The Big, Fat, Warm Sound of Tape

Bass players are an interesting bunch. There's a school that puts on a set on strings and leaves them on until they break. There are some who change strings between every take in the studio. Some like steel, some prefer nickel, some use round wound, some swear by half round, some only play flat round. Lots of flavors, and D'Addario offers sets in every popular gauge, finish and metallurgical compound.

Ever since the mid-sixties, the trend had been mostly towards a brighter, crisper sound, with roundwounds leaping over flatwounds in popularity and nickel plated steel and stainless steel winning out over the old school nylon tapewounds. In fact, it's been a litle difficult to find a quality tapewound string. If you were looking to recreate the sound of the early British invasion (and even Abbey Road), there were only a couple of brands that survived the fads and trends.


ETB92

Luckily, D'Addario has been working on their own nylon tapewound bass string in classic black, and now it is here in our new ETB92 set. Throw these on your Hofner, Rickenbacker or P-Bass and feel the almost zero friction and the fat, warm sound - similar to an upright bass - coming from your amp.

If you've never tried them, be prepared for a smooth, thumpy string that tunes up quickly and stays there. Many players leave them on for years, since they sound "dead" right out of the box and don't seem to have a "lifespan" that starts out bright and gradually dies out. Definitely a sound to check out.