Ernie BallRegular Slinky 5-String Flatwound Electric Bass Strings - 45-130 Gauge

Excellent strings. They manage to combine the snap, sustain and midrange growl of rounds with the feel, low finger noise and percussive fundamentals of traditional flats. If you want thud, these won't be your cup of tea. If you want the growl of rounds with more punch and less zing, you'll love them. Perfect for fretless as they give you plenty of 'mwah' without the wired overtones and fingerboard you tend to get from rounds. Cons? Not cheep. They have a very sticky feel at first, but they polish up relatively quickly. The silk end are concerningly thin and flimsy feeling and the have unusual installing instructions.

*Update, Ernie ball customer support have been great, sending out replacement asap. Will update when installed.While winding the G string up to tune, it snapped right at the tuner.I followed the instructions exactly and have never had this happen while restringing any bass before. They seem to be very thin up near the top.The other three strings do sound fantastic though, I’m just devastated that I will probably have to buy a whole new pack again (unless Ernie ball customer services can help me get hold of a single string)I probably won’t buy again because for the cost, it’s just too scary knowing they might snap

I love these strings! Here’s why: every set of round wound strings I’ve used have started way too bright, then mellowed to a useable level but died within 2 - 3 weeks. Every set of flat wounds have begun uneven and then become way too dark.These strings have a flat wound feel that I love and also have a lasting, even brightness with the mellowed round wound richness that usually doesn’t exist with flats. They’re a little expensive but considering I’ve put at least 2 hours on them every day over the last two months and they’re showing no sign of slowing down, I’d say they’re worth the investment.

Loved the sound, but having used for maybe an hour and a half session, wiped down and put away I then return today to find the strings corroded to the point of being unusable. I do have fairly sweaty hands but I've never seen this on any strings I've tried, including other flatwounds

Amazing texture and amazing sound. Recommended for a jazz, funk style.

I found these strings to be very "bright" indeed. They don't have a massive amount of low end tone to them. I've given them 4 stars because they are a well made product that is value for money but I'm not a fan of their tone.

Had these before. Just as good as ever

OK, so I'm aware these strings have garnered a lot of attention lately "the flat that sounds like a round". My first experience with them was short lived. I put them on a fretless bass as a selling point for that bass. I didn't use them much maybe for an hour or so, they didn't really jump put at me as being great. I'd say slightly brighter in the high mids and treble than d'addario chromes but not as rounded on the lower frequencies, more grabby on the fingers. Nowhere near as silky as Fender flats or Thomastiks. I then sold the bass on quite sharpish.I bought these strings again more recently and put them on a new fretless. First off, the low E string was rattling and buzzing uncontrollably. No matter how I adjusted the truss, action etc. I took them off to test another set of strings on the bass (which worked perfectly fine without any rattle/buzz) and noticed the E string on the EB cobalts was looking a little limp around the point before the string meets the nut (fretboard side) . I put the cobalts back on the bass and the damn D string snapped as I was tuning back up. After copious amounts of cursing and swearing at the bass, I then inspected that low E string more closely. The inner core of the string was broken and must of been from the offset.I jumped on a few on the bass forums I use to reference this issue and found this to be quite a common occurrence for these strings to have core breaks or snaps , particularly with the early batches that were manufactured. Supposedly ernie ball are quite good to deal with regarding this issue and will supply a new set.This is something to be aware of if purchasing these strings folks!