TapeWound Club~Anyone?

[Prodigus Filius]

I'm aware of a black nylon tapewound 140 by Magma, once described by a TBer as "glorious".

Holy crap! And it is available in a 5iver set from SBM. Thanks a bunch. What gauge do you guess is under the nylon?
The 73 doesn’t deviate too far from my 75 current preoccupation

Invalid Link Removed

Ordered. Hopefully get them in a couple of weeks. SBM ships real quick to Australia, but then customs here holds up things. Not to mention if the courier service is one of the duds we have downunder.

Any tension stats for Magma tapes?

The thread that mentions ‘glorious’

Thread 'Magma Nylons'

Aug 19, 2021

Trying these. They feel good not sticky or funny, but more like a smooth round wound than a flat wound. Flexible and low tension 53-113 on the box but seem not so fat. Also they are much brighter than expected but they sound very nice on my P. I will be trying them on a gig next week and see how they are in the mix. I was liking my violin bass with flats in the blues band with its tight punch, but want to play the P. Hear them both straight into Audacity.

• Fishstick
• Replies: 6
• Forum: Strings [BG]

• 

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Heck, i mentioned the Magma 140 myself some time ago. I notice my recall is starting to go south. Gettin old. Help arrghhhhhh

Post in thread 'TapeWound Club~Anyone?'

Apr 19, 2024

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...

• Prodigus Filius

And I’m as confused now as I was then because the Magma USA site has 140 on the package for BE505NB and FBA-BE505NB-1 but 130 in the descriptions still. (For the life of me, I can’t see what difference warrants paying slightly more for the FBA set entails. The stuff on the packet and the description is no different from the BE505NB set)

Magma Electric Bass Strings Medium - Flat Black Nylon Tapewound Strings - Long Scale 34

Wound with round steel and covered with flattened black nylon tapewound Soft and flattened playing surface Ideal for reduction of the unwanted finger noise Deep and warm tone Optimal tension Ideal for fretless, fretted electric basses and also acoustic basses Longer life than traditional flat...

magmastoreusa.com

Strings By Mail has 140 in the description for BE505NB as per the package. I guess a typo on the Magma site, which you’d think an employee would have corrected by now. Nearly 12 mths since I noticed the discrepancy

 

[HaphAsSard]

Heck, i mentioned the Magma 140 myself some time ago. I notice my recall is starting to go south. Gettin old. Help arrghhhhhh

Post in thread 'TapeWound Club~Anyone?'

Apr 19, 2024

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...

• Prodigus Filius

And I’m as confused now as I was then because the Magma USA site has 140 on the package for BE505NB and FBA-BE505NB-1 but 130 in the descriptions still. (For the life of me, I can’t see what difference warrants paying slightly more for the FBA set entails. The stuff on the packet and the description is no different from the BE505NB set)

Magma Electric Bass Strings Medium - Flat Black Nylon Tapewound Strings - Long Scale 34

Wound with round steel and covered with flattened black nylon tapewound Soft and flattened playing surface Ideal for reduction of the unwanted finger noise Deep and warm tone Optimal tension Ideal for fretless, fretted electric basses and also acoustic basses Longer life than traditional flat...

magmastoreusa.com

Strings By Mail has 140 in the description for BE505NB as per the package. I guess a typo on the Magma site, which you’d think an employee would have corrected by now. Nearly 12 mths since I noticed the discrepancy

Can't make heads nor tails of the Magma USA site, but the Argentine one is clear enough
magmastrings.com/eng/1_1_8_black_flat.html
in spelling out the gauges for the BE505NB (no "FBA" anywhere) as being 53-73-93-103-140.

No tension data in my possession, I'm afraid.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Can't make heads nor tails of the Magma USA site, but the Argentine one is clear enough
magmastrings.com/eng/1_1_8_black_flat.html
in spelling out the gauges for the BE505NB (no "FBA" anywhere) as being 53-73-93-103-140.

