Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I was reading about these strings at Juststrings.com and they are stated to have been used by Paul McCartney. Here's the text from the site:

Amongst other famous sets produced are the Black Nylon "Tru Bass" set (as used by Sir Paul McCartney on many Beatles tracks from Revolver through to the Let It Be album).

Is this true? Has anyone here tried them?

I can't confirm the Paul McCartney connection, but I do know that Rotosound only makes these strings generally available in standard gauge and long scale.

I tried a set, but didn't really get into them. To my surprise, the strings were roundwound with black tape to make them feel flatwound, instead of being flatwound in the first place.

I first fitted the strings to a long-scale Baldwin Shadows Bass (3 single-coil pickups), then moved the same set on to a 30.5"-scale Gibson EB-3 (2 humbuckers), which I think is slightly longer than the Höfner Violin Bass. The resulting tension was too great for the EB-3's neck.

Rotosound will take custom orders, and will probably be able to make a shorter scale set for you, to match Paul McCartney's originals.

I've used them off and on for many years, usually on a Gibson EB2. McCartney used them on his Hofner during the "Let it Be" sessions. Check the rooftop scene in the film.
Several stringmakers offer them, I hated the Fender ones. Rotos are very good IMO.

I have tried the Rotos, LaBellas and Fenders. I believe all three are roundcore underneath the nylon wrap. The Fenders were just awful in tone and the wrap diameters were very inconsistent. The LaBellas are nice with the right bass but a bit bottom shy and overly strong in the mids. The Rotos were the best of the three, best tonal balance and their quality was equal to the LaBellas.

But none of them are as good as good flatwounds, IMO.

Rotosound does make them in short and medium scale sets and Juststrings stocks them. The Rotos I had were short scale (on a Gibson I used to own).

I believe Paul only used them on his Hoffie, not his Rick.

My vote goes to the LaBella brand. I have a set of these on my Zeta Crossover 4-string and I absolutely love 'em! They're a bit expensive, but the quality is worth it.