fretmeister

La Bella do a specific Mustang string through set. They list the full speaking length of the string on their website so you can check before you buy.

That’s lovely!

As it happens I really like old flats for rock and metal too. As the guitar sounds have become higher gain, seemingly year on year, adding the now so ubiquitous Darkglass type bass tone just seems to make everything thinner and fizzier. I've been writing and recording with a mate and the guitars sound ace and he wanted a DG bass tone. So we spent a solid day trying all the presets available in the Neural Parallax plugin and then tweaking them and it was getting worse by the minute. Completely lacked any balls. It got a bit better when I swapped to a flats bass as the fizz from the top disappeared but it was still bad. So I went for my Helix instead with a slightly dirtier than expected Motown sort of thing. Like Jamerson / Dunn but with the Jive preamp on it and played with a plectrum. It worked so much better. Rhythm section sounded like a unit, clear separation between guitar and bass, and the narrower frequency range of flatwounds allowed the bass to be a little louder but still not get in the way of anything else. This is the way!

Well, it's jazz so who really knows?

So they hear all the wrong notes? This is getting worse by the minute!

New strings. I mean - WTF?

I walked out of a Walter Trout gig in the first song because it was immediately painful. It was at The Stables in Milton Keynes and it was loud enough the back rows at Wembley. Out through double sets of doors into the bar and it was still too loud there. I have absolutely no doubt the people who stayed for the 2 hour set had permanently damaged their hearing. You did the right thing walking out.

DR Hi Beans for me.

I’ve never had notes becoming ill defined on a shorty just from going up a gauge.

That's entirely dependent on staying with the same brand. Some strings have far bigger gauges but are lower tension than other brand smaller gauges. I suppose we are all used to relying on gauges for tension but it really is a useless way of judging tension when swapping brand or string type. DR hexcore strings are much higher tension than their roundcore even when the gauges are the same. DR Hi-Beam 45-105 are more flexible than D'addario Pro Steel 40-100 and so on. Tension isn't the same as flexibility either. There has to be a better way! Would save us all loads of cash in failed string experiments over the years.

Nut widths on a 4 string that are over 40mm are just unfinished 5 strings. 5 strings should be limited to 44.5mm and not a micron wider! Can't argue with the tablets though. I'd have an exception for a sitting down classical / jazz gig but never ever for any singer in any genre. Totally kills the mood.

I don't think I've ever ad a problem with them either. Certainly in recent memory everything big I've got from the US has come via them. Little stuff seems to be passed over to Evri (urgh)

This forum needs to upgrade the "Ignore User" function to a "Launch the Drones" function.

He's not your mate. Not with that sort of behaviour. He's just someone you haven't buried under your patio.... yet. And I congratulate you for your self control.

I've been using it since the day it was available. I have run multiple paths, different EQ and compression settings etc etc. It still can't do a good Fuzz Face - and that's at full guitar volume, let alone the way a FF reacts to guitar volume being changed when it's first in the chain. TBF I don't think any modeller has cracked that yet.

I have strong feelings about naming inanimate objects that aren't boats. (VERY Bad language warning). the Hound sums up my feelings:

I don't like crowds so I play jazz.

My hatred of baked beans is not irrational. They deserve all the hatred I can muster. The vile taste, the vile texture. The revolting sauce they are in. They alone are reason enough for humanity to end. Anyone and everyone who had any involvement in them being not only available for sale, but actually grown and harvested at all should be propelled straight into the sun. Oh, you mean bass related? Tube amps on bass are completely pointless. Outdated, unreliable, too heavy, fragile, pointless. Once good transistor amps were available they should have been banned. Anyone and everyone who had any involvement in them still existing after good transistor amps were available should be propelled straight into the sun.

Well, the HX fuzz models are not very good, and really the filers and synths aren't great either.

If I hadn't recently had to buy a new washing machine I'd have probably emailed CC with a cheeky offer. It's so annoying having to replace necessities!

TBH I think most of the couriers are pretty similar. Apart from Evri. Absolute tossers. Of course Parcel Force won't insure instruments properly even if you buy their own additional cover. Whatever you do, get proper insurance. Third party insurance can be better. Hardcase and then loads of bubble wrap and then a double walled box. Take photos of the entire packing process for future evidence needs. If it's a bolt on, think about taking the neck off to reduce the chance of damage. No matter how you pack it, some jobsworth will claim you didn't do it well enough - so completely over-do it!

I like TI Flats on my Sandberg Lionel (Same scale and hardware as the Florence) but it is light. If 40-100 rounds are too light then I fear the ti flats would be too. They are slightly bigger gauges but they are also a lot more flexible. I have 2 other shorties. On one I have La Bella Deep Talking Flats at 45-105 and they suit it - they are quite stiff - by way of comparison, I would have the 39-96 on a long scale, so I have the 45-105 on a short. If you would have 45-105 La Bella flats on a long scale then you might need the 49-109 The other has 50-110 Dunlop roundwounds. If you want some flexibility then La Bella do their own Low Tension flats. There's only one choice of gauge. They are quite a bit higher in tension than the TI Flats but not like the DTF ones. They sound quite similar to the DTF though - so a trad flat rather than the mid pushed ti flat sound. La Bellas are a lot cheaper than Thomastik or Dunlop flats too - might find a used set to try in the classifieds. Also - the Florence has big tuners so you don't have to use specific short scale strings even for flats, so pick whatever you can find cheapest. Bass Direct is often cheapest for La Bella, Amazon for Ti Flats, and Dunlops are just mad everywhere.

I doubt they do many checks. There was a pair of Foderas at one a couple of years ago, up for sale at about £2K. IIRC they were top of the line - £25K new. There was no way they weren't stolen.