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Thomastic flats Vs La Bella low tension flats


Sibob
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Hi guys,

Interested in the opinion of guys who have specifically used both the new La Bella Low Tension flats as well as any flats in Thomastics range.
I ask because I've historically never liked the tension of flats, but trying the La Bellas was a bit of a revelation.
However their options in gauges are prohibitive, for those who have tried, how do Thomastics flats compare from a tension point of view?

Many thanks
Si

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[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1415892282' post='2604914']
Hi guys,

Interested in the opinion of guys who have specifically used both the new La Bella Low Tension flats as well as any flats in Thomastics range.
I ask because I've historically never liked the tension of flats, but trying the La Bellas was a bit of a revelation.
However their options in gauges are prohibitive, for those who have tried, how do Thomastics flats compare from a tension point of view?

Many thanks
Si
[/quote]
I've only used TI flats, but I came to them from using D'Addario EXL170BTs and the tension is nigh-on the same. To me the TI's are just perfect tonally and feel wise. I can't recommended them enough!

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You should've tried my basses at the bash. My JV has Bella's on and my Ric has TI's. I'm not sure about low tension Bella's tho, mine are just standard flats. Overall I prefer the B's,they feel a better quality than the T's. They are a higher tension, but not like Chromes. Saying that, the T's are a lighter gauge, so it's hard to compare accurately. It just comes down to feel, so in that respect you'll have to buy some and see.

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I'd love to try the new LaBella Low Tension too. The "normal" Bellas are to hard on my fingers. None of the shops we visited in NYC in the summer had LTs, either on a bass for us to try or even simply to buy as a shrinkwrapped set. :(
I have used Thomastiks on my Corvette, and I love them, but sometimes they can be too floppy even for my little hands, and either require a truss rod tweak to avoid buzzing or some care to avoid digging in when I play.
I know what Si means when he mentions gauges - the Thomastik low B is huuuge (and doesn't fit in the bridge of any of my Rockbasses), so that can be a problem. But the sound of TIs is awesome.

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I'd be interested in the comparison too - I tried LaBella's lightest flats (760FX - 039 to 096) but they were still higher tension than TI's and flared up my tendon issues, although i really liked the sound. I've only just heard of these low tension labella's.

I can't imagine the LaBella's will be lower tension than TI's though, TI's are amazingly easy to play.

Edited by tedmanzie
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[quote name='Billy Apple' timestamp='1415976860' post='2605792']
Si, if you're in Slough you are welcome for a cup of tea and a fiddle
[/quote]

An ideal evening in my books! Will try and sort something out over that way :) Cheers bud.
The La Bella Low Tensions felt great on the Precision I had a quick play on, but as mentioned, the the TI's have more options for gauges.

Cheers
Si

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[quote name='Sibob' timestamp='1416228909' post='2608078']
An ideal evening in my books! Will try and sort something out over that way :) Cheers bud.
The La Bella Low Tensions felt great on the Precision I had a quick play on, but as mentioned, the the TI's have more options for gauges.

Cheers
Si
[/quote]

TIs only have one option for gauge :blink:

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Ok I strung the P with the LaBella LTs!

I actually got a dodgy A string which is all rough like it's not wound properly and not nice and smooth like the other 3 so bassdirect are sending me a new A to replace.

Tension wise these are a little bit tighter than TI's to fret, and they don't do the rubber band thing that the TI's tend to do when plucked. I actually much prefer the feel but unfortunately even this minor difference in tension has got the old left arm hurting again, so it seems like I'm really 'stuck' with the TIs being the only flats I can play and the LaBellas are likely to be in the classifieds pretty soon...

As they have only had two hours use I don't want to conclude anything about the sound. My initial impressions are that they are a bit more classic Motown sounding - maybe a bit deeper, whereas the TIs have a slightly more upper mid woody sound (slightly). I tend to use a pick and the LaBellas seem to sound a bit better than the TIs with a pick. Fingerstyle (which I'm not very good at) was very similar to my ears, but I like to play fingers with the tone rolled right off anyway so there's not much in it even with new LaBellas v old TIs.

SImilar gauges between both.
If I didn't have the sore left arm I'd keep the LaBellas as I like the 'twangier' feel for the picking hand.

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I got a chance to try a pair of basses last night - first was a Bass Collection Bruce Thomas strung with La Bella LT's and the second was a '78P with TI's.

LT's had been gigged once and the TI's were brand new.

The TI's felt lighter tension to the extent of feeling like thinner gauges but they are identical other then a 42 vs 43 G string.

LT's felt smoother and more how I generally think of flats. TI's had a bit of an 'edge' to them but still very slinky. I found it easier to bend notes on the TI's and enjoyed how they felt to play.

Although both were P basses I'm not sure it's fair to compare them tonally because they were such different core tones (I'm one of those stubborn people that believe you can hear the differences between woods, age and pickups and that all P basses do not sound the same as each other!).

For reference I also had another Fender P on hand strung with much heavier tension flats. Both the LT's and TI's were easier for me to play and I preferred both but there was something quit refreshingly 'vintage' feeling about the higher tension ones and they immediately had me reaching for the tone control and winding it all the way off.

My net feeling was that I'm going to sling an old set of TI's I have on my Lull P again to remind myself how they sound on a bass I know well :)

Edited by molan
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