I’ve been liking these as well. I have them on 2 of my rigs.
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Right now, still D’Addario light nickel rounds on my main bass, and D’Addario medium bottom nickel rounds on my BEAD bass.
Next up are Bass Centre Peter Hook Signature Elite rounds for my main bass, but the D’Addarios are still going strong, so I haven’t changed them yet.
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I recently tried Fender 9050 flats on my Ibanez SR300E, replacing whatever was the stock strings it came with. Great improvement. Decided I like flats.
But I’ve been watching some strings reviews, and the other strings that to me sound really good are the ERNIE BALL Cobalt Hybrid Slinky 45-105.
I’m wondering whether to put these on my Fender Jazz, or go for flats again when I need to change strings.
Has anyone tried these EB cobalts, any views on how they sound?
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On My Yamaha BB235 I currently have D’Addario XL light gauge (45-65-80-100-130) half rounds. I recently removed the tape wounds and replaced them with these half wounds. The jury is still out, but so far I like them.
On my Ibanez fretless, I just removed the tapewounds and returned to the LaBella Deep Talkin’ Bass flatwounds ( 45-65-85-105-128) that I used to have on it. I really like the sound of them, especially when using a pick.
I enjoyed the sound (and feel) of the tapewounds, but I think they are just a bit too “polite”.
My NS Wave electric upright bass still has the factory flats on it, and I see no reason to change them.
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wait, what now? let us know
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I love DR strings. I have 3 basses and they all have DR strings. I put a set of Pure Blues on my LTD and it sounds awesome now. My other 2 basses have DR Hi-Beams(Ibanez) and Fat-Beams(Fender) and they sound really good too. I’d recommend either one of those. I had the Black Beauties on my LTD before but i didn’t really care for the feeling of the coating but they sounded pretty good, but not as good as the Pure Blues.
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Alright seriously Peter we need a review 
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Love these!
My fingers love their Sun Beams - I’m a big fan of nickle wound. But I do love those DRs.
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Well, what is there to say?
- Round wound, nickel coated (or so it says).
- A little on the bright side considering it’s nickel coated, but warm lows and mids, They growl on the J, and they sound nice and juicy on the Cort Action PJ. Good sustain!
- After playing them for a couple months every other day, they still sound reasonably fresh.
- No intonation problems, keep their tune well. These strings are well-made.
- They definitely look funny on a bass with a symmetrical head stock – these strings are made for a Fender head stock:
This is probably not the type of string you want to take into a professional-grade studio, but there is no way you’re gonna beat the price/performance ratio of these strings. The DR’s I have on my TRBX304 probably do sound a bit better, but while practicing, or in a busy pub, nobody is going to hear the difference anyway. And at this price, you can slap a fresh set on for each gig anyway.
If you want to play bass on a shoestring, I’d say this is the string to get.
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Nice! And you can get new strings every month!
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Yes, but my assessment is you don’t need to. I’ve had them on the J and the PJ, and they both sound fine after a couple months. I don’t play these basses each day, but still…
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Actually with shipping to the US, they would be more than my ernie ball’s. Oh well. Great bargain for you though
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Well after liking the Fender 9050m flats so much I put on my Ibanez, these EB flats have now arrived in the post and are destined in the next few days to be fitted to ‘Freebie the Fender’ jazz bass. The reviews say they keep a lot of the tone of roundwounds, so we will see. Looking forward to trying them
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@Mark_UK I have the 5 string version of those on my Yamaha BB235 and so far they are working out fine. I actually love the tone, and they are almost as smooth as the Deep Talking Bass flats I’ve used in the past.
When I receive my new BB735 in a couple of days, I will probably put the Slinkys on it and put the old round wounds back on the BB235 to get it ready to sell on Reverb.
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Thanks @PamPurrs for the feedback on the EB’s. Good to hear they’re proving good for you.
Do you prefer them over the Deep Talking flats now?
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That’s a tough question… I like them both, but can’t say which one I like more. If it came down to a tie-breaker, the EBs win because they are way cheaper than the LaBella Deep Talking Bass flats. Money is always a game changer 
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@Mark_UK now you’ve got me thinking 
Maybe I’ll put the LaBellas on the new BB735 and do a side by side comparison.
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That would be good @PamPurrs to have a sound comparison. I think cost wise they are about the same in UK?
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I just put on DR Hi-Beams after having flat-wounds on my bass (when I bought it). The sound is SO different! It’s remarkable to a noob like me.
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I really love the EB cobalt Slinkys, But man to they rust/discolor in a hurry if you don’t play constantly and take good care to clean them up. But I tend to use Hybrid or Power Slinkys the most, Haven’t tried flat wounds or tape wounds, but after hearing them I might give them a try some day.
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