La Bella Strings - Your Thoughts?

[monkmiles]

I've tried LaBella, D'Addario and Thomastik-Infeld. The Thomastik-Infeld felt thinner than they were listed...the 12s felt like 11s. My favorite is a D'Addario Chrome 12s...feel good to me and inexpensive.

[M-ster]

Aside from the nylon tape-wound, the Labella flats are all steel, vs. nickel wrapped, correct? (I couldn't find any nickel-wrapped, while searching.)

[LaBellaStrings]

Hello Jazz Guitar Members!

This is La Bella Strings based in New York. We wanted to clarify some questions that came up on this thread.

Here are some notable La Bella jazz artist who play our ELECTRICS Flat Wounds: Andreas Oberg, Pat Martino, John Pizzarelli, U-Nam, Bruce Foreman.

We do in fact make a pure nickel set: "NICKEL 200 ROLLER WOUND SERIES". This set is made of pure nickel wire which is compressed into an oval shape, ideal for jazz guitar players.

Regarding our 20PH sets, we haven't changed our construction in years. If anyone happens to have any issues with any of our sets, please email info@labella.com and someone will get back to you within 24 hours!

Best,
La Bella Strings

[Moonray]

M-ster, The packaging for Labella flats just says "Flat Wound Stainless"
...also in their on-line catalog. So they don't specify, stainless steel,
but they certainly look and feel like it to me.

[SamBooka]

mine are stainless nylon...

[JKR]

Greetings to all,

This is my first post on your fine website and group. I don't post very much and don't spend a lot of time on the computer, but I just happended to stumble into this LaBella thread and it hit a nerve! I thought I'd respond.

I've had the same experience as Moonray with regard to a disappointing change in LaBella 20PCM (12-52) Flatwound strings. The "silk" wrap is now light blue, the string wrap is lighter color and different, the string feels lighter and more course, the 6th string is thuddy. I was told there was no change other than the color of the end wrap ---- well... I took off a new set and replaced an old, used set 3 years old and the old set with the dark end wrap and darker , smoother steel wrap sounded better than the new set.

Somethings different and I'm not happy about it. I loved the sound of the old strings on my L5.

regards to all -

JKR

[arnie65]

First off, yes I know there are a bunch of threads on string discussions, but I wanted some fresh new opinions, especially because we're always experimenting with new strings and making new discoveries.

So I bought an Eastman T146 yesterday at Guitars n' Jazz (if you haven't checked this place out and you live relatively close to NYC, do yourself a favor and visit GnJ in Summit, NJ. I've purchased 3 archtops from there) and Lou threw in two pairs of some strings.

I was originally gonna go for Thomastiks but when I told Lou I never tried La Bellas, he urged me to try them.

Sadowsky strings have been my go-to string set ever since I tried the about a month ago. I think La Bellas feel very, very similar the them. They're very, very smooth feeling and nicely balanced...not too bright, not too dark.

Thomastiks were really nice strings, but I thought they were a little thin sounding and I didn't get a really good life out of them.

I'm really having a hard time deciding on one string brand, and I need to so that I can have my guitars set up specifically for those strings.

Does anybody swear by La Bellas? And does anybody believe in sticking with one brand for the sake of a consistent setup?

Also, do you guys know if any well known players use La Bellas? I'd be curious to see...

La Bella strings have been around for ages and stood the test of time for jazz guitarists from Johnny Smith,Tal Farlow, Bucky Pizarelli and John Pizarelli, Mundell Lowe, Pat Martino, Sal Salvador, Bruce Forman, Joe Pass, and the list goes on and on... Every Guild guitar from the 50's until the late 80's used to come with La Bella strings from the factory. Even George Benson used them for many years until he got endorsed by Thomastik Infeld. La Bella got it right from the start and never changed their ways, they last quite a long time, and if you use their tapewound strings, you won't have to change strings for years sometimes. I've tried many brands, only to come back to La Bella everytime.



Cheers,
Arnie...

[iim7V7IM7]

Hi,

I normally play Thomastik-Infeld Bebop Thomastik Jazz BeBop BB113 Medium Lights which I have been very happy with other than that they are very expensive. Which La Bella's should I try as an alternative.

Bob

[Pothcra]

If I can add my brick to the wall, I've been testing many brands of strings for my Eastman 805 in the last 2 years. Yesterday I put on the 20PH flat wound 15-56. They are what I was looking for, plain and simple. Very clear, great tone, sounds very good unplugged AND plugged. I don't need to search anymore.

[arnie65]

Hi,

I normally play Thomastik-Infeld Bebop Thomastik Jazz BeBop BB113 Medium Lights which I have been very happy with other than that they are very expensive. Which La Bella's should I try as an alternative.

Bob

I would try the La Bella 20PM if you're used to playing 13's, although I believe strings are like shoes. you should buy and use the ones that feel comfortable to your hands regardless of price or brand. Another consideration is the type of tone you like, dark, fat, bright? Some folks like a dead tone without any sustain, in any case, use what's comfortable to you! I use the 20PCM, but that's a high as I can go, I wish I could play with the 14's or 15's since they give you a fatter tone, but my hands can't take em'.




cheers,
Arnie..

