[ABG] LaBella Olinto Flats ('Fat-wound' on thin core)

[Karl Kaminski]

These are LaBellas new flats; 'fat-wound' on thin core. Theres plenty of EB samples out there.

I'll be comparing against TI jazz round/jazz flat/acousticore, Dogal Hellborg, Fisoma 2716, Aquilastrings Copper on Bioplastic, GHS pressure bronze, Labella black/gold-white, Galli Synthesis on my Furch SW5 ABG, piezo pickup.

*and special thanks to @Bassinthemudd for loaning me his Lace UltraThin USAB Pickup (bass version) just to test out and compare. Thanks man!

(Note: This is my first attempt at adding the Lace into the demos. I couldnt get a great location for the pickup due to string clearance and my thumbrest, so results could/may be better. YMMV )


First Impressions:

G 0.047" or 1.20mm
D 0.068" or 1.73mm
A 0.080" or 2.03mm
E 0.107" or 2.72mm
B 0.128" or 3.25mm​

The Olintos are quite stiff and just don't really seem to want to be on an ABG. They're EB strings at heart and 'really hot' with the Lace mag pickup. To me, these just feel/sound/play like Labella's Gold flats (not Gold-White Tapes). While I havent played any of the other LaB flats, from what I can glean on TB, the Olinto's are in the same feel/character.

These don't work for my style, but they are strong and thumpy. They are very similar to the Galli Synthesis, but with a MUCH nicer smooth sustained decay, though not as nice of an attack. I imagine these would be great on a fretless with traditional mag pups.

B string:
Acoustically it was really dead, though with the pickup had a strong signal.

 

[Karl Kaminski]

DEMO:

All audio tracks are DRY/no processing/no plugins. Only leveling the input gain in Logic Pro so that all tracks were more or less the same output. I alternated between WA47jr/pickup/*Lace pickup channels throughout as a comparison... Headphones suggested.

Gear:
iPhone12Pro HD/30 video>
WarmAudio WA47jr Mic>
Furch SW5 bass pickup>
*Lace USAB pickup>
MOTU 8PreES>Mac Studio>Logic Pro, iMovie

 

[Bassinthemudd]

DEMO:

All audio tracks are DRY/no processing/no plugins. Only leveling the input gain in Logic Pro so that all tracks were more or less the same output. I alternated between WA47jr/pickup/*Lace pickup channels throughout as a comparison... Headphones suggested.

Gear:
iPhone12Pro HD/30 video>
WarmAudio WA47jr Mic>
Furch SW5 bass pickup>
*Lace USAB pickup>
MOTU 8PreES>Mac Studio>Logic Pro, iMovie

Great demo. The results are different than mine, mostly in that the piezo on my Applause doesn't sound very good on it's own. It does blend nicely with the USAB though. The Furch sounds great, especially mic'ed. If it's not to much trouble, would you mind mixing the WA47jr and the Lace and posting a short sample?

 

[Karl Kaminski]

sure, heres a 50/50 (Mic/Lace) mix. (both channels are ± same gain level, Dry -no plugins/EQ/Comp)

 

[Yahboy]

Great demo. The results are different than mine, mostly in that the piezo on my Applause doesn't sound very good on it's own. It does blend nicely with the USAB though. The Furch sounds great, especially mic'ed. If it's not to much trouble, would you mind mixing the WA47jr and the Lace and posting a short sample?

I prefer Direct mic record sound which lively and sweet. I believe nylon tape possible sound better on this kind of bass guitar.

Olinto flat maybe work better with Pbass.

my2cents

 

[NordicBard]

Eagerly waiting for you Dogal Hellborg review!

 

[Karl Kaminski]

Eagerly waiting for you Dogal Hellborg review!

me too

I actually had the Hellborgs roundwounds on the Furch, they sound/feel great! They are maybe the brightest of the sets Ive tried, but not harsh. They are very clear and bell-like. Only downside for me, is the roundwound wrap is really noisy.

Someone (Im looking at you Dogal) please send me a set of Hellborg Flats to demo

 

[Karl Kaminski]

I prefer Direct mic record sound which lively and sweet. I believe nylon tape possible sound better on this kind of bass guitar.

Olinto flat maybe work better with Pbass.

my2cents

I prefer the mic over everything too. (the mic and pup are only for comparison of how the strings sound)
I've tried LaBella 750 Black, Gold-Whites (Copper-Whites coming soon..) The Gold played/sounded the best on my bass. But for me, the nylon tape losses alot of mids and just sounds dull. But to each his own YMMV

 

[Yahboy]

I prefer the mic over everything too. (the mic and pup are only for comparison of how the strings sound)
I've tried LaBella 750 Black, Gold-Whites (Copper-Whites coming soon..) The Gold played/sounded the best on my bass. But for me, the nylon tape losses alot of mids and just sounds dull. But to each his own YMMV

I have great experience on copper white.

But you mentioned that gold white sound nice on your bass, I think the warmth tone copper white tape could sound more blooming and lacking some upper mid voice .

 

[Karl Kaminski]

Yes out of all the Labellas (Olinto Flats, Gold Flats, 750 Gold-whites Tapes, 750 Black Tapes, RX Nickles) I've tried on the Furch, the G-W were the best so far. But they were not 'it' for me.

