Stiffer tapewounds?

Both GHS and D'Addario are lighter gauge tapewound strings, seemingly intended to be installed on a bass without any potential need to file the nut. Labella makes some sets that are thicker, as does Rotosound. I haven't used any tapewound strings for a while, and I do not remember any that I ever used feeling especially stiff, but I would think that, for example, the 60-115 set from Labella would feel stiffer than the 50-105 D'Addarios.

 

I’ve tried D’Addario and La Bella and both were limp noodles although I enjoyed the sound and texture under my fingers.

 

Rotosound and LaBella - neither are floppy IME. Rotos were thicker/greater tension.

 

Which LaBellas? White nylon or Black?

 

Black

 

Roto tapes are much stiffer than most tapes

 

Playing closer to the bridge fixes some sloppiness in feel/tone. I use La Bella black nylon 50’s.

 

I used to use LaBella copper white and LaBella gold white, but have since switched to Rotosound 88 (black) because they have just that little bit higher tension that I prefer I did have to file the nut slots a tiny bit, but I'm never going back, so that's quite alright ...

 

I started my playing days with Roto 88s and loved their smooth tone. Definitely not floppy at all! If I was after that sound again, they'd be my choice.

 

Rotosound 88 are very stiff feeling but they are NOT high tension. They can easily be lifted out of the nut slots at full tension. This MIGHT be a problem with aggressive playing on some basses, like Höfner style bridges (basically just bits of notched fret wire). But they're not floppy at all, very stiff.

The gauges for the long scale set are 65-75-100-115 so you'll probably need to widen the nut slots. The E-string on the Roto 88s is also notorisously difficult to intonate but perhaps more so on the short/medium sets.

The 88s are also prone to chorus-like tones which may vary from set to set or even day to day with the same set. Normally I would suspect twisted strings but I've never really found a specific cause with the 88s.

Very quirky strings. I love them for some basses/sounds (mostly palm muted Höfner) and the 88s are THE vintage sounding tapewound for me. But they're not exactly great allrounders and on some basses they sound horrible IMO.

 

I'm currently using Labella White Nylons and have used the Black and Copper before and all have been low tension. I've had the Rotosounds and they were also low tension. A long time ago - early 90s, I had Fender Black tapes and I don't remember them being as low in tension - not sure if they're still made.

 

I'm late to the party, but 50-105 tapewounds are really something like 35-95 in flat wound department.
60-115 is something like 45-105 and it's a lot stiffer.

 

I’ve used Fender tapes and they’re not too floppy.
Also, there is a tapewound club around here somewhere.
A lot of good info to be had there.

 

Pyramid Nylons are higher tension than most other nylon flats

 

TapeWound Club~Anyone?

 

If memory is accurate, GHS used to make a fairly stiff TW that was called the Pro-Formula.

 

I have the white nylon tape wound LaBella's on my Jazz Bass and am VERY pleased with them. They are not floppy AND they have the best balanced sound from string to string that I've ever had. I've been playing bass since 1965 so my "ever" is a long time. I used Fender Flats in the 60's and then Fender Black Nylon Tape Wound strings in the early to mid-70's. Until last year, I had only used round wound strings on the bass you see in my avatar, which I bought in 1985. Used Dean Markley Blue Steel and DR Black Beauties until 2018.

In 2018 I bought the La Bella's white Tape Wound flats from the Talkbass store. They are not floppy strings but they are also not opaque white. They are primarily a semi-transparent tape with a whitish cast to it. They said that in the description so I knew what to expect. I was using them to replace black strings so I went with the white to match the rest of my bass. Best string choice I've made yet!