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I'm interested in trying these string but reading a few reviews people mention that they feel higher tension that other .12 sets. Does anyone have any info or experience they could share please?
Thanks.
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09-05-2016 05:40 PM
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I don't know the tensions. They have hex cores, which generally have reduced sustain and "feel" more tense because bending them causes more internal friction than in a round core.
I like the thunk, and they are good quality strings. But they seem darker than Chromes and TIs.
Someone can certainly post something smarter than what I have added!
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agree..they are very vintage type flats..very smooth ss wrap and taut tension..they have that hollowed thunk sound right out of the pack...lots of fundamental not overtones
comparable to ghs flats..and the older fender flats (pre d'addario) when they were still making their own
cheers
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I've searched extensively, and have been unable to find any information on the tension of LaBella strings. D'Addario and TI tension data is easy to find, but I've found nothing for LaBella. I have no recent experience with the jazz flats, but the tapewound strings seem to have relatively low tension. No measurements, just feel.
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nylon tapewounds are always going to feel low tension..why they up the gauges on those sets...no compare
and tension figures don't always represent real feel...many factors..thomastiks have thin round inner core and double outer wrap of pure nickel...makes for a very soft "bendy" feeling string
cheers
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The only sets I have experience are the tapewounds, which feel like they are almost made from gut, like the old violin or bass strings I used to use on my upright a thousand years ago. They even get fuzzy after awhile like the old gut upright bass strings--but not with long whiskers.
The tapewound sets feel and sound really nice. For their gauges, which tend to be on the huge side, they are very low tension. I had one set that was something like .17-.70--no kidding. You might think they'd feel like a bass guitar set, but they were actually about like TI George Benson .14-.55 strings. The smaller gauge LaBellas I had were something like .12-.56, IIRC. They felt, in terms of tension, about like TI Jazz Swing .11-.47 strings. In other words, the tape covering belies a pretty small core--I think.
The feel and sound are unique. The strings feel great. As Marty Grass suggested, LaBella strings give good thunk. For strings that look like old-fashioned, short-scale electric bass strings, they are surprisingly sustaining.
Overall, I liked the strings a lot. Just be prepared that the .70 sixth string in the big set may not sit in the nut slot of your guitar. Also, to get it to go through your tuning gear you may need to use the entire string and feed the "leader" into the hole, using an excessive number of wraps around the barrel of the tuning gear. That's what I did on my L-5 copy. Otherwise, just use the .12-.55 set and you won't have any problem.
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They also have the PH20 sets 15-56 flats stainless feeling a bit like D'Addario Chrome 13 in the bass strings ECG26 but better balanced in my opinion.
I still have 3 sets of those, I stopped using them last year because I felt they were not helping my golfer elbow condition I had developed playing them on the 25.5 scale Regent.
I might try them back on my Joe Pass since it is a 24.75 scale instrument and will feel less stiff...
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Thanks for all the comments.
Originally Posted by Marty Grass
Marty, would you say the higher tension feel is more when you're bending strings, cause I almost never bend strings, so this wouldn't be a concern for me.
Thanks.
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I've used the 15-56 flats on a couple of guitars that I play mostly acoustically. They drive the sound board well.
The higher tension feel of them only becomes noticeable when you bend the string. But think about that a moment. You have to bend the string to fret it.
The action can be set very low for these heavy strings, as long as the guitar's frets and neck are good. So it is not very hard to get used to heavier strings.
Quite a few years ago I bought a Heritage Eagle Classic from a local and very good player. I think he had 13s on it. I had been playing with 10s and told him I was going to put new strings on the Eagle. He had this father-son type talk with me about strings. He told me, basically, "Son, I know you can handle at least 12s. Give them two weeks and then you'll thank me." I did and he was right.
La Bella made the first flatwounds jazz strings ever. At least that's what folks say. They do thunk real good, at least the heavier ones. And they are much cheaper than TIs. And they give you free extra high Es and Bs.
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These strings are hard to play if your action isn't quite low. They're great for developing calluses. Originally Posted by vinlander
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Email them. I have before and the promptly responded to my questions. Regarding the tape wounds, in my opinion the white tapes felt more stiff than the black tapes. I emailed La Bella and they replied that they were the same.
I really like the sound and feel of the tapes but have recently switched to Newtone Archtops as I wanted to try something different and had liked the Newtones before. I'll eventually move back to the black tapes though.
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For whatever it's worth, I just put a set of these on my Tele after switching from a set of Chromes. .12 on both sets but the lower strings are slightly higher gauge on the La Bella.
