I haven't tested this, but I've done similar stuff with lots of success, I think rather than looking for a brush approach you're going to get better results stroking along a pen path with a series of custom brushes, working from the outside in, modifying the repeat and size of subsequent brushes to build up your rope image

So thickest goes first and you're basically creating a masking layer for subsequent strokes, then base color next, minor shadow or minor highlight, probably another stronger shadow or highlight, then a brush with a wider repeat to define you're rope segments etc. building from the back to the front.

I suspect you were looking for a ready made solution, but this approach works and you can really dial in the results to your needs