Top Tape guitar strings featuring Will Barnes | Rotosound

Rotosound Top Tape flatwound guitar strings have been a favourite amongst jazz and blues guitar players since they were first produced in 1961.

British jazz guitar ace, Will Barnes, takes the RS200 Top Tape set out for a spin on a beautiful AT17CE from stellar UK luthier Rob Williams. Will performs his track ‘Bagging It Up’ in Rob Williams' workshop where his archtop guitar was handbuilt.

Rotosound Top Tape strings are wound with Monel, an alloy of nickel and copper, which brings to our strings the benefit of a strong tone and resistance to corrosion. The smooth feel from Monel tape offers reduced finger noise yet still allows for an element of upper harmonics for a powerful and punchy tone. The build spec remains a close kept secret but the Monel 400 tape used in our Top Tape and Jazz Bass 77 strings brings out their true character over the much less costly flattened stainless steel.

We’ve been making Monel tapewound strings since the 1950s with artists such as Ike Isaacs and Terry Smith endorsing our flatwound strings. The legacy continues with current jazz players such as Tom Ford switching on to the rich tones of Top Tapes.

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• About Rotosound:
Rotosound are manufacturers of the World’s Finest Music Strings - a legacy which goes back to the birth of Rock n’ Roll itself. Since 1958 Rotosound strings have been an ever-present on some of the most famous recordings ever heard.

Developed in conjunction with some of the world's top artists, Rotosound strings are synonymous with unbeatable tone and longevity and are manufactured in Great Britain.

[eduardollamas]

Hi how are things! Could I use that string lug on a telecaster? since I would like to play jazz on a Telecaster. But I wanted to know if I can put a caliber as thick as 12 - 52 from RotoSound.

[angelolivares]

So are these strings the exact same than the RS200 flatwounds?

[FRANKBOOTH]

Are these taped like those nylon taped Bass guitar strings? Or just stainless steel flatwound with the word tape in it?

[andresbriceno]

How slinky do they feel to play rock on this type of guitars?