La Bella ASP-45125 Ian Martin Allison Signature Super Polished Stainless Steel Bass Strings

[crazycloud]

Anyone tried them? Opinions? I'm tempted to try some in spite of the name on them.

Something sort of bridging the SS rounds and flats would be nice, especially on the practice 5 string. 

 

[walshy]

No one tried them yet? Im intrigued...

[walshy]

Well, Ill just have to find out myself, got some on their way from La Bella direct

[BassApprentice]

1 hour ago, walshy said:

Well, Ill just have to find out myself, got some on their way from La Bella direct

Thank you for your service 🫡

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on them!

[BassApprentice]

Not the best audio - but this is a demo of a Lull IMA4 with his strings on it.

 

Sounds cool for camera only audio

 

 

Edited Wednesday at 15:17 by BassApprentice

[Jakester]

I’ve just ordered some, will report back. 

[Jakester]

18 hours ago, Jakester said:

I’ve just ordered some, will report back. 

 

Just arrived - first impressions after getting them out the packet are they are far more like round wounds in feel (whilst still coiled) than I expected - not getting the 'buttery' ATM. They feel quite similar to the D'Addario nickels on the bass currently. I'll get it all strung up and report back. 

[Jakester]

Well, they’re on, and TBH not at all what I was expecting. La Bella suggest their Superpolished strings are somewhere between a round and a flat;, but to me these sound and feel squarely in the realm of roundwound.

 

On a quick first noodle they feel almost sticky under the fingers, and at least as rough as the D’Addario nickel rounds that they replaced.  
 

In sound, they’re super zingy. I mean, really bright. I know they’re polished stainless strings so maybe this is on me, but from the description I’d expected something like some well played nickels, but these sound just like, well, new stainless rounds. The zingiest strings I’ve used were DR Stainless High Beams and these remind me of those, both in sound and feel. 
 

So, initial impressions are mixed. I’ll take the bass with them on to rehearsal at the weekend and update then. For now, I think it’s a case of slightly confused messaging with the marketing!

[franzbassist]

The regular super polished felt like played in groundwounds to me, but definitely had that clarity of steel. The stickiness went away pretty quickly on them, so hopefully the same for the IMAs.

[Jakester]

 

 

Noodle also wanted to help with the restringing,so here he is with his very own offcut:

 

[BassApprentice]

That's kind of what I've read on Talkbass. Still intrigued by others experiences, but apparently these are much more round than flat. Which kind of goes against the super polished tag line.

 

Might not be a bad string, but maybe not what you're expecting when you buy them.

[Jakester]

Just now, BassApprentice said:

Might not be a bad string, but maybe not what you're expecting when you buy them.

That’s certainly my first impression, particularly when listening to IMA’s playing and tone etc with is very often quite old school.  

[walshy]

Ok so mine have just arrived from La Bella in the states. First impressions are they feel really nice, on the flats side of things rather than rounds to my touch, smoother feeling annd not knobbly,  and they are lively as you’d expect. Not sticky at all and come with 2 tone sexy silks too😂  I use TI’s mainly as my go to flats so the tension on these is a fair bit stiffer but it feels very precise and accurate when I play. With a pic they sound glorious when you attack. Only had a 30 min noodle but so far im

impressed, which is good as I bought 4 sets.

 

I reckon when they’ve been gigged and bed in they’ll be better too. 

 

Edited Friday at 16:18 by walshy

[fretmeister]

Is there less finger sliding noise on these than a round?

[walshy]

1 minute ago, fretmeister said:

Is there less finger sliding noise on these than a round?

To me yeah, it’s not completely gone but not as bad. I reckon once they’ve bedded in it’ll be better again. 

[Sibob]

I have some on my Lakland 44-PJ. I mirror the experience of them really not being what I was expecting, as others have mentioned, way more 'roundwound' in feel than they're perhaps  marketed as. That said, for me, the texture wasn't really a make or break.....I mean as long as they don't shred your fingers right?! I would put them on par with a Nickel string, roundwound, but easy to play. My undertstanding is that IMA requested a little more left on the string than their Super Polished....so that makes sense.

Tension wise, I experience them more in the realms of the La Bella RX Nickels than their RX Steels, with the latter being a little too stiff for my liking. I wonder whether the polishing process takes a little stiffness out of the string, which is perfect for my preferences.

Sound wise I didn't experience them as zingy at all, I thought they were like nice played-in rounds, kinda like a slightly aged nickel (IME steels don't age as well as nickels).
So I gigged them and they were great, really enjoyable to play.

My main criteria was longevity, so we'll see where get to on that, IMA reckons he got a solid year out of one set, and he gigs WAY more than me....so I'm hopeful.

Watch this space.

 

Si 

[Jakester]

On 05/06/2025 at 21:38, Jakester said:

Well, they’re on, and TBH not at all what I was expecting. La Bella suggest their Superpolished strings are somewhere between a round and a flat;, but to me these sound and feel squarely in the realm of roundwound.

 

On a quick first noodle they feel almost sticky under the fingers, and at least as rough as the D’Addario nickel rounds that they replaced.  
 

In sound, they’re super zingy. I mean, really bright. I know they’re polished stainless strings so maybe this is on me, but from the description I’d expected something like some well played nickels, but these sound just like, well, new stainless rounds. The zingiest strings I’ve used were DR Stainless High Beams and these remind me of those, both in sound and feel. 
 

So, initial impressions are mixed. I’ll take the bass with them on to rehearsal at the weekend and update then. For now, I think it’s a case of slightly confused messaging with the marketing!

 

So, played them for a good few hours at rehearsal yesterday, and I'm warming to them. The slight stickiness went pretty quickly and once I was actually up and playing with others, they felt fine - as @Sibob says, like a well-played in roundwound. The sound was great, though - from sounding really toppy and bright at home, they fit really well into an ensemble context, with a really strong fundamental tone. 

 

I'll be sticking with them for now (not least because of the price!) but I'd say they managed to improve on rather mixed first impressions. 

 

 

[Sibob]

2 hours ago, Jakester said:

 

So, played them for a good few hours at rehearsal yesterday, and I'm warming to them. The slight stickiness went pretty quickly and once I was actually up and playing with others, they felt fine - as @Sibob says, like a well-played in roundwound. The sound was great, though - from sounding really toppy and bright at home, they fit really well into an ensemble context, with a really strong fundamental tone. 

 

I'll be sticking with them for now (not least because of the price!) but I'd say they managed to improve on rather mixed first impressions. 

 

 

That stickiness, according to IMA, is apparently some residue from the windings that has made its way onto  the strings, having been coiled in a pack. As you say, mine also lost the tackiness after a bit of playing in. Wasn’t present at all for my gig and I had a great time.

 

No bother at all.

Si

Edited 3 hours ago by Sibob