Does this sound reasonable?...

[/\/\3phist0]

So, I LOVE tapewounds on two particular basses I own that were overly aggressive and the tapes (Labella Copper White) tamed them in the best possible way. I love the feel as well as the sound. The catch is that because you're not making contact with the strings, there is a grounding issue and noise is introduced. I was thinking about another way for the metal parts of your bass to make contact with your body and I finally came up with an idea that may be perfect OR stupid... or both! What if I drilled a tiny hole in the rear compartment cover and had a ground wire with a small clip that goes on your belt? The inner part of the clip would be touching your six-pack, or beer belly or whatever and then everything would be grounded? If you were playing live, it would be invisible to the audience and your tapewound-sporting bass would be nice and quiet. Can you think of a better solution? I'm all ears because I REALLY don't want to take the tapes off. Except for the noise, they sound great.

Get EMG's they don't use a bridge ground.

I'd say that your idea is not a feasible one.

** please note that G&L's shielding is very insufficient**

Shield your bass properly with a good coat of conductive paint, or copper / aluminum tape, ensuring that the tape makes a complete ground circuit.
Do you anchor your thumb? (on a pickup?)
Run some of that tape out to the side of the pickup, where your thumb rests.

 

[Killing Floor]

What if you got a Prince Albert and connected a necklace chain between that and your bridge? This type of non-traditional problem requires out of the box thinking, in my opinion.

 

[michael_t]

This whole thread has been a good reminder for me as to why I've stayed away from tapewounds all these years.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

This whole thread has been a good reminder for me as to why I've stayed away from tapewounds all these years.

They work great on a property shielded bass.

 

[fourstr00]

What if you got a Prince Albert and connected a necklace chain between that and your bridge? This type of non-traditional problem requires out of the box thinking, in my opinion.

Plus, at the end of the set and you take the bass off (but forget about the connection in your haste) the audience gets a second show they didn’t count on.

/got nothing
//didn’t realize tapewounds did this

 

[yodedude2]

i vote that extensive/proper shielding is the answer. reduce the hum from the source.

second option: external noise gate.

third option: both.

obtw, don't tapewounds typically have metal ball ends that typically contact a metal bridge? i think the issue is that one's fingers are not grounding the strings due to the windings. then again, i don't want to rely on my fingers to keep the bass quiet--i want a quiet bass, with or without tapewounds.

 

[yodedude2]

I know for a fact that I have seen a set of tapes that had conductive windings, I dont remember what they were called but I will search for them

If I find them I will post them here!

perhaps those were "nano-carbon" coated strings and not tapewounds? BLACKSMITH

 

[HG1180]

perhaps those were "nano-carbon" coated strings and not tapewounds? BLACKSMITH

Oh, yes! Those were the strings I was talking about. I could have swore they were tapewounds though. Huh, the more you know.

 

[Rabidhamster]

Just scrape off a little nylon coating behind the saddle where the string goes through the bridge so there is a little metal on metal contact. You don’t need much at all. Heck you may only need to do the E string.

 

[DiabolusInMusic]

If I am not wrong, reduced hum when you touch the strings indicates a grounding problem in the bass since the string are grounded to begin with through the bridge. I don't have any noise like this with any of my many basses. I remember some issue like that in the past but can't remember what I did about it.

I hope someone can either correct me or quantify the issue.

Close, grounding issues would get louder. If the noise stops, it is RF interference and the bass needs shielding.

As others have pointed out, the OP's idea has been done. Still, it isn't very reasonable. This is an internal issue and should have an internal fix. If you give your bass a proper shielding job, the issue will be resolved.

 

[GIBrat51]

It's always interesting to read posts like this - but, also kinda puzzling, too. Because I do use tapewounds, and I've never had a problem with them. Well, not a noise/grounding problem, anyway...
- My MIK Rogue VB-100 has worn Roto TruBass 88 Tapes for many years, with no issues at all. They are the only strings I've tried that will intonate "perfectly" on this bass; I have no desire to mess with that. I could speculate that there's no issues with grounding because, on this bass, it's the tailpiece that's grounded - not the bridge; so the ball ends are providing the fix.
- When I had this '06 Carvin LB-20 strung BEAD with heavy La Bella Black Tapes, I didn't have a noise/grounding problem, either. And it has a Hipshot A bridge... Grounding on the ball ends, too? I don't know... I did replace those strings with 65-130 Roto R775 LDs a couple of years ago, but only because the La Bella's B string was just a hair too floppy. If it had been a shade stiffer, the Tapes would still be there...
So, I have no idea why some people have this problem, and some people don't. But there must be a lot of us who don't have a problem, 'cause it that weren't the case? I doubt string companies would be selling them. So (and I'm not being snarky - really), maybe, just maybe... your bass itself is the problem...?

 

[Paulabass]

Shield not snot out of it- I mean everywhere, including wrapping the pickup, braided wiring, everywhere. My Fenders run quiet even not touching the strings.

 

[sunbeast]

View attachment 3892899 View attachment 3892900 It's always interesting to read posts like this - but, also kinda puzzling, too. Because I do use tapewounds, and I've never had a problem with them. Well, not a noise/grounding problem, anyway...
- My MIK Rogue VB-100 has worn Roto TruBass 88 Tapes for many years, with no issues at all. They are the only strings I've tried that will intonate "perfectly" on this bass; I have no desire to mess with that. I could speculate that there's no issues with grounding because, on this bass, it's the tailpiece that's grounded - not the bridge; so the ball ends are providing the fix.
- When I had this '06 Carvin LB-20 strung BEAD with heavy La Bella Black Tapes, I didn't have a noise/grounding problem, either. And it has a Hipshot A bridge... Grounding on the ball ends, too? I don't know... I did replace those strings with 65-130 Roto R775 LDs a couple of years ago, but only because the La Bella's B string was just a hair too floppy. If it had been a shade stiffer, the Tapes would still be there...
So, I have no idea why some people have this problem, and some people don't. But there must be a lot of us who don't have a problem, 'cause it that weren't the case? I doubt string companies would be selling them. So (and I'm not being snarky - really), maybe, just maybe... your bass itself is the problem...?

The issue at hand is that your body is essentially a noise antenna that introduces noise through the coils of your pickups. The strings are grounded so that they will ground you and all of the noise you pass along. Grounding the strings won’t do anything to eliminate noise unless they are grounding your body by contact (which can’t happen on a nylon-wrapped string).
The two solutions are extensive shielding (that blocks out the majority of interference that your body introduces) or by grounding your body through some other method as suggested by the OP.