La Bella 0760M Deep Talkin' Bass Originals (.052–.110): the Jamerson set

Reviewed by the Change Your Strings editorial team · 2026-07-10

La Bella 0760M Deep Talkin' Bass Originals (.052–.110), known as the 1954 Original or the Jamerson set, is the heavy-gauge flatwound that defines the Motown bass sound. Thumpy, warm, dark, and low-top-end, the opposite of a Rotosound. La Bella's product page credits it as the set behind Motown's 1960s gold records. Pick it for Motown, soul, R&B, reggae, and any gig where you want the bass to sit deep instead of cut through.

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Anatomy

Model: La Bella 0760M Deep Talkin' Bass Originals
Variant: 0760M is the 4-string cut; also sold in 5- and 6-string counts. Long-scale (34") fit only, no short-scale cut
Gauge: .052 – .110 (heavy)
Gauge set: .052, .073, .095, .110
String count: 4 strings
Core wire: Steel
Wrap wire: Stainless steel flatwound (polished flat ribbon)
Plain strings: None, all four strings are wound
Coating: None, uncoated
Intended scale: Long (34") only; La Bella's short-scale flatwound options are separate SKUs (e.g. 760FM-S)
Intended tunings: Bass E standard primary
Tension: Very high; .110 E string is significantly heavier than a standard .105 round
Launched: Deep Talkin' line dates to the 1950s; this gauge is marketed as the '1954 Original,' the Jamerson reference set
Package: Single pack

Construction

Core wire: Steel.
Wrap wire: Stainless steel flatwound, polished flat ribbon instead of round wire, which kills top-end and string noise.
Plain strings: None, all four strings are wound.
Coating: None.
Scale: Long (34") only. La Bella's short-scale flatwound options, like the 760FM-S, are separate SKUs.

Tone

Flatwound is a different instrument from roundwound. The Deep Talkin' Flats have almost no high-end sizzle, no finger squeak, no pick attack, no slap snap. What you get instead is enormous low-mid fundamental and the thump that Motown, Stax, and jazz records rode for four decades. The .110 E string is a cannon.

Compared to other common bass sets:

	La Bella 0760M Flats	Rotosound Swing Bass 66	D'Addario XL Nickel
Wrap material	Stainless flat	Stainless round	Nickel-plated round
Brightness	2/10	9/10	6/10
Tension	Very high	Medium	Medium
Best for	Motown, soul, vintage	Rock, prog, slap	Session, versatile
Price tier	$$$	$$	$$

Best for

Motown and soul: the Jamerson pocket. No other set sits the way flats do.
Vintage R&B: Stax, Muscle Shoals, early Philly.
Reggae and dub: with the tone knob rolled back, flats deliver the dub "boom."
Jazz fingerstyle: dark upright-adjacent tone on a fretless or fretted P-bass.
Studio session work where the producer wants "old" bass.

Worst for

Slap funk: no top-end snap. Use rounds.
Modern rock and metal: too warm, not enough definition under distortion.
Pick-attack-forward rock: the attack gets buried.
Beginners: the heavy .110 E string is physically harder to play than a .100 or .105 round. Start on rounds and graduate to flats.

Who plays them

James Jamerson: the defining Motown bass tone. La Bella's own product page credits the 0760M as the set behind "virtually every Motown gold record in the 1960s," and Fender's James Jamerson tribute bass ships with "La Bella flatwound strings, just like the ones he used."
Donald "Duck" Dunn: La Bella names Dunn directly on the 0760M product page as a player of the same strings across his Stax sessions with Otis Redding and Booker T. & the M.G.'s.
Chuck Rainey: a listed La Bella artist (the brand's own roster today centers on a nickel roundwound model); Bass Player Magazine's flatwound roundup names him alongside Jamerson, Jerry Jemmott, and Duck Dunn as a player of La Bella's Original 1954 Vintage flatwound set, the direct ancestor of the 0760M. A MusicRadar career retrospective separately documents flatwounds on his vintage P-Basses through the Aretha Franklin and early Steely Dan sessions, before he added Smith and D'Addario roundwounds to his rotation.
Paul McCartney: used flats on the Höfner for most of the Beatles catalog (Pyramid flats, a close cousin), though the Rickenbacker often took rounds.

Install and break-in

Loosen all strings evenly before removing. Flats hold tension harder than rounds; don't shock the neck.
Wipe the fretboard clean, flats trap less grime than rounds, so start clean.
Install E first (heaviest), then A, D, G. Three wraps per post.
Stretching: flats need less stretching than rounds. Tune, stretch once at the 12th, retune, done.
Break-in: 1–3 gigs of playing before the top end rolls off fully into the mature Deep Talkin' tone.

Verdict

If you want the Motown sound, there is one answer: La Bella's 0760M Deep Talkin' Bass Originals, the .052–.110 heavy-gauge "1954 Original" set. No substitute does the pocket the same way. It's not a beginner set, the tension is high and the tone is an acquired taste, but for vintage R&B, soul, and deep-pocket fingerstyle, nothing else competes.

La Bella

0760M Deep Talkin' Bass Originals (.052–.110)

.052 – .110

Price tier: $$$

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Playing rock or prog instead? See the Rotosound Swing Bass 66 review.
Lighter and easier to play, same broader Deep Talkin' family: La Bella 760FL Deep Talkin' Flats.
Bassist spotlights that use this set: James Jamerson and Paul McCartney.

Frequently asked questions

Why are these gauges so heavy?

The 0760M is a heavy-gauge flatwound, .110 on the E string is much heavier than a standard .105 roundwound set. The heavier gauge gives more fundamental and more thump, which is what defines the Jamerson pocket. Expect higher string tension and a stiffer feel than you're used to.

Will they fit a modern bass?

Yes, long-scale (34") Precision, Jazz, and most modern 4-strings take the 0760M. La Bella doesn't cut the 0760M for short scale; the closest heavy-gauge option for a short-scale bass is the 760FM-S (.049–.109 medium). Double-check that your nut slots are cut wide enough for a .110 E string; you may need a slight nut file.

Do flatwounds ever sound bright?

Not really. Flats are warm and thumpy by design. A fresh set has slightly more top-end chime for a week or two, then settles into its signature dark tone and stays there for years. Many players prefer a broken-in flatwound and never change strings.

Flats vs. rounds, which should I start with?

If you're playing rock, prog, metal, or modern slap: rounds (Rotosound, D'Addario, Ernie Ball). If you're playing Motown, soul, vintage R&B, reggae, or want a dark upright-ish tone: flats. Flats don't do cut-through-the-mix brightness; rounds don't do Motown warmth.

How long do flatwounds last?

Years, in normal use. Many Motown and jazz bassists keep the same set on for 5–10+ years. The tone stabilizes after break-in and barely changes. Wipe the strings after every session and they'll outlive the bass's fretboard.