nylon string choices and nut slot modification

Arr MiHardies · #1 05-12-2011, 05:34 PM

Hey guys,
Im looking into getting some nylon wrapped strings for my Lightwave Saber VL 5 string fretless. ive never had nylon wraps before, but from the general description, i think ill like them.
the three in particular im looking into are the Rotosound Tru Bass, the GHS 3060, and the LaBella 760N-B, and wanted to know which would be the best to achieve a warm, upright sound with.
Right now, im leaning towards getting the Rotosound Tru Bass strings.

One thing concerns me though. i recently put some D'Addarrio flatwounds on my bass since the folks at lightwave for some reason shipped round wounds on a fretless bass, and found that while the .135 B string fit through the pickup/nut slot, the wrapping at the base near the nut did not. i ended up having to shave off some of the string wrapping to make the string fit. the rotosounds have a .135 gauge b string which the mfg tells me is closer to .138 after they add the nylon wrapping, and im concerned this wont fit, while the labellas and the ghs are .128 and .125 respectively. im not completely against modifying the nut slot, but the close proximity to the optical pickups (they are part of the same assembly) gives me pause to do any of this kind of modification.

and honestly, ive done some searching, so if they exist i cant find them, but why dont manufacturers make any coated flatwounds. seems to me these would be ideal for fretless bases.

Arr MiHardies · #2 05-15-2011, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arr MiHardies

Hey guys,
Im looking into getting some nylon wrapped strings for my Lightwave Saber VL 5 string fretless. ive never had nylon wraps before, but from the general description, i think ill like them.
the three in particular im looking into are the Rotosound Tru Bass, the GHS 3060, and the LaBella 760N-B, and wanted to know which would be the best to achieve a warm, upright sound with.
Right now, im leaning towards getting the Rotosound Tru Bass strings.

Bump

Anyone have any opinions or advice about the above strings?

Alexander Eddy · #3 05-16-2011, 07:15 PM

I can only comment on the LaBellas. I have them on two of my basses (a fretted esp and a custom fretless 7), and have nothing but good words to say about them. I haven't tried the others I'm sorry. Once I found the LaBellas after trying some Fender tapewounds, I figured that there couldn't be a better string out there (for me at least).

fokof · #4 05-17-2011, 12:26 AM

I use the La Bellas and I am very satisfied

Carvin.com :: 5012

OmnitzGarima · #5 05-17-2011, 12:41 AM

I'm sold on tapewounds, and will modify any of my basses to make that work. That said, I have no idea how that will affect optical pickups.

eddievanbassman · #6 05-17-2011, 12:57 AM

I love the Trubass 88s they sound very nice and thumpy.

Bassorator · #7 05-17-2011, 04:02 AM

I used trubass 88s for many years and was not happy with E string definition, difficult to get intonated,on the other hand D and G are best tape sounding strings to my ears. Recently I switch to la bellas and love clarity of E string but G string is bit thin sounding compare to trubass G string.

FunkMetalBass · #8 05-17-2011, 09:31 AM

The silk wrap around any string is far far thicker than .003, so you should be okay.

Also, are you confusing the bridge saddle and the nut? The nut should not affect anything with the optical pickup, which is located at the bridge.

Arr MiHardies · #9 05-17-2011, 10:49 AM

Yes, I was confusing the two. Thank you.

FunkMetalBass · #10 05-17-2011, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arr MiHardies

Yes, I was confusing the two. Thank you.

No worries, I just wanted to make sure that we're on the same page in regards to the issue at hand.

I'd be hesitant to adjust the bridge as well, although is seems that a simple widening shouldn't be drastic enough to alter anything.

Have you contacted Lightwave yet? From what I've seen, the employees over there are quite knowledgeable and prompt - they could surely help you out with the information you'd need. If they give the go-ahead and you're still uncomfortable, a reputable tech would gladly take care of it for you for a small fee.

Arr MiHardies · #11 05-17-2011, 12:45 PM

Yeah. I've contacted them. Quite helpful. My request for info was actually responded to by the founder/CEO of lightwave.
My main concern popped up, as mentioned when I tried to put in a .132 gauge d addario flatwound b string, and thanks to the silk threading, wouldn't quite fit not the bridge, but I don't think the problem is anywhere near the string first makes contact. I think it's just the slot. Lightwaves use both peizo and optical pickups, so the peizo should be at that point where the string makes contact. They said both the nut slot and bridge could be filed down as necessary, so long as I didn't go deeper, and just wider on the bridge, I shouldnt damage the peizo.

I was leaning towards the Tru bass strings, but now im leaning towards the la bellas. They are a smaller gauge and I shouldn't need to modify the hardware at all.

I'm curious though if more people experience the problem with the e string mentioned above on the Tru bass strings.