Is anyone else coming to the realization that the Grounding issue caused with Tapes is lately causing you more Pain than Good?
Not a problem for me. My SX is well-shielded and the noise on my Ray4 is at a level I can live with.
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TapeWound Club~Anyone?
- Thread starter .BumeStik.
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Not a problem for me. My SX is well-shielded and the noise on my Ray4 is at a level I can live with.
I think this is my Problem. I KNOW I need to do a bunch of shielding work on 3-4 Basses and I just Don't Wanna! Lol.
I know what you mean. For the longest time, I was lazy and couldn't be bothered to shield my SX, but the noise irritated the crap out of me and I didn't wanna give up the white tapes, so I did the work and it sounds better than ever.
Yes. Because of the nylon tape being an insulator between the bridge ground and the strings, I went from a stock 2 X EMG Hz40 passive setup to an EMG 40CS neck & 40DC bridge setup. No noise, great tone!
"Because of the nylon tape being an insulator between the bridge ground and the strings"
Don't the strings contact your bridge at the ball end (not coated/taped)?
They may insulate your finger ground, but the strings should be grounded to the bridge.
Don't the strings contact your bridge at the ball end (not coated/taped)?
They may insulate your finger ground, but the strings should be grounded to the bridge.
Well, yes, and I may have not been clear about exactly that: the finger ground is eliminated, and therefore there is a problem with electostatic noise. I have another bass with a chome bridge cover that is grounded, and I anchor my thumb on it, so there is no grounding issue with tapes.
I've had tapes on my Sad NYC Jj4 for a while and find them more enjoyable every time I play them. I keep flats on the P
I use the ETB92 Nylons on the 4003, Precision, and Jazz without any electrostatic noise. And I do like the feel of them while playing also. Smooth, and effortless playing with them.
Change of plans. I just found out that La Bella makes white tapes for guitar as well, so I ordered those for my Telecaster instead of the black ones.
After hearing about the grounding issue, I think I will pass putting them on my 4001... Already has enough grounding issues/hum/cell phone noise being picked up. My ibanez' never had a grounding issue with them but I guess the humbuckers don't need as much of a ground.
I finally got the La Bella white tapes for my Ray4 in the mail today. I was only able to play them for 20 minutes before I had to go to work, but man, what a tone!
They will be staying on my bass for a long, long time.
I'll get back to you guys when I have them on my Tele.
They will be staying on my bass for a long, long time.
I'll get back to you guys when I have them on my Tele.
Here's my '83 Precision wearing some brand new D'Addario Tapewounds, I'm getting it ready for a jazz rehearsal. Been reading endless threads about flats on TB over the past couple of weeks and in my quest for a woody tone I thought I'd give these a go. So far it's a toss-up between these ETB92's, some LaBella Deep Talkin' flats and a set of very dead Dean Markley Blue Steels (my string of choice for this bass until now). My reason for wanting to change from the Blue Steels was that I'm worried they have a bit too much grunt and growl for a jazz session, and I needed to find a way to make my bass a bit more polite. Here are my thoughts so far:
The LaBella's feel great under the fingers and have a big, sub-heavy pillowy thump which sounds awesome. They're mellow but they definitely have balls, it's not a wimpy tone at all, but it could perhaps be a bit overbearing in a jazz context. The mids are still there but the focus is definitely on the low end with these. It's a rich sub-heavy tone rather than a muddy one, overall I'm pretty impressed with these strings. However, my aim is to blend in rather than cut through, I don't want my tone to stick out too much, which is why I decided to give the Tapewounds a shot to see how they would compare.
The Tapewounds (D'addario ETB92) also feel great under the fingers. I've been reading all kinds of things about the feel so it's good to finally experience it for myself. My impression is that they feel less slippery than the flats, but they are very comfortable, and there is zero fret noise, none whatsoever. They are lower tension than the LaBella's which means they sit a little closer to the frets, and that makes them a bit easier to play. The tone, to my ears, is actually very similar to my old and worn in Blue Steels (whose tone I love), but without the clunk and grind (which I also love, although not in a jazz context). You can get a decent woody tone by playing closer to the neck, a bit more so than with the Deep Talkin flats, but these strings sound surprisingly roundwound-ish to my ears. Then again, the tapewounds are a bit more focussed when playing about halfway between the pickups and the neck than the LaBellas, and they are the closest I can get to a decent woody DB tone.
All in all, for those thinking about trying either of these sets, I don't think you can go wrong with either, and ultimately they both bring out the natural qualities and sound of a Precision. The LaBellas win the thump, the D'Addario's win the woody-ness.
The LaBella's feel great under the fingers and have a big, sub-heavy pillowy thump which sounds awesome. They're mellow but they definitely have balls, it's not a wimpy tone at all, but it could perhaps be a bit overbearing in a jazz context. The mids are still there but the focus is definitely on the low end with these. It's a rich sub-heavy tone rather than a muddy one, overall I'm pretty impressed with these strings. However, my aim is to blend in rather than cut through, I don't want my tone to stick out too much, which is why I decided to give the Tapewounds a shot to see how they would compare.
The Tapewounds (D'addario ETB92) also feel great under the fingers. I've been reading all kinds of things about the feel so it's good to finally experience it for myself. My impression is that they feel less slippery than the flats, but they are very comfortable, and there is zero fret noise, none whatsoever. They are lower tension than the LaBella's which means they sit a little closer to the frets, and that makes them a bit easier to play. The tone, to my ears, is actually very similar to my old and worn in Blue Steels (whose tone I love), but without the clunk and grind (which I also love, although not in a jazz context). You can get a decent woody tone by playing closer to the neck, a bit more so than with the Deep Talkin flats, but these strings sound surprisingly roundwound-ish to my ears. Then again, the tapewounds are a bit more focussed when playing about halfway between the pickups and the neck than the LaBellas, and they are the closest I can get to a decent woody DB tone.
All in all, for those thinking about trying either of these sets, I don't think you can go wrong with either, and ultimately they both bring out the natural qualities and sound of a Precision. The LaBellas win the thump, the D'Addario's win the woody-ness.
I agree with you on the D'Addario ETB92 Nylons. I think they are a very good overall string, on almost any bass.
For woody tone Roto88's are generally the go to string. But any of the popular choices are going to sound pretty good.
I though the black wrap would look great on the white Thunderbird but wondered how the sound would be. I recently took a set of barely used Fender flat wounds and installed them on it an love the sound of the flats. Based on comments here,
I am leaning towards ordering a set of D'Addario ETB92 Nylons.
I am leaning towards ordering a set of D'Addario ETB92 Nylons.
Would be really curious to hear how much difference there is between the Roto 88's and the ETB92's, both in terms of feel and sound. How do they compare in terms of tension? Also, regarding the 'woody tone' thing, what do you think makes them more woody sounding? I'm on a quest to find the woodiest P-Bass tone I can get my hands on, I'd be willing to try them if the difference is significant.
