Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Considering low B sets, I've tried DA Chromes and TI JF346's. TI's are too floppy despite the heaviest low B I've seen (0.136) and the DA Chromes are very good. On four-strings, I use and like LaBella DTB and the Fender 9050s too. But, I'd like to tune down a half-step to Bb (well, across the board), and I need to maintain some pretty decent tension to avoid floppiness.

Juststrings is great, but I think they are missing some permutations on these flats (for example, DA Chromes have a regular ECB81-5 set, and a heavier ECB82 set for four-string, but no corresponding ECB82-5 set).

Adding to my floppy conundrum is my new five-string is 35". Sorry, Jeff, it's been a while since I passed on that Zon, but I'm in a new band (as well as the old one) and they're digging the Smith six-string FL, but the neck is just too wide to rip some of this stuff in the low positions. I scored a killer deal on a Simmons five-string FL and I need a nice beefy set of BEADG's to slap on there.

Thoughts/suggestions?

Thanks in advance - I came here before talkbass because y'all can actually read my post and offer salient information.

The Martin Keith Elfin 5 fretless I have (and soon to have fretted) is/(are) 34 1/2" scale length. When I got the fretless Martin put D'Addario XL nickel rounds on it (I know, they are not flatwounds, this is just for reference), not sure what gauge, I'll have to ask him but they feel like 45-130, have a nice taut B string that I have tuned down as low as G and still sounds and plays fine as long as I don't play too hard, which I tend not to, anyway. Pretty amazing tone from the Citron pickups coming out of my Markbass F1 and LDS 2126 cabinet. TKK drummer Tom loves it. I want to try flats on it but am waiting till the fretted Elfin is here before changing strings, not sure yet what I want to try first.

Hey Jeff, thanks for the thoughts. Rounds might be an option; I've got an ebony board. But, I'd rather go the flat route for starters.

I just checked out the Sadowsky Black Label flat 35" five-string set:

B 45
E 65
A 85
D 105
G 130

which seems like it might be good for me. Any experience with Sadowsky flats relative to the tone of Fender 9050s, Chromes, LaBella DTB? Also, I realize that diameter is not the only factor in tension, but these seem like they'd be fairly hig, short of putting a set of LaBella 1954's and trying to find an old piano string for the low B.

Edited to add: Well, they seemed good and not too terribly expensive, so I bit.

Let us know how they are; the only flats I have ever used are either TI JFs or D'Addario Chromes in my favored Super Soft.

The Chromes are now .132 and have no other choice. They are a tad heavy for me, so I have had to find strings with a 128-130 B string. ALl of the heavy B strings I have tried feel too floppy.