DR Strings Black Beauties BKB-45

DR have never failed me in what they produce (Low riders and high beam alike) but I was looking for place between using tape-wounds and round wounds on my active Lakland. The Black Beauties have surpassed all expectations and have fit the position perfectly. While Geezer Butler endorses (fair play to him), to me they help to give a real Tony Levin or Tim Commerford sound.. Firstly is their playing comfort and ease. K3 coating is silky and fast to the touch, makes the note definition an ease (you can slap and pop..) feeling soft on the fingers yet never slippy when doing such percussive work. But its the tone versatility and resonance which have impressed me the most. The DR BB's give you tone control unmatched in any round string. I 'humphed with skepticism at the "sound as good or better then un-coated strings", but I totally stand corrected. DR make some of the most innovating bass strings and the BB's continue this tradition. There is plenty of top-end- opening up the mid-range punch, superb overtones and resonance qualities keeping great definition on the lows. Tape-wound strings will always have a great place in bass playing especially in dedicated 60's and Motown 'thump' and fret-less work, but these BB's are exceptional strings.

I got these strings just for the black color, not really knowing what to expect in terms of sound, playability or durability, but Iwas really surprised.

Pros:
- The color is great, the black is really black and stays black.
- The strings stay in tune.
- The sound is amazing with very nice trebles - I'm using an American Fender JB.
- These are the most long lasting strings I have ever tried.

Cons:
- The black finish gives a bit of a rough feeling and I think I can play faster on my other basses with uncoated strings. But I can trade this small playability issue for their great sound and durability.

I've used DR Extras for a number of years as gigging in a club/function band around 100 times a year I found I was going through lots of strings.

With these coated strings I found that I only had to change about 3 times a year, and often that would be more for cosmetic reasons than tone.

When these strings go on, they don't have the same brightness you'd get from a set of brand new steel roundwounds, they have a crunchy kind of tone similar to a set of nickel roundwounds which have maybe done a gig or two.

They stay sounding that way for ages though. I've had sets which have done 30 gigs and you would never know from the tone they weren't new.

The colour coating does flake a little over time, but not so much that affects the sound, only the appearance. This is more of an issue if you use a pick.

I have one gripe with these which is that DR have recently changed the coating to something called Dragon Skin or K3 and while it may be longer lasting, I find it quite uncomfortable when doing a lot of slides as the friction causes a burning sensation too easily.

Hello
I'am not professional bassist, and I do not have much experience, but I honestly expected more from thease strings. They sound, alright but they just dont feel right when I play on them. The black color is nice and makes my bass look awsome! But if you use a pick, the black paint will chip a little (not sure if thats just me), and the surface feels kind of like plastic.

Because these are coated, you need to take care when installing them that you don't just yank the strings through the bridge as you install them, otherwise you risk scraping off the micro-thin coating. When installed properly, you should not have to worry about the coating coming off with normal use. I use a pick most of the time and have not seen any evidence of the coating coming off where the pick contacts the strings, or in any of the most commonly played sections of the fingerboard.

In conclusion, Good sound but bad feel.

I have two fretless basses, and on one of those I normally use roundwonds. On the other one I use Rotosouds Black Nylon. I was looking for something in between the two, who had the fat "uprighty" tone of black nylon tape strings but also the brightness and the crispy tone of roundwounds.
I ordered these DR black beauties with no further knowledge of how they would behave on my bass, but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Already in unplugged they delivered a punchy, fat, yes bright sound. When they went through my 70's DiMarzio pickups I was delighted to notice the consistency with what experienced unplugged. As for the playability, DR black beauties behave very well under the fingers: they have tension enough for my playing, which is kinda heavy (I am first of all an upright player) but yet they are easy to press, and they allow and respond well to all kinds of articulations: legato, hammer on and off, and so on.
As for the durability I can't really say at the moment, but I guess they will stay on a long time.
If I had to find a downside, which it really is not, is that those are not "all purpose" strings. I wouldn't use them for slap for example, but that is only my personal opinion. Other than that I think that they are great and I definitely recommend them!