No tension data in my possession, I'm afraid.

Thanks for Argentine link. Very clear the 140 is a 140 and yes, no sign of FBA-BE505NB-1 like on the US site.
I think FBA might stand for 'Fretless Bass/Acoustic' but the BE505NB description on the US site says they are suitable for fretless and acoustic as well, so I can't see a differerence between the sets despite the different price.
Anyhow, looking fwd to trying these strings out

 

[Prodigus Filius]

If you take 8 thou as the nylon thickness on the Magma tapes, you get underlying gauges of 45 65 85 105 132

If the nylon is 13 thou you get
40 60 80 100 127

I emailed Magma about providing some tension data. Doesn't hurt to ask

 

[Just Wrong]

Has anyone tried D'Addario's short-scale or medium-scale tapes? How was the tension?

 

[Monkey]

I had medium-scale D’Addario tapes on a fretless and they sounded great. If I remember correctly, they felt similar to TI Jazz Flats, which have been my go-to strings for ages.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Has anyone tried D'Addario's short-scale or medium-scale tapes? How was the tension?

Bare in mind that D'addario doesn't offer a short or medium scale 035 as far as I know. TWB035 is available as a single in long scale though. In other words if these are for your SWAN 30.75" strung thru body, and medium scale was a fit (depending on your measurement from ball to nut) than you'd still need a the long scale C3 anyhow

 

[Just Wrong]

Bear in mind that D'addario doesn't offer a short or medium scale 035 as far as I know. TWB035 is available as a single in long scale though. In other words if these are for your SWAN 30.75" strung thru body, and medium scale was a fit (depending on your measurement from ball to nut) than you'd still need a the long scale C3 anyhow

Yeah, I asked D’Addario if they could special make a B and a C. I don’t think they do, but fingers crossed.

 

[jazzenfunk]

I just got a Fender P bass 5 string locally with black tapewounds. My 1st P bass and 1st experience with tapes.
I love the bass I'm having some issues with noise from grounding issues. If my thumb touches the the of the pickup
it buzzes loudly. Some pops from pickup poles too. I think I love the Tapes sound and feel. The seller had only had the bass for a couple weeks
and didn't know what brand they are. Is there any fix for the grounding problem? Is there a brand of Tapewound I should try?

 

[Just Wrong]

I just got a Fender P bass 5 string locally with black tapewounds. My 1st P bass and 1st experience with tapes.
I love the bass I'm having some issues with noise from grounding issues. If my thumb touches the the of the pickup
it buzzes loudly. Some pops from pickup poles too. I think I love the Tapes sound and feel. The seller had only had the bass for a couple weeks
and didn't know what brand they are. Is there any fix for the grounding problem? Is there a brand of Tapewound I should try?

Unfortunately, no… an option would be to play with your hand on the bridge or a pickup cover.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

I just got a Fender P bass 5 string locally with black tapewounds. My 1st P bass and 1st experience with tapes.
I love the bass I'm having some issues with noise from grounding issues. If my thumb touches the the of the pickup
it buzzes loudly. Some pops from pickup poles too. I think I love the Tapes sound and feel. The seller had only had the bass for a couple weeks
and didn't know what brand they are. Is there any fix for the grounding problem? Is there a brand of Tapewound I should try?

couple of things to try.
1. Put a piece of electrical tape over the top of a pickup including the poles and note result

2. Remove electrical tape from pickup. Run a bit of wire through all the string end balls and attach the wire to an intonation screw and note result

 

[Just Wrong]

Is there a way to predetermine how much a bass might buzz with tapes? For example, if I have my bass strung with rounds don't touch the bass at all, can I assume that's what's I'm going to hear with tapes? Thanks!

