La Bella 750G-CB Gold White Nylon Tapewound, 6-String Light (.043–.135): Thundercat's brighter live alternate

La Bella 750G-CB is the 6-string, Light tension version of the company's Gold White Nylon Tapewound line, part of its Deep Talkin' Bass family. The gauge runs .043, .050, .065, .085, .105, .135: a Golden Alloy (80/20 brass) wound underlay, finished with a smooth white nylon tape overwrap that keeps your fingers off bare metal entirely.

It's also a documented live set, not just a catalog listing. Thundercat (Stephen Bruner) swaps into this exact gauge on his custom Ibanez 6-string, tuned BEADGC, as his brighter live alternate. La Bella's own artist roster lists him directly, and Mixdown Magazine's gear rundown on him confirms the same six-number breakdown, matching La Bella's own SKU and current retailer listings for the set.

Thundercat has spoken about the flatwound half of this pairing directly. Asked by Bass Magazine in 2020 whether he was still using flatwounds after years on the road, he confirmed the gauge and the reasoning behind that main set.

The 750G-CB tapewound is the other half of that rotation. Mixdown Magazine's gear rundown on him states that Thundercat uses "a unique combination of both nylon wound and flat wound strings" for "maximum chordal control and dexterity over the bass's fingerboard," and confirms he's endorsed by La Bella. Where the flats give him his core tone, the Gold White Nylon Tapewound comes in brighter and more percussive, without giving up the quiet, low-finger-noise feel both strings share.

La Bella sells its White Nylon Tape Wound bass strings in more than one underlay metal, and the naming tells you which. Gold uses a Golden Alloy, 80 percent copper and 20 percent zinc brass, wound underneath the tape. La Bella's own product description is direct about what that buys you: brighter tone, with dramatically increased attack and sustain, compared to the Copper White Nylon Tape Wound (750C) line.

Both are still tapewounds first: nylon between your fingers and the metal, a dark and quiet feel next to any roundwound. The Gold underlay just moves that feel a step toward definition, which lines up with why it's the one Thundercat reaches for when the flats' tone gets too dark for a given part.

For his main live tone, see La Bella 760FM-CB Deep Talkin' Bass Flats, the stainless flatwound half of the pairing.

• Fans of Thundercat's brighter live tone. The alternate half of his documented rig, reached for when the flats' tone sits too dark for a part.
• 6-string players who already want a tapewound. A genuine nylon-tape feel with more definition than a Copper-underlay tape gives up.
• Fretless-adjacent players. Nylon against the fingerboard is gentler than a roundwound's ridged metal, even on a fretted 6-string.
• Funk and jazz-fusion fingerstyle. Quiet under fast position shifts, with enough attack to stay articulate in a dense mix.

• Slap and pop-heavy styles. A nylon tape surface has almost none of a roundwound's snap; see our flatwound vs roundwound bass strings comparison if slap is the priority.
• Players chasing the darkest possible tapewound. That's the Copper underlay (750C), not this one; Gold is the brighter of La Bella's two Nylon Tape metals.
• Through-body-strung basses. La Bella's own product page describes this as a standard ball-end set for top-load and string-through-headstock basses; it doesn't list a through-body variant of this line, so confirm compatibility with La Bella directly if your 6-string strings through the body.
• 4-string and 5-string players. This is the 6-string-specific gauge; La Bella ships separate SKUs (750G, 750G-B) at different spreads for 4- and 5-string basses.

1. Scale first. The base 750G-CB is Standard/Long scale: 38 inches ball-end to silk on the G, D, and A strings, 36.75 inches on the E. Confirm your 6-string matches before ordering.
2. Check your bridge. Top-load and string-through-headstock basses are the confirmed fit. La Bella's product page doesn't list a through-body version of this line, so check with La Bella directly if your 6-string strings through the body.
3. Only cut the silk. La Bella's own product page is explicit: cutting into the wound section instead of the silk wrap can cause the string to break.
4. Expect a shorter break-in than rounds, longer than flats. Tapewounds settle fast, but the nylon surface needs a session or two before the brightest edge of the Gold underlay mellows into its settled voice.
5. Install thickest to thinnest. The .135 low B carries the most tension; anchor and tune it first, then work up to the .043 high C.

If Thundercat's actual rig is the goal, this is the second half of it: a documented gauge match against Mixdown Magazine's gear rundown and La Bella's own product listing, not a guess pieced together from a photo of his strings. It's not a beginner set and it gives up slap-friendly snap entirely, but for 6-string funk and fusion players who want a brighter tapewound than the Copper underlay offers, still miles quieter than any roundwound, it's the real alternate, not a lookalike.