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Thunderbird Club

#330,501
dagrev said:
List night was was able to put some strings (LaBella Low Tension Flats) on the '66 NR that are pretty close to what is on the '64 (LaBella DTF) and do some back and forth. The Low Tensions are naturally a little less bright and a little more dark, as you would expect with round cores. Even with the darker/deeper strings the '64 still had more beef. The '66 with 916s more mids and highs. At home it sound nice and punchy. but Sunday it lacked some heft and some kind of presence. I'm hoping the darker strings will bring some beef to the table for Wed rehearsal. May be I need to do a little EQing. As mentioned Sunday, sounded good with the Ampeg, just not approaching the '64 kind of Thunderbird magic. I'm optimistic and have several string options yet to try, but worse case scenario I can drop in the pups from the doner Epi and see how they do. The Epis are little darker than a VP (pup placement and blend wiring and the 916s might be a better fit in that. I'd have to unsolder the cans to get the gold back on the '66. But I'm getting way ahead of myself--just realizing I have options if strings and EQ don't get me where I want to go.

As an aside, I was considering DTFs but with the repair I was wanting to lessen stress on the neck if possible and asked La Bella if they had tension numbers as I know what some rounds are I might use. They replied the next morning and said that unfortunately they don't publish those numbers, but they did suggest the Low Tensions and gave numbers for those. Since I had a set on a Pbass I swapped then last night.
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I have DTFs on 3 basses and love their feel and sound, but on the DC tribute short scale, at 45-105 they sound great but are just a bit too stiff up near the nut for me.

I have a set of LTFs for it but havent put on yet...dilemma because I really like the DTFs on there, but my aching fingerz...
 
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#330,503
P
BuddhaFingas said:
I have DTFs on 3 basses and love their feel and sound, but on the DC tribute short scale, at 45-105 they sound great but are just a bit too stiff up near the nut for me.

I have a set of LTFs for it but havent put on yet...dilemma because I really like the DTFs on there, but my aching fingerz...
Click to expand...
I also have DTFs on my LPDC Tribute. They sound great and don't bother my fingers, but I also play upright.
Question about the LTFs: Are they actually lower tension or is it just the feel?
 
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#330,504
Engle said:
P
I also have DTFs on my LPDC Tribute. They sound great and don't bother my fingers, but I also play upright.
Question about the LTFs: Are they actually lower tension or is it just the feel?
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I’ve found, (but just my opinion, and you all know what that’s worth), that all LaBellas I’ve played are very low tension, in feel and reality.
Just like TI’s.
If only they all stayed as bright out of the package after some extended play time.
So I keep going back to Cobalt flats.
 
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#330,505
JJR58 said:
I’ve found, (but just my opinion, and you all know what that’s worth), that all LaBellas I’ve played are very low tension, in feel and reality.
Just like TI’s.
If only they all stayed as bright out of the package after some extended play time.
So I keep going back to Cobalt flats.
Click to expand...
LaBella flats settle into the Motown flat sound, so if that's what you want they last forever.
The 1954 Jamerson set gave me blisters on my plucking fingers first gig out.

I'm thinking of trying the LTFs on my Eagle. Might be a reggae/dub bass.
 
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#330,506
Wife just took off to meet up with our daughter for a week in Paris. I wasn’t invited on the “girls’ trip.” Oh well. I came up to the mountain to get everything ready for the holidays.

Pro tip: Have a kid who works for an airline. LAX to Paris on Air France. $160. She said the plane was only half full. She has three seats to herself. Have gobs of Marriott credit card points and pay nothing for a nice hotel for a week. Long term retirement planning at its best.
 
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#330,507
Engle said:
P
I also have DTFs on my LPDC Tribute. They sound great and don't bother my fingers, but I also play upright.
Question about the LTFs: Are they actually lower tension or is it just the feel?
Click to expand...
It's a good question. The DTFs on the DC only feel tiring on songs that spend most of their time around the first three frets.
Perhaps I'm just a wuss, but same gauge on my full-scales don't feel as tiring, same songs.

The set I bought, but have not installed yet, are also slightly lighter gauge, at 42/100, versus 45/105.

Once I try them I might be able to tell.

The set I have on my Rogue VB (code name "Hofalong Casually") feel a lot lighter; they are DTFs but only 39/96, especially made for Hofner-style shorties.
 
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#330,511
BuddhaFingas said:
I have DTFs on 3 basses and love their feel and sound, but on the DC tribute short scale, at 45-105 they sound great but are just a bit too stiff up near the nut for me.

I have a set of LTFs for it but havent put on yet...dilemma because I really like the DTFs on there, but my aching fingerz...
Click to expand...
The LTFs feel fantastic. Kind of similar to TIs. Kind of, but more "normal" feeling. My LTFs otherwise feel like the DTFs. They do sound a bit darker (not in a bad way, depending on the goal). Other than that they do sound about as close to the DTFs as I've found. Sound more broken in you might say. Consider the DTFs is likely 180lbs or more for the 104 FS set. See below for data on the LTFs.
  • Total Tension in Lbs: 134.90 (1st 36.2, 2nd 34, 3rd 30.5, 4th 34.2)
 
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#330,512
Engle said:
P
I also have DTFs on my LPDC Tribute. They sound great and don't bother my fingers, but I also play upright.
Question about the LTFs: Are they actually lower tension or is it just the feel?
Click to expand...
Not addressed to me, so pardon my insertion of sharing what I finding of late.
Good question as round cores are more flexible and can feel like they have less tension be default. Some strings feel stiff due to several factors but the tension in lbs may not correspond as one might think. But in looking at numbers for for the last few days the correspondence isn't too far off (a few lbs on strings I have experience with anyway).
Apples and Oranges, but Round core Boomers are 170lbs (100 set). So for the LTFs (also round core), to come in at 134lbs, I would say it's a little of both. Of course no one knows what the DTFs are, but I can't imagine them being close to the LTs or even the RC Boomers. I wouldn't think. Actual data can and may indication otherwise.

GHS Flats go from 152 to 191lbs, for example, feel similar to La Bellas' in terms of string resistance/compliance when playing. THe more med set is higher than the heavier set indicating it's all moving numbers.
 
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#330,513
MCF said:
Wife just took off to meet up with our daughter for a week in Paris. I wasn’t invited on the “girls’ trip.” Oh well. I came up to the mountain to get everything ready for the holidays.

Pro tip: Have a kid who works for an airline. LAX to Paris on Air France. $160. She said the plane was only half full. She has three seats to herself. Have gobs of Marriott credit card points and pay nothing for a nice hotel for a week. Long term retirement planning at its best.
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Covey called that "Win/Win"!
 
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#330,516
MCF said:
Wife just took off to meet up with our daughter for a week in Paris. I wasn’t invited on the “girls’ trip.” Oh well. I came up to the mountain to get everything ready for the holidays.

Pro tip: Have a kid who works for an airline. LAX to Paris on Air France. $160. She said the plane was only half full. She has three seats to herself. Have gobs of Marriott credit card points and pay nothing for a nice hotel for a week. Long term retirement planning at its best.
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Well, shoot. I already blew it in those categories. Next incarnation, I'll take your advice.
 
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#330,517
Fun Folks..........

uBYoxr0.jpg
 
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#330,520
Chucky Stiletti said:
hadn't picked up a bass in two weeks and they decide to open with The Meters and solo rounds....was not happy.,.
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Yeah, I get it. That's probably the best I could do after not playing for a couple week too.... :rollno::smug:
Are you kidding? That was great. You could play better after a stroke (which pray never happens) than I can on my best day.
 
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