[iim7V7IM7]

I am guessing:

TI Swings = LaBella 20PM flat wounds .013 -.053
TI Bebops = EL-JM nickel plated round wounds .013-.056

Bob

I would try the La Bella 20PM if you're used to playing 13's, although I believe strings are like shoes. you should buy and use the ones that feel comfortable to your hands regardless of price or brand. Another consideration is the type of tone you like, dark, fat, bright? Some folks like a dead tone without any sustain, in any case, use what's comfortable to you! I use the 20PCM, but that's a high as I can go, I wish I could play with the 14's or 15's since they give you a fatter tone, but my hands can't take em'.




cheers,
Arnie..

[arnie65]

I am guessing:

TI Swings = LaBella 20PM flat wounds .013 -.053
TI Bebops = EL-JM nickel plated round wounds .013-.056

Bob

I would think so....




Cheers,
arnie..

[Donelson]

Labella flatwounds are THE best, IMO. I have used them for 30 years or so. In the "pre-internet days", they were sometimes hard to find, even in NYC, so I tried over the years pretty much every brand. No other is as good overall. Usually I have used the 13-53 set, but on another axe I now use the 15-56 set. I always swap out the E & B for 14 & 18, with either set. I can use those leftover strings on other guitars.

The extra plains they give you, is a real pro touch. Everyone knows that the plains need to be changed more often than the wounds.

Also, the Labella wounds withstand multiple boilings, each time sounding & feeling like a new set. I'd say from years of doing that, that you can boil those wounds at least three times. I've NEVER had a Labella flatwound string break.

I will attest that the most recent sets of these strings, that I got a few months ago, are identical in sound & feel to what they were selling in 1980 when I first started using them. The package looks different, but the strings are the same.

Charlie

[Jazz_175]

As for the flatwounds I prefer D'Addario and TI,
however I liked the LaBella Nickel Plated RoundWound ELJL 12-52
which I found similar to D'Addario EJ21 12-52

[iim7V7IM7]

Hi,

I have enjoyed playing 3 sets of strings on my archtop.

TI Bebop .013-.053 (round wounds)
Sadowsky Jimmy Bruno Signatures .013-.052 (half rounds)
TI Jazz Swings .013-.053 (flat rounds)

Recently, I did explore some new strings on my flat top and was happy to find an number of new sets that I liked. So I think that will give the La Bella's and a few others a try.

Round Wounds

Benedetto Jazz Guitar Medium .013-.056 JG-M
John Pearse Nickel Wound Jazz .013-.056 2900
La Bella Nickel Plated Round Wound .013-.056 EL-JM
Newtone Archtop Nickel .013-.056 AM-M

Flat Wounds

La Bella Flat Wounds .013-.053 20PM
Pyramid Gold Pure Nickel Flat Wound .013-.052 GF613

:-)

Bob

[Django Sentenza]

Greetings to all,

This is my first post on your fine website and group. I don't post very much and don't spend a lot of time on the computer, but I just happended to stumble into this LaBella thread and it hit a nerve! I thought I'd respond.

I've had the same experience as Moonray with regard to a disappointing change in LaBella 20PCM (12-52) Flatwound strings. The "silk" wrap is now light blue, the string wrap is lighter color and different, the string feels lighter and more course, the 6th string is thuddy. I was told there was no change other than the color of the end wrap ---- well... I took off a new set and replaced an old, used set 3 years old and the old set with the dark end wrap and darker , smoother steel wrap sounded better than the new set.

Somethings different and I'm not happy about it. I loved the sound of the old strings on my L5.

regards to all -

JKR

I had the same problem. There seems to be some inconsistency. At first I thought it was a problem with the guitar, as I'd done some setup recently, but no, I switched back to the old dark blue wraps and they sounded better.

I've had the problem on two sets of the new light blue wraps now. On one set of .012s, both the low E and A were very dark and thuddy, but the rest of the strings sounded great. By dark and thuddy I mean it literally sounded like I was palm muting those two strings, when I wasn't. On the next set (.015s), it was only the A that was a problem. Luckily I had an extra G bass string from a short scale Labella set that is approximately the right size for a guitar A string. It sounds great, and now matches the rest of the guitar set.

It seems like they're having some quality control issues. I never encountered these problems in the old dark blue wound set. I wish I'd stocked up on them.

[Django Sentenza]

I had the same problem. There seems to be some inconsistency. At first I thought it was a problem with the guitar, as I'd done some setup recently, but no, I switched back to the old dark blue wraps and they sounded better.

I've had the problem on two sets of the new light blue wraps now. On one set of .012s, both the low E and A were very dark and thuddy, but the rest of the strings sounded great. By dark and thuddy I mean it literally sounded like I was palm muting those two strings, when I wasn't. On the next set (.015s), it was only the A that was a problem. Luckily I had an extra G bass string from a short scale Labella set that is approximately the right size for a guitar A string. It sounds great, and now matches the rest of the guitar set.

