Must be some sort of export restriction there...
Plenty clean mids with mine- all maple, tho.
Plenty clean mids with mine- all maple, tho.
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TapeWound Club~Anyone?
- Thread starter .BumeStik.
- Start date
I've been thinking about trying tapewounds on a jazz bass. I have Fender 9050L's most of my basses now, any suggestions for some tapes that have similar tension?
That's a tough one. Normal gauge, .050-.105 tapes are all significantly floppier, by all accounts. Standard tapey gauges (.060/.065-.115) will be closer in tension to your flats but still not quite there (though Rotosound Tru Bass 88s are often described as stiff so that might make up for the difference); of course they also require some filling of the nut slots.
Filing, that is. Gotta replace my laptop, it's (among other things) double-happy on one side of the keyboard...
I am not familiar with the 9050s so I cant compare with the La Bella whites. But i have them on my jazz and love their sound. And they feel great with rare discomfort after longish playing sessions. BUT I am about to change them in case they are the source of some muddiness in tone. I have had toneriders in the jazz for a short while now and that seems to have overtaken the muddiness considerably so that I have not noticed it for a while. So maybe the dull tone was not from the tapes.
Just wondering if anybody else has noticed this with the LaBella black tapewounds: since I first put them on my Vantage fretless, I've loved them. But it seems that lately, even though I still love the sound of the lower three strings (D, G, and C for me, I tune D-standard these days), the F-string seems to be increasingly more twangy.
Perhaps it's just me, and the setup (meaning preamp EQ, compressor settings, etc., not actual bass setup) I have for this bass?
Perhaps it's just me, and the setup (meaning preamp EQ, compressor settings, etc., not actual bass setup) I have for this bass?
Yeah, the reasonable advice is to be thorough with the troubleshooting before writing the strings off. I mean, one does want to like them, right? And not just for the hefty price. Bright tone and potentially eternal, modulo some metal fatigue? What's not to love? But of course, the ear and the band mix want what they want.
I am observing something similar with the Pyramid tapes on my AGB, and the reason is obvious and meanwhile clearly visible: wear of the Nylon. The thinner the layer gets, the brighter the string.
Interesting. But the LaBella's I have are just not old enough to wear out any of that tough nylon yet. And they are on a fretless.
I do have another identical bass, but fretted, was going to try the White Gold tapes on it. Perhaps I should try them on this one first.
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I don't think LaBella black tapes *ever* wear out (on fretless; I have 'em on two of mine).
I've got LaBella 760N's on 2 ABG's and a '67P, all fretless. The newest set, on my main player, was installed in 2009.
Having realised that I can try my La Bella whites on my acoustic bass, I wonder if I will be able to use a pick? I guess I will find out soon enough, to see if the pick damages the nylon, but has anyone had experience with this?
The Pyramids wear out on the right hand side, not or at least less on the fingerboard. And there is no fret wear to be seen, just wear by the fingers. Not surprising due to the construction i sketched above.
Well! I put Ernie Ball Slinky cobalt flats on my jazz and they are so noisy, and show up all kinds of things in my fretting that the La Bella white apparently forgave! Ill give it awhile but there are compensations, eg brighter, twangier tone (is that good?) and maybe more dynamics. The next step is to try the whites on the abg and see if it saves some noise etc. Its a livin' ennit?
Well I put the La Bella whites on my abg and the effect was instantaneous! All that brash racket has gone with the bronze strings and I have recovered dynamism in my playing, soft, loud, etc. Its evening here so I will wait until tomorrow to try the abg plugged and see how it goes.
Did you lose much volume with the swap? While I'm pretty much sold on my Savarez nyloncores on my acoustic (they sound good, are easy on the top - of a cheap, not well-braced ABG - and are loud enough for practice with one other instrument), sometimes I wonder what to suggest to people who dislike the clank of bronze strings but would like a close second volume-wise. One of the La Bella clear nylon offerings seems promising, but if they don't perform well in that respect I suppose the answer would be some kind of processed round like the GHS pressurewounds. Or the Ernie Ball Slinky (Cobalt) Flatwounds maybe?
First impression was yes, much quieter. I dont like the pick on much of anything and prefer fingers, but the payoff is in the loud bass presence playing with others, as you say. Today I hope to try them, bass and strings thru the amp and see how that goes, but it is playing unplugged with others that I got the abg for, so thats the test.
I just installed the EB cobalt flats on my jazz and it is noisy compared to the La Bella Whites. I will give them a few weeks/sessions but I have some EB slinky rounds to try next. I saw some black La Bellas on a white fender this last week and liked the look of them, and a few folks on this forum seem to like them, so I might give them a go if I dont like the slinkies. Ill look into the Savarez but if they are not metal (at all?) they will not amplify unless thru a mic pickup? Might be hard to get in Australia too...
Ductapeman
Ringmaster and Resident Geriatric
I run Rotosound nylon tape wounds on my Jass fretless-- very nice restrained sound, almost like a miked upright, but with more, I don't know, meat-- I realize that Rotos aren't in the best odor here these days, but I have zero plans (as of right now) to change my 66es, 77s and the tapewounds
If they work for you, hang in there with them. If no one else likes my D'Addario ETB92 Nylon Tapewounds, that's ok. They work the way I like them too on my basses.
Ductapeman
Ringmaster and Resident Geriatric
Then I'll try some, gsg-- I haven't really played for the last ten years and am revamping all my stuff, so why not try some new strings? It did take a leap of faith to slap the Blue Steels on the Casady, but damned if he wasn't right, I can't imagine a better string for these basses, so I'm open to almost anything at this point.
ETA: I'll be needing to reassemble and rewire the fretless first though-- and if I can get the neck refretted, I'll have to head over to Warmoth for a new body. I sure miss their willcall office, they're only about ten minutes from me, but it's all online/phone now, oh well, the bodies are still just fine, thanks. Maybe a chambered Jazz-- something with nice topwood, which is something I've never really owned, what do you think?
ETA: I'll be needing to reassemble and rewire the fretless first though-- and if I can get the neck refretted, I'll have to head over to Warmoth for a new body. I sure miss their willcall office, they're only about ten minutes from me, but it's all online/phone now, oh well, the bodies are still just fine, thanks. Maybe a chambered Jazz-- something with nice topwood, which is something I've never really owned, what do you think?
