La Bella 760FS vs 760FL

[Pow_22]

[font="Times New Roman"][size="3"][color="#000000"]Im after some opinions from BCers who have tried both the 760FL and 760FS La Bella flats if poss[/color][/size][/font]
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[font="Times New Roman"][size="3"][color="#000000"]Years ago I gave the FS set a try and absolutely loved the tone. Infact I recently found a recording of a gig I did with them on my P bass and the tone is excellent – thumpy but not a dead clunk, married beautifully with my P and the Ampeg valve amp I was using. [/color][/size][size="3"][color="#000000"]The reason I got rid was the tension – a bit too high and caused a fair amount of finger fatigue in my picking hand over the course of the gig.[/color][/size][size="3"][color="#000000"] [/color][/size][size="3"][color="#000000"]I get that this may well be down to my technique and have recently been looking at the Carol Keye picking technique but other flats like Status and Pyramid have never been an issue for me.[/color][/size][/font]
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[font="Times New Roman"][size="3"][color="#000000"]Ive read conflicting reports on the difference between the FL and FS sets. [/color][/size][size="3"][color="#000000"]Some say there is little to no difference whereas some say the seemingly small difference in gauge belies the rather significant difference in tension.[/color][/size][/font]
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[font="Times New Roman"][size="3"][color="#000000"]Now, I get that even issues such as tension are open to interpretation – I recently tried the supposed low tension DR Flats and found them quite high tension if im honest - [/color][/size][size="3"][color="#000000"]but to give you an idea my ‘favourite’ flats currently are the Status Hotwires – reasonably taught but have plenty of ‘give’ in them when picking.[/color][/size][size="3"][color="#000000"] [/color][/size][size="3"][color="#000000"]Give a great thump but maybe slightly TOO dead sounding after a while.[/color][/size][size="3"][color="#000000"] [/color][/size][size="3"][color="#000000"]As I remember the La Bella’s actually surprised me in the amount of sustain they had.[/color][/size][/font]

[thebuckets]

I've been wondering this very question myself. Having done a little research I've decided to try the 760FLs based on positive reports on a more balanced feel but they're only slightly different in gauge and I imagine they're both excellent sets of strings.
Sean Hurley uses the FLs so cant be bad!

[thebuckets]

got my 760 FLs strung and feel great if not a little light for me. see how they go in practice tomorrow night

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Pow_22' timestamp='1464086131' post='3056381']

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=#000000]... Ive read conflicting reports on the difference between the FL and FS sets. [/color][/size][size=3][color=#000000]Some say there is little to no difference whereas some say the seemingly small difference in gauge belies the rather significant difference in tension.[/color][/size][/font]

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I'd say the difference in gauge (FL=43-60-82-104 versus FS=45-65-85-105) belies a rather more significant difference in tension than one might expect.

Also, if it matters to anyone, FL have red silks while FS have black silks

[edpirie]

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1465153760' post='3065682']
I'd say the difference in gauge (FL=43-60-82-104 versus FS=45-65-85-105) belies a rather more significant difference in tension than one might expect.
[/quote]

Yes, agree with this. I had the FS and they had great old school thump but were too high tension for me. The FL are different enough to be significant, somewhere between the FS and TI flats which I love but are a bit too floppy for my way of playing when it comes to faster funk fingerstyle. Well worth a try.

[BassBus]

I came upon a set of FLs in a trade on here. I had only ever used Status flats which have too high a tension for me. The FLs have not just lower tension but more tone. If you like the lower tension you could try Overwater flats. Much the same tension as FLs but at a lower price and just as much tone.

[thebuckets]

i played the FLs on mon night lovely tone acoustically and have a nice feel to them. The E and A sounded a little muddy to me though . D and G were clear and bright but not too toppy. hoping they'll mellow out nicely as im getting fed up paying out for flats!