The video below is the kind bass players appreciate most – it gets straight to the point. The moment you press the play button, the bass playing starts. Not a single word is spoken. All you hear is playing.
After watching the video, let everyone know what string you think sounds best by leaving a comment below.
I like the black nylon tapewounds for all that he’s playing. Sounds clean and rich..
Agreed; less surface noise from the body, too.
Agreed,and less surface noise from the body too.
I found the tape-wound to be the most pleasing to my ear.
I’m using the D’Addario Chromes on my Epiphone El Capitan 5 string fretless, and I think they sound pretty good. I usually use stainless steel roundwounds, but the flatwounds sound better on my fretless.
One string beats all for tone, sustain and attack, without putting the fretboard at risk. Do yourself a favor and get some HALFROUNDS!
I removed the Chromes from my new Godin A5 fretless and installed the new White Nylon Tapes. I liked the look better than black tapes I have on my ’08 Fender P5 (Cola/Maple) and I’m very happy with the tone of the White and Black Tapes on each. I use Chromes on a couple basses and DR BB’s on a couple others. I found a lovely Carvin SB5000 on Ebay. I think it has stock Carvin strings and I love those. Looking to find another set of the same for this as my primary bass now. Great video above. Didn’t like all the fingerboard noise but that’s prolly more a camera thing. And I know yours is a true acoustic, not something I do with my Godin. THnaks for the comparison.
Tape wounds sound closest to an upright, not surprisingly. Bronze round wounds have lively likable tone but a lot of finger/string noise. Chromes sound horrible on an acoustic bass, better suited for an electric bass.
What we need to know is how each type of string sounds through the instrument’s pickup. Even in the studio, engineers seem to prefer to record direct. Very seldom does anyone mic bass anymore.
I like the Bronze and the Tape wound, I have the Bronze on my Michael Kelly Fretless, they sound pretty good. Carvin ships theirs with Tape wound strings..
I believe Carvin’s strings are made for them by LaBella.
I like the tape wound best. IMHO they are the most musical sounding. the bronze are just too scratchy and the chrome flats are kind of clacky. This is demonstrated by the use of mics for this demo. The tape covered strings seem more musical while maintaining a good level of percussive sound.
The tapewounds are my favorite – especially for the fretless, my second choice are the chromes and lastly the roundwounds – there’s just too much finger noise to my liking. I use tapewounds on my fretless and chromes on my Fender Jazz.
Definitely the tape wounds on the guitar
I tried tape wounds on my Guild B4-E and just could not get my ear to like them. I went back to bronze rounds and the acoustic sound is simply more pleasing when noodling around and playing with thumb and first two fingers. They sound…acoustic.
Tapewounds, then chromes, last bronze roundwounds, at least for this bass
Tapewound All the Way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nylon Tape is very good, but have some problems whith magnetic eletronics and ground wiring. I like nylon core by Thomastick.
Round wound were to noisy but I noticed he has a very light grip, a harder grip would help with this bass. The tae wounds were the best sounding on the video, bloody dead as a Dodo on a electric.
If phosphor bronze strings are the variety of strings systematically found on all acoustic basses when purchased, why doesn’t a string maker come out with bronze flatwounds to eliminate that annoying scratching noise they produce …….
Tapewounds sound considerably better. Chromes next and roundwounds last.
I use ETB92’s on my Aerodyne Jazz. The string noise with the phosphor-bronze is really obnoxious.
Fret buzz is my Kryptonite!!! I can’t stand it. For that reason alone, I’d say tape or chromes, but I’ve got to admit, the aggressive “using a pick (fingernail)” method was better on with the rounds…
I’ve got a tapewound strung bass, a chrome flatwound strung bass and a TI flatwound strung bass…and my only fretted instrument has halfrounds on it. I can’t do fret buzz. Can’t. Do. It.
Part of the problem here is the player’s “sloppy” style. Some of the issues responders mentioned previously could be overcome by improved technique.
I liked the chromes. The tape was ok but more flat (good for covering one’s mistakes though).
I hate that zingy finger noise on roundwounds more than just about anything. Not only do I love the sound of tapewounds, but they don’t chew up my fingers no matter how long I play, and they last YEARS. I have a set on my fretless Carvin that have been there since 2007: still play & sound great!
Tapes sound closest to an upright sound. The chromes had more articulation. The bronze were evil.
I love the silence in between the notes with the flat wounds.
Tapes sounded best for me. I had a hard time watching that right hand though. I use my index and middle finger most of the time. I never use my index only. It worked for Jamerson, though.
I only have one bass with tape wounds. All my other basses are either flat or rounds. I really want to get rid of my phosphor bronze strings on my Ovation Elite TX bass, but I’ll see if I can use the phosphor sound in a song or two.