Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I'm a guitar player of 49 years, and actually just bought my first bass, less that a year ago; so I'm not able to make broad comparisons, as many of you are. I bought a Hofner CT just to have a bass in the studio for recording,ect. I then sort of fell in love with the bass(haven't played any of my 6 strings electrics(only Martin acoustic once) since I got the first bass. I put LaBella DTB strings on the Hofner, and I loved the feel of them. I got my new 4003 less than a month ago, and I had a total setup done, and had Chromes put on it. I don't care for the chromes at all, so far. They feel like RW's compared to the DTB strings. I'm going to give them plenty of time to "settle in", but I'm thinking that the DTB set will be going on the Ric next. I mostly play British Invasion/Beatles type stuff, so I like the deep low tone of the DTB much better. I'm still learning my way around a bass though, and will give them(chromes) the benefit of the doubt.
John Sr.

I have La Bella flats on my 4003. I do really like them. Nice feel.

I'm gonna warn ya, they do have a really aggressive sound on a 4003. They are not going to have the mellow, vintage vibe tone you may be after. I play in a hard rock/grunge type of band, and they do the trick nicely for that. With a little knob turning you may be able to get some vintage tones going, I'm sure.

Johntheson wrote:I'm a guitar player of 49 years, and actually just bought my first bass, less that a year ago; so I'm not able to make broad comparisons, as many of you are. I bought a Hofner CT just to have a bass in the studio for recording,ect. I then sort of fell in love with the bass(haven't played any of my 6 strings electrics(only Martin acoustic once) since I got the first bass. I put LaBella DTB strings on the Hofner, and I loved the feel of them. I got my new 4003 less than a month ago, and I had a total setup done, and had Chromes put on it. I don't care for the chromes at all, so far. They feel like RW's compared to the DTB strings. I'm going to give them plenty of time to "settle in", but I'm thinking that the DTB set will be going on the Ric next. I mostly play British Invasion/Beatles type stuff, so I like the deep low tone of the DTB much better. I'm still learning my way around a bass though, and will give them(chromes) the benefit of the doubt.
John Sr.

I agree. Chromes are too roundwound in feel and tone for someone who likes a more traditional feel and sound.

Am I missing something with the availability of the new (lousy) Fender flats ? The green label strings are all over ebay and very inexpensive.

coolingitdown wrote:I'm gonna warn ya, [LaBella DTFs] do have a really aggressive sound on a 4003. They are not going to have the mellow, vintage vibe tone you may be after. I play in a hard rock/grunge type of band, and they do the trick nicely for that. With a little knob turning you may be able to get some vintage tones going, I'm sure.

I feel like these are the perfect "half round" type strings even though they are flats. They pull off the concept so much better than actual half rounds and ground rounds...

VRICKY63 wrote:Am I missing something with the availability of the new (lousy) Fender flats ? The green label strings are all over ebay and very inexpensive.

Yeah, what you are missing about the new (awesome ) Fender flats is that the 9050CL set is not commercially available yet but the guy in charge of these strings said to watch for them in February. People want the 9050CLs for the heavier gauge E string. Otherwise it's a 9050L set. The 9050CL set is about as perfectly balanced as far as feel/tone/tension as any set I have played.

Joshua, are you still there? Bro let me change the subject just a little bit. Bro, talk to me about those Circle K rounds you are so fond of. Durability, compatability and so forth if you will. Mark

I'm getting confused...some flats are said to be low tension, some vintage sounding. Some of them are "modern", some high tension. Some of them sound like rounds, some not. My question is, what flatwound strings have vintage tone and are they low or high tension?

mikko wrote:I'm getting confused...some flats are said to be low tension, some vintage sounding. Some of them are "modern", some high tension. Some of them sound like rounds, some not. My question is, what flatwound strings have vintage tone and are they low or high tension?

The strings that are closest to the original "Maxima" strings that Rickenbacker used for their basses in the '60's, which also happen to be a little lower tension due to using pure nickel flat wrap, and lighter gauges, especially on the A and D strings, are the current TI flats. But their A string is so light that they do feel "rubbery" to some folks, even though the "vintage" tone is all there, especially if your bass has a neck toaster in the 1/2 inch position.