 

[thisheregiraffe]

I am not 100% confident in saying this, so maybe take it with a grain of salt until a more knowledgeable TBer replies, but... I think if the bridge is properly grounded, and the ball ends of the strings make good contact with the bridge plate (top loaded), then you will not experience a great difference in buzz. A string-through bridge could be a different story. (Happy to be proven wrong and taught the correct answer if anybody is reading this and thinks I'm giving bad info )

 

[subdude67]

Is there a way to predetermine how much a bass might buzz with tapes? For example, if I have my bass strung with rounds don't touch the bass at all, can I assume that's what's I'm going to hear with tapes? Thanks!

In my experience your assumption is correct. They can't ground the buzz through your hands and so buzz more or less. I use a ground strip when it's too much, but I really want to try the above mentioned trick with the ball ends ground.

 

[Prodigus Filius]

Is there a way to predetermine how much a bass might buzz with tapes? For example, if I have my bass strung with rounds don't touch the bass at all, can I assume that's what's I'm going to hear with tapes? Thanks!

I dunno about predertinating noise vis a vis tapewounds.
Regardiess, the basic things as far as noises go with an electric bass or guitar are,
A/ if the instrument is quiet when plugged in without touching the bass but develops noises when you touch the strings or pickups/ bridge than grounding is an issue

B/ If the instrument is noisy in some way plugged in but the noise decreases when you touch strings or components, ground is working but the instrument is inadequately protected from interference from sources of that interference eg lighting, electric equipment etc. This requiree shielding the bass from such sources as much as possible.

C/ By design, single coil, non humbucing pickups will have 60 hertz hum to some degree when plugged in regardles of shielding

 

[mrperkolator]

If everything is well grounded and shielded then you may get no hum. In my case I ran La Bella blacks on an active J that had Bartolini inline splits. I also shielded it. It’s quiet as a mouse. But each piece was chosen because they were quiet.

 

[dlmarquez]

I have been looking for information on which tapewounds are the lowest tension (4 string long scale) to put on a Ric 4003.
Currently running LaBella 760N lights.
Are there any tapewound sets with lower tension than the LaBella’s? I haven’t been very successful in finding info on tapewound sets and their tension.

 

[ajkula66]

Are there any tapewound sets with lower tension than the LaBella's?

Probably not.

I've used LaBella Whites, D'Addario and Pyramid tapes on regular basis. Out of those LB are the lowest tension by far.

It's been a very long time since I've used Roto 88s but I don't recall them being less tense than LB either.

That leaves you with Fender and GHS out of the better-known brands. The latter are flatwound-based so likely to be on the higher side of tension band.

Good luck.

 

[Just Wrong]

I have been looking for information on which tapewounds are the lowest tension (4 string long scale) to put on a Ric 4003.
Currently running LaBella 760N lights.
Are there any tapewound sets with lower tension than the LaBella's? I haven't been very successful in finding info on tapewound sets and their tension.

Pyramid can make you a custom set with the following gauges:

.032 .035 .046 .051 .055 .060 .067 .075 .080 .086 .090 .094 .100 .105 .109 .115 .124 .135

You could try something like 46-(55 or 60)-(75 or 80)-100.

I assume that would be lower tension than the La Bella, but it’s hard to tell with La Bella being so secretive about the tension of their strings.

Max at Pyramid could advise you on how to create a balanced set — [email protected]

That said, have you tried other nylons besides La Bella’s? The La Bellas don’t feel like the D’Addario, and neither feel like the Pyramid.

In my experience, the La Bella feel plasticy (I don’t mean this in a bad way) and the Pyramid feel fuzzy, sort of like a peach. I was fine with the Pyramid the first time I tried them, but the second time, I found them a bit off-putting. The D’Addario fall in between. Not plasticy like the La Bella, but not overwhelmingly fuzzy like the Pyramid.

As @ajkula66 says, I don’t think the Rotos or Fenders would be lower tension given their heavier gauges. The GHS are flats underneath, so they’re probably higher tension.

Magma does make a set of tapes that’s the same gauges as the La Bella and D’Addario. Maybe you could try those? But I doubt they would be significantly lower tension.