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La Bella Orange Nylon Strings
- Thread starter Namato
- Start date
I have been wondering about these strings ever since the first post about them a couple of weeks ago. I've only ever used nylon tapewounds by D'Addario, La Bella, GHS and Pyramid and they all have steel cores with flatwound tape and generally normal tension. But I've never used or even heard of nylon roundwounds before. Since you now have them in your possession I am eager to hear your observations. If they are anything like the silicone rubber strings that are used for uke basses then the tension would be extremely low.
I am most curious to hear these nylon rounds.
I am most curious to hear these nylon rounds.
Dunno but I can tell you that their tapes are low tension like that - I have both white and copper tapes on basses right now. They are very 'slinky'. I think its a very cool feel but its one of those 'personal' things and some guys HATE it...
Nylon tapewounds are steel core, one or more roundwound* steel winding (probably stainless for all), and an outer. nylon tape.
[The long-discontinued Fender 7120 (Nylon Filament) had an outer black nylon layer that wasn't a tape but started with a round section; the string was then ground smooth-ish.
Pyramid black nylon tapewounds are suspected to be similar, due to their velvety surface.]
Galli bass ukulele black nylon strings have a nylon core, an intermediate copper wire winding, and an outer fine, round-section nylon thread wrap.
My bet is on these new La Bellas combining features described above, i.e. being normal metal roundwounds inside, then an orange nylon round winding outside.
I could be wrong, of course.
* [GHS tapes are an exception, in that the last winding under the nylon is a flat ribbon.]
I just put a set of these on my fretless Bongo. These strings are wild. Super light tension. A strange feel with the round wounds and the nylon. I’m pretty sure these have the inner core of the Olinto flat wounds with round wound wire. I am probably going to move them to a fretted Bongo but I’m going to give them a little more time in the fretless before I switch back to the DR Sunbeams
I’ve used Labella white and white/copper tapes on several basses. They are flexible, and fairly low tension feeling, but not crazy rubbery like silicon strings. The most odd feeling strings i ever tried on a bass were TI acousticores, which always felt like they were trying to get away from your fingers. I am curious how these orange Labellas differ in sound and feel from the other Labella tapes.
Could you possibly tune these strings up a few semitones? For example, I would consider buying a 5 string set, using the lowest 4 strings, and tuning them up a minor third to D-G-C-F-(A#).
The B string in the 5 string set is a 125. I presume with these strings, the orange stuff doesn't add to the gauge like a typical tapewound would e.g A rotosound trubass 88 135 is really a 120 under there. And D is fine with that string. Actually better than it has been at B on the basses I have tried it on
I have dissected worn out LaBella nylon tapewound strings. First, the tape is essentially of no mass compared to the underlying strings, so it does not measureably increase the tension of the strings. And except for the boutique colors, I have played all the standard LaBella tapes: black, white, copper, gold. As far as tension, they are all about the same. See my other old threads where I post in further detail.
OK. Here's the deal: the tape is @ 7 thou or so thick. So wrapping a string with the tape adds @ 14-15 thou of diameter to the underlying string. So the 50-105 set has underneath the tape the equivalent of a set of rounds that are @ 35-90. That is an extra-light set in tension whoever makes it. The 60-115 set, therefore, is about the same as a set of rounds 45-100, and similar tension to other similar sets, essentially a medium or medium light set, however you wish to name it.
So, yes, if the set is a 50-105, it is floppy at standard tuning on a standard 34" scale bass.
OK. Here's the deal: the tape is @ 7 thou or so thick. So wrapping a string with the tape adds @ 14-15 thou of diameter to the underlying string. So the 50-105 set has underneath the tape the equivalent of a set of rounds that are @ 35-90. That is an extra-light set in tension whoever makes it. The 60-115 set, therefore, is about the same as a set of rounds 45-100, and similar tension to other similar sets, essentially a medium or medium light set, however you wish to name it.
So, yes, if the set is a 50-105, it is floppy at standard tuning on a standard 34" scale bass.
Can confirm! I experimented with the light gauge black, white, and gold La Bella tapes last year. They're great for standard tuning if you like light gauge strings. But I don't recommend tuning them below standard. When I switched to D Standard this time last year, the tapes were WAY too floppy, so I had to take them off.
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I don't think the orange stuff on these strings add anything to the string gauge, ie the 125 or any of the other strings are the 'real' gauge. I could be wrong, but isn't this orange nyllon thinner than the tape ribbon on what are traditional tapewounds and you can feel the round wrap beneath
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Unlike with tapes, what the orange nylon thread adds in terms of diameter to these new La Bellas can be inferred from a closeup: it is the same thickness as the thread itself, times two; or, if you prefer, spot a place where single turns of thread are clearer, look at two of them and mentally turn them 90°.
Assuming they've used the same thread for all string gauges, the extra diameter for the low B will be less, in proportion, than for the G (I suspect tapewounds, or some of them at least, are similar in this respect).
Ah yes. A good view of them. Give the appearance of orange round wire wrap. Quite niftyUnlike with tapes, what the orange nylon thread adds in terms of diameter to these new La Bellas can be inferred from a closeup: it is the same thickness as the thread itself, times two; or, if you prefer, spot a place where single turns of thread are clearer, look at two of them and mentally turn them 90°.
Assuming they've used the same thread for all string gauges, the extra diameter for the low B will be less, in proportion, than for the G (I suspect tapewounds, or some of them at least, are similar in this respect).
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Labella’s description of the strings says a pumpkin spice scent is added, so Yes!
I wonder if they'll make these again in a different style - I'd def like to try them. Orange isn't really great for me but I could probably pick a bass to try them on, but a different color would be better. For sure some disgusting punkinspicelatte flavor is a hard NO-GO tho so I'm not heartbroken to have missed the chance.
LaBella has done a few sets in different colors (“Green Hornet” =green/copper, etc.) in the past. And I assume they’ll continue to do more in the future. You just need to keep an eye out for them because they don’t get released on anything resembling a schedule and tend to sell out fairly quickly once they are.
AFAIK it’s more a fun thing for LaBella rather than some new string design. Basically each release is just one of LaBella’s three different white nylon sets, but with a fancy color wrap and a quirky name. So I wouldn’t read too much into it. I had the Green Hornet set and it didn’t sound or play any differently than the Copper White Nylon set I usually use on that particular bass. But it did look kinda cool against the maple neck.
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Not this one: the nylon cover is not a tape. How that translates in terms of tone, as in, how different it is from tapewounds black or white, is still an open question.
Yeah I was unaware I guess I need to sign up for their spam service ;^) I def interested in trying them.
Yeah correct. I have basses strung with both LB Whites and Coppers right now and neither of those are like what these things are.
To be fair, the only time they ever email me is to tell me they have limited edition strings up for sale. Lol. The most frequent is once a month, but sometimes they go months without having a special release.
