Tapewound. Any good?

[Dodgeviperracer]

Never tried tapewound strings and I just wanted to get you guys take on them ( do they shed, longevity, sound, etc). Also if you could refer me to some companies that possibly sell them it would be greatly appreciated.

[Dondoh]

Consensus view here:
No shedding
Last forever
Sound a bit brighter than flats, less bright than rounds
Juststrings.com
Most are roundwounds covered in nylon tape
La Bellas are flats covered in tape
Generally lower tension

[conttador]

Originally Posted by Dondoh

Consensus view here:
No shedding
Last forever
Sound a bit brighter than flats, less bright than rounds
Juststrings.com
Most are roundwounds covered in nylon tape
La Bellas are flats covered in tape
Generally lower tension

I recently acquired a Ken Smith 6 string and it is strung with taperwound strings. When I play on them I felt they did not quite have the same sustain, specially my B & E strings. Has anyone else experienced this?

[AmadeusXeno]

Originally Posted by conttador

I recently acquired a Ken Smith 6 string and it is strung with taperwound strings. When I play on them I felt they did not quite have the same sustain, specially my B & E strings. Has anyone else experienced this?

The tapewound strings he is asking about are the ones with a nylon outter wrap. To answer your question the best I can though is no. I don't like taperwound strings. They seem to be floppy especially on the B & E strings. That floppiness might be what's causing you to loose sustain though.

[jasper383]

Originally Posted by Dondoh

Consensus view here:
No shedding
Last forever
Sound a bit brighter than flats, less bright than rounds
Juststrings.com
Most are roundwounds covered in nylon tape
La Bellas are flats covered in tape
Generally lower tension

This is my take, as well. I'm not sure about La Bellas being flats, though.

On a lot of basses, they have a woody sound you can't get anywhere else.

If you want to try them, and not break the bank, try GHS tapes or Carvin (which are La Bellas).

[daveman50]

Originally Posted by conttador

I recently acquired a Ken Smith 6 string and it is strung with taperwound strings....

TAPEwound.

TAPERwound.

Two different things.

[conttador]

The devil is in the details!!!

Originally Posted by daveman50

TAPEwound.

TAPERwound.

Two different things.

[daveman50]

If they made taperwound tapewound strings, that would be interesting.

[knucklehead G]

So these are a bit like low-tension flats? I've been curious about tapewounds too.

[queevil]

I can speak for the fender nylon tapewound 9120's. Thumpy but also somewhat bright. They sustain fairly well on my fretless J bass. The harmonics ring out loud and clear. Very low tension. They're cheap and they can last for years.

[Billnc]

I used the Nylon Rotosounds, I must have liked them they were on so many years the core broke while playing and the A string sort of unraveled.

[BillJarrett]

I picked up a set of D'Addario Black Nylon Tapewounds.

They're fantastic. They brought the best out of a particular bass I hadn't been completely happy with sound-wise.

[bass_lord_mutha]

I personally am not big on tapewounds but if I had the choice between tapewounds and flatwounds, I'd take tapewounds any day of the week. Not keen on the slick feel, but they, to me, have a better overall tone than flats.

[DTF]

ive tried rotos and labellas, I prefer labellas and carvin has them for very cheap , i think I payed 25 for a 5 string set and 20 for a 4 string set, shipping isnt cheap but if you buy a bunch of little misc. parts you can combine shipping, if you need any knobs or shielding tape or anything.

They are pretty floppy and you have to ease off with your left hand or the e string will slide right off the fretboard especially with vintage radius boards, but I got used to it quick , give em a try if you end up liking them youll spend alot less on strings in the long run , be prepared to widen your nut a little bit too

[FretlessMainly]

I have used, or am currently using:

Fender 9120s - almost like a round wound. The nylon wrap is like a half round feel and these get some really nice grit;

Rotosound TruBass 88s - almost the polar opposite of the Fender 9120s; very smooth and more of an upright tone, especially on fretless;

LaBella DTB 760Ns - despite reviews that indicated that the nylon wrap can be erratic and/or uncomfortable, I tried a set and they were exactly as described. The D string was very rough and had significant burrs that could not be removed (love me some DTB metal flats, however); and

Rickenbacker Electro 4445s - Well, you won't likely find any of these, as they were NOS, but they are most like the now discontinued Fender nylon filament strings.

A few general points that basically apply to all of these:

1. They will last through several presidential terms. I have a set that came with a '76 FL P-bass I bought over a year ago and they were never replaced by the seller who had them on there for ~13 years. They are now on my fretted Fender Jaguar and they sound fantastic.

2. The tone can vary significantly from set to set. Of those I've tried, the Fender 9120s are by far the most aggressive and snappy set. The LaBella's are in between the 9120s and the Rotos, which are quite warm.

3. The biggest drawback I've noticed is that of fingerboard clack; they tend to have a "plastic" sort of sound when plucking near the fingerboard and/or hammering-on (go figure; they're plastic coated!);

4. The gauges are generally much wider than metal strings, so you'll probably need to adjust your nut slots. At the same time, they generally have less tension than smaller-gauge metal strings.

5. You can't complete a ground with these, so you need to make sure that your axe is well grounded.

[davidsmashdrums]

Black nylon GHS are brite flats covered in black nylon they sound awesome on my kids mini p bass

[theduke1]

You can buy LaBella's at Carvin.com for 25.00 a set + shipping 5string set. Iuse their steel stings on my G&L2500 as well can't beat their prices on strings anywhere!

[Mojo-Man]

I dig tapewound.
LaBella are tapewound flats, they sound great on fretless.
110-50 gauge.
GHS are not flats, but also sound very nice.
i prefer these on fretted basses.
105-50 gauge.

[Staccato]

Originally Posted by Mojo-Man

I dig tapewound.
LaBella are tapewound flats, they sound great on fretless.
110-50 gauge.
GHS are not flats, but also sound very nice.
i prefer these on fretted basses.
105-50 gauge.

+1 GHS Tapes on fretless fiver!

[billy57]

Just put roto tapes on my epi allen woody yesterday&they sound great! Good fundamental/low mids-high mids,very little treble. However,the E string sounds a little "woofy" compared to the others,&I noticed about about 1/8" of the silk breaks across the bridge saddle. Is it possible to shave the silk off the string @ that point? Will it make the string sound more consistent to the rest? Or do the epi p'ups lack low end definition? I LOVE this bass&these strings,something just needs tweaking...