Tru Bass 88 on a ABG

[Mandobassman]

I done some reading about the Rotosound Tru Bass 88 black tapewound strings and would like to try them. I have two concerns.
1 - Are they appropriate for use on a acoustic bass guitar, as far as any silk winding on the bridge end?
2 - With a string gauge of 65-75-100-115, is that too heavy for a ABG?

I'm interested in the sound, but I don't want to pull up the bridge, or do any other damage.

 

[michael_t]

1 - Are they appropriate for use on a acoustic bass guitar, as far as any silk winding on the bridge end?
2 - With a string gauge of 65-75-100-115, is that too heavy for a ABG?

Roto 88 65-115 have a total tension of 177.15 lbs. In comparison, D'Addario regular light gauge 45-100 phosphor bronze acoustic strings are 190.8 lbs. in total tension. So, no, they're not "too heavy".

The question is "are they too thick" to fit properly into the bridge holes as well as the nut slots?

If you want to try a set of tapewounds on your ABG, you might want to start with a set with relatively "normal" gauges. Both D'Addario and GHS tapewounds come in 50-105.

 

[Mandobassman]

Roto 88 65-115 have a total tension of 177.15 lbs. In comparison, D'Addario regular light gauge 45-100 phosphor bronze acoustic strings are 190.8 lbs. in total tension. So, no, they're not "too heavy".

The question is "are they too thick" to fit properly into the bridge holes as well as the nut slots?

If you want to try a set of tapewounds on your ABG, you might want to start with a set with relatively "normal" gauges. Both D'Addario and GHS tapewounds come in 50-105.

I'm mainly interested the the Tru Bass strings because a review I read. Here's a quote from that review.

"Sound-wise, they're the bassiest, thickest, most wall shaking strings ever made. There's NO attack to these things, no growl, no mwaaahh - just BOOOOM. Barely any harmonics, just pure fundamental. That is NOT at all what I wanted, but if I did, god damn these are the ones! My house shook!"

That's exactly the sound I want. That, and Rotosound says they were specifically designed to emulate the sound from a upright, which is exactly what I want.

 

[HaphAsSard]

I'm mainly interested the the Tru Bass strings because a review I read. Here's a quote from that review.

"Sound-wise, they're the bassiest, thickest, most wall shaking strings ever made. There's NO attack to these things, no growl, no mwaaahh - just BOOOOM. Barely any harmonics, just pure fundamental. That is NOT at all what I wanted, but if I did, god damn these are the ones! My house shook!"

That's exactly the sound I want. That, and Rotosound says they were specifically designed to emulate the sound from a upright, which is exactly what I want.

The Rotosound Tru Bass 88 tapes were designed to sound uprighty on an *electric* bass, but they are popular on ABG as well, and folks do remark on differences between them and other tapewounds.* What you could do is try them, using something (thin and stiff, like a piece of an old credit card) between nut and strings to preserve the slots, and a capo on the 1st fret. Tune to FBbEbAb so as to already have them at final tension/tone, and give them a fair spin. If it's love, open the slots and keep the set.

* [Said other tapewounds also have their fans in the ABG camp, in fairness. I'm especially curious about the seldom discussed Pyramid black nylons: there are TB members who swear by them, and specifically mention uprighty tone - again, on electrics though.]

 

[Mandobassman]

The Rotosound Tru Bass 88 tapes were designed to sound uprighty on an *electric* bass, but they are popular on ABG as well, and folks do remark on differences between them and other tapewounds.* What you could do is try them, using something (thin and stiff, like a piece of an old credit card) between nut and strings to preserve the slots, and a capo on the 1st fret. Tune to FBbEbAb so as to already have them at final tension/tone, and give them a fair spin. If it's love, open the slots and keep the set.

* [Said other tapewounds also have their fans in the ABG camp, in fairness. I'm especially curious about the seldom discussed Pyramid black nylons: there are TB members who swear by them, and specifically mention uprighty tone - again, on electrics though.]

I had a Dean ABG once and tried tapewounds once, I believe they were LaBella. They had a ton of surface noise and didn't like them very much. I'm hoping these will be different.
My biggest concern is that I haven't seen a photo of the actual strings and I'm wondering if there is any silk winding on the bridge end that will go into the live playing area.

 

[michael_t]

My biggest concern is that I haven't seen a photo of the actual strings and I'm wondering if there is any silk winding on the bridge end that will go into the live playing area.

