So I bought a Gibson bass again

[Dave W]

I knew someone was gonna bring up Steve "Dude" Barr's unholy legacy sooner or later. 

A rubbery lot those strings are, I honestly tried to get to like them for a long time, but nah ...

I tried TI flats when they cost half as much as they do now. Couldn't stand 'em. Big blurry midrange, short on fundamental and short on high end. To each his own, of course, some people love them, and they still have a following long after Steve exited the bass world. But I never understood the cult mentality about whatever gear or accessories Steve was pushing. People would jump on each bandwagon just to be part of the crowd.

[Pilgrim]

LaBella has a low tension flat now. I'd be more inclined to try them, for budget reasons and because I like LaBellas.

[amptech]

I never use TI's in a situation where I play Rock music, but they have a touch/quality no other strings have. And they are a winner on my EB6's, though I have to buy four bass strings and two guitar strings. I asked TI if they would consider making a bass six set, but they don't think the market is big enough for it. I have a bass with a 23 year old TI set, still sounds great! I use Chromes on my longs (Grabber, Fender P) because I never foud TI sets that played well on those two. The only bass I use 'regular' D'Addario XL rounds on, is my '74 4001 bass - although I recall liking XL RED's best on it back when I used it more.


I did try a set of LaBella flats after recommendation from several LBO'ers, and they are now my favourite EB3 short scale four string set  -
so there is hope for me too!

[ilan]

And they are a winner on my EB6's

When I had the Fender VI, I used a LaBella flats VI set and the bass sounded just like it should. Highly recommended.

LaBella has a low tension flat now. I'd be more inclined to try them, for budget reasons and because I like LaBellas.

I have a set on one of my Hofners (the Blonde '64 in my avatar) and they are very nice. The other 3 have short-scale TI Jazz Flats. After a couple of months they sound and feel the same.

I have a bass with a 23 year old TI set, still sounds great

Try boiling them. I didn't know that works with flats until I tried, and it does. You'll like it.

I vote for Thomastik Infeld!

I was a TI fan but then I was gifted an Ernie Ball Group IV flats, and fell in love. Low tension but tighter than TI's, sound better to me, feel great, and cost less than half (42%) of TI's.

[4stringer77]

Getting back to the control knobs, witch hats would have been there originally.

http://www.flyguitars.com/gibson/bass/1970gibsonEB0.php

I'd say repro knobs would be fine or anything black would look better than gold.

[ajkula66]

LaBella has a low tension flat now. I'd be more inclined to try them, for budget reasons and because I like LaBellas.

That's what I have on my EB-0L right now, so far that has been the only set of flats that I can live with on *any* bass, even on a temporary basis.

[patman]

I have been using the LaBella low tension flexible flats for a couple years now.  I love them.

[Dave W]

The Ernie Ball Group III flats are my favorite flats.

[amptech]

When I had the Fender VI, I used a LaBella flats VI set and the bass sounded just like it should. Highly recommended.

Oh, tried flats on the 6'ers but stick to TI rounds. But if I could get the LaBella 6'er set here in Norway I'd try them.
I only have TI flats on one instrument, I like the rounds best when it comes to TI.
I'm not sure why, but LaBella cost the same as TI's here. I've heard before that people rather buy LaBellas because they are
'half the price', unfortunately they have a horrible importer here. Now they don't even have short scale bass strings.

[ilan]

What I really like about the slotheads is that there's no neck-to-body angle. The fretboard sits higher off the body which puts some people off but I like it better.

I can see it here (another EB-0L on eBay)

[ilan]

You do know you have room for extra pups on it, right? 

I see what you mean

[ilan]

Just arrived.

Serial number 958894 - she's a 1968, not 1970.

Did a quick setup with EB Group IV 040 flats. The truss rod needed a quarter turn to be dead straight, and then I deepened the saddle grooves a bit. Plays nice now.

I didn't realize they were so lightweight! The neck dive isn't as serious as I expected, but it's definitely there. But the Sadowsky outboard preamp stuck on the strap near the lower strap button balances it out. And I need it anyway to add highs because, you know.

The bridge... I don't like it very much but it intonates and it's original so it stays.

Sound... through the Sadowsky I can get a nice tone. Maybe I'll mess with the wiring. I was thinking about modifying the tone control to bass-cut. It's not like I'm ever going to use it to cut highs, right? I can also try the Curtis Novak pickup.

[Granny Gremlin]

Nice. 

Incidentally, I love TIs on my EB3, RD Artist and Vic Std; hate them on my Triumph. With the first 2 you need the extra mids (RD is a bit scooped, and the mudbucker, well...), with the Vic  I find it really brings out the growl in a cool way. I stocked up when they were $40 a set and they last forever so I'm good. ... reminds m,e I should change strings on the Triumph - mismatched set on there, due for an intonation and I have a few sets of those Allparts flats we did the group buy for a while back to try out.

As for the lack of neck angle on slotheads - never knew.  Good to know because I find it really helps with maintaining usable action (considering a set neck that can't be shimmed).

[Rob]

I tried TI flats when they cost half as much as they do now. Couldn't stand 'em. Big blurry midrange, short on fundamental and short on high end. To each his own, of course, some people love them, and they still have a following long after Steve exited the bass world. But I never understood the cult mentality about whatever gear or accessories Steve was pushing. People would jump on each bandwagon just to be part of the crowd.

That's true.
I have them on my P-Bass mostly because it is old and wobbly like me so the low tension is nice but I broke the G last week.
I do think that they have a "woody" sound on that bass which is appealing to me.  The thought of $75 for a set however is not..
What other low Tension flats are good?

[Dave W]

Just arrived.

Serial number 958894 - she's a 1968, not 1970.

Did a quick setup with EB Group IV 040 flats. The truss rod needed a quarter turn to be dead straight, and then I deepened the saddle grooves a bit. Plays nice now.

I didn't realize they were so lightweight! The neck dive isn't as serious as I expected, but it's definitely there. But the Sadowsky outboard preamp stuck on the strap near the lower strap button balances it out. And I need it anyway to add highs because, you know.

The bridge... I don't like it very much but it intonates and it's original so it stays.

Sound... through the Sadowsky I can get a nice tone. Maybe I'll mess with the wiring. I was thinking about modifying the tone control to bass-cut. It's not like I'm ever going to use it to cut highs, right? I can also try the Curtis Novak pickup.

Looks great!

Mine also had a s/n that indicated 1968 but the pots, which were original, were from 1971. These didn't appear in Gibson's catalog or price list until 1970.  These allegedly date from late 1969 but Gibson bass shipping totals show no EB-0L shipped until 1970 and no EB-3L shipped before 1971.

All depends on what tone you expect. The Sadowsky pre is certainly worth experimenting with if you aren't satisfied with the basic tone.

Check the wiring and note the second illustration here. I remove the .01 cap, it shunts highs to ground.

There's no sin in changing pickups, but IMHO the only advantage of Novak's options are that they look the same as the original. None of his sound samples I've heard sound as good to me as the Dimarzio Model One.