The most unique feeling strings I've tried over the past 45+ years. Didn't care for them one bit, a few of my buddies won't play anything else.
Hope you end up liking them.
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TapeWound Club~Anyone?
- Thread starter .BumeStik.
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The most unique feeling strings I've tried over the past 45+ years. Didn't care for them one bit, a few of my buddies won't play anything else.
Hope you end up liking them.
Sorta depends on the tone you want. I wanted a deep, low, woody tone from one of my violin basses, and from my medium scale Fury Anthem fretless. For that? Rotosound TruBass 88 Tapes are the way to go, IME. They were developed to mimic a "true" bass - an upright. Which, depending on the bass - and your playing technique - they can do very, very well... But, they're 65-115 gauge, so some nut filing will be necessary...
Hi, how ya going. What didn't you like about the Roto88's?
I've read some about potential hum and tapewounds. Anyone experience?
The way they felt under my fretting fingers. Just weird.
Mixed experiences here. I've come across hum on certain basses with tapewounds but with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Obviously, YMMV.
I've tried 3 different brands of tapewounds.
GHS and D'Addario were too floppy for me. The tension with the Galli set was better. All had a plastic type feel. I'm looking for a more "rope" kind of texture. Are the Rotosounds like that?
GHS and D'Addario were too floppy for me. The tension with the Galli set was better. All had a plastic type feel. I'm looking for a more "rope" kind of texture. Are the Rotosounds like that?
I like the LaBella tapes,
I find the 760 blacks are the right tension, I tried the golds but accidentally bought 750 and found them very floppy (but haven't tried the 760G to know if the problem was 100% the size or if the gold is less stiff than the black).
so...
my point?
don't just try different brands, consider different diameters.
Good point. I guess I like the Galli set out of the 3 that I've tried because the gauge was 65-115.
I was playing in a club once when a bass player from another band had an old mustang bass with tapes. She sounded awesome. When she let me try her bass, the strings had that "rope" texture. She couldn't remember the brand. I've been searching for those. All the brands I've tried were that plastic sort of feel which I didn't like, although they sounded good.
I was playing in a club once when a bass player from another band had an old mustang bass with tapes. She sounded awesome. When she let me try her bass, the strings had that "rope" texture. She couldn't remember the brand. I've been searching for those. All the brands I've tried were that plastic sort of feel which I didn't like, although they sounded good.
^This^ pretty much. When I had my Carvin LB-20 set up BEAD, with the 65-135 strings from a set of La Bella 750B-N's, I top loaded them on the bass's Hipshot "A" bridge. More because I think thru-body stringing - which I can do on that bass - is a PITA, than anything else. I had no grounding issue hum at all. Same goes for the Roto TruBass88 tapes on my Rogue VB-100; and they've been on that bass for close to 14 years, now. However...
Can't say the same for the Roto 88's on my Fury Anthem bass. It's thru-body only; and yes, I do get some grounding hum from that bass. It isn't very noticeable unless the gain is turned up quite a bit, but... it's there. Which is kind of odd, because the bass was pretty obviously meant to wear tape wounds. So...
IME, if you can at least ground the ball ends of tapewound strings, there's a good chance you won't have any hum. But, if you can't? Well, either minimize it as best you can - or put some other strings on that bass...
Thought I read sweaty fingers he he. Yeh I've read there seems to be a lot of variation as to hum. Some have no issue. Some get it. I wonder if a common reason for the 'don't getters'.
Ah yes. I can see that, if no metal part of the string was making contact with the bridge via string thru. Enlightening. One of the possible reasons why some don't get hum and some do. Never had to think about this kind of thing before with strings, kind of adds to the intrigue.^This^ pretty much. When I had my Carvin LB-20 set up BEAD, with the 65-135 strings from a set of La Bella 750B-N's, I top loaded them on the bass's Hipshot "A" bridge. More because I think thru-body stringing - which I can do on that bass - is a PITA, than anything else. I had no grounding issue hum at all. Same goes for the Roto TruBass88 tapes on my Rogue VB-100; and they've been on that bass for close to 14 years, now. However...
Can't say the same for the Roto 88's on my Fury Anthem bass. It's thru-body only; and yes, I do get some grounding hum from that bass. It isn't very noticeable unless the gain is turned up quite a bit, but... it's there. Which is kind of odd, because the bass was pretty obviously meant to wear tape wounds. So...
