Anyone still using DR Pure Blues?

[Stan_da_man]

I'm a big Sunbeam fan and when I tried the PBs I remember being distinctly underwhelmed.

They also felt slightly higher tension to me in the same gauge?

What is the general view of PBs - good? Bad?

 

[bholder]

I like them enough to still have them on the basses I've tried them on. A different flavor than Sunbeams, but close in feel.

 

[el jeffe bass]

I recently switched from Low tension flats to Pure blues on my Carvin J. I am really enjoying the tone and feel of these strings but I am definitely not a round wound expert.

 

[Samatza]

I put them on a couple of basses, they’re still on there and sound good. I’ve been using DR Hi Beams a lot, the PB feel similar but are different tonally.

What is it about them you don’t like? I kind of enjoy the kids and highs they provide.

 

[CallMeAl]

I’ve got Sunbeams on my main bass. (A P bass.) I put Pure Blues on my J-type bass and they’re nicely suited to that bass. Adds a mid bump that gives it some meat and growl. Slightly more stiff than the Sunbeams, I agree, but still more flexible than common hexcore strings like Slinky’s.

I still say Sunbeams are my favorites.

 

[mmbongo]

Still using Pure Blues. Still loving the Pure Blues!

 

[Lammchop93]

Yes, one of my favorite strings! I use pure blues on all my more vintage voiced basses, and Hi Beams on my more modern sounding.

 

[nonohmic]

I just replaced TIJFs on my fretless with pure blue victor wootens. Amazing difference. And I'm a huge TI fan.

 

[landrybass]

I have a few sets and use them, they are pretty good but my favorite strings are the DR Nickle Low Riders which are really tough to find sometimes.

 

[thisheregiraffe]

My favourite strings are medium Sunbeams, but I have also tried (and enjoyed) Pure Blues. I too found they felt a bit stiffer than Sunbeams in the same gauges... so after trying the medium Pure Blues and not loving the feel, I switched to the light Pure Blues set on my fretless P bass and really enjoyed them. I plan to buy the Victor Wooten set eventually but it will be a while yet before I need another pack of strings. I've blown so much money on string experimentation over the last couple years. My goal for 2021 is to spend as little $$$ as possible experimenting with strings, because I've already found several sets that I really like. It's not easy, but I'm trying to be content with that

 

[red_rhino]

Used them for a while. Liked them at first, but eventually it was kinda "meh". But that's similar to how I've felt about DR strings all along.

 

[danster]

Still using them on my Squier VM 70's Jazz. Replaced the stock strings about 6 months ago. Nice!

 

[singlemalt]

Still using Pure Blues. I'm experimenting with a super light set up, so I'm mixing up gauges.

My favorite stock set is the VW .040. But I'm going lighter, or drastically down tuning, depending on your view.

On a four string, standard tuning, E-G, I'll probably end up running .080-.030. I'm shifting the stings so the .080 A string is now my E, and so on. So the VW set is a little light and the stock .040 set works better. This also depends on the scale length. On a Dingwall Super P (34"-32" fanned fret) I can use stock Boomers .030. But the Pure Blues work better.

On the longer scale basses, a 35" Cirrus, or the long scale Dingwalls (36.25"-34" fanned fret) I need something a little heavier, like a .085-.032. Otherwise, I end up too far on the light side and its difficult to mute without touching frets and creating overtones. Just not quite enough tension. It's a really fine line.

I'm a couple hundred bucks into this exploration since I just ordered quite a few sets and singles to try with fresh sets.
It was cheap enough to get started as I had plenty of used sets on hand and only needed a few single C strings to try my idea. I'm about six months into exploring the super light side and I really like where its going.

The D'Addario .035 super lights and the GHS Boomer .030 are inexpensive sets to try out the light side right out of the pack. Or you could tune your E-G down to B-D for a quick peek at how this feels. (there's a little more set up work than that involved, but you'll get the idea)

This experiment has used DR Hellborgs and nickel Lowriders as well as Dingwall and Payson strings for the longer fanned frets. I keep coming back to the Pure Blues because I like the feel, both the outer wrap and response. I'll be setting up the Super P with TI flats once my single .030 arrives. I can't wait to see if that works for me.

TLDR: Still Pure Blues and TI flats for me.

 

[BassTank84]

They have been my preferred round wound string. I like nickel over stainless any day. Price is decent as well.

 

[Thundar]

I love 'em...I love the tension, and the sound...however I am not a Sunbeams fan. They way too flopsy

 

[PrimitiveMan]

I love DR, and have used Pure Blues on some basses. More than Hi Beams, I feel the Pure Blues work better on some basses than others. I didn't like them on my ibanez but loved them on a G&L M2500

 

[BassinCT]

Sunbeams and Pure Blues are among my favorites. I have kept the PB’s on my main bass off and on, but finally decided to stick with them. I like the feel and the broken in sound. I’m not into an ever-present zing, clank & gank in my sound. They are slightly less compliant under the fingers than the Sunbeams, and they are not as mid-forward.

Having said that, I really like broken-in Sunbeams on a P!

 

[bass12]

I’m still using them on my main bass (was using Hi-Beams - which I still really like - before). It’s funny, the first set of PBs that I put on my bass were 45-125 and they didn’t impress me all that much. Switched to a 40-120 set (a little over two years ago) and I love them.

 

[Sam Dingle]

One of the 2 strings I play now. Slightly warmer than the high beams

 

[dougjwray]

I went from Pure Blues to Sunbeams and back again. It's not the stiffness/looseness thing, for me. I like the Pure Blues' mids better. Sunbeams were dull AND clanky to me, if such is thing is believable.
Fat Beams are wonderful, too, but I'm not a fan of the "piano strings on steroids" sound, and Fat Beams can be like that, on certain basses (to me).
I generally like round wound strings to have "musical" sounding mids (like, maybe more 400 Hz than 800 Hz) without heavy lows OR highs.