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Black Beauties

barricwiley

barricwiley

Jun 5, 2011
69
1
82
Northern VA
#1
I just dropped a set on my 4 stringer and have been playing on them most of the afternoon. So far can't say I like them al that much - thinking about changing out to a set of Chromes. Anyone her have the Beauties on and might share on opinion? Maybe I would like them better on a different bass, might find out.
Thanks.
 
#2
You may like them on a different bass. I tried them on my p-bass and didnt like them all that much either.

However on a vintage Ovation Magnum (that has a piano type tone, with an extremely hard ebony fretboard) they sound fantastic!
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#3
If you're expecting them to sound like Chomes, you bought the wrong string.

Chromes are flats...high tension, dead sounding.

Black Beauties are coated nickel roundwounds with round cores. Very bright, very low tension, lots of character and brightness.
 
#4
mmbongo said:
If you're expecting them to sound like Chomes, you bought the wrong string.

Chromes are flats...high tension, dead sounding.

Black Beauties are coated nickel roundwounds with round cores. Very bright, very low tension, lots of character and brightness.
Click to expand...

Plus One

I recently changed from La Bella Deep Talkin Bass to Black Beauties, and I love them because they are very different form them, but that's pretty obvious. The main treat I like on them is the responsiveness to very subtle EQ changes, with I could not get from flatwound (wich I love, by the way).
 
#7
Give them some time. Initially they feel like a weird mix of rubber and plastic. As a result they sound kind of artificial.

This goes away. Trust me. After a few weeks you have a nice roundwound that feels supple, is very musical, and lacks the annoying clank of a typical round. They stay that way for a long time.

One afternoon is not enough time!
 
#10
Put them on my jazz last week, they just get nicer and nicer. The coating wears smoother and less sticky feeling. Have that bass in your hands as much as possible and plunk away unplugged when watching tv, listening to tunes, etc. to work them in. I am getting into them. They're smoother feeling than nickels now. I love the sound too.
 
#12
mmbongo said:
I've heard both. I asked Steve at DR and he said they were coated nickel, but other folks have said that DR told them they were coated steel.

No matter, they sound great :)
Click to expand...

weird that DR themselves can't tell us for sure what they are, Stainless Steel or Nickel. the Neon strings are listed on their website as nickel, but if you go to their bass string catalog page black beauties aren't even listed. Weird
 
#15
How well does the coating hold up on these. I had a set of Elixirs on my Ibanez stock and the coating started peeling almost instantly. Does the DR coating hold up better? What about with a pick? I have been playing Nickle Lo-Riders and I love these. How much different is the string tension between the 2?
 
#18
I have a black Foundation that I modified to all black - hardware, etc. and then put the Black Beauties on it as the finishing touch. They sound GREAT on the Foundation, deep and round and punchy, but I do notice more than average finger noise.
 

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