Im actually stringing up the LaB C-W now. I did a demo of the pre-production Aquilastrings Coppers and was so struck by their feel and sound, it prompted me to make sure I try LaBella's. I may be jinxing myself, but in general the nylon wrap (both EB/DB) while generally nice in tone, doesn't feel/sound right to my hand/ear. Just my preference, YMMV.

 

[Bassinthemudd]

Although they are not acoustic strings, the EB Cobalt Flats might be interesting to try also. If I had more time, and were not happy with the strings I have on my basses, I'd do these experiments too. I'm very appreciative of your efforts, @Karl Kaminski.

 

[Karl Kaminski]

Alright, thanks for the req! I'll look into them.

Ya know Ive been hesitant to try some of the other brands on my ABG, just outta my experience with them on my EBs. Basically hex-core, bright, stiff strings tend to be non-starters for me but Im always interetesed in trying new sets. All of this demo-ing started by testing out strings for a specific ABG project, so Im looking for a very specific tone and touch. So far Fisoma, Aquilastaring Coppers would best suit that project. But still looking

(If anyone has an old set, I'd be interested in trying them to post samples)

 

[NordicBard]

I just ordered a set of Dogal Hellborg Flats - Couldnt wait anymore, LOVED what I heard on super compressed Youtube videos so it should not disappoint.

Helps being located in Europe, still expensive though.

If I dont like them they should be easy to sell and I will go back to TI.

 

[Karl Kaminski]

If you don't like them —which I doubt — I might take them if you're selling

 

[NordicBard]

If I dont like them I will donate them to science and the benefit for the masses (Your testing.).

 

[Karl Kaminski]

Just a teaser... I just installed the LaB Copper-Whites, played over an hour. They're nice but the low B has similar negatives for me as the G-W and black tapes. And in general, I don’t like the plastic-y feel (and I know alot of ppl love them) just my personal preference. But of all the LaB tapes ive tried I like the C-W the most. I'll be posting a new thread for them soon

 

[mark107]

I have a Martin B-40 bass that I have had for about 30 years. Back when they made them out of rosewood. I've had all sorts of strings in them, included the LaBella tapes. Right now I have the Thomastik Jazz Flats on it, with the action set very high. It's still easy to play, and sounds more like a real bass than anything I have tried to date. It sounds like small bass instead of a big guitar. Key is the high action. The strings are low tension, and with the high action, it really sings. While still not an upright, at least people can somewhat hear and feel it from across the room.

 

[Yahboy]

Just a teaser... I just installed the LaB Copper-Whites, played over an hour. They're nice but the low B has similar negatives for me as the G-W and black tapes. And in general, I don’t like the plastic-y feel (and I know alot of ppl love them) just my personal preference. But of all the LaB tapes ive tried I like the C-W the most. I'll be posting a new thread for them soon

Thanks for sharing. I never own AGB myself, but from your described, I do believe ABG need lighter gauge of B string to make it ring right.

Have you try Labella LTF5A before ? She has 128B string.
I don't know how she sound on ABG, but, broken in LTF4A has better upper mid present than 760FL on my pbass.

 

[woodyng2]

Just a teaser... I just installed the LaB Copper-Whites, played over an hour. They're nice but the low B has similar negatives for me as the G-W and black tapes. And in general, I don’t like the plastic-y feel (and I know alot of ppl love them) just my personal preference. But of all the LaB tapes ive tried I like the C-W the most. I'll be posting a new thread for them soon

First of all, thanks for your informative posts. I’m always on the lookout for a good flatwound string set, and I was interested in the new Labellas.
I have a semi hollow body Tune wb4 fretless that has worn the CW Labella set for over a year. I had a USAB Lace pickup installed near the bridge, and really like the sound of it. I decided a few days ago to try a set of Optima RB flatwounds on it, initially just replacing the E and G strings. I didn’t much like the sound of them for fretless, though.
And I immediately missed the slicker feel of the tapes.
(The RB set sounded great on a fretted Rickenbacker.)
I had a set of the “plain” white tapewounds lying around, so I installed the full set. They are a bit more “forward” sounding, and brighter. Seems to work really well on that bass. I have another set of copper ones on a fretted Rick,
and really love that sound, very thumpy and with a nice top end zing.

 

[Karl Kaminski]

Thanks for sharing. I never own AGB myself, but from your described, I do believe ABG need lighter gauge of B string to make it ring right.

Have you try Labella LTF5A before ? She has 128B string.
I don't know how she sound on ABG, but, broken in LTF4A has better upper mid present than 760FL on my pbass.

I havent tried the LaB LTF yet, the only Flat/Tape sets Ive tried on the Furch are listed above.
But Yes, you are correct—lower tension strings do help the corpus resonate. From the promotional materials, I mistakenly thought these might be a lower tension. I believe the lowest tension set Ive tried so far are the Fisoma Med-Lights. They are even lighter (in the hand) than TI Acousticore. The Olintos are just too stiff, the low end B/E can't fully resonate, they sound choked/dampened/muted on an ABG. (IME alot of EB sets do this)