Looking for alternatives to DR Black Beauties

[bassphreak]

I have been using Black Beauties almost exclusively for the past few years. The primary reasons why I like Black Beauties are (in order of importance):

- Tone - they have really good bottom and great mids, highs are muted (all of which are great for me). They not as twangy as steels, sound better than nickels and require very little break in.
- Feel - I love the feel of the coated strings, they are not slick but feel great to the fingers and are easier on my board. The tension is great.
- Longevity - these strings last. I play fingerstyle almost exclusively and don't have any issues with the coating. Strings sound great after a few months.
- Look - they look bad***. 3 of my 4 basses are black (2 with maple boards) and the color 'contrast' really sets off my basses.


All of the above are strictly IMHO. I have tried a number of other strings:

- Roto's - various steel strings - they are good, but are a little zingy and don't last as long and are very coarse - chewing my fingers a bit more than I like
- GHS Boomers - a little too 'boomy' for me. They don't really give me the mids or depth that I generally like. They seem to loose their tone more quickly
- Fender Superbass - nice strings, had some nice Nickels on my jazz for a while., they were old and dull but gave my jazz a great old school sound. Apart from that I thought they dulled too quickly and were not versatile enough.
- Elixirs - came with an Ibanez I had at one time - I thought they sounded good, but there were too slick for my taste. I had no feel for the strings.

I've tried many others, including several DR strings (most of which I like). I generally like coated strings. I know DR makes other coated strings (blue, red, silver, etc) but I don't think they make a plain coated string (maybe the Bootzilla's but don't know enough about them).

So why I am looking for alternatives? Cost. Black Beauties keep going up and up in price. I'd love to find a more cost effective alternative. Also, I don't necessarily want black strings on one of my basses. Again, I generally like coated strings for feel and longevity, but I could go the nickel route. I don't think steels are the answer for me.

I know Roto, D'Addario and EB have put out coated strings. But I have no experience with them and have not found specific comparisons to Black Beauties.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Gord_oh]

fender has black nylon tapewound strings...
i used them on my first bass, not horrible strings but definitely different.
http://www.amazon.com/Fender-Nylon-T.../dp/B0002DURT4
price wise, they are across the board from what i found online.
you can normally score them for around $20.
i didnt mind them when i had them.
they were comfy but again a totally different animal.

edit: these stuck in my head because you already had black strings.

[gricko]

roto has that black coated - nexus, or something....

[bassphreak]

color isn't as important as tone and feel.

(I am planning to tryout the roto nexus strings but initial reviews are mixed).

[Eight_Stringer]

Glad to see a good report on the DR coated strings, DR have revised the colours available due to production issues, Red and Peacock Blue as i understand it from my supplier.

An observation, since the real sound starts with the strings and we spend $1000's on down stream equipment from the strings, find it hard to understand why short the whole process by "low cost" strings or similar changes. Strings do change from new agreed, just accept the best sound over a given time of use tradeoff. Of course you need to understand have strings ( Roto RS66LD ) on some of the basses used here that are 35 years old.... bit dead some might say... same could be said for 35 year old basses, fail to see the attraction of old basses ( have a few bought new in the mid 70's ). The good modern basses kill them for tone and playability.... Just one players view.
Regards.