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Nylon tapes and piezo bridge
- Thread starter bdplaid
- Start date
Why not? Piezos sense mechanical vibration, tapes and piezos work just fine (my Aria FEB FL/F/N is set up like that, works just fine). The only thing I can think of that might be a problem is that the larger gauge of the tapewounds might not fit the holes - or if the bridge has a really high/sharp break angle (not good for tapes).
Using LaBella Copper White Nylon tapewounds on my Godin which only has a bridge piezo. No problems.
Tapewounds can (rarely) become an issue with the bridges on some mag pickup basses. That's because the metal core of the tapewound is insulated from the bridge ground, and that sometimes leads to RF noise in a bass with poor shielding. Was that what you were thinking about?
Tapewounds can (rarely) become an issue with the bridges on some mag pickup basses. That's because the metal core of the tapewound is insulated from the bridge ground, and that sometimes leads to RF noise in a bass with poor shielding. Was that what you were thinking about?
There have been prev threads regarding this.
Seems tapes work fine on piezo strip acoustic type bridges but not well on some bridges with individual saddle piezos such as that used in the Spector ref'd above. I have the same (Fishman) bridge in a Cort C5P and tapes only work well if a little more down pressure is added at the saddle contact point. Nothing to do with string grounding, as the elements are grounded under the base plate of the bridge. Seems the nylon wrap damps just enough of the vibration, coupled with those individual sensors being a bit less sensitive than the strip type.
Curious as to whether the Ghost individual saddle types behave this way as well.
Seems tapes work fine on piezo strip acoustic type bridges but not well on some bridges with individual saddle piezos such as that used in the Spector ref'd above. I have the same (Fishman) bridge in a Cort C5P and tapes only work well if a little more down pressure is added at the saddle contact point. Nothing to do with string grounding, as the elements are grounded under the base plate of the bridge. Seems the nylon wrap damps just enough of the vibration, coupled with those individual sensors being a bit less sensitive than the strip type.
Curious as to whether the Ghost individual saddle types behave this way as well.
They're the only strings I'd use on a piezo only bass. I think a lot of people don't realize that tapewounds are just roundwound steels with a nylon wrap.
On the Fishman type bridge (used in SpectorCore and other Cort made basses), steels, nickels, flats all work fine- it is the damping from the layer of nylon that impedes the crisp vibration transfer.
Have not tried coated (like Black Beauties) tho.
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There is another thread running (33" fretless- piezo only 5 string) with a new bass built and the builder used a GraphTech piezo bridge with individual saddle/elements and has LaBella tapes on it- says they work great with that bridge.
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