General traits — flats vs. tape?

[pilotjones]

How do the two species, in general, compare in terms of
- tone
- feel
- tension
- durability
- handling (as in, say, finicky-ness with different bridges)
- musical application
- other aspects?

I don't think I've seen general discussion of this before. It seems more like the people who have already tried dozens of things know, and the rest don't. Or, people throw out "my favorite is x" without further description or reasoning behind it. I really can't go buying lots of string sets at $50 a pop just to find that they're not useful — a few maybe, but not one after another after another ad infinitum. If I knew some general concepts, I could find an appropriate starting point.

Aside from a set of groundwounds decades ago, I've only played roundwounds, mostly NPS. I'm in one band that's playing old R'n'B and I thought I could try something new that might be better suited, that would sound better for the music.

So that's it — can anyone give their thoughts on the generalities along the lines of "tapewounds generally feel like x, sound like y and are useful for music z, and flatwounds generally feel like a, sound like b and are useful for music c." Or, the extent that this kind of generalization can be made. Thanks!

 

[trothwell]

Unfortunately, we might have to break this question down even further, as there are various flats and various tapes...

But to try making some sweeping overgeneralities:

- tone: I would look to both flats and tapes for a warmer, darker, vintage-y sort of sound. I think they are both in roughly the same ballpark. Flats tend to be deader and thumpier, while tapes tend to be brighter and more open. I think, especially in a mix, tapes could be confused for lively flatwounds or worn roundwounds.

- feel: both lack the rough edges of roundwounds, and, to the surface touch, I think feel similar. In terms of flexibility, tapes tend to be more flexible, as whatever their marketed string diameters are, it's actually a smaller set underneath the tape.

- tension: again, since the tapewounds are a smaller set of strings under the tape, they tend to be lower tension than an otherwise comparable set of flatwounds. Of course I'm sure there are exceptions, such as TI Flats (fairly low tension) vs Rotosound tapewounds (I think higher than the TIs? would have to check)

- durability: I would imagine that the tape would be more likely to wear down / break apart than the flatwound ribbon, but I've never actually worn out either. Had the same set of tapes on a bass for about 15 years. Sold the bass with the tapewound strings on it.

- handling: well, this is one weak spot for the tapes, I think, if you want to bring up how they block electrical grounding. So on many basses, you'll hear excess hum, because the tape coating isn't completing a circuit. This tends to happen on some basses more than others. I have one passive Fender bass with almost zero hum; it is my "tapewound" bass, maybe for that very reason.

- musical applications: I think a song that calls for flatwounds might very well also call for tapewounds. If you're doing pure Motown or some such, the thump and attack of traditional flatwounds might win, but in a more general sense, if you're doing music for which flatwounds would be appropriate, tapes might work too. When to use one or the other? Well, they both sound _different_. Just like two sets of flatwounds sound different. Two sets of roundwounds sound different. A Precision bass and a neck pickup on a Jazz bass sound different. It's a matter of seeing what works best in the context of the music, be it a specific song or just generally the music that you play.

So one recent example for me; a couple of years ago, I got a new bass, with the intention of it being a warm, vintage-y tone. I had bought a set of 45-105 GHS Precision flats to put on it. When I did, I thought the sound was great, but wasn't sold on the string gauges; felt a little tight on my plucking hand. I still had an old set of TI flats stowed away, so tried those. Sounded good, felt better, but was missing some of the low end fullness from the GHS strings. Tried a new set of Labella low-tension flats. Good sound, good feel, except, I felt they were kind of one-dimensional. If I tried to dig in and play harder, get more intense expression, the strings politely said "no".

Eventually I thought, how about tapewounds? I haven't used those much for a while. I had also stowed away a set of medium Labella tapewounds. Too big to fit in the nut without expanding it, but I was able to get them on to just kind of evaluate the sound. Wow! These sounded good, and were (subjectively) very fun to play on this bass. Maybe the right thing to do would have been to just modify the nut, but I decided instead to try some smaller tapewounds. Tried D'Addario, GHS, light Labellas, and Rotosounds. I think they all had their strengths, but on the whole, I really liked the D'Addario tapewounds.

But what about the GHS flats that I originally bought? Well, I decided to give another try at those too, in the light set. Felt much better on my hands, still sounded good, but... the tapewounds really made this bass come alive. So I put back on the D'Addario tapewounds, and I think I'm sticking with those long-term on this bass.