IME, if you can at least ground the ball ends of tapewound strings, there's a good chance you won't have any hum. But, if you can't? Well, either minimize it as best you can - or put some other strings on that bass...
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I haven't read through the entire thread yet, but I see a few tapewound brands are defunct, such as Picato and Status Graphite. But this seller in NZ must have a stash of Picato strings on ice. Medium scale Picato Black Nylon Tapewound Medium Scale 50-105 Bass Strings - The Guitar Gallery, Auckland, Wellington and in New Zealand Aotearoa
I wouldn't mind giving the Pyramid 648/5 set a go too. But for I could buy 2 sets of the Roto88 on special for what it would cost to ship the Pyramids from Germany to Aussieland. Haven't seen the 5iver set available domestically.
I'd heard of Magma flatwounds before, but reading in this thread some years back that they did a tapewound, I checked the U.S.A distribution site for Magma, and see they do a 140 B string tapewound ( at least says 140 on the front of the product, but 130 in the desription) If 140 is correct, it would have to be the biggest non custom tape gauge available perhaps?
I wouldn't mind giving the Pyramid 648/5 set a go too. But for I could buy 2 sets of the Roto88 on special for what it would cost to ship the Pyramids from Germany to Aussieland. Haven't seen the 5iver set available domestically.
I'd heard of Magma flatwounds before, but reading in this thread some years back that they did a tapewound, I checked the U.S.A distribution site for Magma, and see they do a 140 B string tapewound ( at least says 140 on the front of the product, but 130 in the desription) If 140 is correct, it would have to be the biggest non custom tape gauge available perhaps?
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You only get hum if your bass isn’t properly shielded and grounded. Unfortunately many basses are that way.
if you want to test your bass - plug it in and hands off. If it hums, it will with tapes. If not it won’t.
if you want to test your bass - plug it in and hands off. If it hums, it will with tapes. If not it won’t.
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If you can find them in Japan, or if you can have them shipped to you at a reasonable cost,
- try Pyramid black nylon tapewounds
(scroll down toward bottom of page: sets 648 Beatlebass-scale, 648/1 long-scale, 648/5 five-string long-scale, 648/6 six-string long-scale).
I have a set for 6-string electric guitar ready to be installed (I'm debating whether to do it now or at a later time, depending on how a certain project develops), and the tape has a unique, satin feel. They would seem to be exactly what you're looking for;
- Höfner-brand tapes (Invalid Link Removed, only available in Hoffie-shortscale version i.e. ca 33.25" length from ball to silk) should be very similar to the above.
I've diy shielded my bass when I got it and I currently have minimalist wiring again ( straight to output, which possibly lessens noise potential in the signal path) whilst I wait for a new wiring harness with push/pull for parrallel/series.
Doing as you suggest indicates no change when I touch current strings or bridge or when I don't touch. So strings grounded because bridge is. I believe if any noise increase occurs when touching strings or bridge, this indicates a ground issue e.g no bridge ground. So I am assuming the tapewounds could mask a grounding issue if you only tried to touch them and not the bridge. Correct?
It’s usually the other way around - if you have a bad ground there’s buzz and when you touch it goes away because effectively you become the ground. This only works when the bridge is grounded and internal wiring is not properly grounded.
in your case there is no ground problem and tapes will be fine. Tapes won’t hide a ground problem as it will buzz all the time if there’s a problem.
In answer to my question regarding total length of the Roto88's, they are 47" long apparently.
Rotosound Tru Bass Flatwound Black Nylon 65-115 Bass Guitar Strings, Long Scale [RS88LD]
Is there any published data on the Pyramid 648 black nylon tensions?
Rotosound Tru Bass Flatwound Black Nylon 65-115 Bass Guitar Strings, Long Scale [RS88LD]
Is there any published data on the Pyramid 648 black nylon tensions?
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I concur with this. Best feeling tapewounds with a sumptuous texture, IMO/IME.
I usually buy strings online from Strings By Mail. They have these strings but $60 + shipping? The Rotosound Tru bass 88 costs $45.
Since the yen is getting killed these days, I think I'll have to wait a while.
Since the yen is getting killed these days, I think I'll have to wait a while.
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