Tape wounds vs Flats

[ElPedro]

howdy hi…
Anyone currently playing tape wounds ? 12’s ?
I’ve stumbled across them for the first time and wonder about buying a set…
would be in a 16” buscarino archtop. Hoping i don’t have problems getting the low E in the tailpiece or tuner … presently i have Thomastik 12’s in it.

[lammie200]

Like deacon mark, I tried LaBellas for a while and they weren't for me. Sound wise, feel wise, they just didn't work. Stiffer than I thought they would be and tuning down they lacked sonic character. I much rather use round core flatwounds. I like Pyramid Golds, but Stringjoy is supposed to come out with theirs soon. I would like to give them a go. I like their Broadways but they are roundwounds.

[buduranus2]

I recently changed from La Bella tapewounds to TI Bensons. The La Bellas were interesting. They sounded like nylon strings on an archtop. Nice for a change of pace but not an everyday thing. Also, the tension was very low and kind of hard to get used to. I can approximate the tapewound sound with the TI's (volume way down) but not the other way around. My two cents FWIW.

[nyc chaz]

If you are going to try tape's you might be better served with Galli Black Nylon Tapes than Labella.Labella's are a little rubberband like in feel but the Galli are a little stiffer but sound just as good.Also Galli give you 2 b and 2 e strings,oneof steel and the other is black nylon.I used them on my Eastman 910 and Benedetto 7 string and they fit through the tuners fine with a little tug.

[Stringswinger]

Back in the 1970's and 1980's I used tape covered strings. There were two brands that I used, to wit, Fender and D'Angelico. I remember one came with two E and B strings (like Gallis, you had a choice of a plain steel or tape covered for those two and I remember that the tape covered ones broke easily). I also wonder if the D'Angelico ones were made by GHS at that time (IIRC, they had the D'Merle name on the package as well as the D'Angelico name (perhaps they were still being made in New York by Jimmy D'Aquisto's ex-partner).

After about 15 years (on and off) of using the tape covered strings, I went back to flats (after all, Wes and Joe used flats and they were the cats who gave me a lantern and showed me the path). The tape covered strings felt great to my fingers, but I found them to actually be too dark. I have not tried todays offerings (La Bella and Galli) as TI (nickel wound) and Dogal (80/20 wound) flats get me the sound and feel that I like.

[John A.]

I find Labella tapewounds to be pretty weird. In order to make a string of a given guage, they start with a smaller one and wrap that in tape, e.g., something marked as a .050 is actually a thinner string and has more of the feel of that thinner string than a "real" .050 does. In order to get that feel you have to go up at least a gauge, or if you stay with the same nominal gauge adjust the action and truss rod to deal with the Labella's floppiness. I tried them briefly and could not get them off my guitar fast enough. But some people like them and view these bugs as features.

[nyc chaz]

The tapes just have this percussive quality if played with a Fender medium pick.It's a different sound and feel than something like Thomastik flats.I would not want them on all my guitars like the Pizzarelli's but they are a nice changeup,easy on the fingers and they last a long time.

[nyc chaz]

I find Labella tapewounds to be pretty weird. In order to make a string of a given guage, they start with a smaller one and wrap that in tape, e.g., something marked as a .050 is actually a thinner string and has more of the feel of that thinner string than a "real" .050 does. In order to get that feel you have to go up at least a gauge, or if you stay with the same nominal gauge adjust the action and truss rod to deal with the Labella's floppiness. I tried them briefly and could not get them off my guitar fast enough. But some people like them and view these bugs as features.

That's why i recommended the Galli's.The Galli 12's don't have that floppy feelling like Labella 12's.