Flatwound recommendations for Martin OOC 16GTAE Acoustic bass?

spike42

spike42

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Oct 21, 2007
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#1
Hi, sorry to start (yet another) question about flats, but here we are :) I recently purchased something I've been after for quite some time,
a used Martin OOC 16GTAE thin-body acoustic bass (34" scale) as seen here:

www.thebassshopseattle.com

Martin OOC 16GTAE Acoustic/Electric | The Bass Shop

This is one of the best acoustic basses we've ever played. Surprisingly loud played acoustically, especially with the thinline body. The size of the bod...
www.thebassshopseattle.com www.thebassshopseattle.com

The bass came to me with tapewounds, which I've tried to love but it ain't workin' :) I typically play flats on my Fenders and the like, with a
preference for Labella 760FL and more recently the Low Tension Flats. Other preferences include Dunlop flats and sometimes GHS. In general I like
some tension, but not bridge cables - somewhere between TI Jazz Flats and the '54 Jamerson set. I do have previous experience with putting flats
on a Breedlove ABG I had for awhile, but that bass had through-bridge stringing, where this Martin has bridge pins.

I'll probably bring the bass to a local tech for installation and setup, due to the pin construction and my suspicion that some nut work may be required
since those tapes are so very fat and wide. They will install anything I supply, but before doing so I was hoping to get some input on what to order.
Should I be concerned with tension on a Martin neck? Would I need extra length to accommodate the bridge pin construction? Should I avoid strings
with silks at the ball end?

All that said, my initial thought was to just get the Labella Low Tension set, which I do love on my Jazz Bass.....but they come in regular long scale
and also extra-long, which again I'm not sure how much extra string length may be required with bridge pins.

Any thoughts or suggestion welcome!
 
#2
spike42 said:
Should I be concerned with tension on a Martin neck?
Click to expand...
Not really. The neck should be just as sturdy as an electric bass one. You should be careful for top bulge behind the bridge, and/or bridge lift.

What specific tapewounds is the bass currently wearing? silk colour? ball-end colour? There might be a chance the set's total tension is known, which would give you a reference point of how much tension the instrument has been proven to withstand.
Would I need extra length to accommodate the bridge pin construction?
Click to expand...
Here too you don't have to guess. Mark the current G string at the bridge saddle with a sharpie, loosen it, remove it from the pin hole, check the length between sharpie mark and ball end, add it to 34" and let us know.
Should I avoid strings with silks at the ball end?
Click to expand...
Ball-end silk, especially at the low B and E, does sometimes clash with the presence of a bridge pin, in which case you need to pick strings that are silkless at the bridge end in the first place, manually remove silk from the problem strings yourself, or carve the pin slot wider.
 
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#3
Hi, thanks so much for your detailed reply! I'm not sure what brand the tapes are, but specifically the silks at the headstock are a
dark blue. And now that I look closer, there are silks at the ball-end but they appear to have been scraped back. What little that
remains is the same dark blue.

I will check that G string length and report back; thanks again! :)
 
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#5
spike42 said:
Hi, thanks so much for your detailed reply! I'm not sure what brand the tapes are, but specifically the silks at the headstock are a
dark blue. And now that I look closer, there are silks at the ball-end but they appear to have been scraped back. What little that
remains is the same dark blue.

I will check that G string length and report back; thanks again! :)
Click to expand...
Do they have color-coded ball ends, gold-red-black-green (E-G)?
 
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#6
spike42 said:
Hi, thanks so much for your detailed reply! I'm not sure what brand the tapes are, but specifically the silks at the headstock are a
dark blue. And now that I look closer, there are silks at the ball-end but they appear to have been scraped back. What little that
remains is the same dark blue.

I will check that G string length and report back; thanks again! :)
Click to expand...
If the ball-end colour is green, they should be D'Addario ECB92. Which means total tension is circa 146 lbs, which in turn means, assuming bridge and top are dandy right now, that the La Bella LTF-4A (135 lbs) will be absolutely fine, as probably will the DTB 760FX set. You might venture a little tighter (...at your peril ;)).
 
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#7
They are not really flatwound, but they are compressed wound, phosphor bronze. They will work, because they will give more definition to the tone than most flatwounds, especially the thunk of chromes and the floppiness of TI's: GHS Pressurewound Bronze. They have a smoother feel than typical rounds, which is, of course, the reason that flats are looked at.
 
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#8
Just by way of update; I have now achieved a state of "analysis paralysis" :) I was unaware of the above-mentioned GHS Bronze, so I gave them
some thought and research. Further reading of TB threads on other types of tapewounds then sent me down that rabbit hole, where I'm not
sure at this point if its the tapes themselves I don't like, or just these particular strings that came on the bass. I'm thinking of trying the Labella
750C Copper Whites to test that theory.

I also found a brand-new set of Labella 760 FL flats in my stash and it occurs to me that I could try those without spending any money other than
setup fees. Since I'm still not sure what to do, I'll probably table this discussion for now, but I have learned much for the input thus far, and I
thank you again for the discussion. Please feel free to add any further thoughts!
 
