Affordable tape wounds for 5-string

[pn_day]

Hi all,

 

I've developed a bit of liking for tape wound strings (mainly on my fretless) or occasionally flat wounds. My main 2 basses are 5-strings (fretless & fretted)), and it can get quite expensive to find strings for them. My 3rd bass is a cheap wooden Steinberg (cricket bat) copy - so needs double-ball ends. 

 

Unfortunately the vendor who supplied Status with their strings has stopped - and their new supplier has much less choice (basically round wound, single end strings only). I liked their tape wound and flat wound strings - and didn't notice them feeling or sounding much worse than the more expensive alternatives (TI, La Bella etc)

 

Does anyone have any other more affordable suppliers of tape wounds, and other unusual strings like double-ball end flats?

 

I've just bitten the bullet and ordered a set of the La Bella white/copper and white/gold strings to try them out - but would prefer a cheaper alternative.

 

Cheers

Phil

[fretmeister]

The La Bella White nylons are fantastic strings, and they last for years.

Hopefully you'll like them - over the time they last they are quite cheap per year.

Edited January 5, 2022 by fretmeister

[pn_day]

A belated reply. I put the white/copper strings on my fretted Yamaha and really like them. Maybe the roundwounds that were on there before were rather old, but I didn't expect to get more HF content from the tapes when I swapped! Super comfortable and they look good.

 

I'm now going to change black tapewounds to the gold white nylon tape wounds on my fretless and see how that works. They have been on since 2018 so I don't feel too bad about changing them.