Help me select some La Bella's.

[Artie]

Hey all. I never heard of La Bella bass strings before, but have noticed them popping up all over here and at TalkBass.com. I need to replace the old DR-40's on my Korean Tobias Jazz bass. I'm looking at Strings & Beyond and there's over a dozen different types. Does anyone have a recommendation on what I should start with? I lean towards lighter gauges and I'm thinking of trying some flats. What little bass playing I do leans towards a smooth, clean, slowish style.

Thanks all;
Artie

P.S. I don't know if this is relevant, but I'm thinking of updating the pups to the Duncan Apollo Jazz set. This bass uses passive pups with an active preamp. Vol/Bass/treble/blend pots.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

I’m assuming you want flats?

I really like the Deep Talkin’ Bass 760FL set (.043-.104).

I had one set on my ‘73 Rick last over four years! Then I broke a string. Lol


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[Artie]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

Yeah, I'd like to try flats. My understanding is they tend to sound warmer and smoother.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

760's in your preferred gauge are the classic LaBella flats. I suggest visiting the LaBella Website to make your decision. Just Strings is a bit awkward to browse. Once you know what you are looking for, then you can head to Just Strings to buy it.

I use 760Ms on all of my full-scale basses, and this short-neck .109 set of theirs on my Musicmaster Bass.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

Yeah, I'd like to try flats. My understanding is they tend to sound warmer and smoother.

Listen to recordings from the 60s into the early 80s. Flats were standard on basses.

Lots of players back in the 70s often stuck extra foam under the strings for a deader tone.

I’ve tried most of the flats and nylon tape wounds over the years. I used to love the original Fender flats. They had this certain “dirty” thing in their tone that I loved. The new strings don’t sound the same.

I used LaBellas on my first bass back in 1969. They were pretty common.

Rickenbacker flats were great too. They were made by Maxima.

I went back to the LaBella flats in the 80s. I wanted a bright tone, but without the piano overtones. More like an upright. These do that great. You can actually slap on them. Lol.

Here’s a live recording from about 1984. It’s my Rick (with Hi-A pickups) through an Acoustic 140 head into an Ampeg B-15 cab with a JBL. I’m playing with a pick and also slapping.

You can hear the low end is really thick sounding.

https://soundcloud.com/davidravenmoon/the-jetsonz-down-down


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[Artie]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

760's in your preferred gauge are the classic LaBella flats. I suggest visiting the LaBella Website to make your decision. Just Strings is a bit awkward to browse. Once you know what you are looking for, then you can head to Just Strings to buy it.

Yup. That's what I did.

Here’s a live recording from about 1984. It’s my Rick (with Hi-A pickups) through an Acoustic 140 head into an Ampeg B-15 cab with a JBL. I’m playing with a pick and also slapping.

Nice. I think I'm going to try these: La Bella Gold Flats
(Unless someone tells me not to.)

 

[Adieu]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

Yeah, I'd like to try flats. My understanding is they tend to sound warmer and smoother.

Warm, smooth?

Not sure those would be desirable in a fretted Jazz bass

 

[Artie]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

Well, dang. I'm about to find out. I pulled the trigger yesterday. I'll report back.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

Warm, smooth?

Not sure those would be desirable in a fretted Jazz bass

why?

 

[Adieu]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

why?

Because the beauty of bass is that it doesn't just sound like low notes on a digital synth. Especially on something with lively single coils

Just play around with the mids and high mids on your EQ, that's where most of the flavour in your tone is usually coming from. Something to do with harmonics, I guess?

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

Because the beauty of bass is that it doesn't just sound like low notes on a digital synth. Especially on something with lively single coils

Just play around with the mids and high mids on your EQ, that's where most of the flavour in your tone is usually coming from. Something to do with harmonics, I guess?

What in the hell are you talking about?

A bass with flats sounds nothing like low notes on a digital synth.

Whether or not flats make for a "desirable" tone on a fretted Jazz Bass is up to each and every person whose choice it is to make.

The "beauty of bass" is whatever each person thinks it is, and nothing more or less.

If you don't like the way that flats sound on a fretted Jazz Bass, then you can just say, "I don't like the way flats sound on a fretted Jazz Bass." That would be a perfectly reasonable, and totally bulletproof, statement.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

What in the hell are you talking about?

A bass with flats sounds nothing like low notes on a digital synth.

Whether or not flats make for a "desirable" tone on a fretted Jazz Bass is up to each and every person whose choice it is to make.

The "beauty of bass" is whatever each person thinks it is, and nothing more or less.

If you don't like the way that flats sound on a fretted Jazz Bass, then you can just say, "I don't like the way flats sound on a fretted Jazz Bass." That would be a perfectly reasonable, and totally bulletproof, statement.

Not whatever you're talking about, that's for sure

Just saying that "bright and snappy" are often more desirable characteristics than "warm and smooth" when it comes to bass strings, pickups, woods, etc.

 

[Artie]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

Well, we'll see. I pulled the trigger on the Gold Flats. Film@11.

 

[saladin]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

Aston 'Family Man' Barrett made a career and some killer tunes using warm and smooth flatwounds on a Jazz Bass!
​

 

[Artie]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

Stringing them up, as we speak. Film@11.

 

[Artie]

Re: Help me select some La Bella's.

Even though I measured my old strings with a mic, these are significantly larger gauge. Not a problem, but I'll need my luthier friend to do a setup on this. But they sound good. Look cool with the gold Logo on the pups and neck. They do warm and smooth, but also have a nice attack when struck right, or on the right pup. Especially through my EHX Battalion. Can't wait to get over this cold so I can really play with it more.



P. S. They are a bright gold, but don't show up good with my photography.