I was at a couple of music stores including a Sam Ash yesterday. Still no 9050CL sighting, only 9050L sets.

iiipopes wrote:

mikko wrote:I'm getting confused...some flats are said to be low tension, some vintage sounding. Some of them are "modern", some high tension. Some of them sound like rounds, some not. My question is, what flatwound strings have vintage tone and are they low or high tension?

The strings that are closest to the original "Maxima" strings that Rickenbacker used for their basses in the '60's, which also happen to be a little lower tension due to using pure nickel flat wrap, and lighter gauges, especially on the A and D strings, are the current TI flats. But their A string is so light that they do feel "rubbery" to some folks, even though the "vintage" tone is all there, especially if your bass has a neck toaster in the 1/2 inch position.

+1 on TIs. I myself didn't have too much of a problem with the low tension at standard tuning, mainly because the tone was worth it! That being said, if they released a set that was a little heavier gauged on the A and D strings and, therefore, better balanced, I'd buy it in a heartbeat and be done with my current set!

And a quick note regarding flats. They come in all tensions and tones. Flats are frequently pigeonholed as dull-sounding. This is for the most part true, but there are many sets that have a brighter quality to them. Now by bright, I don't mean to say that you're going to get the same tone as a set of stainless steel roundwounds. If stainless steel rounds are a 10 on the bright scale and nickle rounds are an 8, flats that are considered to have bright tone would maybe rate at about a 5 of a 6.

cassius987 wrote:

coolingitdown wrote:I'm gonna warn ya, [LaBella DTFs] do have a really aggressive sound on a 4003. They are not going to have the mellow, vintage vibe tone you may be after. I play in a hard rock/grunge type of band, and they do the trick nicely for that. With a little knob turning you may be able to get some vintage tones going, I'm sure.

I feel like these are the perfect "half round" type strings even though they are flats. They pull off the concept so much better than actual half rounds and ground rounds...

That is SOOO true, Joshua.

rickenbrother wrote:I was at a couple of music stores including a Sam Ash yesterday. Still no 9050CL sighting, only 9050L sets.

Yeah, but they're on the price charts, so it's probably just a shipping issue. For example:
http://www.casalebauer.com/listpdf/Fend ... PA2011.pdf

iiipopes wrote:

rickenbrother wrote:I was at a couple of music stores including a Sam Ash yesterday. Still no 9050CL sighting, only 9050L sets.

Yeah, but they're on the price charts, so it's probably just a shipping issue. For example:
http://www.casalebauer.com/listpdf/Fend ... PA2011.pdf

Yep, purchased, but not yet shipped. Probably the case for all Fender string dealers.

cassius987 wrote:

coolingitdown wrote:I'm gonna warn ya, [LaBella DTFs] do have a really aggressive sound on a 4003. They are not going to have the mellow, vintage vibe tone you may be after. I play in a hard rock/grunge type of band, and they do the trick nicely for that. With a little knob turning you may be able to get some vintage tones going, I'm sure.

I feel like these are the perfect "half round" type strings even though they are flats. They pull off the concept so much better than actual half rounds and ground rounds...

VRICKY63 wrote:Am I missing something with the availability of the new (lousy) Fender flats ? The green label strings are all over ebay and very inexpensive.

Yeah, what you are missing about the new (awesome ) Fender flats is that the 9050CL set is not commercially available yet but the guy in charge of these strings said to watch for them in February. People want the 9050CLs for the heavier gauge E string. Otherwise it's a 9050L set. The 9050CL set is about as perfectly balanced as far as feel/tone/tension as any set I have played.

What I'm trying to say is, compared to the old fender flats the new ones feel cheep and sound rubbery. They may be awesome on their own if you never played the old ones but not for me.

VRICKY63 wrote:What I'm trying to say is, compared to the old fender flats the new ones feel cheep and sound rubbery.

In our modern technology driven world that would be called New & Improved!

VRICKY63 wrote:What I'm trying to say is, compared to the old fender flats the new ones feel cheep and sound rubbery. They may be awesome on their own if you never played the old ones but not for me.

You realize how presumptuous you are being right? I have played the old ones numerous times. I used to use them on a Jazz Bass when I played for the jazz band in college because they were the only flats at the music store down the street. Sorry, but I prefer the new ones by leaps and bounds. Have you ever heard of different tastes, rather than casting everything in black and white?