E string would through off the balance of this set which is one of the things I like about it.

- Steve

 

[Kyle_S]

I also found with the 760FL's that my E string got dark and thuddy compared to the others. I ended up switching to another set of flats. If I would've kept playing the 760FL's, would the rest of the strings have eventually darkened to match the tone of the E?

 

[SoulReflection]

I also found with the 760FL's that my E string got dark and thuddy compared to the others. I ended up switching to another set of flats. If I would've kept playing the 760FL's, would the rest of the strings have eventually darkened to match the tone of the E?

That's kind of a difficult question to answer. You would have to ask someone with the same ears and set up as you had, IMHO.

 

[metron]

3 months since I put the FLs on my P bass and I don’t have an urge to remove them yet. This is noteworthy because Ive taken off flats as soon as same day I installed them. Chromes.

These actually sound amazing. It seems like they broke in most of the way at about one month of use. I was expecting longer.

I just got the B15 and Im getting lots of mileage out of reposting it everywhere

 

[Kyle_S]

Put the 760FL's back on to give them another shot, and man am I glad I did. I hesitate to use the word 'mojo' because I'm a 36 year-old white dude, but these strings got something special. Got my setup dialed in and after playing for just a little while it's so easy to see why so many pros go with La Bella.

The low-E 'thumpiness' I was complaining about isn't really there. There's one specific bass line that goes from an open A to a C on the 8th fret of the E string, and in that one particular case I notice a drastic difference in tone, but yeah, no duh an open string's going to sound brighter than a fretted note - and doubly so if the fretted note is on the low E up the neck. I simply overreacted. The string-to-string balance is fine, I just need to re-shuffle the notes on that one riff to make it work better on a bass with flats.

Lesson learned. Back in my happy place plunking away at a good ol' P with flats.

 

[wolffire99]

My journey to the 760fl’s

Chromes - Loved the articulation but too modern (bright) sounding overall. Hard on fingers to play.

Labella LTF - The most comfortable to play. Lacking articulation. They disappeared in a mix of more than 2 other instruments.

TI jazz flats: Almost pure midrange. These cut through the mix better than any other string I’ve used. Missed low end too much. Not smooth.

Labella 760FL - The first time I played them I knew I had found it. The perfect balance of articulation and low end. Just enough harmonic/midrange content to be heard in the mix but still thumpy.