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Do Tape wounds have lower volume compared to Round wounds

#21
Swamp_Ronin said:
You’ve tried both?
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No, not personally. But I've read enough about them to know. ;)

.BumeStik.

Thread 'TapeWound Club~Anyone?'

I am a Tapewound convert. I have gone from playing Nickels, to rounds, to flats, to STRICTLY Tapes. I LOVE Tapewound strings. I have played D'Addario and La'Bella Tapes. I love them BOTH on specific basses. Anyone else out there in LOVE with Tapewounds??? o_O From Fretted to fretless, country to metal, I have found the sound I dig by going Tapes.... Chime in if you are a Tapewound Fan, too PLEASE!

PS... I searched to see if a Tapewound club already exists. I found nothing....
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#22
Swamp_Ronin said:
I’m tempted to try these. I wonder if it would be significant difference from the gold. You’ve tried both?
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I have tried all the La Bella Tapewounds. Here are my impressions, which I have posted in other threads:
Black: the darkest, mellow, but still with definition.
Gold: more like a subdued version of a standard well-seated set of roundwounds,
White: the brightest, but with the tempering of the nylon wrap,
Copper: good for jazz & fusion; they have a different mid emphasis.

The nylon tape is @ 14 or 15 thou thick. So the standard 60-115 set under the nylon tape is similar to a conventional 45-100 set of rounds. It is worth widening the nut slots because to me the 50-105 under the tape are similar to an extra-light set of 35-90, and just too floppy for me. If the widening of the nut slots is done correctly, you can always go back to conventional rounds or flats with no issues.
 
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#23
@Swamp_Ronin, personally I did find the White Gold to have a lower output but a nice sound overall. Playing the strings live (ampless) it didn't make a difference but at home yes.

I only had them on the bass for a short time, went to TIs and now really happy with the Copper Whites. And since I had the Gold Whites on for a short time I can't say for sure, but I found the Coppers to have a little more output than the Golds at home. I know it can be expensive to try strings but maybe consider the Coppers, or even the regular White Tapewounds (which I haven't tried).
 
#24
Also I want to add that I know my situation live may be different from yours, since I am in a church setting and there's the FOH to establish levels and volume etc. So if I was playing live with an amp I can understand the volume output change concern.
 

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