DR Neon VS Hi-beams?

[Electricblue]

They are roughly the same price. I love the sound of the Hi-Beams, so they would be my first choice. But the Neons are shiney, so I'm attracted!

How do they compare sound-wise? Both before and after wearing in. I'm looking for brightness over a long time.

Thanks

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Neons are nickel-plated while Hi-Beams are stainless steel. Hi-Beams have more of a zingy tone that lasts longer. I'm currently playing Neons and I really enjoy them, but still consider the Hi-Beams the best bass strings I've ever played.

[mdogs]

The Neons are never going to be as bright as the Hi-Beams, just the way it is. But, they will retain the sound that they have for a much longer time. So, you need to decide the relative value. Personally, I have switched most of my basses to Circle K's, not as bright as Hi-Beams, but will retain their "new" sound longer also.

[Electricblue]

Fair enough guys so when the strings have settled right down to normal brightness, which are brighter?

Is there really much difference?

[TheNightLife]

Originally Posted by Electricblue

Fair enough guys so when the strings have settled right down to normal brightness, which are brighter?

Is there really much difference?

high beams are brighter but they will wear out quicker then the neons. do you want longevity or sound quality. the neons will last longer but wont be as bright as the high beams. you wont know til you try them

[Electricblue]

Originally Posted by TheNightLife

high beams are brighter but they will wear out quicker then the neons. do you want longevity or sound quality. the neons will last longer but wont be as bright as the high beams. you wont know til you try them

So will the Hi-Beams eventually be darker than the Neons?

[LoveThatBass]

I thought Neons were just a glowing type of coating comparable to the Black Beauties. I was told by DR themselves the Black Beauties were DR High Beams Stainless with thin coating. I have found the Black Beauties to sound like the DR High Beams Stainless after the initial "over the top zing" has worn off. I really like them.

[mmbongo]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

Neons are nickel-plated while Hi-Beams are stainless steel.

No sir. Neons are coated Hi-Beams. Both are stainless steel, with the Neons obviously coated.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by mmbongo

No sir. Neons are coated Hi-Beams. Both are stainless steel, with the Neons obviously coated.

The info about them on the DR website says "Nickel Plated Bass Strings wound on Round Cores".

[mmbongo]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

The info about them on the DR website says "Nickel Plated Bass Strings wound on Round Cores".

Interesting. I've read numerous times that they are stainless. I think there is a typo on their website, as the Neons are a coated string. And this was sent from Shawn at DR (Black Beauties and Neons are the same string with different color):
"The new K3 coating is far superior to the old coating we previously used, as that coating was outsourced. Now everything is done in-house and the results are truly amazing! The Black Beauties for bass are similar in construction to the HiBeams, as they are on a roundcore string.I really do believe you will be pleasantly surprised at how natural the strings feel with the coating. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail. Thanks so much!"

And from Ed Friedland:
The Extra Life strings have a round core and start with a stainless wrap wire, so tension-wise they were on par with the Hi-Beams and Fat Beams.

Maybe someone from DR will clear this up?

[mmbongo]

Well I tried to email DR, but that stupid 'type the letters you see' thing is broken. Tried about 10 times and it keeps saying it's not right. I hate those things.

[YeaBass]

Low Rider nickles? Yes

[LoveThatBass]

Originally Posted by Alvaro Martín Gómez A.

The info about them on the DR website says "Nickel Plated Bass Strings wound on Round Cores".

So where on the link you provided does it state this? Don't see it.

[Casperrobo]

Neons on a burst thunderbird? Would that work or look silly? The neons on some basses purely for the glowing under UV light that would look amazing at a gig, mmmm mm mmmm

[ODDBALL]

Originally Posted by mmbongo

Interesting. I've read numerous times that they are stainless. I think there is a typo on their website, as the Neons are a coated string. And this was sent from Shawn at DR (Black Beauties and Neons are the same string with different color):
"The new K3 coating is far superior to the old coating we previously used, as that coating was outsourced. Now everything is done in-house and the results are truly amazing! The Black Beauties for bass are similar in construction to the HiBeams, as they are on a roundcore string.I really do believe you will be pleasantly surprised at how natural the strings feel with the coating. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail. Thanks so much!"

And from Ed Friedland:
The Extra Life strings have a round core and start with a stainless wrap wire, so tension-wise they were on par with the Hi-Beams and Fat Beams.

Maybe someone from DR will clear this up?

So I just emailed a rep at DR and asked if it was a Stainless Steel over a Roundcore or Nickel. And this is what they had to say.

“They are a Nickel-Plated Roundcore”



Shaun

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by LoveThatBass

So where on the link you provided does it state this? Don't see it.

(Click on the image to see it full size)

[mmbongo]

I didn't see it at first either!

But I also got an email through, and Steve emailed me this back:

Are the colored strings (like Black Beauties, Red Devils) and the Neon
strings the same strings, just with different color?
--All the coated strings now utilize the K3 coating. The only difference would be the Neons glow and the others don't.


Are they both coated stainless steel? I was thinking that ExtraLifes
and Neons were both basically coated Hi-Beams, no?
--All are nickel-plated on a roundcore, much like the HiBeams.

So yes it appears they ARE nickel plated.

HOWEVER. The envelopes on mine say 'coated stainless steel'.
And Steve says they are nickel plated, just like Hi-Beams. Well.....Hi-Beams are stainless steel! AARRRGGGHHH!!!!!

[SLaPiNFuNK]

DR Sunbeams are Nickel Plated on Round Core.

The inner string envelopes sometimes vary.

All of my fresh inventory of K3 Coated strings just have inner envelopes that say the string number on them.

My Singles say Extra Life Coated...

Looking at Black Beauty single that says "Black Coated Wrap on Round Core"

[mmbongo]

Originally Posted by SLaPiNFuNK

DR Sunbeams are Nickel Plated on Round Core.

The inner string envelopes sometimes vary.

All of my fresh inventory of K3 Coated strings just have inner envelopes that say the string number on them.

My Singles say Extra Life Coated...

Looking at Black Beauty single that says "Black Coated Wrap on Round Core"

And to futher confuse everybody...I hold in my hand a Black Beauty B string with a hex core.

[One Drop]

To me the tone is more important than the materials used, and I prefer their coated strings and their Lo Riders To the Hi beams.

I don't agree the Extra Lifes sound like worn Hi Beams- to me the low mids are more pronounced, as they are with the Lo Riders, than the Hi Beams.

It's not a surprise to me either- coating string wraps will change the way the strings vibrate and filter certain frequencies in a way that dirt and grease won't, at least not exactly.

Hi Beams are amazing, but don't suit me as well as Rotos, Lo Riders, Neons or Extra Lifes, etc, which all have different voices but share the same overall balance of lows/mids/highs, IMO.

If I was a betting man I would put my money on the Extra Lifes being nickel plated rather than SS, but I'm not a betting man, so I won't.