The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Hey there! I love when people provide experiences they've had with certain gear. In times like this where we might not have the chance to go out and try certain things because of lockdowns and crowd control, i think passing along these types of experiences will make online ordering for others a lot better.

    For reference, I am using La Bella 800M, 14-67 Jazz Tapes; Black Nylon Tape Wound Strings.

    TL;DR - These strings are nice and warm, but they will definitely have a different feel and sound than nickel or steel flatwounds. These will definitely fit a 25" scale length Eastman guitar or other guitars with similar attributes.

    Pros:
    Sweet, mellow tone
    Very Balanced
    Low tension, feels like a pack of 13-56 rather than 14-67
    Smooth Feeling
    Won't put a huge strain on the neck even though they're huge strings
    GREAT for an Eastman guitar with a 25" scale length
    Incredibly resonant

    Cons:
    May have to file the nut
    May not fit through tuning pegs
    May have to really try to get them in the tailpiece
    May be too low tension if you like high tension strings
    These strings are going to be huge if you're used to 11's or even 12's
    If you're into a more vintage tone, these probably won't do it for you

    EDIT: Also as another con, you might find some reviews that claim these strings have intonation problems. After spending a little time with these strings myself, I will definitely have to agree with this. Intonation is definitely a problem. I don't expect perfect intonation with any guitar or set of strings, but these definitely are hard to get to sound good on the Eastman. At first they are perfect, but things take a bit of turn after a few days of settling in. They become a lot looser as they settle and begin to stretch out.

    I just want to talk briefly about the La Bella Jazz Tapes and specifically for those who sport Eastman archtops with 25" scale length. I mostly wanna address this because I had so many questions myself before I bought them and I see ALL THE TIME people asking will La Bella strings work with their guitar. Of course this is because of their disclaimer. These professional strings are specifically rated for archtops and hollow body guitars with a tailpiece, and for good reason this warning should be taken to heart. I will say that I did take a chance here because I paid $20 for a pack of strings that I wasn't even certain would fit my guitar.

    If anyone else has had experiences with other La Bella strings you know that you have to wrap a lot more around your tuning pegs than you really want to sometimes. I was so scared I'd have that problem with the Jazz Tapes because I certainly had that problem with the Jazz Flats. But somehow, these were perfect. It seems like these tapewound strings have a lot more ribbon on the end. That's definitely a pro for me. So if you're thinking about trying these on your Eastman or other guitar with a roughly 25" scale length and a tailpiece, you should be fine. Keep in mind though that if you have a shorter scale length like maybe on a Loar guitar for instance, you might have to wrap a little more around your tuning pegs because what I've seen is that if you cut before the ribbon, the strings will unravel. Yes, I've read that this is REAL. That'd suck to waste $20 like that.

    The first thing I want to note about the feel and the tone. As soon as I tuned these babies up and began playing them I had that moment - these are it. These are exactly what I was hoping they'd be. They felt like a bridge between my guitar and I. Shouldn't that be how strings feel? Of course not everyone will feel this way about these strings, but it's a worth a shot if you're wondering. Yes it'll take some work to get these babies strung up and going, but it's worth it. Now, if you're looking for a vintage tone, these might not be it. They are definitely warm and surprisingly percussive. But they have more modern coloring in my experience so far.

    Now coming from a guy who loves high tension strings vice low tension strings, these strings are actually nice to play. They are not very high tension, I will say that. I might also mention that I am referring to the 800M mediums, 14-67's. Yes, even these are pretty low in tension especially for these HUGE guages. But listen, the balance makes up for it. Across the board these strings have incredible balance. The feel natural, and they don't sound metalic so it adds a huge depth of warmth. But that doesn't mean their quiet. In fact, compared to other flatwound strings, the tapes are much louder. You may think that maybe the high plain steel strings would sound out of place or way louder. But they actually don't sound much louder. They simply add a little bit of chime. But this is also in technique as is much of tone.

    One last thing to note. Obviously these strings are HUGE. Yes, they're low tension. But they are HUGE. That being said, they fit in my tuning pegs, but I really had to fight them to go inside my tailpiece. Here's a tip. Angle the string so that the ball end goes through and slide just the ball head in and then straighten it out. The Low E also might fight you a little to get into the tuning peg, but for me, it was a perfect fit. No extra room. But did have to tug a TINY bit. I also had to file my nut just a teeny tiny bit. Barely any, but I still had to file a little.

    If you're thinking about getting these strings and you have an Eastman, I highly recommend them because they match the guitar very well. I also think for looks sake, the black strings complement the stock ebony tailpiece of the higher end Eastmans, and quite honestly it'd compliment the rosewood tailpiece of the lower end ones very well too! I hope this post can help someone make their decision on these strings. Of course, this sound isn't for everyone. Keep in mind that these strings are nylon on a hex core, and they have a completely different sound from steel or nickel flatwounds. As well as feel. They aren't silky like stainless steel, but definitely not as textured as nickel.

