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.