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Help me identify these black tapewound
- Thread starter Bob Nieske
- Start date
Hm. I thought Rotosound bass strings had brass ball ends, before their ongoing tricolour-coded phase.
[To be clear, I have no alternative hypotheses:
the Pyramid 648/RT "Rooftop '69" commemorative set (black nylon tapewounds with yellow silk, meant to resemble Paul McCartney's Roto Tru Bass 88 tapes) is, duhbviously, Beatlebass-scale, so these can't be it.]
I was thinking the same thing... But I can't think of any other black nylons with yellow/gold silk.
The Rotosound silks -- at least the ones I've seen -- are a brighter yellow color. I don't know what these are, but I suspect they are not Rotosound.
Not Labella, not GHS, not Fender, not D'Addario, not Rotosound... I think there are a couple of other European nylon tapewound strings -- Pyramid maybe? And Galli? -- that I've never tried or seen, so I might guess one of those, but that's a pretty random open-ended guess. I don't know what silk colors those are supposed to be.
Not Labella, not GHS, not Fender, not D'Addario, not Rotosound... I think there are a couple of other European nylon tapewound strings -- Pyramid maybe? And Galli? -- that I've never tried or seen, so I might guess one of those, but that's a pretty random open-ended guess. I don't know what silk colors those are supposed to be.
But don't the 69's emulate that the strings on Sir Paul's Hofner were overly long ie were they long scales on the Hofner? They are described by Saiten as having ' extra long silk ends
Thomann's promo pics of the 69 rooftop 'pay homage' bass play up the fact that the windings extended way bound the tuning pegs. https://www.thomannmusic.no/hoefner_violin_roof_top_bass_69.htm
So the Pyramid rooftops might be long scale, factoring in the tail piece as well.
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Do the silks on the ones in this video look like the gold color in the OP's pic? If so, they're in fact Galli.
They are Pyramid 648/1: https://www.prospecstrings.ca/produ...lon-tape-wound-long-scale-bass-strings-55-112
I had a set on my main bass until about a month ago.
I had a set on my main bass until about a month ago.
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How odd... I bought mine from from that store. The silk was the same orange as OP's picture and the ball somewhat smaller than regular ball ends and silver.
The two imagines of the strings on Google (pyramid 648/1 - Google Search) are similar to OP's.
The silked ends are described as being long, and that picture jibes with it, but they also seem to taper correctly before the low-E tuning post, which makes them medium-scale at most. Nor do I believe it could be any other way: making them long-scale wouldn't be too smart (Beatle-bass users would find it really hard to fit them on guitar-style posts).
I've read about Galli black nylon tapewounds having red silks (like GHS tapes). Full-screening the video, and selecting the highest quality, would vaguely seem to confirm it.
As for regular Pyramid tapes, from what I've been able to gather they come (or came: they just say "grüne" now - p. 17 of pdf) with different silk colours depending on length.
I've seen pics of an extra-long set with red silks, some of short-scale (plus) sets with green silks, and yet others of a custom uke-bass sized one with orange/gold/dark yellow ones; finally (following the Google link), one of a long-scale set, also with dark yellow silks indeed.
EDIT - Here's an excellent shootout article,
https://www.bonedo.de/artikel/black-nylon-basssaiten-im-vergleich/2/
with pics of long-scale Pyramid (a gold/orange hue of yellow),
Rotosound (lighter shade of yellow)
and Hofner-branded
tapes.
So those in the OP may have been Pyramids all along, after all.
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In my limited useage of tapewounds (1 set) i can assure you they are Rotosound (which has been said before)
Great strings!
Great strings!
This appears to be the definitive answer to the OP's question. @Just Wrong has been just right on this one!
Ah yes, I didn't catch the taper start before the post in that Thomann pic. So they are prob medium scale with the extra long silked ends for homage. Assuming they are the Pyramid rooftops on it
I used to use Picato nylons and they had yellow windings, but I am talking 45-50 years ago. Have pics but they are faded, though still yellow.
The texture of the string is extremely similar to the (short scale) Pyramids on my LP Bass, so that was my first guess as well.
You're right. Those in the OP picture definitely look more matte, and probably feel more velvety to the touch, than other tapes. (I've no experience with the Roto 88's, but they sure look glossier than that; I'm *about* to install guitar Pyramid tapes on my bari, and yeah, I've pre-felt them, they be peachy!)
However, not having long-term experience with tapewounds, I personally couldn't, when first seeing the OP picture, discount the possibility of other makes/models becoming like that with age.
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Yes, the Roto 88's are glossier, and the silk is a little more "Golden". I have the medium scale 88M's on 2 of my basses, and the ball ends? Well, the ones on my MIK Rogue VB-100 violin bass have to be at least 15 years old - and they have brass ball ends. OTOH, the ones on my Fury Anthem fretless bass are about 3 months old - and they have colored ball ends. So, if those strings are Roto's? The silk's are faded - and they're pretty old...
I had tape wounds on a Vox Cougar back in the early '70s, when I took that bass in for my first base lesson with this new bass instructor, he made a face that I will never forget but I didn't change them out 'cuz who had money back then? They're okay I guess, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to slap a set of tapewounds on anything I own nowadays.
You have to understand that this bass instructor was something special, he was The Man around Falls Church at the time. He worked out if Foxes Music... if anyone can remember this cat I would like to know his name cuz I can't remember his name but let me tell you a little story...
Of all the bass instruction that I had in my youth, the craziest instructor was this polyester, double knit, rayon and disco booted Jazz dude who was about 30 lb heavier than the shirt allowed and could play his ass off. His Precision barely had a lick of nitrocellulus left on it. At the music store where he worked out of they had an upright bass that occasionally he would attack and I would spend the entire jaw dropping ½ hour watching this dude just go flame-on. It was very impressive.
I was mortified that he disapproved of my tape wound strings on that Vox Cougar, but he didn't really say anything... only that look. He didn't care for the Vox either...
He he taught me alot, including the Fine Art of buying used beater Fender basses out of the many pawn shops in the Northern Virginia/DC metropolitan area which started a whole "flip" career for me - in my quest to obtain gear & flip it for some profit to stick in the bank account for better gear. I have him to thank for that. He even taught me bass set-up procedures.
So don't despise me for not being a fan of "tapeworms" I came by it honestly... Or maybe I was coerced into not liking them.
You have to understand that this bass instructor was something special, he was The Man around Falls Church at the time. He worked out if Foxes Music... if anyone can remember this cat I would like to know his name cuz I can't remember his name but let me tell you a little story...
Of all the bass instruction that I had in my youth, the craziest instructor was this polyester, double knit, rayon and disco booted Jazz dude who was about 30 lb heavier than the shirt allowed and could play his ass off. His Precision barely had a lick of nitrocellulus left on it. At the music store where he worked out of they had an upright bass that occasionally he would attack and I would spend the entire jaw dropping ½ hour watching this dude just go flame-on. It was very impressive.
I was mortified that he disapproved of my tape wound strings on that Vox Cougar, but he didn't really say anything... only that look. He didn't care for the Vox either...
He he taught me alot, including the Fine Art of buying used beater Fender basses out of the many pawn shops in the Northern Virginia/DC metropolitan area which started a whole "flip" career for me - in my quest to obtain gear & flip it for some profit to stick in the bank account for better gear. I have him to thank for that. He even taught me bass set-up procedures.
So don't despise me for not being a fan of "tapeworms" I came by it honestly... Or maybe I was coerced into not liking them.
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Another vote for Pyramid. Looks very similar to the Pyramid tapes on my uke basses, with orange silk at both ends.
