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TapeWound Club~Anyone?

#281
FerruleCat said:
Here's a sound test of the D'Addario ETB92S black nylon tapes (short scale) on an SX Ursa 2 Jr. (Jazz type,) with the neck pickup replaced by a Dragonfire Duo Rails (a Strat-coil sized guitar pickup that I think works well with bass). There's a bit of cloth under the strings for mild muting, but as you can hear from the final note, there's still some sustain going on. This is recorded direct via the Aguilar ToneHammer preamp/DI. I rolled the top off the drum loop, so the overall track EQ is reasonably accurate.

With the big, fat sound of the rails pickup (which is just barely wide enough for my already-narrow string spacing), the bridge pickup volume control acts more like a presence knob for the whole setup. I like this pretty well, except that the bridge coil hums through my amp. It's quiet direct, though. Eventually, it might be nice to replace the bridge coil with a Duncan Basslines hot stack, and add a push-pull to the neck rails for series/parallel options.

Excuse the sloppy pocket; I've been a pick player up until now and am adjusting to finger style.

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WOAH!!! That sounds great! You really nailed it partner!
 
#282
west al said:
WOAH!!! That sounds great! You really nailed it partner!
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Many thanks, mrnylon. I'm happy with that tone; to me, it's fat and warm but still pretty tight. It's hard to imagine that's a $115 Chinese bass with a $22 aftermarket pickup. (It does also have an upgraded Schaller Roller Bridge, which I think contributes something.) The bass is Olympic White with a maple board; I'm going to make a proper tort pickguard for the new pickup now. I'll post a pic when I have it finished. Glad I tried tapes!
 
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#283
Just put D'Addario EBT92s on my Dean Exotica. They look great, feel good, and sound fantastic!
Lately, my go-to practice bass has been my Thunderbird Pro IV strung with flatwounds, but now I'll definitely be using the Dean.

ileq1y.jpg
 
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#284
Replaced the Fender Flats on my Alembic Fretless Orion with a set of Labella White Tapes. Boy, they sound fantastic. Nice and bright, and so smooth. Had to adjust the truss rods, as they are lower tension than the Fender Flats. That's my only gripe with the Labellas...I prefer higher tension strings, but I like these so much I'm willing to overlook that.
 
#288
Sorry to ask if it has been covered, but has anyone compared La Bella White tapewounds with blacks or anything else? I get it that the tapes are smoother although I don't find bass strings much problem with soreness etc. I have standard metal on my Fender Jazz and anything to make them funkier or lusher I want. My local store says that La Bella whites can't be ordered into Australia, and my daughter is going to be in the US next month and could get some for me, but is the gain worth the fuss?
Len
 
#291
I was just trying to get a leap on 300 posts, but I have read them now over the weekend. I kinda got what I need and feel OK with trying the whites.

I have to say that I have learned a lot reading enthusiasts about their basses and gear, even if there is a good bit of strutting the stuff. I find it encouraging to see that the people in this forum are trying things out in a spirit of adventure, flexibility, openness etc. It shows me too that the bass is where I want to be.

I constantly look for an acoustic bass to add and really excited by the likes of Boulder Creek with innovative designs, but difficult to try out here in Oz. Shops don't really want to ship stuff in for a try out, can't blame them. Has anyone got some of those ABGs and tried tapes? I am encouraged by posts saying the tapes work fine on ABGs.

Thanks for the replies.
 
#292
lenstanjim said:
I was just trying to get a leap on 300 posts, but I have read them now over the weekend. I kinda got what I need and feel OK with trying the whites.

I have to say that I have learned a lot reading enthusiasts about their basses and gear, even if there is a good bit of strutting the stuff. I find it encouraging to see that the people in this forum are trying things out in a spirit of adventure, flexibility, openness etc. It shows me too that the bass is where I want to be.

I constantly look for an acoustic bass to add and really excited by the likes of Boulder Creek with innovative designs, but difficult to try out here in Oz. Shops don't really want to ship stuff in for a try out, can't blame them. Has anyone got some of those ABGs and tried tapes? I am encouraged by posts saying the tapes work fine on ABGs.

Thanks for the replies.
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You'll prob find several reviews regarding Tapes on ABGs in the Godin owner's thread.
 
#293
west al said:
A Music Man StingRay 4 H strung with ETB92 Nylons. It plays great!
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Have you considered using Fenders so that the black leader will coordinate better than the blue D'Addario's with the overall black & white of the bass? Yes, the Fenders might need some nut tweaking, but they have an edge to the tone that might coordinate will with the MM pickup.
 
#294
iiipopes said:
Have you considered using Fenders so that the black leader will coordinate better than the blue D'Addario's with the overall black & white of the bass? Yes, the Fenders might need some nut tweaking, but they have an edge to the tone that might coordinate will with the MM pickup.
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No, I'm sold on the D'Addario ETB92 Nylons. I don't like screwing with a nut anyway.
 
#296
#299
beate_r said:
Just a question regarding aging of the blackies, notably the ETB92. Has anyone experiences how the sound develops with age?

One of the two sets i am using seems to become a bit duller, but i am a bit unsure which of the two is the older (well they obviously last long, i simply forgot...)
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All strings, including tapes, have "new string zing." Once that wears off, and the string settles in, it does get a little darker than a right-out-of-the-envelope string. What kills a string is a combination of fret wear on the windings and finger and other gunk getting between the windings. Flatwounds last longer then roundwounds because there is more surface area on the windings so fretwear is less, and the windings are tighter together so less gunk gets into the string over time. Nylon wraps, theoretically can last even longer, even indefinitely, because the nylon is both a cushion between the metal interior of the string and the frets, and is very tight in not letting gunk get into the string.
 
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#300
beate_r said:
Just a question regarding aging of the blackies, notably the ETB92. Has anyone experiences how the sound develops with age?

One of the two sets i am using seems to become a bit duller, but i am a bit unsure which of the two is the older (well they obviously last long, i simply forgot...)
Click to expand...

I've been using a set of these for about eight months. The "zing", as described by iiipopes, wore off quite quickly. I haven't really noticed any change in the sound since then. They seem like they will last forever!
 
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