Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Before I got around to swapping out tails again on my bass, I remembered that I had a new set of LaBella Deep Talkin' Flats. Since so many had opined that it was the Roto's that were being difficult, I decided to try the DTF's. VOILA!!! I was easily able to dial the intonation in. The tonality of the LaBella's is a bit more "dark and mellow"; the tone I was getting from the Roto's was EXACTLY what I was after, but... if you can't dial 'em in, what's the point?

In the future, I will try another set of Roto flats on this bass, just one more time... simply to see if it was the one set that was "bad", or if it's some kind of "systemic problem" between RotoFlats and Ricks.

Oh, and I ended up with a "wobbly" G saddle.
Are those new CNC-machined saddles mentioned in another thread really all they've been made out to be?

I changed from Rotos to Labella Deep Talkin´ Flats too (via DR Low Riders though)…and surprisingly ended up with a wobbly D saddle. This issue can´t be related to strings but funny that it happened now when I put Labellas on, not earlier with some other strings.

After reading this post I recall trying some Roto rounds on a Jerry Jones longhorn I had a couple years back. I could not get those strings to even come close to having the intonation right! I had to take them off and put some other strings on and it was a piece of cake to set up. I miss my two JJ basses. I sold them both to get an NS stick, but after a year, I decided sticking wasn't for me and sold it to get my Ric. Definitly no regrets with the Ric, but one of my Longhorns was with me since 1992. Very well made shortscale basses.

If a string . . . ANY string by ANY maker . . . is not the same diameter across its length, it will be impossible to intonate properly. You might get it dialed in between open and at the 12th fret, but something else is then going to be off.

The moral of the story is that if intonation is important to you, buy strings known to be consistent and the best ones in this regard are those made with computer controlled winders . . . not hand-wound or old school string winders.

Thanx for your input Mr Hall. I wasn't aware that the Roto Flats were still handmade (apparently the only Rotos that are), since the box proclaims "state of the art manufacturing"!

bigbajo60 wrote:Thanx for your input Mr Hall. I wasn't aware that the Roto Flats were still handmade (apparently the only Rotos that are), since the box proclaims "state of the art manufacturing"!

I don't think that they are . . . this is a general reference and I was avoiding naming specific brands! It's actually quite amazing that some of the best selling strings are some of the worst in this regard (still not naming names).

Two standouts, however, are SIT and D'Addario; these are wound in an incredibly consistent process. I'm sure there are others.

Mr. Hall,

I had gone and perused the RS website after your initial post got me wondering. I found this quote from Mr. How (current chairman) made during a tour of his company's brand-spankin' new string winding machines:

"...we still make the flat wound bass strings by hand, this is still an area of
the hand made product that will stay that way for a while, so we are really an amalgam of new technology and old traditional skills."

You know, I have heard from several others that they bought Rotosound strings that were impossible to intonate. It's the only company I consistently hear that about.

The last set of Rotos I bought were as JH described - diameter not consistent down the length of the string, E being the worse. Thats why it was the last set I bought.