Coated bass strings are the new hot item, and I'll be reviewing several brands soon. Keep watching the accessories forum and the main reviews page for an update.

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I have red ones on my blue & black ax
and black ones on my black ax. So far,
no outbreak of hostilities ....



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Tried the Red DRs so far -- actually like them a good bit. Still waiting for Ernie Ball, Elixir & Rotosound.

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My DR's are on MM's. The blacks are on
a fretted SUB cuz the blacks are old and
that helps compensate for the effect that
frets have on bass tone.

The reds are new, at least they were new
when I put them on and by my standard
of "new" they'll still be new long after the
red has worn offa them :-) The reds are
on a Moses necked Sterling FL. While the
toadall tonal package is rather different
than my 'seller's regret' long-gone metal
neck Kramer FL ... :-( .... a Moses necked
Sterling is a verrry capable substitute. FL
basses so seldom have the "hinges of the
gates of hell" voice that my old Kramer is
surely still singing, somewhere, for some
stranger .... but the Moses Sterling has a
reeeaallly narstee atteetood, if provoked.

That old Kramer, OTOH, considered the
spinning of the planet to be provocation
enuf, even tho it was strung with flats !
The Moses Sterling depends on the reds
to back up its atteetood.

BTW, the black DR's on the SUB are old
cuz thaz what it came with, and it was
looking pretty used when I got it ... but
the frets were still really good. Mayhaps
thaz partly a bene of the coated strings ?



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They don't SOUND coated then? You know what I mean, right? How they sound bright, but with a good deal less low end? It's weird to explain, but I feel like there's a good bit of oomph missing from coated strings as compared to non-coated. What did you think so far Laklander?

The red DRs don't sound coated at all -- they have a nice zing but not overbearingly so. As for bass, I played 'em in the studio two weeks ago and the engineer took me direct because they were giving me TOO MUCH bass through the old Fender Bassman 10. I didn't get that feeling live, though. Most unexpected thing is that my plucking fingers actually hang up a bit,which they don't on regular rounds or flats. They don't feel at all "greasy," which is how the old Elixirs used to feel. I'm expecting a set of those soon. Their rep told me at NAMM that some players had said they felt too slick, so maybe they changed the coating.

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My DR reds are most likely the old formula.
They feel slick, in a "gliding" way, not in a
"greazy" way. Combined with the Moses FL
neck, output was rather noticeably greater
than my other Rays and Sterlings, and so
I lowered the PU all the way. The tone of a
fully lowered PU is very smooth [a general
rule, not just this bass], so the strings are
not the only variable at work here ... yet I
would expect that these strings, on any ax
with extra hard neck and-or FB, would be
the ticket to "lowered PU tone". So in that
way, I credit the strings with much of the
overall tone of this bass.

My best recollection of the effect before I
lowered the PU, right after I installed both
the neck and strings together, is that my
initial reaction on hearing it was "What am
I gonna do about this monster ?" The tone
had become searingly hot, and it seemed
to be twice as loud as it used to be ! The
laziest thing to do was lower the PU, and
that [for my ears] was the silver bullet :-)

OK, so my result is not focused on a single
variable like a simple string swap. But thaz
the possible magic in changing almost any
component, that the new string, PU, bridge,
or whatever, might allow [or demand ?] yet
more changes, such that the final outcome
can range anywheres from hell to nirvana.



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Don't sound coated, huh? These might need to be in my next string purchase.

P.S. I tried the flats you sent me, Laklander. VERY nice set of strings. I was surprised to even be able to get a moderate slap tone out of them. I just love the smooth FEEL of flats under my left hand. Not that I don't like roundwounds, but the winding can sometimes feel like speedbumps.

The TIs are marvelous strings and, even if you pay $70 for a 5-string set, they last two years easily, so they're really not that expensive. They record great, too.

I had a set of elixir coated strings a few years ago, I was not that impressed, I did a review of them, the coated seems to come off in a few weeks.

I had the Elixirs several years ago and thought they felt a bit
"greasy," plus they didn't seem to keep their brightness very long. The Elixir rep picked my brain about the strings at NAMM and I gave him my opinions, which he said were common complaints. Don't know if they've fixed this, but I'm expecting strings soon and I'll let you know. I liked the DR red coated strings but did find my plucking fingers hung up from time to time on them.

Yeahh...mine sounded terrible, so I just stayed away from them for a long time, but Laklander has been saying that these new coated strings aren't too bad. Might have to take a second look. My hands are realllllly oily, so not having to change strings as often would be phenomenal.

I have aset of Black DRs that I can send you if you want. They're identical to the red ones.