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LaBella White Tapes: Soundclips

CapnSev

CapnSev

Aug 19, 2006
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2,145
Coeur d'Alene
#1
I thought I'd post a few quick samples of the new LaBella "White" Tapewounds (light gauge) that I threw together on my fretless.

The bass is a 4-string Lakland JO fretless loaded with EMG JX pickups.

In order:

1) Clips of the bass by itself, no drums. Both pickups first, then the bridge, then the neck.



2) Reggae-style with the tone all the way off and mostly neck pickup.



3) A VERY loose interpretation of a "Jaco"-style line. Mostly bridge pickup, tone rolled off some.



4) A poor excuse for a slap clip. Both pickups and tone on full blast. I thought this was pretty easy and in tune until I heard the clip. Eww. :hmm:

 
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#2
thank you thank you thank you. They are brighter, indeed. I wont be doing any slapping but I thought that clip was good. Be kind to yourself and remember Jaco self proclaimed his greatness. If you want to be good/great/better I believe one should say so and enjoy the learning curve. You are making good music, Capn. I wish I was as good as Anthony Jackson but I am not yet. I am 62 years old so have plenty of time to practice and try to catch up with him.
Gonna get my set of "whites" Wednesday and put them on my 7 string Clement fretless bass.
 
#4
Thanks, Capn. That's awesome. You can hear the openness of the tone. I do wonder what other black tapes sound like through your setup, though, so we can compare apples to apples, and know that the difference we think we hear is that of just the strings, and not your specific bass and recording chain compared to ours.
 
#5
I can tell you that my recording chain is just the bass straight into a Presonus firebox. No EQ, no effects, no compression (which it desperately could have used).

I don't have clips, but I've compared the LaBellas to D'Addario tapes, and I'm torn. I actually might like the D'A tapes better because they are more 'aggressive' sounding and maybe a little brighter. The LaBellas are very balanced in tone and feel, and play better with the tone control on the bass. They are a tad dark for me though.
 
#9
I just ordered a set of these. Along with some other strings from Jason.

I am going to be putting them on a Breedlove 5 string Acoustic Bass.
I originally ordered the Standard Gauge but changed to the lights when I figured out the standards probably will not fit the Breedlove.


Supposedly this is what comes on the Breedlove.

Factory .045”, .065”, .080”, .100” .130”

The Labellas are

Light w/ Low-B: .050 .065 .085 .105 .135T

Standard w/ Low-B: .060 .070 .094 .115 .135T
 
#11
I put a 5 string set of these on my jazz fretless and *love* them. They might be my new favorite string ever. I'm going to put another set on my chambered magnetic and piezo equipped fretless shortly. Great great strings, both in tone and feel. Thank you La Bella.
 
#12
listening to the reggae clip, even with the tone all the way off, i can still hear a ton of articulation in the note. totally not the tone i would expect from tapes. btw, very good playing Capn. i couldnt even tell it was a fretless until i listened to the jaco clip. and you get extra cool points for having powdered toast man as your avatar.
 
#13
smperry said:
I put a 5 string set of these on my jazz fretless and *love* them. They might be my new favorite string ever. I'm going to put another set on my chambered magnetic and piezo equipped fretless shortly. Great great strings, both in tone and feel. Thank you La Bella.
Click to expand...

I'm definitely curious how these will sound with piezo. Please let us know what you think when you put them on your chambered bass.
 
#16
TapyTap said:
I'm definitely curious how these will sound with piezo. Please let us know what you think when you put them on your chambered bass.
Click to expand...

some thoughts:

I am thrilled with the LaBellas on my chambered bass. The most notable difference for my purposes is how noiseless they are with piezos soloed. I can turn the tone up to an obnoxious level and there are no finger squeaks at all. But, it's easy to have a nice warm mwah with them. They don't sound rubbery but the feel lends itself to upright style playing which sounds great. It's hard to describe, they don't sound like roundwounds, but they have a little more clarity/focus(?) than other strings, even with the tone knob down...to me, these are all good things. It's not exactly an upright of course, but it's close enough for me, and better than the black tapes IME.

I brought this bass into a practice with my louder rock band, and while I lost some of the nuances of my bass to be sure, I could hear all the notes I was playing just fine. I used the magnetic pickups (Citron humbuckers in P and Lincoln Goines positions) most of the time. Of course it's not as bright/growly as the roundwounds that were on the bass previously, but there was enough. As I already mentioned, the mwah was there. My fretless jazz bass is a more ideal instrument for this group (if I'm going fretless), but I had no complaints, nor did my bandmates.

The strings themselves are so slick that it takes a little getting used to. I can move faster but I can overshoot a note slightly just because there's so little friction. The lack of finger noise though - man, it's crazy how good these are.

Other than black tapes, recent strings on this bass include roundwounds (Dean Markley SR2000s), which sounded great with the magnetic pickups but too much with the piezos, DR Legend flats, which were too dark and a little "blurry" sounding, and TI Jazz flats which had more midrange focus but didn't have the bloom that I wanted with piezos or the brightness with the magnetic pickups.
 
#18
smperry said:
Other than black tapes, recent strings on this bass include roundwounds (Dean Markley SR2000s), which sounded great with the magnetic pickups but too much with the piezos, DR Legend flats, which were too dark and a little "blurry" sounding, and TI Jazz flats which had more midrange focus but didn't have the bloom that I wanted with piezos or the brightness with the magnetic pickups.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the review.

Out of curiosity, have you tried the TI Acousticores?
 
#19
TapyTap said:
Thanks for the review.

Out of curiosity, have you tried the TI Acousticores?
Click to expand...

I've used Acousticores on Rick Turner Renaissance basses, but not this one due to the magnetic pickups also being on-board. It's been several years, so I can't really comment, other than to say I sure liked them on the basses I have tried.
 

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