are nylon tapewond like rounds or flats?

[dadodetres]

Hello!
i wanted to know if nylon tapewounds strings were wounded like roundwounds or like flats.

I just had a pro defret my washburn acoustic, and i was told that rounds will eat the fretboard. I dont like how flats sound and even worst: i hate the weay they feel. The one whow defret the bass suggested me getting Nylon tapewonds but i forgot to ask him this.

Any other suggestion is welcomed!

[davetakis]

flatwounds, in my opinion are infinatley better sounding than tapewounds. i hate tapewounds. way too dull sounding. i have 2 fretless dan armstrongs that have flats on them. go with flats or groundwounds.

[fcappi]

Yep! tapewounds will be really muted. Find some good flats maybe even some brighter alloys in the strings.
There are some acoustic bronze bass strings available too that are softer.

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by dadodetres

Hello!
i wanted to know if nylon tapewounds strings were wounded like roundwounds or like flats.

I just had a pro defret my washburn acoustic, and i was told that rounds will eat the fretboard. I dont like how flats sound and even worst: i hate the weay they feel. The one whow defret the bass suggested me getting Nylon tapewonds but i forgot to ask him this.

Any other suggestion is welcomed!

Nylon tapewounds like the black Labellas are more like flatwounds. I like them for a Rob Allen kind of vibe, otherwise they're overly dull sounding (not necessarily a bad thing).

Roundwounds wearing a fretboard is often discussed here and in my experience playing several fretlesses over the last twenty years that wear is very easily avoided. I only use roundwounds on my fretlesses and my boards, none of which have been resurfaced, look almost brand new.

Do not bend the strings across the neck. That's the most common cause of scoring the fretboard in my experience.

Lower action reduces wear.

Use nickel roundwounds. they seem to be softer than most stainless steel strings IME.

A coating is not necessary on the fretboard but if you refuse to do the other things I mentioned it can help . It does alter the sound, neither automatically a good or bad thing.

Turn up your amp and don't play as hard. the reason behind that is probably obvious.

None of the non-roundwound strings truly sound like roundwounds on a fretless IMO IME... so why compromise if you don't have to? Avoid wear and get the sound you want.

BTW I slap on most of my fretlesses.

[dadodetres]

Thanks everyone!

I think ill try nickel roundwounds....

[Brad Johnson]

Good luck. Follow up and let us know how it works out.

[BobWestbrook]

I have both the Labella black tapewounds, and also the Fender 9120 tapewound. The latter are more like roundwound in sound, and have a very different feel from the Labellas. I would recommend both.

[gingerbeer]

the labella 760 N and the rotosound RS 88 are flatwounds and very heavy gauge , the fenders are rounwounds and lighter gauge .

[Sammy Camden]

The Fender 9120 tapewounds are very much like the other tapewound on the market, just a little cheaper.

However, Fender makes another string, 7120s, which are a ground filamentwound over steel. They are very different from any other string available from anyone in the string market. I've been using using them on my fretless basses ever since I started playing fretless, about 6 years ago. They are much brighter than any flat or tapewound string. Extremely easy on the neck. Feel more like half-rounds, and sound wonderful on a fretless. Give 'em a try. They're not expensive and you just might like them.

From the Fender website: "Made for players that want a brighter tone than the Nylon Tapewound 9120s, but still want a string that is easy on the fingers. Nylon 7120s are great for experienced players or beginners who are looking for a comfortable string that sounds great. Smooth to the touch with alittle extra punch!"