Nylon Strings - advise please

[Dr.Suess]

Hi,

 

I bought the Jake Kot CD "Don't Look Back". ( http://www.jakekot.com/index.htm) It is a great CD if you like great players with a Jaco style. I wrote to Jake about how much liked his fretless tone and he told me he doesn't play fretless but uses nylon coated strings on a fretted bass to get the sound.

 

It sounds amazing. Does anyone else use these strings on a fretted bass? What are your experiences? What brand do you use? I know many use them for fretless but I am interested in putting them on my fretted Ken Smith.

 

Please let me know....these strings seem pricey!!

 

Thanks.

[57pbass]

Not 100% sure if this is what he is using.

 

http://www.daddariostrings.com/products_family.asp?value=100002561

[Bob Gollihur]

I had a set of the Labella 760N (also sold through Carvin, usually at a good price) on my Fender HMT for a little while. They were "ok", but Fender also makes a set (9120), and I have an older set of them on a fretless semi-acoustic bass, and seemed to think they had slightly better growl. However, I have not opened the new set of Fenders I bought and have not really fairly compared them head to head.

 

Neither are expensive. A search on eBay brought up a set at $16.39, Carvin sells the Labellas for $18.99, and I'm sure you'll find them elsewhere.

[bottomend]

La Bella Deep talking bass! Got 'em on my LP recording bass. Everytime I play that thing I get offers to buy it! It sounds really good with those strings. I usually play it with a pick and get a great 'tic-tac' bass sound.

 

Heres a secret I'll let you in on; tear off the outer nylon wrap and get the britest sounding string ever invented..... for about five minutes. They go dead REALLY fast but sound amazing in the process!

[Dr.Suess]

Thank you for the information on the Labella's. I found a local dealer that has them. They even make a set for my 5 string Low E to high C. Downside.....$68 CDN per set!!! Yikes.

 

I'm going to order them today. I spoke with Jake Kot and he uses the Fender Nylons. If you haven't heard his CD it is really worth a listen. I can't use the Fenders as they don't make a 5 string option for the nylon series.

 

Thanks again and I will try your trick that you mentioned. Now I just have to pray I don't bust a string!!

[badgerbass]

I used nylon coated strings, GHS, I think, on my Peavey fretless to try and get more of an "upright" sound. The thing I didn't realize is how fat they are. With the nylon coating they were so fat they didn't sit well in the nut and they threw the whole geometry of the bass off. I didn't want to modify the bass for them, so I took them off.

 

So, my advice about them is make sure you take the string gauge into account.

 

Guy

[alexclaber]

Originally posted by bottomend:

La Bella Deep talking bass!... ...tear off the outer nylon wrap...

I think you're referring to La Bella "Original 1954" Fender Style - Black Nylon Tape Wound; AFAIK Deep Talkin' Bass are roundwound or flatwound only.

 

Alex

[Tenstrum]

I can tell you that I didn't really care for the sound of nylon strings. That sound alright on a fretless, but on a fretted neck they just sound dull to me. I tried the GHS's for a while and hated it. You may like them however. It's all about personal preference.