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Post subject: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 9:12 am
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Not another poll...not another rant...just a humble review of sorts.

For reference, I used Ernie Ball Slinkys for the longest time. A few years ago I moved over to Fender Original Bullets...mainly for the Pure Nickel windings, not the bullets.

Also, over the years I have been migrating to heaver gauge strings from the OEM offering...currently using 11s...I really like the richer tones and endless sustain and my fingers have long adjusted to the tension.

Now that I am flirting with going up another size, I find Fender doesn't make a Pure Nickel string set that heavy, so I started to look around again at other suppliers to see what I could find.

My first lead was DR Strings (who give a choice at 12 for wound G or plain, yum!), so I got a few packages of their "Heavy" set DRS-PHR-11 (11, 14, 18, 28, 38, 50) to try.


Right from the start, I noticed a key difference. Over the years, I've developed a bit of a ritual for restringing my guitars...nothing obsessive, just careful and consistent. One key component is pre-stretching the strings a few times and retuning until stretching doesn't drop the pitch.

The DR strings seem to need only one or two tugs before they stop losing pitch. And, over time, I find I'm retuning less often.

As for tone, they have all the flavor of a pure nickel winding, punchy/vintagey/whatever. I find the wound strings are also a bit softer in tone...clearer (less muddy?) when overdriven...and both of these work to let the bare strings ring out stronger.

As for feel, there is a very smooth touch to the strings; easy to bend and without that 'ratchet' feel as my fingertips slide over the windings...almost as if they were flatwound bass strings. And, they seem to stay in tune longer as I play.

I usually change my strings after a few weeks, and didn't notice too much decline in the performance or tone over time. I'm on my second set, ready to string up my third...very happy with the feel and sound of these strings.

Maybe it is the round core, as opposed to hex? Maybe there is something to their marketing pitch about being "handmade"? Who knows? But, I like them.

Thanks for reading...anyone share my opinion?

Cheers.

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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 8:41 pm
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I never cared for Ernie Balls, but when I get strings (10's) I either get D'addario or DR Pure Nickels, love them both, I absolutely love D'addario's Pure Nickel series, great feel, warm tone, try them if they have your gauge I really recommend them


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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Wed Jun 05, 2013 10:01 pm
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Off topic- but I tried a set of DR strings on my acoustic. They were recommended because my local chain stores didnt stock Ernie Ball Acoustic strings, and they were fine untill the 'coat' started to flake off and they deteriorated very quickly.

Since I have a set of Exilir strings and to be honest I am completely converted to them. They have been on my acoustic for 2 1/2 months and still no oxidised strings :)

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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2013 7:40 am
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I experiment with a lot of different strings. I keep going back to DR Pure Blues. I haven't tried the D'adarrio pure nickel, but I may just to see how they compare.

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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 5:35 am
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I've been a Slinky user for many,many years on my electric guitars. I dabbled with Fender strings and several others over the years. I recently changed to Elixar Nanowebs 10-46. These are the best sounding strings that I've ever used. They hold a guitar in tune great and they are supposed to last 3 tmes as long as other brands. They are expensive($10-$12) a set but are well worth it!


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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 6:02 am
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I gave them a shot. They are made locally from where I live. I did like them. But I have been using GHS Boomers 11s for like 20 years and I always go back to them. For me they just feel right.....


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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Tue Jun 11, 2013 11:12 am
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I know what you mean. Eventually. I'll be back to my old tried and true Regular slinkys 10-46.I've been with them,.off and on, for about as long.


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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 7:29 pm
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I went to DR strings a couple of years ago and generally string my guitars with DR Pure Blues. I like 'em a lot!

I generally use 9s and sometime 10s, but I am not man enough to go any heavier than that. :shock:

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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 8:40 pm
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CRGuitarMan wrote:
I went to DR strings a couple of years ago and generally string my guitars with DR Pure Blues. I like 'em a lot!

I generally use 9s and sometime 10s, but I am not man enough to go any heavier than that. :shock:

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I just put a set of those on my Carvin today, 10's. The Carvin has jumbo frets and if I try to go with 9's, I'll squeeze something sharp. I can use 9's on my Clapton because the vintage frets are so freakin tiny I don't think I could squeeze a note sharp if I tried.

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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Thu Jun 20, 2013 2:47 am
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I used to use DR all the time and they were the only strings I really felt a big difference with.

Fo some reason these days, most of shops where I am don't seem to stock them anymore. I actually thought they went out of business until I found them online again...

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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 2:15 am
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I used EB slinky's for years, untill I found the fender standard tension strings. Once they quit making those I started looking around at other brands and ended up stickeing with DR tite-fits. I love the feel and they do seem to last longer than other strings I have used.

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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 4:20 am
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I've actually been shying away from the DR's because I had heard that they were coated...I absolutely -HATE- Elixer strings (no life, no sparkle AT ALL...despite the outrageous price tag, Elixer's are absolutely the crappiest strings I've ever played next to SIT's) and was guessing the DR's probably sound pretty similar. My guess is that somehow the coating on those strings somehow deadens the string vibrations. I dunno...I guess they're like Ovation acoustics...ya either love them or hate them (I'm certainly in the later).

At the moment I've been using Slinky's just because I can get them at Best Buy without spending $20 in gas to run out to Guitar Center, but at some point I'm going to end up back with the GHS Boomers...the Slinky's sound fine, but just don't last as long as the Boomers. Even with the Dunlap 65 stuff, the Slinky's are starting to show some rust signs after only a week and a half. I do like the Fender strings, but with as many guitars as I own (back up to around 30 at the moment), that extra $2 a pack compared with Boomers adds up REAL quick.

As always, just my own personal opinions,
Jim


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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 1:20 pm
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lomitus wrote:
I've actually been shying away from the DR's because I had heard that they were coated...


Yes, DR makes coated strings...and even some in Neon colors...not talking about these.

I can't even say much about any of their nickel-plated offerings...my attention is only on their pure nickel (Pure Blues) strings...still using them, still digging them.

Cheers.

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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 6:20 pm
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HeyJoe42 wrote:
lomitus wrote:
I've actually been shying away from the DR's because I had heard that they were coated...


Yes, DR makes coated strings...and even some in Neon colors...not talking about these.

I can't even say much about any of their nickel-plated offerings...my attention is only on their pure nickel (Pure Blues) strings...still using them, still digging them.

Cheers.



Yea...neon...now I remember. Saw those in a Guitar Center catalog. Aside from looking like a gimmick, I figured they had to be coated in order to do the colors. I actually love neon colors, not to mention fluorescent and such...but I think I'll keep it to my Hawaiian shirts. Just a bit to weird for guitar strings for me.


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Post subject: Re: Speaking of strings...DR Strings, anyone?
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 5:56 pm
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Now you guys have me going... I have never tried DR strings. Used a lot of brands too. Thanks for the insights — now too seek and find online! :D

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