fretmeister Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Well cor blimey guvnor! What a sound. Apart from a small trip round a couple of other basschatters before it came back home I have owned a Status Energy for years - and had Rob build a fretless neck for it about 10 years ago. Most of the time I had Chromes on it, and sometimes light rounds. But after watching endless vids of Rob Allen basses strung with Black Nylons I thought I would give them a try. I went for the lighter set that was 50-65-85-105 - but even they the nut needed a little widening. I don't have any nut files so I stole my daughters metal nail file and took it slowly. They have much less tension than an all metal set of similar gauge but they sound immense - deep and plummy with the tone control all the way off, but still bright and slappable with it up. I should point out that the bass has a Quarter Pounder in it - in between the jazz pickups, with a separate output with a vol and tone. That's the pickup I use mostly. It's just awesome. I may well move up to the heavier set at some point but that will need more nut work as that set is 60-70-94-115. The music trust band I play with meets again in about 2 weeks, so I think I'm going to take this one with me and apologise for the wrong notes and excessive sliding. Also - it looks damn cool with black strings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
project_c Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 There's something about Quarter Pounders and Nylon tape wound strings that works really well, I don't know much about Status basses but I have QP's in my Fender P, and since putting XL tapes on there sometime last year, I've used nothing else. I also have them on my fretless Precision that has CS62 pickups in it, they sound really good on that too. The lower tension just allows for more snap, and that gives you more of a tonal range between playing mellow and digging in, so I see that as a good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassBus Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 Yup! I have had labella nylon flats on my Status Electro, Roto nylons at the moment. Just a dream to play and a beautiful velvety tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Bassman Posted September 8, 2015 Share Posted September 8, 2015 I love the Labella black nylon tape wound on my Rob Allen mouse. My '82 fretless Steiny sounded good with Labella flats but sounds even better with Labella S660 black nylon tape wound 60 - 115 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markorbit Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 I find that nylon strings work well with graphite necks. Real pure tone - some may find it clinical but I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 I'm liking them that much that I might put a set on a fretted bass too, just to see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybertect Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 (edited) [quote name='fretmeister' timestamp='1441731673' post='2861319']I went for the lighter set that was 50-65-85-105 - but even they the nut needed a little widening. I don't have any nut files so I stole my daughters metal nail file and took it slowly. They have much less tension than an all metal set of similar gauge but they sound immense - deep and plummy with the tone control all the way off, but still bright and slappable with it up.[/quote] I must admit to have been most intrigued by your note about these strings on my fretless Stingray's NBD thread. Not so sure I want to go modifying the nut to fit them though. As a band I play with tunes a semi tone flat, that's only liable to be worse if I went for a heavier set to keep the tension up (I don't like strings to be too slack). Edited September 9, 2015 by cybertect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Nuts are often just stuck on plastic with 2 or 3 blobs of super glue. I've certainly popped a few off in the past and then stuck them on again. You could get a 2nd nut for a few quid and swap them if you want to try the strings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Do you have any sound clips at all? I played a fretless semi acoustic bass a while back that I think had these strings on it and it sounded absolutely lush and I have wondered about trying them on my fretless P/J bass ever since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 I might be able to do some iPhone clips - but that would be as good as it gets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumple Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Worth a try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepbass5 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Very Interesting Fretmeister and Bassbus I have a Status electro 5 string and have been using a mixture of status black nylons B,E,A and GHS black nylon on the D &G GHS are higher tension more twangy not as nice tone as status but i needed the tension on the lighter strings - having owned a Rob Allen I love the Labella black nylons and intend to get a set, but as the status nut and machine heads will not take the larger diameter strings (GHS) or Labella i have cut it to get them in. So about 4 months ago made a new nut from Yew as it is just a guide on the Status with a zero fret. I am planning a trip up to Bass direct to buy some Hipshot tuners as they have wider jaw and are used on Rob Allen's and a set of Labella next week. will post a photo at the weekend of the bass nut. keep ya posted when all up graded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepbass5 Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 (edited) The pics of my status nut with new yew guide Strings at present are Status - B130,E105,A85 then GHS - D70, G50. Edited November 18, 2015 by deepbass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deepbass5 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 (edited) Well all fitted, and I can confirm as per Fretmeister, very nice. As you can see the Labella strings do actually fit the Status machine heads perfectly without the expense of upgrading to Hipshot's but this will allow the use of other strings in future, they feel very solid quite a bit of play in the old ones. The Labella are higher tension than the Status due to the size so a tweak on the neck was also required to keep the relief the same. mine are the 60,70,94,115,135 Edited November 18, 2015 by deepbass5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naetharu Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 [quote name='cybertect' timestamp='1441811762' post='2861990'] I must admit to have been most intrigued by your note about these strings on my fretless Stingray's NBD thread. Not so sure I want to go modifying the nut to fit them though. As a band I play with tunes a semi tone flat, that's only liable to be worse if I went for a heavier set to keep the tension up (I don't like strings to be too slack). [/quote] I just thought I'd chip in to say I popped some Black Nylons on my bass this week and they went on fine. They're the 50 - 105 gauge La-Bella set and there was no need to mess with the nut at all. The tension is certainly different to all metal strings but it's not the same as a slack string. The Nylon seems to give them a lot more spring. Also, I tune down for some tracks as well as play a few in Drop-D and there seems to be no tension issues. The only thing I needed to do was raise my bridge saddles a little to allow for the greater movement in the strings (but then I had the action [b]very [/b]low before) I'd honestly suggest you give them a go - they sound amazing and feel fantastic to play. I doubt I will ever go back to all metal strings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybertect Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Ta. I may well give them a chance. I've my eye on some Ernie Ball Slinky cobalt flats, too, so I think I may put them head to head on The Stingray after payday and see which I prefer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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