I'm in the minority here, because Sunbeams don't have enough mids for me. They sound hollow. They are mellow compared to, say, Rotosound Swing Bass stainless steel strings, but they are still too bright for me. I prefer Fat Beams and Pure Blues, because their mids are more balanced with the highs (to my ears). GHS Round Core Boomers are stiffer than any of these, but they have sweet, soft high end AND strong mids.
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DR Sunbeams
- Thread starter Dan_reeves
- Start date
Give it a few more years....and you won’t like playing on stiff strings all night
I'd have to agree - as far as the Sun Beams go. Never tried the Pure Blues, so I couldn't offer an informed opinion on them. I did have a set of the short scale SBs on my Warmoth Mini-P Bass for quite a while. I put them on there because, at the time, they were the only true short scale strings that I had. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised at how good they sounded. So good, in fact, that I put off replacing them for far, far longer than I originally intended to. In the end, it was the way they felt - IMO, like trying to play a rattail file - and the fact that they just simply died - far too soon - that made me replace them with the strings I'd intended to put on the bass all along - GHS Precision Flats. I'm definitely not a fan of roundwounds of any description, and never have been; but... the SB's came very close. I have a couple of violin basses, but.. I want them to thump. I have plenty of other basses for other tones, so those two basses wear Roto 88 Tapewounds, and heavy La Bella Flats. The one that wears the La Bellas did wear some kind of rounds for quite a while, though. I didn't play it very much (which was why they stayed around so long), but it had a fairly useful and interesting tone when I did. So, I doubt you'd go wrong with the SB's...
This is why I think they work well on mid forward bass’s like a P or my sizzley 3-band Stingray....nice balanced tone. A J bass imo needs a bit more mids, PB’s, SB’s, lo-riders, etc.
Just put a set of Sunbeams on my Yamaha TRBX304 and they are wonderful. Similar somewhat to the stock D'Addarios but with tons more.. 'character.' Sheesh I know that's not helpful, let's see... they are crisper and growly without mud. I put on the 40-100 set (NLR-40) however were I to do it again I'd go with the mediums (NMR-45) which are 45-105 as I like max tone and dig stiffness. They are ~3 hours of play in and really coming clear with a great feel, looking forward to hearing how they age and settle in.
Thanks for the reviews. I'm giving up on the Dunlop SuperBrights (...long story) and will try a couple different sets of the DR nickels. I play a lot of country & classics. Here's what I was thinking:
*Nickel Lo-Riders 40-120 (lighter gauge to comp for the stiffness).
*Nickel SunBeams 45-125 or 130.
Appear to be two of the better representations. Am I on the right track?
Riis
*Nickel Lo-Riders 40-120 (lighter gauge to comp for the stiffness).
*Nickel SunBeams 45-125 or 130.
Appear to be two of the better representations. Am I on the right track?
Riis
Yes.
When I tried the SS Lo-Riders on my son's Ibanez, I tried the 40-100 set with a 125B and found them nicely balanced as a whole. You might want to try the Sunbeams with the 130B.
(Note: Sunbeams only come in nickel-plated steel, so the term "Nickel Sunbeams" is redundant. Hi Beams are the SS version of Sunbeams.
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There’s a point where Sunbeams are just past the point of being broken in where they are absolutely perfect and unmatched by any other string type, round or flat, on the basses I’ve used them on. There’s essentially three phases of the Sunbeam tone where they start off accentuating the high mids, settle into gloriously balanced, then start to peter out on the lowest lows and highs, but at that point they retain a low mid that never seems to waver. They’re currently out of rotation for me (giving Lo-Riders another spin), but they will always be a staple in the stable for me.
Yes.
When I tried the SS Lo-Riders on my son's Ibanez, I tried the 40-100 set with a 125B and found them nicely balanced as a whole. You might want to try the Sunbeams with the 130B.
(Note: Sunbeams only come in nickel-plated steel, so the term "Nickel Sunbeams" is redundant. Hi Beams are the SS version of Sunbeams.
Yeah, just trying to emphasize the "nickel" aspect. Why the 130 B on the SunBeam? Does it remove slop from the round-core construction?
Riis
Based on my experience, round-core low B's tend to be looser-feeling and sometimes mushy-sounding. For example, when I tried the GHS Round Core Boomers 45-65-80-100-126, I found the 126B to be a bit on the mushy side. I ended up replacing it with a GHS Pressurewound 128B (hex core), which I found it to be a better match for the rest of the RCBs for clarity and definition as well as the overall playing feel.
The good news is the Sunbeams 45-105 can be matched up with either a 125 or a 130 as part of the factory set.
I think the strings you use and like, depends a lot on the pickups they are used with. I had used Sunbeams exclusively on everything for a long time, mainly because I loved how they felt, but I eventually realized that with the Bartolini pups in my main bass, Sunbeams were a bit too lacking in the upper mids. So I switched to Hi-Beams which gives me what I want in a live setting.
Sunbeams do record really well though. I also went from Sunbeams to Fat Beams with my Jazz style basses. But for the most part, I only use DR strings of one type or another. I think Sunbeams would probably sound awesome on a fretless.
Sunbeams do record really well though. I also went from Sunbeams to Fat Beams with my Jazz style basses. But for the most part, I only use DR strings of one type or another. I think Sunbeams would probably sound awesome on a fretless.
Yeah, a 130B is tighter. Plus Gary Willis says to only use 130's and I take everything he says as gospel, lol.
Sunbeams guy for at least 8yrs....if your a light touch player they are heaven,i love them,if your a dig in hard type of player they can get kinda looser in control under your fingers as they get older but i love the feel,tone,only strings i use...100s of gigs a year with them.
You were partially right when you had the Sunbeams as "round/steel". Both the Sunbeams and the Nickel Lo-Riders are actually nickel-plated steel.
Same...I keep trying other brands, admittedly sometimes because of TB hype, but I keep going back to Sunbeams. Recently tried them on a Jazz for the first time, and like it more that I thought...has a nice tight dry snap tone
Just reporting back, I have not tried them yet. The supple description is scaring me away a bit, admittedly. That would not be a good fit for my playing style.
