They're coming (flatwounds)...

UkerDanno

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Should be available any day...
flats.jpg
 
I heard the same thing today from my bass teacher Denny Croy at McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica. Kala seems to be one-upping the La Bella/Gold Tone flatwounds that sell for $39.95 plus shipping.

Last week I bought a set of Galli UXB810 Synthetic Core Black Coated Strings for $37.94 from strings and Beyond, that I didn't realize are coated round wounds, with the winding being very prominent, have not tried them yet. I'm pretty sure they're the same ones, certainly a better price.

Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
8 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 10 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 36)
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Ooh, very interesting. Have you ordered some Danno?
 
So these will be more like bass guitar strings, rather than the weird tubby tubbo's they come with now?
 
Ooh. Very cool. That could tip me over into getting a Journeyman.
I'll let somebody else guinea pig how they sound though.
Though what I really want is rubber floobies on the acoustic and flats on the solid-body. That may be just a matter of replacing the nut (and pulling the frets? that may be too crazy on a short scale). It looks like Kala has the same bridge for both the rubber and round-wound Journeymen.

Either way, I'll wait for somebody else to guinea pig these.

So these will be more like bass guitar strings, rather than the weird tubby tubbo's they come with now?
Yes. Currently some come with rubber tubbies like you're talking about and some come with more traditional metal round-wounds. The difference is that round-wounds are a wire core with a round cable wrapped around them. These flat-wounds are a wire core wrapped with a flat band. The sound different ("darker") than round wounds and feel much smoother to play.

There's a better description of the difference (with pictures!) at https://www.bestbassgear.com/ebass/...ference-between-bass-string-types-part-2.html
 
When I first tried to order those, I received a notice that they are out of stock, felt very much like a bait and switch scam to me.

So these will be more like bass guitar strings, rather than the weird tubby tubbo's they come with now?
The Road Toad and Aquila bass uke strings are actually polyurethane (poly), rubber is really a misnomer.

The La Bella/Gold Tone 25" scale flats are all metal, I've used them on solid body bass ukes, mini electric bass guitars and even on one acoustic bass uke. I like the poly for the full deep sound they have, and the flats for the smooth finish, especially when playing in humid conditions.
 
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Currently some come with rubber tubbies like you're talking about and some come with more traditional metal round-wounds. The difference is that round-wounds are a wire core with a round cable wrapped around them. These flat-wounds are a wire core wrapped with a flat band. The sound different ("darker") than round wounds and feel much smoother to play.

I believe they're both nylon strings wound with either rounds or flats...
 
The La Bella/Gold Tone 25" scale flats are all metal, I've used them on solid body bass ukes, mini electric bass guitars and even on one acoustic bass uke. I like the poly for the full deep sound they have, and the flats for the smooth finish, especially when playing in humid conditions.

Michael, the Gold Tone website says those flats can only be used on fretless instruments. Does that match your experience with them?
 
Michael, the Gold Tone website says those flats can only be used on fretless instruments. Does that match your experience with them?
Not at all, I use them only on fretted, including an acoustic.
LaBella 25 flats.jpg
 
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Last week I bought a set of Galli UXB810 Synthetic Core Black Coated Strings for $37.94 from strings and Beyond, that I didn't realize are coated round wounds, with the winding being very prominent, have not tried them yet. I'm pretty sure they're the same ones, certainly a better price.
I put the Galli round wound on one of my solid body bass ukes with frets and piezo pickup... boy are they bad, no matter what I did, they rattled agains the frets like crazy, and the ridges were just as noisy. They should be good for fretless, but the ridge noise will still be there, absolutely NOT FOR ME! If anybody wants them, just pay for mailing.
 
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Thanks for taking one for the team, Mike. From your description, those are definitely not for me either. But, hey the flats are back in stock. Only $49! :eek: Who wants to try? :nana:
I'm sure they'll be available from other Galli distributers for a better price, but I'm not going to be one, very happy with the LaBella/Gold Tone flats.
 
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Got the new Galli flatwounds on my Kala acoustic. I really like them. Have a little buzzing on the E string, need to let them settle in to see if that's an issue. It's nice to be able to play without an amp.
 
Got the new Galli flatwounds on my Kala acoustic. I really like them. Have a little buzzing on the E string, need to let them settle in to see if that's an issue. It's nice to be able to play without an amp.

Would love to hear a sound sample. I definitely liked the flats over the rounds in Magnus' video. Not sure if I liked "better" than the Pahoehoes though. Hmm.
 
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