Do tapewounds eventually die?
I've got LaBella tapewounds on my Veillette MK IV. It was made in 2001, and I believe the strings are the originals.
For the last 6 weeks or so, I've been noticing that every time I go to play, the bass is off by a half step, roughly across every string. I tune it back up, and I'm good to go, at least for a 30-45 min set. I so sometimes have to tweak mid-set though. Despite the constant necessary tuning, the action never changes, so there doesn't appear to be any difference with the neck or bridge shifting. The tone really hasn't changed much as of late, but I also am not the original owner of the bass, so I can't say what the delta is from day one.
So...do tapewounds eventually reach a point where they continually stretch? It just seems that I tune them up, they stretch out, and then I tighten them back up. If they are the original strings, they're going on 9 years...that would certainly be a record for me. I think even my longest db strings were about 5 years (I know, Ray Brown left his on for like 150 years or something
). For what it's worth, I do tend to dig in pretty hard, and often.
In all seriousness, I'm considering buying a new pair, but I'm wondering if I'm having a different issue. I've never had to constantly tune a bass this much. I do live in the northeast, and I'm used to some wood expansion and contraction during the seasons, which does screw with tuning. But this seems different altogether. In fairness, the design of the Veillette is much different than any other bass I own though (and I've got 10 at the moment). I absolutely love the bass, and the tone of the strings for that matter (though I wouldn't mind if new strings gave me a bit more brightness), I'd just like to not have to tune so often. Perhaps I've just been spoiled for the first 25 years of bass playing
.
Anyway, I'm just looking for thoughts before I lay out some cash...thanks!
