Labella 7710 Black Tapewound review

[AMJBASS]

I ordered a set of Labella 7710's to try out, and I thought I would post my thoughts on them....Firstly, they feel absolutely great! They are really soft, and you can really fly around on them easily. They are a little thicker than standard steel strings. Very easy to play string. I bought them originally because I wanted a string that approximated the feel of gut strings with the tuning stability of steel. They do a good job in terms of feel, but they are a fairly bright string. The bass I play is really loud and dark, so they did balance quite nice. They have that gut "click" to the attack. However, I am more into the smooth "dooom" sound of gut strings. That deep fundamental punch. The Labellas are great for clarity, but they still sound like steel strings. Overall though, I think they are an underated string. They do feel quite nice, and if you don't do much arco, they may be just right for your bass.

[Kevinlee]

Yea I had a set of those on for a while and I liked them too. I was reluctant to try them because I kept reading more bad than good about the strings. But as useual my curiosity won out, and in this case I was happy it did. I agree they are an underated string.

Kevinlee

[Francois Blais]

They are endorsed by Ron Carter, Buster Williams, Mads Vinding.
Another steel core string with a nylon wrap is the Eurosonic. (the wrap is white though, and the strings are thicker)
The Innovation Rock-a-billy set is flat black nylon over synthetic core.

[Wil Davis]

I put a set of 7710s on one of my basses a couple of months ago, and the most striking thing I noticed was that they had a really bright tone - almost a shriek compared to the Obligatos they replaced. They've quietened down quite a bit now and their sound is growing on me, but they still sound terrible when played arco. They look cool, sound good, but are lousy for arco…

- Wil

[AMJBASS]

I don't think my set is going to stay on for much longer. I just ordered a plain gut G, and an Olive D and A from Lemur. I may play the 7710's this weekend just to see if they mellow. That and I am playing outside....

[uptonbass]

To me the Labella Black tapes are a spirocore with a polished nylon wrap. I can’t quite say they are like the Eurosonic....or the Innovation. More of a nice jazz string. Arco, yeah that’s a problem. Maybe we can rough them up a little as recommended by Eurosonic with a high grit sand paper?

If you really look closely, Ron Carter never actually admits to using these....they are on his bass though...

I think in time these strings will really catch on...

http://www.uptonbass.com/product_show.asp?item=1530

[godoze]

i've tried both the 7710's and the Eurosonics. They are a curiosity that is satisifed after a day or so. I would only recommend these strings to players that don't own or know what a bow is. Ithink these strings are very limited in their applications. Tonally, my thoughts echo Adrian;s.
In fact, I think both should be marketed towards rockers that feel the need to break out a DB once in a while. Bow ? We don need no stinkin' bow !

[abaguer]

The Obligatos are supposed to bow nicely and sound a lot like gut. Will has used them. Anyone else here trythem recently?

[godoze]

Originally Posted by abaguer

The Obligatos are supposed to bow nicely and sound a lot like gut. Will has used them. Anyone else here trythem recently?

I use obligato solos; i really really like them.

[AMJBASS]

Yep! I have a set of Obligato solos(tuned to orchestral pitch). Not strictly speaking a steel string(synthetic core), they are my favorite "non-gut" string. They hold pitch great, have a wonderfully smooth warm sound with good sustain, and they bow great!

[uptonbass]

I have the obligato strings on a few basses in the shop. It’s my choice for our Hybrid bass. A great multi use string.....I still can’t agree that the Black Tape are for rockers. They are a great string, although if they were only on a bass for a day, I can understand disappointment....

Bowing the Black Tapes requires a new concept....be it good or bad it's possible.

One issue that I feel is strongly overlooked with all of the string swapping is the idea that you can just throw them on and off as you were with your past set. Each string set gives or takes from each bass differently, then include the player, a pickup, what you as a player expect to hear etc. etc.

The least that must be done to compensate for a string change is sound post re-positioning. Example...a bass setup for use with spiros sure wont sound right with a full set of guts just thrown on with no tonal adjustments. This is a drastic example but I feel everywhere in between needs to be made up for.

I am sure some will disagree but from my position I get to see tons of examples.


Gary Upton
Double Bassist, Luthier, & President of Upton Bass
Gary@uptonbass.com
1-860-536-7555
--------------------------------------------------
The Clef Carbon Fiber Bow:
http://www.uptonbass.com/product_show.asp?item=813

[PB+J]

I just put a set of labella 7710s on my ply engle. I had eurosonics on it before, for about two years (!) and liked them a lot. But the price has gone up, and I wanted to try something new. The labellas are as adrian said more like steel strings, higher tension than the Eurosonics, but they have a softer feel than steel and they are more articulate than the Eurosonics. They are however unbowable--I've never seen such an unbowable string. I could get a decent, not great sound bowed out of the Eurosonics, but thse things--yeesh. the bow just slides off them. Fortunately I'm a pizz guy. They do not slap any where near as well as the Eurosonics. They're equally loud or louder

So far I'm pretty happy, but I'll have to test them on a gig--I had one canceled yesterday and am going away this weekend, so it'll be a while. May try roughing them with sand paper to make them easier to bow--or even possible to bow

[AMJBASS]

For that reason, I ended up selling them. I play a decent amount of arco, and the bow just slides off of the Labellas. I am still on the hunt for the perfect string...Obligatos are great, but they don't last long enough. Time to try the Compas 180's I think.

[Ike Harris]

The corresponding line of Labella tapewounds for electric sound GREAT on my Pedulla Buzz 5, for those so inclined. Hard to find, but well worth a try.

Ike

[Chef]

I bought Adrians LaBellas, hoping for a slight warmer sound than the spiro mittles I had on. I found them to actually be brighter on my bass than the spiros...not what I was looking for...Thanks tho AJ...

[Wil Davis]

My 7710s are still on - they're quietened down quite a bit since they were first put on (beginning of June) - they're continuing to grow on me. Other people have played my bass and have said they really like the sound and the set-up.

- Wil

[oystein]

Hi,
I know this is a really old thread, but I am sort of lurking around today. I have tried a set of 7710, even have given them 2 chances. First time they stayed on a couple of months. I agree with the description Spiros with nylon wrap. What I really liked about these strings is their sound in the upper register(on my bass, every bass is different....) especially for solo stuff. I had a bit more difficulty to get the same growl in lower register as with spiros. My biggest objection however was the feel when playing these strings, I never got used them. Not even after 4 months.
Another 7710 endorser in addition to the aforementioned players is the great danish bassist Mads Vinding, he sounds gorgeous with them. Give his Trio record "Kingdom" a listen and you see what I mean.

BTW, I do not disregard the players impact on the sound when mentioning myself and Vinding in the same post.

rgds Oystein

[flatback]

bout 12 years ago I remember eagerly awaiting the UPS truck carrying my new Black tapewound strings. I had spent my last 100 bucks on them and I thought this was going to be my sound. They lasted an hour....
My wife still refers to them to describe unneeded purchases as in, " This isn't a black string thing, is it?"
I still have them wound up sitting on a shelf, brand new...

[PB+J]

I ended up taking them off my bass, and going back to eurosonics. The Labellas seemed to have a lot of the sound of the spiros but they were completely ubowable, and on my bass the Eurosonics just have a riicher, deeper, more full sound. The Labellas were more articulate--yes, in the high range especially. But the overall sound just was not as good

[AMJBASS]

Really....I have actually gone back to them. For my bass and setup they are what I am looking for. They feel great, and have a nice articulate sound with good fundamental. A month or so and they should sound even better.