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Tapewounds, what a revelation!!


uk_lefty

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I bought some fender tapewounds a few months back when eBay did a 20% off. Eventually fitted them to my precision this week because with flats on it was getting less and less use in our increasingly funky set. What a revelation!!! Really complex tone, felt great, brilliant all rounders from thumpy to twangy, no zingyness sadly but you can't have it all.

I'm a massive believer that strings can make the biggest influence on tone over pickups and amps. 

I'm a convert. Now you're all going to tell me to buy Status/ La Bella etc!

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I have D'Addario tapewounds on my Bass Collection 4-string, and they're great too. A tiny bit too stiff for my little, Chromes-addicted fingers, but on a 4 they don't give me any trouble. What colour are yours? Mine are black and look really cool! :D

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Edited by Silvia Bluejay
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47 minutes ago, Daz39 said:

Are tapes flats with tape coverings? (Does not understand)

Mine are as described on D'Addario's website:

Quote

Designed to produce a deep, warm tone with smooth feel, D’Addario Tapewound Bass strings are wound using a flattened black nylon which is polished to an ultra-smooth finish.

I've taken that quote from here.

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50 minutes ago, Daz39 said:

Are tapes flats with tape coverings? (Does not understand)

They are usually roundwound strings with a flatwound nylon tape over the top, IIRC.

La Bella white nylons are my go to string on fretless, but they sound equally as good on fretted basses.

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Yeah I have La Bella Gold White Nylons on my Lakland 55-01, very very cool strings, love them. Low tension, so super responsive and sound great.
Actually quite bright for Nylons, so might explore the White or Copper Nylons next, however I'm in no rush, they mellow well with some mild treble reduction on the EQ.

Si

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Just had our first practice last night since fitting labella white nylons on my fretted Ibanez Atk.  They sound lovely!  Good thump and great note definition.  Sharper sounding than standard flatwounds but not zingy.  First impressions are very positive. 

I normally use 45 sets of rounds and went for the 50 set of nylons.  String tension might prove to be an issue.   Getting clicky noises through the amp which I think is caused by the string rattling of the frets immediately after plucking.  Will need to investigate a little further. ... Or maybe just play with lighter touch. 

Edited by gs_triumph
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2 minutes ago, gs_triumph said:

Just had our first practice last night since fitting labella white nylons on my fretted Ibanez Atk.  They sound lovely!  Good thump and great note definition.  Sharper sounding than standard flatwounds but not zingy.  First impressions are very positive. 

I normally use 45 sets of rounds and went for the 50 set of nylons.  String tension might prove to be an issue.   Getting clicky noises through the amp which I think is caused by the string rattling of the frets immediately after plucking.  Will need to investigate a little further. ... Or maybe just play with lighter touch. 

Yes, I had the same thing, largely resolved by playing with a lighter touch for sure!!

Si

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I was lucky enough to purchase a Rob Allen Mouse from the marketplace here and those basses are strung with La Bella 760n strings so they were my first introduction to nylon tape wounds, I liked them so much I had them put on my Squier Jaguar when I had it set up. I'm a convert.

Edited by Frank Blank
Public school resentment
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I have black tape wounds on my black (and chrome) EB3.  I admit I bought them initially for the look, but I am more than happy with both the sound and the ‘feel’.  I have flatwounds on my EB2-shape backup bass (also black and chrome!!) but will be changing to tapewound in due course.

Edited by Baxlin
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Been a fan of tapewound nearly all my playing years. Stumbled across them purely by chance, music shop in Edinburgh was closing and sold me a set of Roto Tru Bass for £5 !!

Was on a government scheme back then,it paid £16 a week so I doubt I ate much for a few days after that 😁

 

Keep a set on my single coil P-bass and on a T40 I fitted a preamp to. Tapes on an active bass work well.

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On 29/06/2018 at 09:58, uk_lefty said:

I bought some fender tapewounds a few months back when eBay did a 20% off. Eventually fitted them to my precision this week because with flats on it was getting less and less use in our increasingly funky set. What a revelation!!! Really complex tone, felt great, brilliant all rounders from thumpy to twangy, no zingyness sadly but you can't have it all.

I'm a massive believer that strings can make the biggest influence on tone over pickups and amps. 

I'm a convert. Now you're all going to tell me to buy Status/ La Bella etc!

 

Try the Labella White Nylons... they're a little different from most others. I love the standard white nylons and their 'copper' version... They're pretty low tension, which can be pretty cool too if you like bending strings. They're a lot brighter and with strong mids presence, which makes them very versatile for me: turn down tone control a bit for more 'vintage' tones, or keep it open for other stuff. Beautiful slap sound on a Precision...

 

 

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On 29/06/2018 at 11:56, gs_triumph said:

Just had our first practice last night since fitting labella white nylons on my fretted Ibanez Atk.  They sound lovely!  Good thump and great note definition.  Sharper sounding than standard flatwounds but not zingy.  First impressions are very positive. 

I normally use 45 sets of rounds and went for the 50 set of nylons.  String tension might prove to be an issue.   Getting clicky noises through the amp which I think is caused by the string rattling of the frets immediately after plucking.  Will need to investigate a little further. ... Or maybe just play with lighter touch. 

 

I needed to turn the truss rod nut a bit after fitting mine (on two different basses). They vibrate a bit more wildly than other less compliant strings and that can make a rattle sound unless you're very gentle. Once adjusted they're fine unless you have the lowest of the lowest of the actions.

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On 29/06/2018 at 12:04, gs_triumph said:

Might need to look into raising the action.... Takes a lot of effort to play lighter... Get a little excited 😁

 

The strings are so flexible that you won't find them harder to play with a higher action, I don't think, so that's a good possibility too.

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On 29/06/2018 at 12:36, Daz39 said:

Does the nylon not wear off at plucking zones?

if this is a thing to mellow a roundwound; is it similar, but different to halfrounds? (Which i use)

 

Mine are not wearing, neither the Labella whites or various other black types I've used over the years. I guess they will one day but they likely last a LONG time.

I find them different to halfwounds. They feel different to the touch... very very soft... The labella whites, which are my favourites, are roundwounds with a nylon cover... so yes, they do mellow the roundwound sound, but it's not simply "the sound of a used roundwound". The copper Labella white nylons in particular have very nice prominent low mids, all the growl I want, fat but with great definition... they can sound bright if I want them to, but tame if not... Some sound a little too thumpy with too big lows (I find many flats like that), but these are not that way, they just seem very balanced across the spectrum. They don't get as bright as roundwounds if you're after a Marcus Miller kind of sound... but they will do pretty much anything else. I find the passive tone control is really responsive when using these strings.

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My favourite strings on long scale basses have been Thomastik JF344 for well over ten years, but I put a set of La Bella white nylons on my Epiphone  thunderbird vintage pro to replace the stock roundwounds. The tension & feel is similar to the TI set, so they are very comfortable to play and I can get a big sound with a light touch - like the TIs, but I prefer the sound of the La Bellas.

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