Hello folks!
I am proud to say I have just bought my first roundwound set of DR's (I have the DR legend flats on my fretless, which are killer, btw).
I was in the market for a new product. I had a set of Ernie balls (45-105) on my bass which I liked because they get a little thumpy fairly quickly, and even more so after daily practice and two good band practices (sweaty ones, to say the least). I wanted something that still had that nice middy character that I find in flatwounds but with the edge of a powerful roundwounds sound (my favorite rounds before this probably being EB's and Rotosound rs66). The Ernie balls, while very good strings IMO, did feel a little stiff and I've acquired a lighter touch over the last few months so I thought roundcore strings would be a good fit.
I get to my local store and I realize they don't have DR strings in 45-105 except for a set of HiBeams. I've heard these are mid-scooped so I didn't think they would fit the bill (all though I'm sure they are nice strings). I also wanted to look for a nickel string as I wanted a softer feel from my strings. DR nickel lo riders and sunbeams were in stock but the Lo Riders were for a 6 string and the only two Sunbeam sets were 40-100 and 45-100. I decided to get the medium lights (45-100) despite the lighter E and A strings.
Well, after my last band practice using the EB nps slinky's, I strung up the mighty (stock) Matt Freeman Pbass with the sunbeams, carefully paying attention to the crimping as I wanted the full DR experience.
Acoustically I noticed the following:
- A very nice touch (slightly smoother and softer than Ernie Balls - then again, I think rotosound rs66 are smooth-ish strings so this definitely says something). Buttery describes these perfectly, almost like elixir nanowebs but not as slippery.
- I could hear the warmth AND brightness in the strings (NOT PLUGGED IN!)
So I plug 'er up into my laptop (Line 6 UX1) and run a DI track in Podfarm and back to me through headphones:
- Just like before, VERY warm and full sounding with a nice snappy top end. I've heard this settles down after a week or so. BUT THE WARMTH! Oh my... I couldn't believe it and I still can't. Out of the package, I have never heard this musical midrange until the sunbeams (other TB'ers have described it like this and it is needless to say a perfect description). 9/10 out of the package sound (I would have wanted more low mids naturally but that's what an amp is for!)
- Fingerstyle: nice delicate yet rich tone - it screamed for me to play Roxanne by the Police.
- Pick: Full sounding and nice attack without being harsh (agian, I have not had this experience with other roundwounds)
- Slap pop - For some reason, I felt very guilty slapping and popping these strings. I'm by no means a slapper and only slap at most 5% of the time. Punchy slaps and full sounding pops.
The G string also sounds nice and full which is a huge plus for me (...
).
Feel: 10/10
Sound/Tone: 9/10 (Will see how these feel later)
We'll see how this holds up at the next band practice (in about a week) but I am excited. If these last long enough, they may be THE roundwound for me (unless I go to steels, then I'll try other DRs).
As for roundwounds, I think I am a DR convert but I'll wait to confirm that decision. Even with the recent price boosts in my local music stores, these are absolutely fantastic and worth it.
As for flats, I have GHS precision flats on my p/j and DR flats on my fretless. They both sound nice, and I do prefer the purple silks on the GHS (aha, yes I am one of those guys) but they just fit what I'm going for on those respective basses.
I am proud to say I have just bought my first roundwound set of DR's (I have the DR legend flats on my fretless, which are killer, btw).
I was in the market for a new product. I had a set of Ernie balls (45-105) on my bass which I liked because they get a little thumpy fairly quickly, and even more so after daily practice and two good band practices (sweaty ones, to say the least). I wanted something that still had that nice middy character that I find in flatwounds but with the edge of a powerful roundwounds sound (my favorite rounds before this probably being EB's and Rotosound rs66). The Ernie balls, while very good strings IMO, did feel a little stiff and I've acquired a lighter touch over the last few months so I thought roundcore strings would be a good fit.
I get to my local store and I realize they don't have DR strings in 45-105 except for a set of HiBeams. I've heard these are mid-scooped so I didn't think they would fit the bill (all though I'm sure they are nice strings). I also wanted to look for a nickel string as I wanted a softer feel from my strings. DR nickel lo riders and sunbeams were in stock but the Lo Riders were for a 6 string and the only two Sunbeam sets were 40-100 and 45-100. I decided to get the medium lights (45-100) despite the lighter E and A strings.
Well, after my last band practice using the EB nps slinky's, I strung up the mighty (stock) Matt Freeman Pbass with the sunbeams, carefully paying attention to the crimping as I wanted the full DR experience.
Acoustically I noticed the following:
- A very nice touch (slightly smoother and softer than Ernie Balls - then again, I think rotosound rs66 are smooth-ish strings so this definitely says something). Buttery describes these perfectly, almost like elixir nanowebs but not as slippery.
- I could hear the warmth AND brightness in the strings (NOT PLUGGED IN!)
So I plug 'er up into my laptop (Line 6 UX1) and run a DI track in Podfarm and back to me through headphones:
- Just like before, VERY warm and full sounding with a nice snappy top end. I've heard this settles down after a week or so. BUT THE WARMTH! Oh my... I couldn't believe it and I still can't. Out of the package, I have never heard this musical midrange until the sunbeams (other TB'ers have described it like this and it is needless to say a perfect description). 9/10 out of the package sound (I would have wanted more low mids naturally but that's what an amp is for!)
- Fingerstyle: nice delicate yet rich tone - it screamed for me to play Roxanne by the Police.
- Pick: Full sounding and nice attack without being harsh (agian, I have not had this experience with other roundwounds)
- Slap pop - For some reason, I felt very guilty slapping and popping these strings. I'm by no means a slapper and only slap at most 5% of the time. Punchy slaps and full sounding pops.
The G string also sounds nice and full which is a huge plus for me (...
).Feel: 10/10
Sound/Tone: 9/10 (Will see how these feel later)
We'll see how this holds up at the next band practice (in about a week) but I am excited. If these last long enough, they may be THE roundwound for me (unless I go to steels, then I'll try other DRs).
As for roundwounds, I think I am a DR convert but I'll wait to confirm that decision. Even with the recent price boosts in my local music stores, these are absolutely fantastic and worth it.
As for flats, I have GHS precision flats on my p/j and DR flats on my fretless. They both sound nice, and I do prefer the purple silks on the GHS (aha, yes I am one of those guys) but they just fit what I'm going for on those respective basses.
