Low B - tapered or untapered?

[Brother Jones]

As a relative newcomer of 5s, I've been using DRs on my Sadowsky Metro 5. The low B is untapered. It fits everything fine, but something about the idea of a taper core B string appeals to common sense. What do others use and what are the benefits?

Ta.

[Machines]

It should mean the strings sits lower in the saddle and thus your action will be slightly lower.. that was the main benefit I found.

[Mr. Foxen]

There is more flex at the saddle, seemed to make things feel a bit livelier. I'd image this would give more sustain as the windings aren't damping the movement. Another advantage is that if you string a 4 string BEAD you don't have to file bridge saddles.

[Toasted]

I think Tapercore is a must on B strings.

[GreeneKing]

To which my logical reply must be:

Which 'makes' of string are tapered?

Peter

[XB26354]

[quote name='Machines' post='231416' date='Jul 2 2008, 03:40 PM']It should mean the strings sits lower in the saddle and thus your action will be slightly lower.. that was the main benefit I found.[/quote]
Eh? If you use an untapered B you drop the saddle down and you have the same action... and if you go back to a tapered B with the same saddle height there would be loads of string buzz. Assuming your bridge saddles can be adjusted enough you can achieve the same playable action with either type.
I've never liked tapered B-strings. As only the core (or inner wrap) goes over the saddle the string feels more floppy and is harder to palm mute (a useful technique in any style). I imagine some basses that don't have the tight feel on the lowest string would benefit from it but that's why I've always chosen 5- and 6-string basses carefully. I also owned a Sadowsky Metro, and although the Sadowsky strings have a tapered B I used DR Hi-beams and they sounded great, as they do on any decent-sounding bass. My present Warwick (Corvette ash custom shop 6) has super-tight low end that really growls, even on the neck pickup, again with an untapered B (Dr Hi-Beam 30-130). I also really recommend D'addario EXL1656's (or 165's for 5-strings) - it has an untapered .135 B that sounds so big, yet balances really well with the other strings in the set.
Then again some people love tapered strings so it's horses for courses
Off the top of my head - LaBella, Warwick, Sadowsky, Lakland and Elixir all make tapered B-strings. DR also do a tapered set.

[spinynorman]

I was looking at Fender strings on StringsDirect and the description for tapered suggests they're recommended, or factory fit at least, for through the body loading, whereas non-tapered are for top loading.