Here's the initial rundown of the Ernie Ball Cobalt flats just installed in my Eppi VP TBird...
(Note that I've quoted my original review of the DR Silver Star strings for reference)
Installation
Dang it, the G string came just shy of two full wraps around the tuner post (I like three but two will do). The D, A and E strings were adequate lengths. None of the strings needed trimming. In EB's defense, they included an instruction sheet in the package that I didn't see until I was done and consequently didn't follow (I'll place a pic of the instructions in a separate post for comment, this post is already too long). Following the instructions would have got me close to three full wraps. No taper on these strings before the silks but the silks are fairly close to the nut - so word to the wise on these strings is measure your ball to back of nut length (outta the gutter you bunch of sophomores). If that distance is more than 37" then these strings won't work for you. A bit less tension than the original Eppi strings but noticeably more than the DR SS strings. The E string on this set is a 100 and the ball end was a tight fit in the VP claw hardtail but it did fit and set fine for tuning. Again, word to the wise - E strings much larger than a 100 might be a no go in the VP hardtail without crimping or mashing the ball end windings. All the strings fit in the VP saddles and nut grooves without a problem but the ball end silk and overwrap is about 1" long which means on a three point bridge the E string silk may be on the saddle. I did notice a worrisome frequent "ping" noise as I was bringing the strings up to tension. These are flats so I wouldn't expect them to hang up or bind on anything but that's what was happening either at the break angle of the bridge saddle or possibly at the back top edge of the bridge. I don't think it's a problem but it's the kind of noise a string makes just before it breaks, gets you a bit nervous as you bring it up to tune and hear a string "ping" and ring out every time you budge the tuner key.
Appearance
Typical grey nickel type color strings with attractive dark purple (not gaudy) silks at the tuner end. Naked at the ball end with nice neat overwindings that don't touch the VP saddles. Balls are attractive brass not goofy rainbow colors.
Feel
Very nice tension, high but not bridge cable absurd. Was able to dig in, and play hard without worrying about unintended fret or pup cover clacking. Nice, smooth and fast as flats should be (vs Cobalt Rounds that felt like 50 grit sandpaper to me). Fretting and bends are easy (not effortless like the DR SS strings) and rapid fire triplets and such were much easier. ZZ Top's Dusty Hill would like these strings, he could play his one note three hundred times and not get held up by a slow reacting string.
Sound
Not what I expected. Having tried the Cobalt rounds I assumed the Cobalt flats would also be on the gritty side for flats. Not so. They sound very good but I had to change a lot of how I EQ the onboard controls to get the best out of them. To be honest, after the setup when I first plugged the bass in to the amp I was a bit underwhelmed. I normally favor the neck pup heavily with the volume between 40% to 60% on, set the tone knob at less than 50% and play finger style anywhere between the neck pup and neck heel. With these strings that resulted in a relatively lackluster sound. Not much personality and no real character in the sound (which this bass normally has tons of). However, when I rolled the tone knob up above 50% and the neck volume up between 50% and 80% it really came to life. The notes were rich and full with a very clear musical bloom to them, harmonics rang piano clear and every note was incredibly well defined for a flatwound string. Nothing was harsh or muddy and the mids and highs weren't overbearing as can easily be the case with the VP. That got me to thinking, I had lowered the pups so the DR SS strings would stop clacking against them. So I raised the pups back up as high as I could and that did the trick. Now with tone anywhere north of 10% it sounds great. Below that and volume drops off sharply. Also, possibly not string related but very noticeable with these strings and the elevated pup height - volume knob settings above 90% sound harsh, unpleasant and over saturated, anything below that sounds beautiful.
Overall opinion
Very nice flats. Not quite as bright as new Chrome flats, not quite as dark as new Roto 77 Jazz flats. Superb definition and bloom for a flat, very good for fast note repetitions. Not as much right hand placement/playing style tone change as the DR SS strings pulled off but still responsive to different placements/playing styles. The DR strings were downright finicky (not in a bad way) compared to these. The Cobalts just come across as a hard rockin, carefree, straight forward, low finesse string.
Practical Application
Where the DR SS strings might be an excellent choice for studio work, the Cobalts would be an excellent choice for gigging and live performance stage applications. I didn't get as much variation out of them but they delivered a clean clear flat wound sound that I like better than the Chrome or Roto flats. I'm now complete, with one bird wearing gold coated strings, one bird wearing black tapewound strings and this bird wearing flats. Will the Cobalt flats stay on? Time will tell but about the only thing I'm missing on this bass is the grit and grind that the stock strings delivered, I'd like to get that back without all the top end zing and finger noise, but for now these strings are the nearly what the Doctor ordered. I'm satisfied with the honeymoon, let's see if the marriage lasts.
BTW,just for grins I tried putting the'67 NR in the'96 NR Epi 5 string's case.Nope! Addendum:some(most?)of the places we play have a small band AREA-not even "stand".On those I use my $190 Squier VM Jag SS. If something happened to it I'd be ticked but not devastated
