Converting tapewounds to roundwounds?

[Keither]

I unwound 5he tape from an end cutting, trimmed from a Labella.
Just to have a look, it was easy.
I'd go about it by scoring around both ends of the string with a razor the just unwrap

 

[GretschWretch]

I'm wondering what it would be like having enough time on my hands to consider unwinding bass strings...

I won't be having time. I will be making time.

 

[iiipopes]

Depending on how the string is wound, some strings will simply unravel the tape off once you separate the silk from the nylon tape.

 

[NKBassman]

I cannot imagine that this could possibly be a worthwhile endeavor... though I have been wrong once or twice before...

 

[SteC]

Always curious about weird string experiments. Interested to hear your findings

 

[Phaidrus]

do it --- find out what's underneath it all!

 

[HaphAsSard]

Since the D'Addario black tapes A string I did unravel, -- I replicated it in on the E string by just cutting lengthwise with a razor blade near the ball end. The trick is to keep the string under tension (higher than E) and you will hasten the unraveling. It will jus t do it by itself almost. BUt I am not sure if the batch I have is bad to begin with, since the A unraveled without warning

^ This.

I unwound 5he tape from an end cutting, trimmed from a Labella.
Just to have a look, it was easy.
I'd go about it by scoring around both ends of the string with a razor the just unwrap

^ And this. Seriously, the nylon tape comes right off in no time, once it's not secured at one end. It's not glued to the metal under, or anything. Or at least this is my experience.

 

[GretschWretch]

I cannot imagine that this could possibly be a worthwhile endeavor... though I have been wrong once or twice before...

No offense intended, but your words might carry more weight if you had Albert Einstein as your avatar instead of the Ancient Aliens guy with the Tesla coil hair.

 

[GretschWretch]

View attachment 5444272

I read these as a child. I don't remember this one, though.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

Aside from razoring along the entire string and then pulling loose or unraveling the nylon tape, is there away to get the tape off the string? The tape on the A string on one of my basses has begun slipping, which makes the string useless, but underneath is a very nice roundwound. I have another bass that would be a perfect destination for those strings, as roundwounds, but how to change them from tapes to rounds without going through an ordeal?

This sounds like the perfect project to do after retirement.

 

[GretschWretch]

This sounds like the perfect project to do after retirement.

Come 1 August I will be retired three years. You still liking that DB you retired the Taylor for?

 

[JRA]

View attachment 5444272

 

[IPA]

This may be a good question to table until after the apocalypse when resources are scarce. For now there's an abundance of strings on hand.

 

[dutchwife]

OP is moving towards the Darkside, possibly having read too many other string-related posts by another dear friend of ours on TB.
Maybe the mods can start a dedicated forum ("Overthinking strings" or some such) to deal with all this distraction.
It's still mind-boggling to some of us of a certain age that flatwound strings are so "Popular" these days. The real tapewound mystery here is why anyone chooses to buy 'em in the first place.
I just had a giggle when Spellcheck autocorrected "Tapewound" to "Tapeworm" too. Peak A.I..

 

[gip111]

...the suspense is killing me!

 

[Sternodox]

Drop them in a bucket of sulfuric acid and snatch them out just after the coating dissolves but just before the string do. Wear gloves.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

Come 1 August I will be retired three years. You still liking that DB you retired the Taylor for?

I sold the double bass. Here in the wilds of Northern California most of the double bass luthiers have retired. I didn’t want to drive three hours each way for tune ups etc. My precision and jazz basses are my new best friends!

 

[MrAB4003]

Except that the rounds beneath feel very promising, and I'm curious. I haven't encountered that particular texture on any other set of strings.

I would look into rounds from the same brand that your tapes are. Both the rounds and the tapes are likely manufactured at the same plant by the same machines. The only difference is that the rounds that will become tapes have the added process of being wound with the nylon tape.

 

[Pauly 4001]

OP is moving towards the Darkside, possibly having read too many other string-related posts by another dear friend of ours on TB.
Maybe the mods can start a dedicated forum ("Overthinking strings" or some such) to deal with all this distraction.
It's still mind-boggling to some of us of a certain age that flatwound strings are so "Popular" these days. The real tapewound mystery here is why anyone chooses to buy 'em in the first place.
I just had a giggle when Spellcheck autocorrected "Tapewound" to "Tapeworm" too. Peak A.I..

It’s true
There’s some sort of cosmic miasma going on involving strings being deliberately pushed past their specified performance design

 

[Phaidrus]

The real tapewound mystery here is why anyone chooses to buy 'em in the first place.

À chacun son goût. I mean, think of Herbie Flowers and Melodie Nelson or Take a Walk on the Wild Side.