Hi all.
I recently got myself a Fender American Performer Precision Bass. As you probably already know, bass guitars nowadays - not just Fender - come with round wound strings by default. I am not a fan of round wound strings (too bright for my taste) and prefer the smooth, deep-sound of flat wound strings.
Recently I thought I'd try something similar to flat wound and got myself some black nylon tape wound strings. I like them, but.....I suppose not as much as I thought I would and think I'll go back to flat wound. The tape wounds I got were from LaBella: https://www.labella.com/product/760n/. The gauges of the strings are .060, .070, .094, .115
Even though I have been playing bass for many, many decades, I do not consider myself a professional musician by any stretch of the word. Yes, I have played in bands in the distant past, but now I mostly play for my own amusement; I play my favorite songs on the stereo and then plug my bass into my amp and then play along!
When I discovered this forum, I saw this thread right near the top: https://www.thefenderforum.com/forum...ts-and-Tension
Even though I've been playing bass for a long time, I'll admit: There's a lot I don't know. Throughout the years, whenever I've had my bass strung, I don't do it myself but instead take it to a professional (just in case, also, they need to mess with the bridge, truss rod, etc.; I don't mess with that stuff). In that link I just gave regarding Flats and Tension: There was some interesting info in there that I was not aware of, stuff regarding gauges and the tension you feel.
Here's a link to LaBella again of a set of flats I used to have: https://www.labella.com/product/760fm/. You'll notice that the gauges are .049, .069, .089, .109.
I contacted LaBella and asked them for a recommendation as far as their flat wound strings go. I told them I noticed another set of flats on their site called "1954 'Original' Style": https://www.labella.com/product/0760m/ You'll notice that these are described as "Heavy", and the gauges are .052, .073, .095, .110.
However, LaBella's recommendation was this: https://www.labella.com/product/760fs/. The gauges are .045, .065, .085, .105.
Even though I was leaning towards the ones I listed above that I used to have - gauges .049, .069, .089, .109 - the LaBella rep said I would not notice a sound difference between them and the ones with the gauges of .045, .065, .085, .105.
Take the gauge for the E string: .105 & .109; a difference of .004.
So, check me on this: The difference on any of those strings - not just the E string - is .004. That's not going to affect the notes themselves, right? If I play an open E, whether it's a .105 or a .109 gauge, it's the same E, right? Would the .105 gauge have less tension and be "easier" for me to play without putting so much pressure onto the fret with my finger?
Does the recommendation of the https://www.labella.com/product/760fs/ flat wound set sound good?
I appreciate any positive input and recommendation;
Pez
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Pez
), free of charge. But, as far as replacing the set of existing strings, I don't think that will be covered under warranty/ free of charge. There's nothing wrong, per se, with the strings; I'd just like to switch them out and go with flat wounds.