    Happy string hunting, and I hope you can find the tone and feel you're looking for. I'll post some audio/video when I can.
    Last edited by broturtel; 06-06-2020 at 11:54 PM.

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Dang.Just bought and installed TI 13s jazz flats on my Eastman 403.Been scared to try these.I wonder if i carefully take them off and could put them back on if i didnt like the La Bellas would work.Hummm

  4. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by EarlBrother
    Dang.Just bought and installed TI 13s jazz flats on my Eastman 403.Been scared to try these.I wonder if i carefully take them off and could put them back on if i didnt like the La Bellas would work.Hummm
    Hey there! I think you may be able to do that. But I have tried doing this in the past with my usual brand of strings (just last week actually) and there was intonation problems. I really thought I had messed something up in my guitar, but was literally taking the strings off and putting them back on that did it. So if you're using the jazz swings they're round core and I definitely advise against it. Shoot man, just try the La Bellas next time you get a chance

  5. #4

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    Yes thanks.Those TIs will last along time with as much playing as i'm doing lately.Maybe a good excuse to buy another archtop to put those on.

  6. #5

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    Earl, any excuse is better than none.

  7. #6

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    I haven't tried them because of the statements on the LaBella website:

    The strings are 36? from ball-end to silk. The silk should clear the nut and only the silk should wrap around the tuning post. You can wrap the tape wound portion around the tuning post, but if the string is too long, you will have to leave the excess tape wound portion of the string on the guitar because you cannot cut the nylon. You can only cut the silk. If you cut the nylon, the string will unravel. Note that not all jazz guitars have tailpieces, so make sure you measure the distance on your guitar from where the ball-end is located to 1/4? past the nut. If that distance is around 36?, then these tape wound sets will fit your guitar.

    Good grief, only a baritone guitar is going to be 36" between the tailpiece and the nut, a 25" scale instrument will be 8" shorter than that! My 17" Benedetto-style archtop is 25" scale plus about 3-4" from the bridge to the tailpiece. The LaBella description makes it sound like I could not use these strings.

  8. #7

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    Yeah, that's going to eliminate most guitars. On my 25" scale Wu, the distance from the ball end to 1/4" past the nut is ~29.5". That's 6.5" too short. Maybe a vintage Epiphone with a Frequensator tailpiece would take them, but the wound G would still be problematic. I have used a set on my 175, just to try them. I wound the tape around the tuner capstans and cut the strings, just like I do with metal wrapped strings. It worked okay, as long as I never loosened the strings. I didn't like the tone much, but it was about what I expected. The tape didn't unwind until I loosened the tension when I decided to get rid of the strings. Then it got really loose, really quickly. LaBella just doesn't seem to know the scale length of guitars, because if they did they would make the strings much shorter, by 6" or so, and perhaps sell a lot more of them. 36" is just asinine, IMO.

  9. #8

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    Love the tapes (black_12-54)

    ...on all 4 of my archtops.

    easy to play, soft to the touch, nice tone. picks seem to last far longer too on these as a side note, last a long time...

  10. #9

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    what scale is your 4 archtops.I am completely baffled.

  11. #10

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    No kidding, I have two Eastmans and 36" from the farthest tailpiece end to the end of the head stock is 36"+, in fact I don't own a archtop guitar where these strings would work and that includes my GBAA at 25 5/8" scale.

  12. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Cunamara
    I haven't tried them because of the statements on the LaBella website:

    The strings are 36? from ball-end to silk. The silk should clear the nut and only the silk should wrap around the tuning post. You can wrap the tape wound portion around the tuning post, but if the string is too long, you will have to leave the excess tape wound portion of the string on the guitar because you cannot cut the nylon. You can only cut the silk. If you cut the nylon, the string will unravel. Note that not all jazz guitars have tailpieces, so make sure you measure the distance on your guitar from where the ball-end is located to 1/4? past the nut. If that distance is around 36?, then these tape wound sets will fit your guitar.

    Good grief, only a baritone guitar is going to be 36" between the tailpiece and the nut, a 25" scale instrument will be 8" shorter than that! My 17" Benedetto-style archtop is 25" scale plus about 3-4" from the bridge to the tailpiece. The LaBella description makes it sound like I could not use these strings.
    Hey man,

    This is my Eastman (see photo). It's a 17" benedetto style archtop with a 25" scale length and these strings fit fine. I was worried too, but there was plenty of silk to wrap around my tuning posts without having to worry even a little. I cut my strings pretty short too. I only wrap them around maybe twice before I cut them so trust me, they'll fit your guitar. The last picture shoes the whole tail piece so that you can see how long it is, and the purple is the silk from that La Bella references on their site . It wraps around pretty thin and like I said it was more than enough to get a couple wraps. Since it's so thin as well, if you have to wrap a little extra around I'm sure it wouldn't be a problem.

    La Bella Jazz Tapes + Eastman Archtop-img_2866-jpgLa Bella Jazz Tapes + Eastman Archtop-img_2864-jpgLa Bella Jazz Tapes + Eastman Archtop-img_2745-copy-jpg

  13. #12

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    Wow Thank you!!!!