It seems like they're having some quality control issues. I never encountered these problems in the old dark blue wound set. I wish I'd stocked up on them.

Actually, I forgot, make that TWO new sets of Labella flat .012s, where both the E and A were very dark and thuddy.

[Frank67]

Hi,

I have enjoyed playing 3 sets of strings on my archtop.

TI Bebop .013-.053 (round wounds)
Sadowsky Jimmy Bruno Signatures .013-.052 (half rounds)
TI Jazz Swings .013-.053 (flat rounds)

Recently, I did explore some new strings on my flat top and was happy to find an number of new sets that I liked. So I think that will give the La Bella's and a few others a try.

Round Wounds

Benedetto Jazz Guitar Medium .013-.056 JG-M
John Pearse Nickel Wound Jazz .013-.056 2900
La Bella Nickel Plated Round Wound .013-.056 EL-JM
Newtone Archtop Nickel .013-.056 AM-M

Flat Wounds

La Bella Flat Wounds .013-.053 20PM
Pyramid Gold Pure Nickel Flat Wound .013-.052 GF613

:-)

Bob

Dear Bob,

I am interested in the outcome of your experiment. I have so far homed in on very similar strings (TI Bebops, TI Swing or Benson flats and have some Sadowsky Jimmy Bruno on the way for a trial - they are hard to get in Europe and i have them shipped from the US which is clearly too expensive to do it on a regular basis). If you don't mind sharing your experiences I would be interested to hear about it.

[LaBellaStrings]

Hello Forum Members,

This is La Bella Strings based in New York.

Please contact info@labella.com if you have any issues with ANY of our strings and we will gladly replace them. We are committed to 100% customer satisfaction across all of our products.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

[Django Sentenza]

Hey, Labella just responded to my email to them and offered to replace the defective strings. Good show!

[Jabberwocky]

Hey, Labella just responded to my email to them and offered to replace the defective strings. Good show!

I'd like to know if La Bella is going to replace your defective strings with the same light blue wrap strings.

Please share your experience with the replacement strings here. I'd be keen to know if the problem reported has been resolved.

[LandonEavers]

La Bella strings have been around for ages and stood the test of time for jazz guitarists from Johnny Smith,Tal Farlow, Bucky Pizarelli and John Pizarelli, Mundell Lowe, Pat Martino, Sal Salvador, Bruce Forman, Joe Pass, and the list goes on and on... Every Guild guitar from the 50's until the late 80's used to come with La Bella strings from the factory. Even George Benson used them for many years until he got endorsed by Thomastik Infeld. La Bella got it right from the start and never changed their ways, they last quite a long time, and if you use their tapewound strings, you won't have to change strings for years sometimes. I've tried many brands, only to come back to La Bella everytime.

Cheers,
Arnie...

Hi Arnie I'm curious, do you happen to recall where you might've heard that George Benson may have used to use Labella strings before TI's? I have been trying for years to find out what strings he would have been using in the 70's and 80's, and can't ever seem to find any information on this...trying to chase down anything I can on it! I'm curious what he would've been using in the Breezin' days, as well as in the 80's when he did a lot of high speed "shredding" live, as everyone was doing at that time...(Live with Earl Klugh, live at Montreux 86, etc).

He's always just said he uses "12's" for playing live. In the 80's clips, it definitely sounds like a 12 & 16 on the plain strings but those wound strings seem like they COULD be slinkier than standard 24w-32-42-52...
I can't help but wonder if he or his guitar tech started using mixed/custom gauges with thinner G, D & A strings like his current TI signature set is (12-16-20w-28-39-53), especially if they were using stiffer flats like Chromes, etc.

However, if he really was just using off-the-shelf set of 12's back in the day live, I'd love to try and narrow down what it might've been, for context of what I'm hearing and seeing him do.

[DawgBone]

LaBellas are my favorite.

[starjasmine]

I've used LaBella Electric Nylon Tape 14-67 for over 10 years, maybe 20, and have been very happy with them. In all that time I had only one set that did not intone correctly out of the box. IDK what it was, but once I replaced them, everything was fine again. They do last a long time for me - I don't bend strings on the archtop, I wash hands before I play, and I wipe the strings down (the whole guitar, actually) with a clean cloth after I play.

[nyc chaz]

I've used LaBella Electric Nylon Tape 14-67 for over 10 years, maybe 20, and have been very happy with them. In all that time I had only one set that did not intone correctly out of the box. IDK what it was, but once I replaced them, everything was fine again. They do last a long time for me - I don't bend strings on the archtop, I wash hands before I play, and I wipe the strings down (the whole guitar, actually) with a clean cloth after I play.

If you try Galli Jazz Tapes you might like them better.The Labella jazz Tapes i found to be too rubberband like.The Galli's are a little stiffer but still give you all the qualities of Labella.