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TapeWound Club~Anyone?

#661
Fingerboard, fretboard, makes sense.

Two aspects here. Yes, Cocobolo is a very hard and oily wood and I wouldn't worry about wear, unless you put steel roundwounds on it.

Secondly, and more importantly IMO: Over the years I have come to detest anything on a fretless fingerboard other than the plain board itself (with some kind of sidemarkers). No matter how well the neck is crafted, after a few years of playing, weather conditions, neck adjustments etc, the different materials will become noticeable. Even with composite materials, as witnessed by my Zon with fretlines.

My recommendation would be to either go with a blank board, or else cover it with epoxy/polyester.
 
#662
MaHei said:
Fingerboard, fretboard, makes sense.

Two aspects here. Yes, Cocobolo is a very hard and oily wood and I wouldn't worry about wear, unless you put steel roundwounds on it.

Secondly, and more importantly IMO: Over the years I have come to detest anything on a fretless fingerboard other than the plain board itself (with some kind of sidemarkers). No matter how well the neck is crafted, after a few years of playing, weather conditions, neck adjustments etc, the different materials will become noticeable. Even with composite materials, as witnessed by my Zon with fretlines.

My recommendation would be to either go with a blank board, or else cover it with epoxy/polyester.
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Thanks, I appreciate your input. I agree, normally I like a clean fretless board. This is kind of a special project though. Another TB member came up with the idea of a 'piano' fretboard, where a lighter material would represent the white or natural keys, and a darker material would represent the black or sharp/flat keys. Other luthiers I have talked to have said this idea won't work for a fretless fingerboard, but Moses Graphite have said they could do it. The inlays would not abut however. There would be a 1/8-inch strip of the surrounding graphite material in between. So the inlays would be surrounded by graphite at all times. I've attached a crude representation using my Fender Jazz six-string to give an idea of how the inlays would look through the first octave.
 

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#664
MaHei said:
Oh wow, special project indeed. I also believe this would make more sense on a fretted bass. On fretless, the visuals might turn out to be more confusing than helpful. But don't let me discourage you, you've got something interesting going here :bassist:
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Yah, thanks, it'll be a leap of faith for sure. And the upcharge is $500. On the other hand, though, when I'm playing, especially standing up, I mostly look at the side of the fingerboard. The inlays would be mostly aesthetic unless I was sitting down working out scales or chords. These days I mostly play free improvisation, but based on Jazz Standards, where we do some fairly representational sections--walking the bass, playing the head--then use bits and pieces of the tune's 'dna' for improv. It gives the treblists and me a common harmonic structure to work off of. We use a lot of effects and midi, and have a wide range of influences, so the tune becomes unrecognizable for a lot of the time. Then the guitarists edits the whole thing down and occasionally uses some of it for soundtracks on his films (he's a short film animator).

Anyway, here's a pic of Moses's normal (non-piano) Paduak inlays on a fretted bass. From what I've read, Paduak is softer than Cocobolo, so of the two options Moses gives, I'd go with the Cocobolo. I'm not crazy about a reddish bass, but I guess Cocobolo tends to darken with oxidation and UV exposure. My wife loves red, so I can say the bass is in honor of her . . . I've included another picture of a Cocobolo bass. There are a lot of them on the Alembic site as well.

I would be interested in hearing or seeing more of the Zon fretlines if you have time. I only have one fretless with fretlines, a Warmoth four-string with a Moses neck. I've only had it for 8-9 months, and haven't played it much, as I found myself becoming a six-string player at about the same time the project was underway.
 

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#672
I have started playing a few lines with a pick and rather like it for some things-- more rock than blues or country. I have been having some fun playing fretless for some of these as well.

The question I have is, does anyone play tapes with a pick? If so, what type of pick do you use?
 
#673
BassJuju said:
I have started playing a few lines with a pick and rather like it for some things-- more rock than blues or country. I have been having some fun playing fretless for some of these as well.

The question I have is, does anyone play tapes with a pick? If so, what type of pick do you use?
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I mostly pluck these days, but use a pick once in a while. Sounds great. I use Pyramid Black Nylon tapes and a Dunlop 44P73 .73mm Nylon Standard pick on fretless basses.
 
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#678
Hey, I need some custom length Pyramid Black Nylon Tapewounds for a custom bass. The bass hasn't been built yet, but it will be 34" scale with a custom, wooden two-piece bridge/tailpiece. I'm not sure how far back the tailpiece will be from the bridge so I would like to ask Pyramid to make the strings a little longer than I will probably need them, just in case. Is there any problem with this? Can the tape part of the winding go around the tuner if need be, or will this ruin the string? Thanks.
 
#679
mikeoso said:
Thought I wanted to try a new string this week. I ordered a set of Ernie Ball phos-bronze acoustic bass. Got as far as putting one string on, gave it a quick run, and ...oh, ick...Dreaded Finger Noise in massive amounts. Pulled it off and trashed the set. New set of Dads arrives today.
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I tried those EB Bronze last year when they came out (in Australia) and returned them too! I did try them on my acoustic bass but didnt like them there either. I also got a set of EB cobalt flats for my Jazz but didnt like them either. However when I tried them on my acoustic I didnt mind them, and have grown to like them, especially when amped. My music buddies think that the acoustic sound comes through and fits nicely when they play acoustic too. So my La Bella White Tapes are back on the Jazz, but i would like to try blacks next.
 
#680
I like the sound of the Dadarrio tapes...issue is my bridge...it's a stringthrough, and the holes were made for very light steel flats. The silk wraps on tapewounds will not go through. I just run them as far as they can go and let the wraps push up against the bridge, with part of the string protruding behind thd bridge. Tuning brings them to tension. I imagine it costs me some in sound, and ig looks funky, but I lack the nerve to ream the holes in the bridge.
 
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