  14. #13

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    Well, that's much less than 36". So it seems to be just misinformation from LaBella. Fear of lawsuits, I presume. It has been a long time since I tried them, and I don't really remember how they fit on my guitar, but I do remember having to ream the capstan hole on the bass E to get the string to fit into it so that I could wind it on.

  15. #14

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    my 4 archtop guitars are:

    Ibanez: (15 3/8?)
    :PM2
    :AFC 151
    Sadowski Jim hall model ( 15 3/8?)
    D'angelico New Yorker (17")

  16. #15

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    Kindofa a silly question, but I guess these would not work if you're looking for a more acoustic-y tone, correct?

  17. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by Woody Sound
    Kindofa a silly question, but I guess these would not work if you're looking for a more acoustic-y tone, correct?
    I wouldn't say that. Now I WILL say that they don't sound "woody" (as your name suggest ), but they do work well acoustically speaking. Very interesting sound. Loud enough, sure. But they don't sound like acoustic. They don't have a very vintage flatwound sound. They're a little more "high def muffle" sounding. Deep and bassy, but with just a tad bit of clarity. If you want some acoustic type sounding strings, definitely try out the Galli 80/20 bronze jazz flats. Those are flatwound, but definitely brighter than typical flatwounds and have a great sound. They will be more of the acoustic-y tone that you won't. But if you're looking to amplify your guitar as well, these wouldn't work too well UNLESS you have an adjustable pickup. On the other hand, if you would like to venture a little bit, I definitely recommend the Pyramid Gold flatwounds. They are chrome nickel strings that sound really good acoustically. But also, if you're looking for purely acoustic-y sound then you probably want roundwounds, huh? Well, if you're looking for round wounds I definitely suggest the Martin Retros (especially if you plan on amplifying your guitar). These are monel strings, and they sell as heavy as 13s and as light as 10's (I think). Great acoustic sound, great electrified sound.

    Just some recommendations. I've tried SO many different kinds of strings. It's basically a hobby for me to try strings. LOLOL. Kidding. Anyways, if you have any other questions, shoot!

    Also, when I get a chance I'll do some audio of these La Bellas purely acoustically just so you can hear how they sound.

  18. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by sgosnell
    Well, that's much less than 36". So it seems to be just misinformation from LaBella. Fear of lawsuits, I presume. It has been a long time since I tried them, and I don't really remember how they fit on my guitar, but I do remember having to ream the capstan hole on the bass E to get the string to fit into it so that I could wind it on.
    MAYBE! I didn't have to ream my capstan. I had to pull them through, but it's actually a good fit. I think the bass E was a good fit for me because it didn't move around a whole lot when I was pulling it through. I wish I could find some higher tension strings of this size actually. I love the feel of these thicker strings, just not enough tension!! Grr.

  19. #18

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    If you want to hear what these strings sound like, listen to the Pizzarellis. They've both been using them for years.

  20. #19

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    Hey, That was a really well done review.
    Thanks!
    Joe D

  21. #20

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    BTW, when you puts these tapes on, leave about 3 inches up top or they will begin to unwind and they will not be tunable. So don't cut them as if they are regular strings.....

    Labella let me know that was the issue I was having and was nice enough to send me a few replacement strings.

  22. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by jazzimprov
    BTW, when you puts these tapes on, leave about 3 inches up top or they will begin to unwind and they will not be tunable. So don't cut them as if they are regular strings.....

    Labella let me know that was the issue I was having and was nice enough to send me a few replacement strings.
    I didn't have that problem man! But definitely sound advice. I WILL say, that I always bring my strings to pitch, stretch, bring them to pitch and repeat until they stay in tune BEFORE I cut them no matter what kind of strings I'm putting on.

  23. #22

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    took a while for it to happen, mostly the 3rd or 4th.... but yeah, expensive strings to buy so...........

  24. #23

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    What's the tension like? I bought a short scale set of these for my short scale acoustic bass and had it set up a whole step down, as is my preference. They just flopped around line a dislocated shoulder and the lack of tension made the piezo all weird and uneven. I had to tune it up to standard and it works better, though it's still much more floppy than I'd like.

    Pretty neat sound, though. Not a great help if I can't tune to my songs, but aside from all that, they seem pretty cool. Much more stand up, acoustic sounding than I would have expected. But yeah, great tone, sucky feel.

  25. #24

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    Less tension, easier to play iMO

    Sounds somewhere between nylon guitar and electric, strings last longer--easier on picks, overall very nice tone and playability

  26. #25
    Quote Originally Posted by feet
    ... great tone, sucky feel.
    Hit the nail on the head with this one. The tension is just not there if you play drop tunings. I play my guitar in Eb vice standard E tuning, and these strings just don't cut it in terms of feel. I need my tension!!

    I've since replaced these strings, btw. I don't count it as a waste by any means, but I definitely wish the La Bellas had more tension. Less tension doesn't offer better playability for me. I think when strings flop around it's hard to get a focused sound and it's hard to get the strings where you want them.