Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

They are a bit higher than the TIs which would be good for those who find the TIs too floppy.

What about the light Fender flats? Anyone have any experiences with these?

I found that TI flats start off a bit rubbery and not that great a feel. After about two weeks them seem to feel more like a normal bass string, albeit quite low tension. From then on they just sing and feel really comfortable to play.

Anyone use LaBella flats? I put the "James Jamerson" set on my Fender Telecaster bass and they were CRAZY HIGH TENSION, so I stupidly assumed that all of them were like that. But recently I put a set of the medium guage regular flats on my (30" scale) Guild Starfire and I really like them! Not as low-tension as TIs, but not nearly as tight as Rotos or the James Jamerson set. It could be related to the short scale of the bass though - wondering about regular long scale...

P.S. It's been really interesting to read the re-evaluation of the Fenders - I've always accepted that they must by high-tension because that's what it seemed "everyone" was saying, but maybe not? Are there other factors involved? Changing tastes, flats vs. roundwounds as opposed to one flatwound string vs. another?

I have a set of Fender flats (ml's) on a fender precision.....tho i have tried them on a 4003 in the past. They start of really hollow and rather twangy....but after about a week are as thumpy as it gets, but with great upper midrange cut (especially when played with a pick) whilst they are a high tension - i feel a lot of that tension comes from the flat ribbon winding making the strings feel stiffer to play...but not always putting much more tension on the neck than roundwounds

I've been using Fender flats on my 78 4001 for over 20 years. There is a negligible amount of tail lift visible. I never even noticed the tail lift until reading about it here so it may have been around a long time. I did become concerned that the high tension would cause the tail to lift even more and so tried a set of TI's. The tone and the feel with the TI's was not what I was used to so I changed back to the Fender strings. I'm probably just lucky to have a 4001 that can handle the tension OK. Apparently some do. The neck has low action and is as straight and flat as can be. It's a joy to play and I love the tones I get with the Fenders.

"Anyone use LaBella flats? I put the "James Jamerson" set on my Fender Telecaster bass and they were CRAZY HIGH TENSION, so I stupidly assumed that all of them were like that."

I use them on my Yamaha, .052 - .110 gauge. Definitely high tension, but my band plays tuned down a semitone, so that's what I wanted. The sound is out of this world (as is the price!) and I can see why Macca swears by them.