Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Hey Guys, my 4001 FL has flat wound or half round strings on it with black silk windings. Anybody have a guess as to what brand it may be?? They sound great, no thud at all, comes close to an amplified upright sound, just bright enough with plenty of bottom.

Probably La Bella. Just a guess.

La Bella or the old RIC flats.

jdogric12aolcom wrote:La Bella or the old RIC flats.

I was affraid they may be Rick Flats. I have used TI Jazz Flats and don't like them. I have never used LaBellas, I was think the strings on the FL might be GHS brite flats.

I have LaBellas on a Gibson EB-3 and the windings are red. Chromes sound great on Rics, maybe med light for a 4001. Nice and bright and clear, cut right through the mix but have plenty of bottom too. I have them on many of my basses.
I too have some mystery flat wound strings on a 79 4001, I put them on about 5 years ago and they still sound great but can't figure out what they are. GHS brights are kind of tinny sounding and aren't really flat wounds, they ground down flat wounds like half rounds but are ground even more., I've used them and have taken them off. LaBellas are also kind of high tension, the Chromes are a little lower.

rictified wrote:I have LaBellas on a Gibson EB-3 and the windings are red. Chromes sound great on Rics, maybe med light for a 4001. Nice and bright and clear, cut right through the mix but have plenty of bottom too. I have them on many of my basses.
I too have some mystery flat wound strings on a 79 4001, I put them on about 5 years ago and they still sound great but can't figure out what they are. GHS brights are kind of tinny sounding and aren't really flat wounds, they ground down flat wounds like half rounds but are ground even more., I've used them and have taken them off. LaBellas are also kind of high tension, the Chromes are a little lower.

Bob, Thanks for your recommendation. I'm going to try D'Addario half rounds 40-95. I string my V63's with XL's 40-95. if I don't like the 1/2 rounds I'll try the light gauge chromes. (per your and Joey's recommendation)

IMHO the Chromes sound a lot better than the half rounds, they sound like dead RW's to me, the Chrome flats have much more presence and are smoother sounding. I went through many types of flats before I finally settled on these, I too got turned on to them here, they last a long time too. LaBellas also sound very good though too and have a lot of definition and presence. I used to use Pyramids but they are so damn expensive now I'll pass. TI's are too middy for me once they lose their high end.

LaBella Light gauge Flats with the red silk ends work very well too.

dwinn wrote:LaBella Light gauge Flats with the red silk ends work very well too.

Yeah, those are very nice sounding strings.

I use the D'Addario Chromes EC B80SL set on my 4001FL.

I was a die-hard roundwound guy for over 35 years until I played the new Fender 9050's. I purchased a set of 9050L's: 45-60-80-100. Great tone, great consistency, clarity, doesn't thin out up the neck, etc. The only thing I didn't like was the 100 was a little "soft" for me. Then LowEndLover gave me a 105 of the same new formulation, and it hit the jackpot. So now, after 35+ years of playing, and having tried every flat out there, I am going to stay with these new Fender 9050's. They even have a subdued growl of their own which really compliments them. Look for Cassius987's sound clips on another thread. The word on the street is that a set with a 105 instead of the 100, to be called the 9050CL (as in, custom light) is going to hit the market in January.