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Trying out nylon tape wounds

srayb

srayb

Oct 27, 2010
824
1,034
Canada
#1
I'm thinking of giving nylon tapes a try as I've read a lot of good things about them. I have a fretless 6-string (rosewood fretboard) and had these two questions:

1. which set would be closest in tone to my current strings DR Black Beauties? I usually prefer the midrange growl of the soloed bridge pickup and occasional mwah.

2. should I be concerned about how much thicker the nylons are from regular/light roundwounds? It looks like nylons are approximately .015 thicker; should I expect any nut issues, especially if I later revert back to rounds or flats that are that much thinner?

Thanks for any help and suggestions!
 
#3
Labella makes a light gauge in all their tapewounds,that typically don't require much filing for the nut slots.
The Copper White tapewounds have great thump and twang characteristics that are like the best of flats and rounds combined. For an even brighter tone, Labellas plain white tapewounds. I have the copper ones on a fretted Rick and a fretless Tune,and a white set on another frettted Rick.
Great strings!
 
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#4
woodyng2 said:
Labella makes a light gauge in all their tapewounds,that typically don't require much filing for the nut slots.
The Copper White tapewounds have great thump and twang characteristics that are like the best of flats and rounds combined. For an even brighter tone, Labellas plain white tapewounds. I have the copper ones on a fretted Rick and a fretless Tune,and a white set on another frettted Rick.
Great strings!
Click to expand...
Thanks - after looking into the La Bella Gold White Tapes I think I might actually try them on my 6-string fretted instead of the fretless.
 
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#6
srayb said:
Is La Bella the only string manufacturer offering tapewounds in 6-string bass sets? D'Addario only has 5-string set (and no high C single). Same with GHS & Rotosound…
Click to expand...
You asked some specific questions about tone and I can't help you there, but Labella makes the best quality tapewounds by a wide margin, IMO. They feel good. They're built well. They don't unravel. White or gold or black, they're all really good. The other companies do rounds just fine but as far as tapes and flats go, Labella does them best.
 
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#7
srayb said:
2. should I be concerned about how much thicker the nylons are from regular/light roundwounds? It looks like nylons are approximately .015 thicker; should I expect any nut issues, especially if I later revert back to rounds or flats that are that much thinner?
Click to expand...

Yes, check the fit in the nut slot. The wider footprint can put stress on the outer edge and it'll run a risk of chipping off. Make sure the string is sitting on the bottom of the slot.
 
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#8
srayb said:
Is La Bella the only string manufacturer offering tapewounds in 6-string bass sets? D'Addario only has 5-string set (and no high C single). Same with GHS & Rotosound…
Click to expand...
Pyramid makes a 6-string black nylon tapewound set (pt. no. 648.6) as well:
Pyramid E-Bass Black Nylon Tapewound 6-string, Long Scale jetzt online kaufen bei SchneiderMusik.de

@Bare Bass has experience with this set, bought precisely from the above link - not available for sale anywhere else (online) that I know of, but contacting Pyramid directly - their boss, Herr Max Junger, speaks English - may end up costing slightly less.
 
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#9
srayb said:
Is La Bella the only string manufacturer offering tapewounds in 6-string bass sets? D'Addario only has 5-string set (and no high C single). Same with GHS & Rotosound…
Click to expand...
D'Addario doesn't offer 6 string nylon tapewound in a set. But, they do have a high-C single of their nylon tapewound (product code/number: TWB035). I've got one years ago from FN (or probably when it was still BSO). Though, currently out of stock on D'Addario own webstore.
 
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#10
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#12
srayb said:
Thanks for finding that! I was searching on Amazon, but it didn't appear in results after several different attempts. Their search is very frustrating. ;)
Click to expand...

I simply googled "D'Addario Black Nylon bass high C" and it was the first thing that showed up. I don't normally look for bass strings on Amazon, but I have purchased some stuff from them in the last year, so google knows that already. ;)
 
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#13
I got the D'Addario Tapewounds from FN. I'm really liking them on my fretted 6-string! Nice round tone with some high end zing. Very smooth strings. I had to loosen the truss rod a bit due to their lower tension, but you can play them with very low action.
 
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#14
srayb said:
I'm thinking of giving nylon tapes a try as I've read a lot of good things about them. I have a fretless 6-string (rosewood fretboard) and had these two questions:

1. which set would be closest in tone to my current strings DR Black Beauties? I usually prefer the midrange growl of the soloed bridge pickup and occasional mwah.

2. should I be concerned about how much thicker the nylons are from regular/light roundwounds? It looks like nylons are approximately .015 thicker; should I expect any nut issues, especially if I later revert back to rounds or flats that are that much thinner?

Thanks for any help and suggestions!
Click to expand...

1) Yes. The brightest tapewounds are the La Bella regular gauge White Tapes. All tapewound strings, however, will have sightly damped top end tonally.
2) Yes. You should have a new nut installed so the strings don't pinch. Have your luthier save the old nut so you can have it in case you want to go back to conventional strings.
3) Regular gauge La Bella tapewound strings are similar in gauge to a (4-string) 45-100 set of round wound strings. Somewhere, possibly the tapewound club thread, I have posted my findings from dissecting dead tapewounds to see what is under the tape. And yes, the average seems to be that the tape is about 7 thou or so thick, so when wrapped, it increases the overall gauge by an average of about 14-15 thou per string.
 
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#15
The D'Addario's are pretty close to round wound gauges (only a couple of strings are .005 greater diameter), so they fit fine without any nut modifications. The Labella set's high C is significantly thicker at .043, so that could require a bit of filing. I'm also pretty satisfied with the high end of the D'Addarios.
 
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#16
D'Addario ETB92 Nylons. This is my ETB92S Short Scales. I've never had intonation issues with D'Addario Nylons, on any bass I've strung them on.

ETB92S300.png
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