#9
spike42 said:
Just by way of update; I have now achieved a state of "analysis paralysis" :) I was unaware of the above-mentioned GHS Bronze, so I gave them
some thought and research. Further reading of TB threads on other types of tapewounds then sent me down that rabbit hole, where I'm not
sure at this point if its the tapes themselves I don't like, or just these particular strings that came on the bass. I'm thinking of trying the Labella
750C Copper Whites to test that theory.

I also found a brand-new set of Labella 760 FL flats in my stash and it occurs to me that I could try those without spending any money other than
setup fees. Since I'm still not sure what to do, I'll probably table this discussion for now, but I have learned much for the input thus far, and I
thank you again for the discussion. Please feel free to add any further thoughts!
Click to expand...
Any response to my earlier question? See post #5.
 
#10
Hi, just pulled the G string to check the measurement as discussed above - that string has about 1 1/4" inch from where I marked
the saddle, to the ball end. Also, the ball end on that particular string is indeed green.......I hadn't removed any strings yet since I
decided to try just one more time to see if I could live with what is on there, but at this point that is a hard "no". Thanks!
 
Last edited:
#11
spike42 said:
Hi, just pulled the G string to check the measurement as-discussed above - that string has about 1 1/4" inch from where I marked
the saddle, to the ball end. Also, the ball end on that particular string is indeed green.......I hadn't removed any strings yet since I
decided to try just one more time to see if I could live with what is on there, but at this point that is a hard "no". Thanks!
Click to expand...
As mentioned above by @HaphAsSard, it appears the tapewounds you have are in fact the D'Addario Black Nylons 50-105. They have a total tension of 146 lbs.

The GHS Pressurewound Bronze, mentioned by @iiipopes, are 149 lbs. in total tension, so they're very close. One thing about the PW Bronze is they don't have any silk at either end, making it easier to fit them into the bridge pin holes. Some flats and tapes can be too thick at the ball end due to the silk adding extra thickness.

www.ghsstrings.com

Products - PRESSUREWOUND™ BRONZE - GHS Strings

Since 1964, GHS Strings has been expertly winding high-quality electric guitar strings in the heart of southwestern Michigan. As a leading manufacturer, we blend tradition with innovation to produce a wide variety of strings for electric and acoustic guitars, bass guitars, classical guitars...
www.ghsstrings.com www.ghsstrings.com
 
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#13
spike42 said:
Hi, just pulled the G string to check the measurement as-discussed above - that string has about 1 1/4" inch from where I marked
the saddle, to the ball end. Also, the ball end on that particular string is indeed green.......I hadn't removed any strings yet since I
decided to try just one more time to see if I could live with what is on there, but at this point that is a hard "no". Thanks!
Click to expand...
As @michael_t said, they are D'Addario ETB92 all right, with everything it ensues in terms of how much tension you can definitely (without having to monitor it over time) expect the bass to take coastingly.

Also, standard-long scale ones will be perfect, no need for extra-longs. In fact, the latter would be too long, and force you to wind the low E at full gauge onto the tuning post (and, in so doing, risk its breakage).
 
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#14
Excellent, thanks again for all the great support! Labella LTFs it is :) I like them on my other basses so they are a "known" commodity; tension is
about right for me and they don't feel sticky or anything else annoying. As far as sound/volume, I'm sure they will be fine.....this is just a "bedroom
bass" for me at this point. I really enjoy having an ABG sitting in a stand ready to pick up when the mood strikes. However, I've never really
liked how deep they tend to be - I know why they are that way of course, but they just feel huge. Long time ago when under the influence of
MTV Unplugged, I bought one of the original Martins; that thing was enormous! A few others have came and went along the way, but I've
long felt that this thin-body Martin was "just right". It does sound great plugged in of course, so even if the flats are not as loud as these tapes
I'll be OK.
 
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#15
spike42 said:
Excellent, thanks again for all the great support! Labella LTFs it is :) I like them on my other basses so they are a "known" commodity; tension is
about right for me and they don't feel sticky or anything else annoying. As far as sound/volume, I'm sure they will be fine.....this is just a "bedroom
bass" for me at this point. I really enjoy having an ABG sitting in a stand ready to pick up when the mood strikes. However, I've never really
liked how deep they tend to be - I know why they are that way of course, but they just feel huge. Long time ago when under the influence of
MTV Unplugged, I bought one of the original Martins; that thing was enormous! A few others have came and went along the way, but I've
long felt that this thin-body Martin was "just right". It does sound great plugged in of course, so even if the flats are not as loud as these tapes
I'll be OK.
Click to expand...

Congratulations on finding one of those Martin ABGs. I don't see them pop up often. I have one that I bought back in 2010 or 2011 and it has been a major player in my stable since then. It has been partially refretted and had a neck reset last year.

I can't really say I enjoyed using flats on it but Elixir Phosphor Bronze ABG strings have served me well. After a while, they lose the zing that rounds have and settle in to having a nice thud, but still with midrange definition. These thin-bodied Martins are definitely different than typical ABGs when it comes to strings, IME. None of the flats or tapewound strings I tried stayed for too long.
 
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