Which bass for tapewounds?

[Killing Floor]

Not the boss of you but I’d get a bass that fits my hand and/or put them on a bass I love. If you buy a P Bass or a FSO there are is infinite variety in necks. Strings are the last thing I’d do. Maybe the 2nd most important thing but not the starting point. Good luck.

 

[Wesley R]

As a tapes fanatic, I'd say most any bass you want. Many of the old Guilds were supreme tape candidates. Most every semi hollow. Of course any and every semi decent P bass.

 

[The Ancient One]

LaBella Black on my fretless 90's Peavey, White on Fender P and J basses, no issues.

 

[mikeoso]

Roto 88s on all three of these.

 

[jdaunt]

As mentioned, not sure there is THE bass for tapes, they work well on most any bass! I do really like them for fretless, but i also love the LaBella White Tapes i have on my Stingray 4HH.

 

[Artman]

Inspired by Janek's recent video (https://youtube.com/shorts/yadefQQVAzQ?si=iMJCYZuMu13wzNGP), I'm interested in exploring tapewound strings. What's a good bass for that?

Janek is using an American Standard P bass (maple neck) with Aguilar pickups. Makes me think that something like an AVRI P bass would offer similar possibilities. Maybe a cheapo P bass or P bass clone with Aggie pickups. Or maybe any P bass.

Is there an iconic tapewound sound?

I have LaBella white tapes on my fretless Pedulla Buzz. It has two humbucking Bartolini J pickups, and I think that bass sounds the best with those strings.
I ran nickel rounds on that bass for well over 30 years, then tried flats, but I missed the overtones, so tried the tapes… and bingo! The best qualities of both flats and rounds, and none of the compromises of either one.

I wish I would have tried these years ago!

I think I’m going to try a set of them on my P-bass whenever it’s rounds are ready to be replaced.

 

[Vodyanoi]

I'm interested in exploring tapewound strings. What's a good bass for that?

A fretless one!

 

[steve_ss]

My bass with flatwounds is a Rickenbacker 4003FL.

 

[rodl2005]

I had one in the milky white color- Loved the bass, should’ve kept it but traded for a ‘57 AVRI Precision.

Very nice. I've not seen that particular hue

 

[Bar Band Bassman]

Pretty sure Greg Ridley from Humble Pie played a P with tapewounds. The bass on Live Rockin' The Fillmore is excellent. I have tapes on my Asian Hofner Club and they are great!

The Bar Band Bassman

 

[edot3021]

I have Labella black tapes on a Fender American Deluxe P and I might go back to flats.

 

[HaphAsSard]

Is there an iconic tapewound sound?

I've seen mention of Larry Graham using black nylon tapewounds in the early days of Sly & the Family Stone, and this picture

and this other picture

albeit not undisputably, would appear to support the claim. They even seem to have yellow silks like the Rotosound tapes.
(Of course that may not be yellow, and the strings could be by another manufacturer: come the end of the decade, black nylons were also made by Fender, GHS, La Bella and Guild, I think.)

 

[Crackle]

I like Fender 9120 tapewounds on a fretless Jazz bass.

 

[logdrum]

Not the boss of you but I’d get a bass that fits my hand and/or put them on a bass I love. If you buy a P Bass or a FSO there are is infinite variety in necks. Strings are the last thing I’d do. Maybe the 2nd most important thing but not the starting point. Good luck.

I thought so too. It's like what car should I buy for Continental Contact Pros (tires)?

But this is TB... What pedals to buy for EBS flat cables. I won't be surprised.

I bought tapewounds for a series of gigs where a singer song writer wanted me to accompany playing the bass chordaly and it was best sound. Notes are separated but not overwhelming like roundwounds or muddy like flats.

 

[Pimpernel Smith]

This guy did alright with tapes on a Hofner in 1969.

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

Inspired by Janek's recent video (https://youtube.com/shorts/yadefQQVAzQ?si=iMJCYZuMu13wzNGP), I'm interested in exploring tapewound strings. What's a good bass for that?

Janek is using an American Standard P bass (maple neck) with Aguilar pickups. Makes me think that something like an AVRI P bass would offer similar possibilities. Maybe a cheapo P bass or P bass clone with Aggie pickups. Or maybe any P bass.

Is there an iconic tapewound sound?

A good bass for tapes is one you already own.

 

[Relsom]

I received a LB-100FL with tapes. I really liked them so I made sure to try them on my 4003FL when I got it a little later. It's a match made in heaven, though I wish they were a little higher tension. Not because I don't like floppy strings.... because I need more relief in the neck.

 

[wboyd68]

I've used them on a EBMM and a Modulus Genesis 5 and loved them. Any bass will do.

 

[T-boneParish]

I love tapes. It's interesting that some previous responses mentioned Graham Maby because I built a bass that I was hoping would give me something close to the great bass tone he achieved on those early Joe Jackson albums Look Sharp and I'm the Man. I wanted a raw, transparent pickup and, of course, tape wound strings. I built the bass below. I thought the 51-style pickup which sometimes can sound brittle would be a great complement to the warm, round tone of the tape wound strings. Since this pickup *could cause some 60-cycle hum, I carefully grounded and shielded the pickup cavity, control cavity, etc. I love this bass in every way, except... I still experienced some occasional 60-cycle hum with the tape wound strings because they don't have a metal surface for the player's hands to provide an extra ground for the current. Argh! I changed out the tape wound strings for some flat wound strings, and now I love this bass in every way... except it doesn't *quite achieve the Graham Maby tone. It has an open, thumpy, woody tone that I love, but it's not that tone.

So, I know your question was, "Which bass for tapes," but I'm answering the question, "Which bass NOT for tapes." The bass that's not for tapes is the bass whose pickup needs grounding from the strings.

Sample of that Graham Maby tape wound sound...

 

[ThudThudThud]

Tapes sound amazing on acoustic bass guitars.