Coloured strings (pro and cons)

boabski2k · #1 01-30-2009, 02:39 PM

So i am tempted by the red DR's, just for the look.

What are the pro's and cons of coloured strings.

I know they look great, and are quite expensive. Anything else i should consider?

alembic5 · #2 01-30-2009, 03:58 PM

I am a long time Elixir user, and decided to try a set of the Black Beauties on my old Millennium 5er. They looked incredible on the bass! They were said to be extra life strings, which is one of the things I liked about elixirs. Quite honestly, I've never had a string die so quickly on me. They sounded great for 1 practice, and 1/2 way through a gig they were so dead I felt like they had been on my bass for 3 years. To be fair, my body chemistry seems to kill strings pretty fast anyways... most non coated strings last me about 3 weeks. I've seen many others that have great luck with them. If I were you, I'd try them out. If they work, great! If not, no bid deal... you're out 1 set of strings. Good luck on whatever you decide!

Mr-Wunderful · #3 01-30-2009, 04:01 PM

Pros - They look cool
Cons - They look stupid

It's a taste thing. I DR Black Beauties and Red devils on my old schecter but on my G&L I just use Low Riders.

David1234 · #4 01-30-2009, 04:02 PM

I've had red and black DRs and loved them.

As a 5-string player I couldn't put reds on some basses. That is, they didn't (at the time) make a tapered B string in anything but black, so my Warwick had to have black where as my other 'main' bass got to have nice red. This is only a problem if you've got to have a low B string.

The strings won't all be the same colour exactly, but it is a cool look.

At first I found the strings a bit sticky, so they could slightly hurt your plucking hand more than normal rounds, but I got over that pretty quickly and have enjoyed the tone.

Solarmist · #5 01-31-2009, 03:28 AM

If you use a pick you'll destroy them (the color) in nothing flat

bassbully · #6 01-31-2009, 10:38 AM

I put a set of peacock blue DRs on my agauve blue P bass. they looked pretty cool and i got alot of looks and comments at shows. I liked the strings but the tone was over the top so i took them off.

cb56 · #7 02-01-2009, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alembic5

I am a long time Elixir user, and decided to try a set of the Black Beauties on my old Millennium 5er. They looked incredible on the bass! They were said to be extra life strings, which is one of the things I liked about elixirs. Quite honestly, I've never had a string die so quickly on me. They sounded great for 1 practice, and 1/2 way through a gig they were so dead I felt like they had been on my bass for 3 years. To be fair, my body chemistry seems to kill strings pretty fast anyways... most non coated strings last me about 3 weeks. I've seen many others that have great luck with them. If I were you, I'd try them out. If they work, great! If not, no bid deal... you're out 1 set of strings. Good luck on whatever you decide!

I had the exact same experience with them (BBs)! I'm now using Elixirs all the time. I change them once every 6 months but I'm sure they would last years if I left them on.

Gruntollio Bass · #8 02-02-2009, 01:29 AM

I put a set of black Aurora strings on a few months ago and have so far been quite impressed with them. By their own admission they say the coating will probably degrade, but after 3 months play with 2 bands playing both fingers and pick, I'm yet to see them start to crack.

http://stringsbyaurora.com/

I've been a big fan of elixirs for a long time now but I think the coating on these ones seems to be outlasting what normally happens with Elixirs.

The black strings on my ATK305 look way cool too!

CraigG · #9 02-02-2009, 09:16 PM

My experience with them was they didn't last any longer than uncoated strings. Also, the color wears off at the frets and they look odd - maybe that's a "feature" to tell you when to replace them.

Gubna · #10 02-03-2009, 12:11 AM

Pros - they look cool and sound good.

I'd say the only cons are that the coating will rub off in places over time.

Fretlessboy · #11 02-03-2009, 01:25 PM

I have worn the coating off of them but it took months and they still lasted longer than any string I ever used.

Blueszilla · #12 02-03-2009, 01:43 PM

I'm in the same camp as Gubna and Fretlessboy on the DR coated, I thought they sounded much better than what I had before. Not cheap, and the coating is showing wear. I play fingerstyle 90%, maybe thumb/slap 5% and pick 5% depending on the need.

They work for me.

Buogon · #13 02-05-2009, 02:26 PM

Yeah , i put a set of black beauties on my all black jazz bass , the first thing a noticed when i took them out of the pack ,was some of the strings the coating was already off.
Then i put them on and right away noticed, "lost of sustain and growl". It sounded like a half round string, half the bite was missing. I find these kind of strings to be good for fretless basses and semi hollow basses

bassistgook · #14 02-05-2009, 03:11 PM

I think there might be a difference in the different colored dr's. I used the black beauties before and they died quicker then expected, and they also seemed to light my hand on fire when doing slides till they got broken in and dead sounding. I am currently using the silver stars on both of my 6 string basses and love them. They have a similar tone to the stainless steel hi beams which is what I was using but they last me almost twice as long. At only an extra $7 a set it saves me money. Also the silver stars have a nice shiny bright look kinda like pure nickle strings. Hope this helps