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String ID help

vivaknoxvegas

El Duderino
Supporting Member
May 6, 2002
4,184
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Knoxville, TN
soundcloud.com
I acquired a bass recently with what I think are tape wound strings? But I've never owned tapes. Black and smooth like flats, and they have purple wrappings on the ends. What are these?

IMG_7209.jpeg
 
Great, thanks.

Love the feel of them but not sure they will work well playing with a pick in a rock band.

Maybe. A lot of people seem to choose tapewound strings in order to get a warmer, more mellow sound, but I think they're reasonably versatile. No idea if they will work for the sound of your band -- they might not -- but I see no reason that tapewounds wouldn't work for some flavors of rock, in general. Could be worth a try!
 
It’s hard to tell for sure the color of the hardware but, that looks like an Aerodyne? That’s one of the bass’s that I have strung with tapes.
Give’m a chance, you might like’m. In the mix they sound great (imo) and I use them on a couple of bass’s.
From what I’ve read, the D’addario’s have a different tactile texture than LaBella tapes. The LaBellas are very smooth and almost glassy like Chrome’s but softer/warmer in feel. I kind of have to adapt my playing (right hand touch) to them. With lower action setup and the noodley feel they can get buzzy. Also, they tend to require a bump up (~10%) of amp volume. That might just be a result of playing softer.
With a pick, I would have to raise my action quite a bit for them to work out with my ham-fisted-ness. Tone with a pick on these get a really nice percussive clack.
 
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