La Bella Black Tapes on a '63 P-Bass

[Undertone]

Hi Folks.

Never tried Nylon tapewounds. Thinking to put La Bella 50-105's on it but I read they're flimsy, floppy and weak in output compared with the 60-1115's (and other brands).  Small guage wire inside the 50-105's I read.

Is this the consensus view?  Looking for the conventional sound one gets out of tapewounds (not upright-like).

I won't under any circumstances alter my original '63 P-Bass (eg. widening nut etc.) so seems 60-115's are out, leaving me w 50-105 if I stick w La Bella.

Am I going to regret it?

[Beedster]

Tapes are a surprisingly lively string, I have them on both Precisions and a Jazz and they are awesome, La Bellas especially  

[uk_lefty]

There's a Scott Devine video you should be able to hunt down on YouTube where he talks about tapewounds on a P bass. It's a few years old now but I did it myself after hearing that and was very pleasantly surprised with the result.

[Jonesy]

Can you get a new nut and widen that, then you get to play the strings of your choice? 

 

I had Rotosound tapes on a Jack Casady, probably after watching that Scot Devine video, and thought they sounded good. The feel of them took a while to get used to, but they're worth a shot.

[Sibob]

I don’t mind tapes, I’ve got a set of La Bella Gold White Nylons on my Lakland 55-01 that are cool. They are very low tension and, as mentioned, livelier than you’d perhaps expect. The acoustic sound of those strings on my 55-01 is very clattery and clanky, but the amplified sound of them is great. 
 

If you have a light touch, then you’ll likely enjoy them, if you have a medium or heavy touch (or play with a pick), expect to have to change the way you play, and perhaps the basses setup, in order to avoid choking notes.

 

Honestly though, I’d just keep an old set of flats on an old p-bass. Want to try some tapes? Get a cheap Sire P or similar and chuck them on there first.

 

Si

Edited 4 hours ago by Sibob

[Undertone]

Thanks for the contributions. On the topic of 50-105's vs 60-115's though?

(Certainly, I can try tapes on another bass - granted).

[shoulderpet]

18 hours ago, Undertone said:

Hi Folks.

Never tried Nylon tapewounds. Thinking to put La Bella 50-105's on it but I read they're flimsy, floppy and weak in output compared with the 60-1115's (and other brands).  Small guage wire inside the 50-105's I read.

Is this the consensus view?  Looking for the conventional sound one gets out of tapewounds (not upright-like).

I won't under any circumstances alter my original '63 P-Bass (eg. widening nut etc.) so seems 60-115's are out, leaving me w 50-105 if I stick w La Bella.

Am I going to regret it?

Make sure you have good monitoring if you use the Labella tapes as they get buried in a mix very easily, Rotosound are better in this regard though they are noticeably stiffer feeling.