I guess the point is, it can be hard to evaluate the sonic and musical qualities of a string set completely in isolation. What do the strings sound like on your bass, when it is played with your hands? What sound do you want? What sound works with the music you play? What sound makes you enjoy playing that bass? Find the strings that give you the best answers to those questions.

 

[pilotjones]

Unfortunately, we might have to break this question down even further, as there are various flats and various tapes...

But to try making some sweeping overgeneralities:

- tone: I would look to both flats and tapes for a warmer, darker, vintage-y sort of sound. I think they are both in roughly the same ballpark. Flats tend to be deader and thumpier, while tapes tend to be brighter and more open. I think, especially in a mix, tapes could be confused for lively flatwounds or worn roundwounds.

- feel: both lack the rough edges of roundwounds, and, to the surface touch, I think feel similar. In terms of flexibility, tapes tend to be more flexible, as whatever their marketed string diameters are, it's actually a smaller set underneath the tape.

- tension: again, since the tapewounds are a smaller set of strings under the tape, they tend to be lower tension than an otherwise comparable set of flatwounds. Of course I'm sure there are exceptions, such as TI Flats (fairly low tension) vs Rotosound tapewounds (I think higher than the TIs? would have to check)

- durability: I would imagine that the tape would be more likely to wear down / break apart than the flatwound ribbon, but I've never actually worn out either. Had the same set of tapes on a bass for about 15 years. Sold the bass with the tapewound strings on it.

- handling: well, this is one weak spot for the tapes, I think, if you want to bring up how they block electrical grounding. So on many basses, you'll hear excess hum, because the tape coating isn't completing a circuit. This tends to happen on some basses more than others. I have one passive Fender bass with almost zero hum; it is my "tapewound" bass, maybe for that very reason.

- musical applications: I think a song that calls for flatwounds might very well also call for tapewounds. If you're doing pure Motown or some such, the thump and attack of traditional flatwounds might win, but in a more general sense, if you're doing music for which flatwounds would be appropriate, tapes might work too. When to use one or the other? Well, they both sound _different_. Just like two sets of flatwounds sound different. Two sets of roundwounds sound different. A Precision bass and a neck pickup on a Jazz bass sound different. It's a matter of seeing what works best in the context of the music, be it a specific song or just generally the music that you play.

So one recent example for me; a couple of years ago, I got a new bass, with the intention of it being a warm, vintage-y tone. I had bought a set of 45-105 GHS Precision flats to put on it. When I did, I thought the sound was great, but wasn't sold on the string gauges; felt a little tight on my plucking hand. I still had an old set of TI flats stowed away, so tried those. Sounded good, felt better, but was missing some of the low end fullness from the GHS strings. Tried a new set of Labella low-tension flats. Good sound, good feel, except, I felt they were kind of one-dimensional. If I tried to dig in and play harder, get more intense expression, the strings politely said "no".

Eventually I thought, how about tapewounds? I haven't used those much for a while. I had also stowed away a set of medium Labella tapewounds. Too big to fit in the nut without expanding it, but I was able to get them on to just kind of evaluate the sound. Wow! These sounded good, and were (subjectively) very fun to play on this bass. Maybe the right thing to do would have been to just modify the nut, but I decided instead to try some smaller tapewounds. Tried D'Addario, GHS, light Labellas, and Rotosounds. I think they all had their strengths, but on the whole, I really liked the D'Addario tapewounds.

But what about the GHS flats that I originally bought? Well, I decided to give another try at those too, in the light set. Felt much better on my hands, still sounded good, but... the tapewounds really made this bass come alive. So I put back on the D'Addario tapewounds, and I think I'm sticking with those long-term on this bass.

I guess the point is, it can be hard to evaluate the sonic and musical qualities of a string set completely in isolation. What do the strings sound like on your bass, when it is played with your hands? What sound do you want? What sound works with the music you play? What sound makes you enjoy playing that bass? Find the strings that give you the best answers to those questions.

Thanks so much for the detailed answer.

 

[JW56789]

Regardless of tone differences, with tapewounds you are at the mercy of the tape coating, how well it was applied, and how long it will last. That would be a consideration for me as flatwounds tend to stay on a bass a long time (we never get complaints about how fast flatwounds went dead, which seems to be an oxymoron in a way).