Rickenbacker 4003 and black nylon tapewounds

K

KoalaBass

Aug 12, 2011
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#1
Hi!
I’m thinking of trying again tapes on my rick. I’ve had D’Addarios in the past and I like them but I’m wondering about other options. I don’t want to modify the nut so I guess the remaining options are GHS or the Labella light gauge. Any experience with those on a rick? How do the compare to the D’Addarios? Any other set that fits without modifications?
 
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#4
You will not be happy in the long run with the 50-105 offerings of D'Addario, GHS, or even the La Bella light gauge, because with the shorter Rickenbacker scale, they will flop. I have tried all the above on my Rickenbacker bass, and I took them right back off.

If you want tapewounds on a Rickenbacker, then get a new nut cut and use the La Bella regular gauge 60-115 white tapes, as they are the brightest of the tapewounds to bring out the tone of a Rickenbacker, and underneath the tape they are approximately the same as a set of 45-100 conventional round wounds in tension and feel.
 
#5
:rollno: I can completely refute that.
Like I’ve already said, I’ve had the light Labella Copper tape set on my Cheyenne for several years.
They’re not floppy or loose in the least, and sound so good to me I haven’t had the slightest inclination to replace them. Same with the lower gauge black tapes i put on a friend’s 4001.
When I recently acquired a Cheyenne ii, I put a set of the “regular” white tapes (again the light gauge) on, and they have a similarly great feel/sound on that bass. There was a very minimal amount of nut groove sanding done to accommodate the tapes, which of course would be a lot more if you went with the heavier gauge.
 
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#6
woodyng2 said:
:rollno: I can completely refute that.
Like I’ve already said, I’ve had the light Labella Copper tape set on my Cheyenne for several years.
They’re not floppy or loose in the least, and sound so good to me I haven’t had the slightest inclination to replace them. Same with the lower gauge black tapes i put on a friend’s 4001.
When I recently acquired a Cheyenne ii, I put a set of the “regular” white tapes (again the light gauge) on, and they have a similarly great feel/sound on that bass. There was a very minimal amount of nut groove sanding done to accommodate the tapes, which of course would be a lot more if you went with the heavier gauge.
Click to expand...
Where reasonable players may differ. I stand by my post, from 45+ years experience playing all sorts of strings, including every domestic tape wound, going back to the Fender nylon sleeve strings of the late '70's.
 
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#7
I’m also sure it’s down to the individual basses’ idiosyncrasies, setups, etc.
No offense intended-It just seemed to me your statement was a bit “absolute”,
especially in light of my own experiences with 4 different Rickenbackers strung with
the lighter gauge Labella Tapewounds.
Personally, I can’t imagine that I’d find the heavier gauge comfortable to play.
 
#8
KoalaBass said:
Well, I ordered a set of light gauge Labellas, looking forward to having the rick set up with them!
Click to expand...
Let us know how they work out for you. Personally, I've only tried Tapes twice; La Bella Black Tapes on a Carvin LB-20 strung BEAD, and Medium scale Roto TruBass 88s on an old MIK Rogue VB-100 violin bass. I ditched the Labellas because the 135 B string was a hair too rubbery feeling. The Roto RS77LD5's super stiff 130B string worked ever so much better... The VB-100 has always worn the Roto 88's because it intonates perfectly with them (a rare thing with this kind of bass), and they sound like a violin bass is supposed to. Normally, though, almost all of my 23 basses wear flats. For my Ricks? Optima RB flats on my 4003; and I'm experimenting with a (supposedly) super low tension set of Dogal Carbonsteel flats on the 4001 - which is beginning to have neck problems. Anyhow, good luck with the White Tapes...:thumbsup:
 
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#9
Well the labellas 750n didn’t work out for me. Slightly too light tension, mostly the G string. They sounded good though, maybe no the greatest match on earth but still pretty nice tones. Took it to a rehearsal alongside my P with TIs and quickly sticked with the latter. Im giving up on black nylons on the rick, search goes on!
 
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