XL Tapewounds

These are my favorite flat-wound strings. I use them on my P bass and my fretless Jazz. The steel core is covered by a thick plastic sleeve. The string is perfectly smooth and makes no noise against the frets. Slides are effortless and painless. The tone is very warm and mellow but not thumpy. Paired with good pick-ups there is plenty of articulation and subtlety. It's just pure tone with no unwanted noise. Good for soft-rock, jazz, R & B, etc.

Know what you want! Do you want an INDIVIDUAL and more defined warm, fat, steel string sound (D'Addario Chromes), or do you want the duller, broader thump of a nylon (D'Addario Tapewound)that BLENDS IN more with the rest of the sound? If you're not sure, listen to some sound bites on youtube. IF YOU ARE LOOKING for a 'blended' sound; one that blends in with the band or orchestra, these strings will probably make you happy. If you are looking for a sound that presents itself more individually, then these strings are probably not for you. LENGTH: D'Addario, according to their website, put these at 36" from the ball to the thread wrap. ADDITIONALLY, D'Addario DOES NOT list a Super Long Scale set for the Nylon Tapewounds. I measured 36-1/8" on the B string (5-string set) and a little longer on the others. FENDER Jazz V MIM 34" Scale: Strung from the bridge only (not through-the-body), these strings set up with the thread winding only 3/4" - 1" beyond the nut. THEREFORE, I believe that they would BARELY fit a through-the-body 34" or bridge-only 35". Even then, there would be a possibility of a little thread on the fret side of the nut (as is the case with the B string of my Long Scale D'Addario Chromes Flatwound strung through-the-body on my 34" Fender American DLX Jazz V - 1/8" into 1st fret). SOUND: Since these strings have a metal core and are just wrapped with nylon, they do have a defined thump; albeit an obviously softer and much less defined thump than all-steel. FEEL: Flatwounds all have that distinctive smooth feel. You will love the feel of these. INTONATION: Like the Chromes flatwounds, these strings have a different intonation than roundwounds. You will need to set up the intonation when you put this set on your bass. They generally get shorter, from the E, as you go up, and then get longer again for the D and G as you continue up. This is very different from most steel strings which have a consistent intonation 'slant' as you go up. The intonation on these will resemble more of a 'bell curve'. CONCLUSION: If you want an incredibly mellow, blended sound that builds a broad, thick foundation, these are a 5-star choice! If you're looking for individuality and a sound that punches through everything else, don't bother with these b/c you'll just end up rating them poorly.

use on an Eastwood fretless hollow body bass - excellent feel and sound.

These are excellent quality tapewound strings. Basically, they are flatwounds with a very thin nylon wrap, which feels very smooth and silky to the touch. The manufacturing quality is typical for D'Addario, which means absolutely top fit and finish. I've got these Super Long tapewound strings on my Fodera Monarch Standard Fretless 4, which has an extremely long scale (a shade over 35" when including the bridge saddles. These strings are a perfect fit for the Monarch, not only for the long scale, but for the factory nut, which received these strings without any hassle. The black strings look stunning on the guitar, especially with its black hardware. The strings impart a nice, mellow tone that is somewhat Motown Snake Pit-ish; basically a slightly thuddy attack, but it resolves to a nice clear ring. With roundwound strings, you'd achieve the same effect with a light foam damper under the strings as they enter the bridge, but just barely. I was concerned that the tape would affect the harmonics capability of the Monarch, but the harmonics are clear as a bell and sustain nicely. These strings are awesome for '60's be-bop jazz or R&B, and acoustic "unplugged" rock that requires a more subtle intonation. Plus, the sliding on these strings is unparalleled; you can Lee Sklar to your heart's content without a lot of noisy string squeaks. I don't yet have enough experience with these strings on my Monarch's ebony fretboard, but have every reason to believe that they will be kind to the wood and help the bass age nicely without wearing grooves. I'll update this listing once I get a year or so of experience with the strings. All in all, I'm thrilled with the strings for my Fodera. They are the right length, have a great tone and beautiful harmonics, are super-easy to play, and help protect the guitar. Can't ask for much more goodness than that.

love these strings, but they require some modifications to some acoustic bass guitars... They sound great and are easy to play, but the blue thread winding at the ball at the end of the string is too bulky to fit thru the holes in the bridge of my Fender BG-29. When I first put the strings thru the end of the string stuck out about an inch from the bridge. It looked stupid and I was worried about it splitting the bridge. So I bought a small round file for a few bucks and slowly bored the hole out a little. Both the E and A string holes required a little boring so the winding at the ball end would fit snugly in. The blue thread winding of the E string goes to the nut, it touches it, I wish it were a little shorter and I guess thinner so others wouldn't run into the same problem I did and have to bore their guitar bridge holes like I did. It was worth the modifications to me as I plan to continue putting these strings on it. One other modification it required was adjusting the neck so as to lower the action some. These strings, I think from what I've read, have more tension and will bow the neck of some guitars. Mine did bow and the action got higher and the intonation sucked, so I got an allen key and slowly slowly turned the rod so as to counter act the bow. I turned it slightly clockwise to straighten it out.... these are all things I should have had someone (professional) do but it was sunday and I wanted to play and not search for a repair guy who'd answer his phone on a sunday... so I adjusted the truss rod myself against my better judgement. It worked out fine, the action is much lower and it plays great and is in tune with itself....

I put these strings on my Fender Jaguar Bass and they worked out very well. Great tension for finger plucking, and no more annoying sharp, twangy D string, as the tension between each string is very even and consistent. I enjoy them more than TI Jazz flats or any other specialty string. Although they are mellow-sounding, it's not too much, and they can still deliver a good pop. Also still good for a percussive attack. Very smooth-feeling, good for that old-school sound, and easy to slide on them. I play finger style on my Jaguar, and flip-flopped between rounds and flats all the time. Rounds were zingy and noisy and the tension between the strings was too uneven and left my bass less playable than it aught to be. Flats were either floppy or of such a high tension it felt as if they might fold the neck up like a taco. There seemed to be no good answer until I found these, and so far they're my perfect string. So if you spent the money on a vintage-type old-school bass, or you just like that tone, these come recommended, and the gauge doesn't get too big to be hard on the string nut.

Over the course of the last 8 months or so I have been on a bit of a String Quest...and have tried a Lot of different strings from DR, GHS, D'Addario, Carvin, Ernie Ball, Dunlop, La Bella and Fender...frankly, this started getting expensive.... I have a few Basses, but specifically I wanted something for my Carvin SB 4000, which is somewhat similar to a Fender Jazz, and I Really Love it, it's a beautiful Instrument. None of the Strings I tried were Bad at all, but none quite had what I was looking for either, the closest might have been the DR Sunbeams. I wanted something Flexible and easy on my Fingers, the feel is important to me, more so than the sound (although I want something that sounds good too) and a Flexible string fits my style. I had never considered a Tapewound String before but I was at a local store and saw a Used Fender Precision on sale and was trying it out and it had these D'Addario Tapewound strings...and I really Liked them. So I bought a set. So far, and I've only had these on for a few weeks, I am Happy with them. Very Flexible, Very Smooth and a Good Sound too, not as Bright as the Rounds I usually use, but nice.

Great string but they are NON Conductive. Not great for classic single coils without an alternative ground connection.