La Bella white/copper/gold tapewounds vs. DR Sunbeams

[MrUsefulAlien]

I would like some opinions on how to set up my basses string-wise. I've read threads about tapes vs flats vs rounds etc, but this pertains to my setup.

The current setup:
- Lakland 55AJ - Labella Black tapewounds
- Lakland DJ4 - Sunbeams
- Japanese Aria precision - Sunbeams
- USA P - 760FL flats
- Lakland hollowbody - 0760M Jamerson flats
- CIJ 62 RI jazz bass - 760FL

I keep a set of rounds on one precision and one jazz for rockier session work, but am wondering if any tapewounds can replace the sunbeams for an aggressive/mellower sound.
I play with a pick and fingers, never slap.
The music types range from rock/Balkan, to pop, salsa etc, so the basses with rounds are there for specific music types.

The reason I posted this thread, is that I have flats covered on other basses, and I'm curious if having only flats and tapes will end up being one dimensional.

The Lakland DJ and the Aria are borderline too aggressive sounding with roundssrounds (might put a preamp in the DJ to address that).

Any opinions or tips are welcome, if I went for tapes it would likely be Labella once again, but I'm a bit confused between white, gold white, copper white etc.
Thanks in advance.

 

[e-flat]

if I went for tapes it would likely be Labella once again, but I'm a bit confused between white, gold white, copper white etc.
Thanks in advance.

I’ve tried the black, white, and copper La Bella’s, and am a long time Sunbeams user.
I’d have no problem recommending either the standard White or the Copper, both are wonderful strings. The Whites will be a bit more forward (aggressive) and a bit brighter, the coppers are not as aggressive and have a beautiful high midrange that really sings. I found that the coppers benefit from raising the Pickups a bit to get them in the sweet spot. Neither is “Sunbeam-like”, but both the whites & coppers will get you the same level of clarity as a Roundwound without the string noise & harmonic overtones of Rounds. If I had to make a recommendation, I’d suggest trying the Whites first since they are sort of the “standard” in the White / Gold / Copper line.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

I’ve tried the black, white, and copper La Bella’s, and am a long time Sunbeams user.
I’d have no problem recommending either the standard White or the Copper, both are wonderful strings. The Whites will be a bit more forward (aggressive) and a bit brighter, the coppers are not as aggressive and have a beautiful high midrange that really sings. I found that the coppers benefit from raising the Pickups a bit to get them in the sweet spot. Neither is “Sunbeam-like”, but both the whites & coppers will get you the same level of clarity as a Roundwound without the string noise & harmonic overtones of Rounds. If I had to make a recommendation, I’d suggest trying the Whites first since they are sort of the “standard” in the White / Gold / Copper line.

Thanks for the detailed response, so you would be happy with an arsenal of 4 flats, and 2 basses with white/copper tapes in place of rounds?

 

[e-flat]

Thanks for the detailed response, so you would be happy with an arsenal of 4 flats, and 2 basses with white/copper tapes in place of rounds?

The Copper & White tapes are a great Roundwound alternative since they are so articulate - give them a shot & see!

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

Great advice, I've ordered two sets of White tapes, the 760T, I'll report on how they sound on the jazz and Precision once they've arrived.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

Tried the Whites on a Precision today, the E is not as loud/punchy versus rounds. They are fairly bright, but too close to flats, I'll put rounds back on and try the set on a jazz bass. For a Pbass I need more of a grinding sound and they are too mellow. I'll report on the results with a J.

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

I put the 760T's on my Lakland skyline DJ4. They sound a lot better on a jazz bass!
But alas, the light set is just too light!
The lower strings lack presence and punch, maybe I'll try a heavier set, but for now I'm more sold on the Blacks, since they have a lot more lows and body to the sound. The Whites are ok, but in a band setting I had to use a lot of EQ for the E and A to be loud/present enough.

 

[Yahboy]

Labella copper white sound beautiful , warmth ,smooth meanwhile still has nice upper mid voice present but not too much. Comfort playing, easy on finger and hold tune well on my previous fretless pbass. The weak points is low output and static hum.

I believe the copper white possible mimic doudle bass voice on your hollow body lakland.

Hopehelp

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

Labella copper white sound beautiful , warmth ,smooth meanwhile still has nice upper mid voice present but not too much. Comfort playing, easy on finger and hold tune well on my previous fretless pbass. The weak points is low output and static hum.

I believe the copper white possible mimic doudle bass voice on your hollow body lakland.

Hopehelp

I put the normal white Labella on the Lakland hollowbody in a last ditch effort to find a good use for them.
THEY. ARE. AMAZING.
The bass is a bit darker and bottom heavy in tone, these are the great strings I've ever used in a hollowbody of any type, specifically this one.
They are bright and articulate, and combined with the unique sound of hollowbodies they are phenomenal.

 

[JazzyJacuzzi]

I put the 760T's on my Lakland skyline DJ4. They sound a lot better on a jazz bass!
But alas, the light set is just too light!
The lower strings lack presence and punch, maybe I'll try a heavier set, but for now I'm more sold on the Blacks, since they have a lot more lows and body to the sound. The Whites are ok, but in a band setting I had to use a lot of EQ for the E and A to be loud/present enough.

Did you end up trying the blacks on the Jazz?

 

[MrUsefulAlien]

Yes

Did you end up trying the blacks on the Jazz?

Yes, but was a fiver and it didn't work with my Lakland 55AJ, I could never get the setup right. If you have an option, go with a heavier gauge than you think.

 

[iiipopes]

I have also used all of the La Bella tapes:

black - darkest tone
gold - like well-seated nickel plated rounds with the articulation edge damped
copper - a different mid-range emphasis, might work good for jazz, fretless, etc.
white - brightest, all in the context of tapewound strings.

DR Sunbeams - have not played them.

In one of the tapewound threads here on the forum, I post at length about what is under the tape and what the different gauges feel like. If you want a feel similar to a standard set of 45's round wounds, then the regular gauge 60-115 is the set to use, although you must cut the nut slots for the strings to fit.

Also, if you go with tapes, you will not be touching the metal part of the strings, so unless you have EMG active pickups that don't use a bridge ground, or have a pickup with a metal pickup cover, either guitar humbucker style directly on the coils and grounded or a Fender style cover that is grounded to the bridge on which you can anchor your thumb to make a ground, or have extremely good shielding, you will have hum and noise.

 

[winegamd]

Start at 1:10:22.

Forgive the playing. This was cold sight reading chord leads with barely having played bass in the past two weeks.

This is my Zon Legacy Elite strung with almost two year old LaBella Gold White Nylons. Bass is plugged straight into the audio interface w/25hz high pass filter enabled, on-board bass slightly boosted, treble rolled off about a third, mids boosted at 750hz.

 

[winegamd]

The Coppers would sound great on a Jazz, especially if you like to solo the bridge. The whites would sound really good on a P-bass.

I like the Gold's the best, though. They have a fuller low mid to upper bass response, still have most of the upper mids of the coppers, but with a sweeter topend than the Whites. They are also a little tighter and allow me to have a bit lower action. I use the .45-.135 standard six string set. No filing was required to get them to fit.

 

[FeltTipPen]

Start at 1:10:22.

Forgive the playing. This was cold sight reading chord leads with barely having played bass in the past two weeks.

This is my Zon Legacy Elite strung with almost two year old LaBella Gold White Nylons. Bass is plugged straight into the audio interface w/25hz high pass filter enabled, on-board bass slightly boosted, treble rolled off about a third, mids boosted at 750hz.

Thanks for sharing this. I'm looking into swapping out my LaBella black nylon for either the white standard or gold white. I might go with the gold whites!