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String advice on tension/gauge


Jaykingfunk
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Evening all,

I'm looking to purchase a set of flatwounds and I'm a bit confused over the tension thing! Done a bit of reading but I'm more confused than before I started!

I usually go for 105 - 85 - 70 - 50 in round wounds but the flats are going on my Jazz and I prefer a slightly thinner string for that, like a 105 - 85 - 65 - 45 set as I like are thinner D and G. Looking at La Bella's and there are tonnes of variations with number and letters which I'm assuming refer to the tension?!

With the rounds I use Ernie Ball and have never thought about tension, just the gauge. I've tended to go for a thicker gauge recently as I play really hard! I don't use a pic either but I just seem to pull at my strings quite aggressively when I'm in the groove! I don't like strings to feel like elastic bands that move all over the place too easily, if that makes sense?!

So, any advice on what tension/gauge you guys think I'm after would be hugely appreciated. I'm after a 5 string set too.

Cheers, J.

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I usually use round wounds at 45-105, and recently i've switched to La Bella flats 760FL which are 43-104, and feel pretty much the same tension as the 45-105 rounds.

But I have had Rotosound flats before which were only 40-100 and felt really stiff compared to the same tension round wounds.

La Bella 760FL probably a decent middle of the road gauge, which handle being tuned down to E flat too.

Don't know what they offer as an equivalent five string set tho.

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Don't forget that what a lot of players call "tension" is actually down to the compliance (or stiffness) of the string and has nothing to do with the actual tension but is affected by the materials and construction of the string which can be quantified (although AFAIK no manufacturer does) and factors on the actual bass itself such as the break angles over the saddles and nut as well as the amount of dead string between the nut and machine head post and the bridge saddle and the bridge anchor point.

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