 

[HaphAsSard]

I had a Dean ABG once and tried tapewounds once, I believe they were LaBella. They had a ton of surface noise and didn't like them very much. I'm hoping these will be different.
My biggest concern is that I haven't seen a photo of the actual strings and I'm wondering if there is any silk winding on the bridge end that will go into the live playing area.

Per the pics Michael posted, they do have silk. In fact, I have only seen exactly one mention of tapewounds surviving silk removal: in my and others' experience, silk on tapes is functional, holding the tape in place. As for silk at the ball-end side getting in the way, it depends on the bridge on your bass: if it has pins it shouldn't (but you may have trouble with the pins themselves unless you carve them out a bit - not much room in the hole for both a pin and a .115" string end wrapped in silk). If it's top-loaded, it depends on the distance between where the ball-ends stop and the saddle.

 

[Mandobassman]

Per the pics Michael posted, they do have silk. In fact, I have only seen exactly one mention of tapewounds surviving silk removal: in my and others' experience, silk on tapes is functional, holding the tape in place. As for silk at the ball-end side getting in the way, it depends on the bridge on your bass: if it has pins it shouldn't (but you may have trouble with the pins themselves unless you carve them out a bit - not much room in the hole for both a pin and a .115" string end wrapped in silk). If it's top-loaded, it depends on the distance between where the ball-ends stop and the saddle.

I checked the bass. At the most, there is just under a 1/2" between where the string comes out of the pin to the edge of the saddle. It looks like the silk will come out farther than that. I'm not so much concerned with it affecting tone as I was planning to put some foam under there anyway to deaden the sustain, my question becomes - will it change anything with the saddle pickup. I had read a post somewhere where someone said the silk windings made it so the pickup didn't work. Does that sound logical?

 

[HaphAsSard]

I checked the bass. At the most, there is just under a 1/2" between where the string comes out of the pin to the edge of the saddle. It looks like the silk will come out farther than that. I'm not so much concerned with it affecting tone as I was planning to put some foam under there anyway to deaden the sustain, my question becomes - will it change anything with the saddle pickup. I had read a post somewhere where someone said the silk windings made it so the pickup didn't work. Does that sound logical?

I see. However, there's also the combined thickness of the inside bridge plate, the top and the bridge to take into account. It may not reach the saddle after all (and, if it would but only by a fraction of an inch, I guess you could shave it back a wee bit without having the tape unravel).

As for tapes sometimes not playing nice with piezos, I've read about it too
Nylon tapes and piezo bridge
Tapewounds on an ABG-acoustic bass
but no mention was made of silk-over-saddle being the culprit, and it appears as the piezo bridges being discussed were of the electric type (individual, adjustable metal saddles with piezo elements).

 

[johnh89]

I have roto 88s on my walnut piezo only J bass . I used about an inch of shrink wrap over the silk on the ball end to tidy them up . They work perfectly and sound the nuts ! No pictures as the bass is not at home at the minute .

 

[iiipopes]

I had a set of Tru-Bass 88's on a 32-inch scale AEG. Tone was good. But the G string was so tight I changed it for a LaBella regular gauge tapewound G string to get a more even feel string-to-string.

 

[Mandobassman]

I had a set of Tru-Bass 88's on a 32-inch scale AEG. Tone was good. But the G string was so tight I changed it for a LaBella regular gauge tapewound G string to get a more even feel string-to-string.

On your 32" AEG, did the silk windings overhang the bridge saddle? If it did, was there any interference with the pickup?

 

[iiipopes]

On your 32" AEG, did the silk windings overhang the bridge saddle? If it did, was there any interference with the pickup?

No. I had a Washburn with the top-mount bridge.

 

[Mandobassman]

I see. However, there's also the combined thickness of the inside bridge plate, the top and the bridge to take into account. It may not reach the saddle after all (and, if it would but only by a fraction of an inch, I guess you could shave it back a wee bit without having the tape unravel).

As for tapes sometimes not playing nice with piezos, I've read about it too
Nylon tapes and piezo bridge
Tapewounds on an ABG-acoustic bass
but no mention was made of silk-over-saddle being the culprit, and it appears as the piezo bridges being discussed were of the electric type (individual, adjustable metal saddles with piezo elements).

Thanks for the info. I didn't take into account the distance under the bridge pins.
I'll look at that link when I get a chance.