Probably LaBella, but the D'addario's are pretty light too.
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TapeWound Club~Anyone?
- Thread starter .BumeStik.
- Start date
Probably LaBella, but the D'addario's are pretty light too.
Have the Rotosound trubass on one of my basses, they sound good but would be nice if they were a little darker/warmer sounding
I've started putting La Bella Black on all of my basses. Wish I had found them sooner, they have the tone and feel that I've been chasing for a long time.
How does nylons work for slapping? I'm flats-only guy for a couple of years, wanna try those - but it's expensive to experiment w/ strings here in Russia)
I've got a set of D'Addario black tapes and La Bella white tapes. The white tapes are significantly more flexible than the D'Addarios. My La Bella's are the "light" gauge.
Hmm, they're usually described as the darkest out there. It seems like Pyramids are your best/last bet. Look for mentions of Pyramid tapes in this very thread (starting from here, with some more adopters reporting to have followed that recommendation, in the following pages) and see if they sound worth a try (I intend to check them out myself sometime but still haven't).
"Short"-scale (actually Beatle-bass scale, closer to medium):
here
Long-scale
Invalid Link Removed
Long-scale, 5-string
Pyramid Black Tape Nylon Set 648/5
If not them, maybe La Bella black nylons, "standard" (.06–.115) gauge? I kinda got the impression they're not just for pure thumpage though.
Just ordered another set of Pyramid Black Nylon tapes for my new Emerald Balor fretless six-string. It's between the Pyramids and the TI Flats. May the best mwah win!
Cool. Ordered the Pyramids through Schneider Musik (Invalid Link Removed). The only place I know of to get Pyramid's Black Nylons in six-string sets (someone here on TB told me about them, maybe on this thread?). Last time it took about a week for delivery . . .Please report your findings back!
I know on my Tacoma Thunderchief it's a toss up between the Pyramids and TI flats, but I'm intuiting that the Pyramids might counter balance the Balor's Carbon Fiber sterility a bit better. On the Tacoma, the flats match really well with the wood whereas the Pyramids lose a little articulation I think. On the Balor, the factory-installed flats sound a bit metallic for my tastes. Yet on my Moses carbon graphite neck (on a Warmoth Walnut solid body Jazz) flats sound great. So we'll see . . . I'll put a set of TI Flats on the Balor while I'm waiting for the Pyramids to arrive.
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Sorry I don't know. They just say it's a magnetic core. They get pretty good sustain, but aren't bright in any way. One thing I really like with piezo pickups is the velvety/paper-y fingering sound the Pyramid tapes produce. They almost sound like the nylon strings of a classic guitar tuned down an octave, but with the breathy quality of a horn player. Anyway, I highly recommend trying them. They don't sound like any other string I've tried -- very unique.
TB member @WannaBeatle asked Pyramid's Max Junger this question and posted the following answer on another site:
(Emphasis mine.)
That being said, no tapewound model has been proven to be anything other than roundwound under the tape, with the exception of GHS and perhaps also Status tapes (groundwound under the nylon), both discontinued. There is no such thing as tapes that are flat under the tape, that I know of at least. And no: Rotosound Tru Bass 88 "nylon flatwounds" are also round underneath - they are flat, as in smooth, on the outside, of course.
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- Feb 26, 2011
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- Endorsing Artist: Pyramid Strings
Btw, I've been using those Pyramid nylon tapes for a few years now on one of my Hofner basses.
I absolutely love them, and they sound great on that particular bass (Contemporary series 500/1 prototype).
Probably what's best about those strings is that they're made with the funny scale that the Hofner has. No need to worry about having the wound part of the string, being wrapped around the tuning post.
I haven't tried the Roto set on any of my basses. Well, I did buy a long scale LaBella set back in 1923, and really wasn't aware of scale lengths back then. Once I put on the E string, it quickly broke around the post.
I absolutely love them, and they sound great on that particular bass (Contemporary series 500/1 prototype).
Probably what's best about those strings is that they're made with the funny scale that the Hofner has. No need to worry about having the wound part of the string, being wrapped around the tuning post.
I haven't tried the Roto set on any of my basses. Well, I did buy a long scale LaBella set back in 1923, and really wasn't aware of scale lengths back then. Once I put on the E string, it quickly broke around the post.
Latest prehistoric research findings on the development of the electric bass?1923 Is a long time ago!
IMO they are round wound. That specific sound cannot come from flats - especially as the Pyramid tapes are brighter that the Pyramid flats.
BTW: here the short scale version on my ABG. I really like their warm tone, but unfortunately practising flageolets (such as in Birdland) is already difficult.
I have the Pyramid BTW on my fretless Spector CTB, they have that woody airy breathing sound I was after, and that velvet feeling as you describe. I tried both the TI´s and Labella BTW, but much prefer the Pyramids on this bass.
I am a guitar player and my wife dabbled on guitar from time to time. Then she asked me to teach her the bass so we could play some open mics together. I have an old '66 Hagstrom II bass which was medium scale but she complain her fingers hurt and there was a bit of fret buzz that I couldn't adjust out so I put some Labella tapes on it and I couldn't believe how good they sounded. She now has 4 electric basses and 1 acoustic and they all have tape wounds.
To make things even better she has perfect timing and is strictly a pocket bass player. For a guitar player there is nothing better than a bass player who lays down a solid groove and doesn't move from it, she keeps the drummer from speeding up and makes it so easy for me.
Even when I sit in with someone on bass now I strive to play as simple and solid as I can and now people are always asking me or my wife to play bass for them ,I am a true believer of the saying, "There is no money past the 7th fret"
tape wound strings are the shizzle!
To make things even better she has perfect timing and is strictly a pocket bass player. For a guitar player there is nothing better than a bass player who lays down a solid groove and doesn't move from it, she keeps the drummer from speeding up and makes it so easy for me.
Even when I sit in with someone on bass now I strive to play as simple and solid as I can and now people are always asking me or my wife to play bass for them ,I am a true believer of the saying, "There is no money past the 7th fret"
tape wound strings are the shizzle!
