Copper Strings on a Bass Guitar Sound AMAZING

The strings in this video are Labella Copper Nylon Tapewounds and are the first copper string I've ever used. Not only of they look cool but the have a unique supple and mid-focused growly tone. I'll give demos of these strings in different contexts and even talk about how they compare to conventional nickel strings.
00:00 Intro
00:15 Demo 1
00:24 Examples
00:41 Demo 2
01:17 Specs
02:38 Black Nylon
04:11 Special Features
04:47 Demo 3
05:15 Tips
06:38 Nickel Strings
06:56 Conclusion
07:30 Demo 4
Hello and welcome back to the channel. In this video we’re going to be talking about strings, in particular these strings. So stick around to find out more. I’ll be giving lots of playing examples so you can hear these strings in different settings and I’ll explain what makes them unique and why you might want to consider trying them. They fit incredibly well in a mix and I’m gonna show you a funk example now this is Dave Weckle’s Watch Your Step.
So these strings are G to B. The gauges are 135 for the B string to 50 at the G string. The reason these strings are a little thicker is that they are wrapped in nylon. And as you can see, on the B string, it is actually tapered so you can still get the action set to where you want it. Now you don’t really feel a difference in playing, except the strings are actually a little smoother so they don’t grab your fingers which I actually quite like, particularly from the perspective of the right hand. And the tension, these are perhaps slightly less than you are used to, but for me these seem similar to a 40-125 set. I’ve also noticed, it does depend on the bass you are using them on. I’ve got the black LaBella tape wounds on a 4-string at the moment and they feel a little bit lower tension particularly when playing around here, but I typically play around here so it doesn’t bother me too much but that’s something worth noting. I’m now going to show you a demo of the black nylon tape strings by Labella as there is a probably the most different from these white style ones in their range. You are going to hear these on a Jazz bass, check out these sound and let me know in the comments what you think of these vs the white style tape wound strings.
Now some of the notable features about the strings that are pretty interesting: they are actually waterproof because they’ve got this nylon wrap and these are copper underneath and then they are see-through of what they call white nylon over the top which makes them very smooth and you can still see the colour of the copper which is pretty cool right? In terms of the sound, LaBella describes these as slightly more supple than their white nylon tape wound strings, but still with a growl and I would absolutely agree with that. They can be very elegant when playing solo or melodic passages (demo)
It’s also worth noting when you’re putting these on to not cut, if you’re going to cut the string to not cut in the nylon bit as it can unravel and I’d recommend leaving some of this so it fits on the nut without putting strain on the string. And I’ve personally got mine through the bridge. I’m not sure if you could go string through the body. I probably wouldn’t just say don’t, the nylon tends to not like angles I’ve found. I’ve been using these strings on and off for about 4-5 years. I used to use the heavier set so 60 and that goes up to 135 as well. However, I found over the last couple of years that I have a liking and a preference for the lighter set so these are 50-135.
Overall, I really like these strings. I think there’s something a bit different. Very interesting, they’ve still got loads of attack and are really fun to play. They are particularly nice, especially when it’s hot in the summer because if you sweat at all or anything these strings are protected so they don’t go dead like a lot of other strings will go dead much faster. They are at a higher price point, however due to the things I’ve just explained, I think that this is validated. Now here’s an example of some nickel strings fresh out of the box on a five string Jazz bass.
So ultimately, I think both strings sound fantastic, whether you go for the conventional nickel sound which definitely is the industry standard and I think really have a nice crisp sound and are very versatile. Or maybe you want to try out these tapewounds, they are something a bit different. I think they feel nice to play and I think they have their own unique sound and can still be very versatile. So let me know what you think, give the video a like, share it to anybody you think might find this interesting and I’ll see you back here next time.
#bassguitar #strings #bass

[@hushpuppykl]

I got a set that I used 20+ years ago, it’s not even oxidized, they still look new. Mine are not nylon coated etc. They got an interesting ‘bright’ tone, or more accurately, the overtones/harmonics are different. Used them before but was not really to my liking. The LaBella set you are using sound very different. It’s nice. 👍👍

[@mccypr]

Thanks! Copper! What?!🙂🎻✌️😎