Pino Palladino Signature Flatwounds

[PaulHornBass]

Saw this pop up on Instagram yesterday. Ernie Ball are bringing out some Pino Palladino signature flats. Interesting as the flats I associate with Pino are TIs, which his signature Fender P comes with. I have them on all my basses and they are nicely worn in, so I might be forced to buy a new bass to put these new Ernie Ball ones on 😉

 

 

[ezbass]

I think he has been using Cobalt Flats recently, as I recall an advert of some description…

 

Found it

[PaulHornBass]

2 minutes ago, ezbass said:

I think he has been using Cobalt Flats recently, as I recall an advert of some description…

 

Found it

Interesting - did not know that! I wonder how the signature strings will differ from these. 

[ezbass]

Just found this:

 

https://blog.ernieball.com/accessories/ernie-ball-new-at-namm-2025/

 

I think that they might be Cobalt Flats, but in signature gauges.

[sky]

On 24/01/2025 at 09:22, ezbass said:

I think he has been using Cobalt Flats recently, as I recall an advert of some description…

 

Found it

hes defintely not someone i know a whole lot about but i seem to remember seeing a gear video from when he was in the who where he said he was using those because he didnt like the feel of rounds, and they were bright

[Hellzero]

43 minutes ago, sky said:

hes defintely not someone i know a whole lot about but i seem to remember seeing a gear video from when he was in the who where he said he was using those because he didnt like the feel of rounds, and they were bright

Especially if he was using Rotosound Swing Bass (66) like almost everybody back then in the U.K., and I seem to recall that it's what he used to play.

[Linus27]

He does use different strings on his fretless Stingray and his fretted P Bass etc. I think it was TI flats on the P Bass and was the lightest possible gauge of Rotosound Swing 66 but recently moved to the Ernie Ball Cobalts I think. 

[BlueMoon]

Frankly, he could use any strings and still sound amazing. Top drawer artist.

Edited Wednesday at 08:51 by BlueMoon
Spelling correction

[ezbass]

3 hours ago, sky said:

hes defintely not someone i know a whole lot about

Do some digging into his back catalogue, it’ll be a marvellous journey. If I had to name one artist who made me want to play bass, Pino is that guy (Paul Young, Gary Numan, John Mayer, The Who, D’Angelo, Joan Armatrading, NIN, David Gilmour, Don Henley, to name just a few).

[ghostwheel]

3 hours ago, Linus27 said:

He does use different strings on his fretless Stingray and his fretted P Bass etc. I think it was TI flats on the P Bass and was the lightest possible gauge of Rotosound Swing 66 but recently moved to the Ernie Ball Cobalts I think. 

He also has some La Bella flats: 

 

[Rodders]

I'd be interested to try these in Medium gauge (and see how much they end up costing), as I have been tempted by the EB "Group" Flats for a while..

[ghostwheel]

31 minutes ago, Rodders said:

I'd be interested to try these in Medium gauge (and see how much they end up costing), as I have been tempted by the EB "Group" Flats for a while..

The “Group” flats are quite different from Cobalt ones. 

The first ones become less zingy when broken in, just like the most of flats do. The Cobalt ones remain pretty bright and zingy even when broken in. Love the latter equally on fretted and fretless. 

[NancyJohnson]

I'll say from the outset that I'm not a fan of PP; I can hear the talent and realise he's a bit of a journeyman player but, as a player that is fundamentally from punky and alternative background, I was certainly not a fan of the mwah that was synonymous over so many records from the early 80s.  I absolutely hated that he became a member of NIN for a while.

 

Moving along, he's had a signature Fender bass, endorsements from other bass and string manufacturers and now we're at these strings. 

 

His early signature tone was created with a stock bass, off the shelf strings and un-modded amplification; he sounded like he did largely through his technique (which he openly admitted was drawing from Percy Jones and Mick Karn - two people not mentioned on his Wiki page).

 

So, an open question here: what do you guys think a signature set of strings is going to bring to your game?  Just because they have his name on them, what are you expecting they'll do for you?

 

 

[ghostwheel]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

So, an open question here: what do you guys think a signature set of strings is going to bring to your game?  Just because they have his name on them, what are you expecting they'll do for you?

Exactly what would strings without Pino's name on their packaging do, I suppose. 

Obviously, I haven't tried them yet and, probably, won't do it even when they're available as I'm pretty happy with the usual Cobalt flats, but having read as much as it's been revealed until now, I reckon, those strings will sound like EB Cobalt flats and feel more like La Bella except for lower tension. Maybe like D and G from a set of TI Jazz flats without being nickel plated. Quite a lot to look forward to.

[ezbass]

1 hour ago, NancyJohnson said:

So, an open question here: what do you guys think a signature set of strings is going to bring to your game?  Just because they have his name on them, what are you expecting they'll do for you?

For me personally, nothing. I’m more than happy with the 45-100 cobalt flats, a gauge I’ve used for as long as I can remember, with various manufacturers. However, for those who like the sound and feel of cobalt flats, but have issues with certain strings, due to gauge/tension (as @ghostwheel says, perhaps those coming from LaBella), these could be the answer to their desires.

[chris_b]

I wouldn't use a set of strings because Pino has his name on them. But I would use the strings that Pino is using, which, if you ignore the marketing, seem to be TI and Labella.

[BassApprentice]

2 hours ago, NancyJohnson said:

So, an open question here: what do you guys think a signature set of strings is going to bring to your game?  Just because they have his name on them, what are you expecting they'll do for you?

 

For me, it would be different gauge that wasn't available before that draws my attention.

If they are significantly more expensive than standard Cobalts, I'd be inclined to try them first then if the gauge wasn't quite right I would look at these.