Black Beauties.

[Kareir]

Hey All,
I recently bought a Fender P-bass 62 reissue, tis awesome.
However, the guy i bought it off had some pretty heavy strings on it, for drop tuning. I wanna get some thinner ones, and i was looking at some DR Black Beauties. (i like unusual strings). They dont seem to be cheap, bargain binny things, as i was expecting from coloured, almost novelty strings. I know they're coated, to last longer, but are they good as actual strings, or is their colour their main trick?

Thanks a lot
_Kar.

 

[RED5]

Hey All,
I recently bought a Fender P-bass 62 reissue, tis awesome.
However, the guy i bought it off had some pretty heavy strings on it, for drop tuning. I wanna get some thinner ones, and i was looking at some DR Black Beauties. (i like unusual strings). They dont seem to be cheap, bargain binny things, as i was expecting from coloured, almost novelty strings. I know they're coated, to last longer, but are they good as actual strings, or is their colour their main trick?

Thanks a lot
_Kar.

I have two sets on 2 different basses. on my Epi T-bird they bark like dogs, but the good kind of dogs. makes the bird growl real nice. I have reds on a MM frankenclone and they do equally as well. nice round tone to bright. My only gripe is that they're coated and the coating gives sort of an artificial feel to the string when played fingerstyle. It's like trying to get a grip on teflon that's been siliconed, great witha pick. the color wears in areas of heavy contact,whischis good if you're looking to see where youconcentrate your hand. Good strings. YMMV.

 

[Nidan]

I've had a set on my fretless Jbass for a few months and really like them. Good tone , and great feel. I had Elixr's before , like the Black Beauty's better.

 

[MaddAnthony_59]

I had a set on a G&L SB-2 that I was rather impressed with. I have since traded the SB-2 for a Jazz Bass...

 

[rfclef]

I just put some green and yellow DRs on a bass I modded, and they sound pretty good.

 

[jsingles]

i thought they would be a gimmick, but actually have found them to be an excellent string

 

[Dfinch]

They're basically coated Hi-Beams, so if you're familiar with those then you have an idea. The coating changes the sound and feels different than non-coated strings.

I like them, but they're not earth shattering. I do like them better than Hi-Beams because they take some of the brightness out. They look great on black basses. They are definitely quality strings.

 

[king_xanadu]

i bought them for the novelty factor
first off they made the maple fretboard on my squier "pop" for lack of a better term.
and then i played them
great sound, bright but not harshly bright

after i tryout a few more strings i will more than likely switch back to those

 

[ronster91]

I have a set on my Precision bass. I've had them for a few months and I'm really digging them. They have great tone and you can still hit them bright/crisp highs. Plus the coating seems to reduce finger noise a little bit.

 

[Gintaras]

I had a set on my Pbass for a long while and really liked them but just put on a set of DR Jonas Hellborg and absolutely love these strings. Very even and has some piano tones but still can get raunchy and punchy. (my P has a SB2 pickup)

 

[Xavier Knox]

I have two sets on 2 different basses. on my Epi T-bird they bark like dogs, but the good kind of dogs. makes the bird growl real nice. I have reds on a MM frankenclone and they do equally as well. nice round tone to bright. My only gripe is that they're coated and the coating gives sort of an artificial feel to the string when played fingerstyle. It's like trying to get a grip on teflon that's been siliconed, great witha pick. the color wears in areas of heavy contact,whischis good if you're looking to see where youconcentrate your hand. Good strings. YMMV.

Amazing! I was just doing some research on this because I bought a Thunderbird Gothic two days ago and want to slap a set of Black Beauties on that mother and rock.

Seems a lot of people that use these strings like them. This will be my first time using them on a bass of my own although I have played them before and from what I have seen they're great strings.

 

[Webtroll]

I have a set on my fretless Warwick LX5 and love them. Great tension and tone. I had a red set on my Precision and while they felt good the tone didn't bowl me over as much and so that bass now has chrome flats. I have a set on a Squier Jazz and they're okay there; not great but not bad. For me they've worked best on my fretless.

 

[Jared92]

I have some on my stingray. I LOVE them

 

[Xavier Knox]

I have a set on my fretless Warwick LX5 and love them. Great tension and tone. I had a red set on my Precision and while they felt good the tone didn't bowl me over as much and so that bass now has chrome flats. I have a set on a Squier Jazz and they're okay there; not great but not bad. For me they've worked best on my fretless.

Hmmmm. Maybe I'll have a try a set on my fretless Jazz.

 

[chump stain]

I have a set on my custom 5, and I have some Red Devils on my 4 string. They're great! They last longer then un-coated strings, and not as slick feeling as elixers. They look good, sound good, and feel good.

 

[bassistgook]

The DR color coated strings are the same thing as the Hi-Beams. The coating is the only difference.

 

[Xavier Knox]

I've never used DR strings before. To be honest, I've always been a bit D'Adario guy but before that I used GHS Bass Boomers.

In the opinion of people in this forum, how does DR strings stack up against the brands that I've used before??

 

[BlizzardBass]

Great strings, but as a pick player, the coating comes off pretty easily after a short time.

 

[WoodyG3]

As others have said, this string is a good roundwound sound with a little of the zing taken out by the coating. I like 'em. Interestingly, I seem to have as much or even more string noise with these, despite the coating.

 

[Robert Sjea]

They've been good strings for me on my P-bass. Good feel and sound, no complaints.