I didn't have to make any setup adjustments.
I don't have a way to measure the tension, but since it didn't make any noticeable difference on the guitar, I can assume they are similar in tension to the Chromes.
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Originally Posted by rhythmjones
How did you find the sound of the 6th string vs the other strings. With the 11 - 50 set, I found the 6th string to have a very different muted tone.
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I haven't noticed that. The wound strings all seem very balanced to my ear.
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My experience was with the 20PL stainless steel flat wound set. 11 - 50. With the exception of the 6th string I really like these. Originally Posted by rhythmjones
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I thought I should revisit this thread, as I have subsequently purchased additional sets of these. I now have them on the Bravo, the Eastman AR503CE and the new G&L Fallout. I think people should disregard what I said earlier about the 6th string. Originally Posted by DanielleOM
I think the lack of sustain related to how the string was installed on the Bravo. (I now believe with the Bravo, that one has to bend the heavier strings at the ball end, so that they make good contact with the ebony overlay on the tailpiece). If not making contact sustain seems to be affected.
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La Bella may be cheaper if you happen to live in the USA. These are comparative prices from my usual supplier "here" in Europe
Pyramid Gold 12-52 - 16,29€
D'Addario Chromes 12-52 - 17,49€
Thomastik JS112 12-50 - 17,79€
La Bella 20PCM 12-52 - 28,49€
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Originally Posted by DanielleOM
I have tried 2 sets of these and removed them because of the dead 6th string. They were so dead that they would not play in tune on the higher frets.
I thought that perhaps it was a bad batch but then I read your post.
I have tried so many strings now on my archtops and have come to the conclusion that different strings suit different guitars.
Laminate tops need something different to solid spruce tops......or generally stiff tops need to be driven with heavier strings.
25.5 scale need something different to 24.75 scale.
D'Daddario Chromes .12 are great on my laminate 24' scale Collings Eastside but those same strings feel like giant steel ropes on my 25.5 Collings CLJ. Unplayable really....and sound SO bad.
Yet if I change to the Chromes .11 on the CLJ they feel like a different brand of string and are a good match with that spruce top and scale.
Chrome .11 on my Ibanez GB300 sound like small elastic bands. That guitar has a really stiff top and needs .12 or .13 Chromes. Then it comes alive.
.11 Chromes are fine on my GB200 because it has a thinner top.
Anyway that's my theory!
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This is the set I use and love, great sound and feel. Lower gauge on the wound stings than .013 D'Addario Chromes, but heavier high E and B Originally Posted by vinlander
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Most flatwounds today are now hex core cheaper to make and better/reliable marketing BS,
you can get round core but on lighter gauges there are no 13-56 Flatwounds that are ROUND CORE
Thomastic Ti 13 swing are round core but only two strings are from a 13 gauge set the plain 13 & 17
Thomastic are actually lighter/thinner than Chromes 13 & 17 and most other brands which are the same tensionthe German Thomastic uses IMPERIAL gauges measurements their plain E & B 13 & 17 is marginally slightly thinner almost immeasurable i can certainly tell the difference
I like super lo action with the heaviest gauge strings, Wes, Jim Hall, Kenny Burrell, Tal Farlow All Played with lower Action. Wes use heavier Guage Wes 14 - 50 . Kenny Burrell and Jim Hall used lighter guage and Tal Used 13's
A set of Thomastic Ti 13 between 11-12 gauges of most others i started using Thomastic Ti 13 Flatwound 3 months ago on my 83 AS200
good tone good harmonic overtones, but then a Super58 is better at that than a Gibson the separation is far better, but that does not in itself make it better
I have all the string tensions from pyramid blah blah blah but far too heavey.
One of the best strings i ever used was Newtones Uk archtop 14-58 roundcore but also roundwound my Ibanez JP20 sound like an Jazz organ
but i took off after 6 days fret wear with 14 gauge not worth it because they were roundcore much lower tension.
If you want lower tension try to alter the tailpiece angle to flatter, like a Ibanez GB10 and before any one climbs in and says this does not matter. it does
Basically you want the heaviest string with lowest tension, is the the goal, it is actually easier to get lower action with heavier strings again i expect a flurry of replies citing Holdsworth & Vai etc etc but this is the simple truth,
the nut on the guitar is the starting point then neck relief then bridge
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Originally Posted by abelljo
If you were talking about an IBANEZ JP20 Joe Pass that is 25.5" like an Gibson L5
The Epiphone Joe Pass is 24.74 it makes a difference
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