Black Beauties vs. Coated Ernie Balls

[tabdog]

Hi Folks,

I have wondered what all the talk about coated
strings was about. The only coated strings I have
tried in the past were black flat wound. They were
cool, but I have never seen another set. That was
decades ago.

I recently purchased a set of Ernie Ball’s coated
strings for $29.99 at GC and installed them on my
moded Peavey Fury,





They were very bright. Too bright for the first day,
and then they smoothed out and sounded more
like good old Ernie Balls. I thought they would
sound more dull than uncoated round wound???

With in a few weeks, I purchased black hardware
for my Fury. I just had to have some Black Beauties.
so, I bought a set of DR EXTRA LIFE hand made
coated Black Beauties at GC for $45.99. The same
size as the coated Ernie Balls. (105 to 45)





The Black beauties sounded dull compared to the
Ernie Balls. That was I had expected from coated
strings.

BUT,,,, the G string sounded dead???

I put the G string from the Ernie Balls on with the
Black Beauties.

The Ernie Ball G string is so bright, it makes the
the remaining Black Beauties sound dull.

I’m going back to the Ernie Balls.

I think the Black Beauties will work on my Squire
P bass with an Original 62 Fender pup. That 62
pup should pick up that G string with no problem.

I’ll let you Know.

I like the Black Beauties except for the dead G
on my Fury. I believe that is not the fault of
the string. Rather, it is just a mis-match.

I just thought I would pass on my odd experience
with coated round wound strings,

Tabdog

[mmbongo]

I notice your Black Beauties do not have the K3 logo on them. There's no telling how old they are or what they've been through. Get a set of K3's from a reputable dealer before making your mind up on the DR's.They are very bright, but not quite as bright as an uncoated string.

[tabdog]

Originally Posted by mmbongo

I notice your Black Beauties do not have the K3 logo on them. There's no telling how old they are or what they've been through. Get a set of K3's from a reputable dealer before making your mind up on the DR's.They are very bright, but not quite as bright as an uncoated string.

Those are a brand new set of hand made Black Beauties from
Guitar Center. I don't know how you can do a whole lot better.

I have put the Black Beauties on a Squire Affinity with an
Original Finder P pup,





They sound just fine. As I thought, the Fury just doesn't
respond to that particular string because the Black Beauties
are just too weak.

The whole set of Black Beauties are weak sounding compared
to coated or un-coated Ernie Balls. That is obvious.

The Black Beauties look great and sound OK.

But there are better sounding strings for a modest price
like Ernie Balls,

Tabdog

[tsunami1052]

uh, the black beauties must have been old stock. Like mmbongo said - the new ones say K3 on the box!

[mmbongo]

Yep, you may have bought them new, but they could have been sitting on the shelf for years. They are not K3's, and that box looks like it's been through heck and back.

[tabdog]

The box was brand new. It has now had 3 different
sets of used strings stuffed in it. That's why it looks
worn. It is a 5 string set. The first four strings are
the same size as the Ernie Ball set. I assure you they
are new and have not been sitting any where for long.
Guitar Center can not keep them stocked and I got
the last set they had. They don't get old at that store.
If you think that's wrong, you have no idea.

I did not say they were bad. I said they sound good.
They are obviously weak. That is what I hoped for.
That sounds good on my Squire, but wimps out on
my Fury.

Sorry if that hurts anyones sensitivities, so try it
yourself and see if I'm wrong.

I wanted a more subdued sound, like worn out strings.
That's what I hoped coated strings would do.

I like worn strings.

But I ended up getting two sets of new sounding stings
and one of them sounds some what subdued, but they
still sound new.

I can't wait for them to get worn.

I miss the old worn out strings that were on them before.

I am on the fence about putting the worn strings back on.

I know, I'm crazy,

Tabdog

[mmbongo]

Originally Posted by tabdog

They don't get old at that store.
If you think that's wrong, you have no idea.

Fact = those are not K3 strings.

Fact = DR quit making the strings you bought a while back.

Your GC probably has a pile of them in the back they want to get rid of. People probably don't even realize they are new old stock. You said you bought the last set they had...that should tell you something. When you go back, they'll have the new version in their place.

[tdub0199]

Tabdog, these guys are right.... the new black beauties have K3 on the Box and that box you have does NOT have the K3 on it.... all they are saying is that GC had some OLD stock Black Beauties on their shelf that they sold to you...... wow.....

[tabdog]

I'm sorry guys. I wasn't going to say
any more,

but,

GC has some more DR BB 5 strings in.

The box is the same as the one I got.

I'm sure not going to buy another box.

I don't know what the deal is.

Maybe DR is selling out all their old strings.

Old sets of Ernie balls or most other brands
sound fine. Not weak like these DR's.

If you say K3 is the holey grail, maybe it is?

I got a funkie set of DR's if anybody wants
them,

Tabdog