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TapeWound Club~Anyone?

#1,161
just strung one of my P-Basses with these ,
going to use them on tomorrow night's gig ...
IMG_2187 (2).JPG
... has anyone else here used them ?
:cool:
 
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#1,165
DaveDeVille said:
how long have you used the same set ,
without changing strings ?
:help:
Click to expand...
Not that long... I was experimenting with quite a few types. I had the 760's in a 4 string set actually found them a tad tight so ordered a set of 750's for a 5 string fretless I have yet to acquire. I tried dr blues Wooten set (rounds) the boomer round cores and these before trying the TI flats- all my fretted basses now wear the TI but I liked the la Bella's quite a lot...
 
#1,166
DaveDeVille said:
just strung one of my P-Basses with these ,
going to use them on tomorrow night's gig ...
View attachment 3697137
... has anyone else here used them ?
:cool:
Click to expand...
Just put a set of Copper tapewound LaBella strings on a USA Lakland HB 34, replacing an old set of TI flats. So far, really like them. Acoustically they sound nice with the bass unplugged, too. The TIs were a bit too floppy for me on the Lakland (but great on my shorter scale Guild Starfire II); also the smaller gauge TI E string just feels odd when I am used to .105 - .110s E strings on my other basses.
 
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#1,170
Linnin said:
Greetings Tapewound Players! Who invented these things and when? Thanks.
Click to expand...
subdude67 said:
Excellent question!:thumbsup:
Click to expand...
Rotosound claim they did, but they give two different dates on their website:
" TRU BASS 88
A string that was specifically designed by James How for Jim Burns's famous Black Bison in 1962."
TRU BASS 88 | ROTOSOUND
However, on the illustrated chronology band at the top of this and every product page, it says
"1966 James How Pioneers the Tru Bass black nylon bass string "
Maybe, but it's just a WAG of mine, they were OEM for Burns of London between '62 and '66, when they started selling a tapewound set (or perhaps one for long-scale and one for short - I seem to remember Paul McCartney used them on both the Höfner and the Rick/ or was it the Höfner and the Jazz?/ on Abbey Road) to the public.

I'm not aware of any other company disputing Roto's primacy claim anyway. Of note, CBS-Fender had bass and guitar "nylon tape wound" strings in their 1966 catalogue.
Finally, TB member @fjadams recalls installing GHS tapewounds on a bass of his in either 1968 or '69:
NEW FROM GHS - Tapewounds! (Re-introduced)
Stack Rank Your Three Favorite Flats
Going to take the tapewound plunge.
 
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#1,172
HaphAsSard said:
Rotosound claim they did, but they give two different dates on their website:
" TRU BASS 88
A string that was specifically designed by James How for Jim Burns's famous Black Bison in 1962."
TRU BASS 88 | ROTOSOUND
However, on the illustrated chronology band at the top of this and every product page, it says
"1966 James How Pioneers the Tru Bass black nylon bass string "
Maybe, but it's just a WAG of mine, they were OEM for Burns of London between '62 and '66, when they started selling a tapewound set (or perhaps one for long-scale and one for short - I seem to remember Paul McCartney used them on both the Höfner and the Rick/ or was it the Höfner and the Jazz?/ on Abbey Road) to the public.

I'm not aware of any other company disputing Roto's primacy claim anyway. Of note, CBS-Fender had bass and guitar "nylon tape wound" strings in their 1966 catalogue.
Finally, TB member @fjadams recalls installing GHS tapewounds on a bass of his in either 1968 or '69:
NEW FROM GHS - Tapewounds! (Re-introduced)
Stack Rank Your Three Favorite Flats
Going to take the tapewound plunge.
Click to expand...
Groovy @HaphAsSard. Excellent detective work. I wrote to La Bella on facebook and they also stated Rotosound "in the 60's", and that they started making them shortly thereafter.
 
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#1,174
HaphAsSard said:
CBS-Fender had bass and guitar "nylon tape wound" strings in their 1966 catalogue.
Click to expand...
Ugh. Wrong link of course. Instead of an auto-link circling back to the same post in which it appears, I meant to link to a post by @nerkoids from @Linnin's thread:
History of Fender Brand Strings
nerkoids said:
View attachment 2619633
Click to expand...
^
1966 Fender nylon tapewound offerings shown in the lower right corner of the picture, last two sets in the page, product no. 2100 ["Spanish" (= 6-string) guitar) and no. 2200* [Precision Bass].

* product number not visible in pic but shown here (available string options on page 7 of pdf scan of the Coronado bass original manual).


Dangit, how I miss being able to edit posts weeks after the fact... :atoz:
 
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#1,179
without sifting through 59 pages, is there a quick and dirty comparison of tone and feel between the more popular tapewound sets (Labella, Daddario Roto etc..)? Looking to get a set for my 5 string P with maximum woody thud. thx.
 
#1,180
J.Wolf said:
without sifting through 59 pages, is there a quick and dirty comparison of tone and feel between the more popular tapewound sets (Labella, Daddario Roto etc..)? Looking to get a set for my 5 string P with maximum woody thud. thx.
Click to expand...
Hey Jake, most people that I know use the LaBella black tapes for exactly that. They're wonderful.
 

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