Would long scale nylons work on a headless short scale?

[HaphAsSard]

You don't usually see tapes on a Graphite instrument

Funnily enough, Status Graphite had tapewound sets available, years ago!
(Rumour had it they were made by Picato.)

 

[Jinbu]

I put a set of the white nylon tapewounds on a short scale headless Ibanez and they seem to be working just fine, though I feel like they would come apart if I took them off. I did try to put a bit of CA glue on them to stabilize before putting on and cutting them though I'm not confident that it will hold so I'd probably go with the heat shrink tubing if I had to do it again.

 

[Killing Floor]

Not correct specially on tape wounds, They will unravel if you cut the string before the silks . Maybe you can try melting the nylon or strong tape. But that's a $50 - 60 experiment.

Also upright gut string like Pirastro olives or expensive Eudoxa, those silks are definitely not just labels.

Also on my very steep string through Charlie Hunter type bass, the bend was enough to damage a D'Addario tapewound and unravel the A string but the rest were okay. D'Addario sent me a replacement with no argument because they supplied strings for Hybrid Guitars. The replacement did last for over a year until I changed the strings and that guitar was used a lot. When I replaced the strings and cut the tapewounds, they unravelled about a minute after I did the cut

Also removing the silks or cutting them will also unravel metal wrap strings also but slowly and you can save it by bending 90 degrees ASAP if not before cutting it

Some silks are wrapped better than others. Magma's are and they do have a black tapewound. I think La Bellas are not as robust.

Let us know how you did.

The tape would not be any more or less subject to unraveling than it would when you stretch it over narrow bridge saddle.

Remember, the cut end is behind the saddle and within or after the clutch. Just like on a standard bass the cut end is inside the tuner post. Lol unless a guitar player strings it. Then you’re on your own.
See below. That stress doesn’t cause gapping going on 3 years.
These are LaBella white tapes. White is clear?

 

[mikewalker]

OT: That's one wicked looking bass. I'm a fan of more is less when it comes to controls. 12mm or .472" off location on neck location would have been a deal breaker for me on a build like that. Curious though. Did you put rounds back on? Did the tapes sound weird or off? You don't usually see tapes on a Graphite instrument or with a MM style pick-up.

View attachment 5491246

Miller Instruments - Basses

Yeah I was pissed at Miller... he was the worst custom builder ever when it came to communication, and just really sloppy. I had ordered a very specific custom neck profile and nut width, and when the bass arrived both were way oversize! And how did he miss that it was so far from intonating even with the saddles back as far as they could go? Measure twice, cut once! He also wired the pickup wrong. On the bright side, it was a very fast build, about four months. And once I got it playable (neck off, new set of mounting holes very carefully drilled) - it had a lot going for it - really nice tone, very good fretwork, and it weighed a whole 5.0 pounds. It came with the tapes, and I really liked the tapewound tones. I only put the flats on because a set came in the mail, and I wanted to try them out (new to me). I never tried that bass with rounds as I had six or seven other basses on hand at the time, most of them with rounds...
I would have kept it except the neck was uncomfortable for me - and that's a HARD No for a 'custom order' bass that I paid three or 4 thousand Canayjun buxxors for!!

 

[logdrum]

The tape would not be any more or less subject to unraveling than it would when you stretch it over narrow bridge saddle.

Remember, the cut end is behind the saddle and within or after the clutch. Just like on a standard bass the cut end is inside the tuner post. Lol unless a guitar player strings it. Then you’re on your own.
See below. That stress doesn’t cause gapping going on 3 years.
These are LaBella white tapes. White is clear?
View attachment 5491577

The OP has a headless bass. I am talking maybe taping the tuner end. It may not work. He/She still needs to remove some of the ball end tapes. -- Depends how long what the setup looks like. When was at the Kiesel shop 4 years ago, they recommend strings with no silks on their headless basses.

 

[Killing Floor]

they recommend strings with no silks on their headless basses.

when I played Kubicki I always made sure no silk was at the gear ends. There are many different types of clamps so I don’t know if that was right or wrong on those.