OK, I am officially done with D&R Strings..

[heyman]

Last year I posted on GS that I had several problems with DR Elec guitar strings. The problem happened across 3 diffrent guitars that I owned.

Problems that were occuring were intonation related and weird sub tones while recording heavy rock guitar. Also had a few sets that had rust on them right out of the box..!!!

The guitarist recording at the time noticed the weird intonation issues as well as the sub tones, so it wasnt just me.. We soldeired on and finished the session.


I took a step back from DR and decided recently to go back.. I had a session this past May and sure enough... The problems started happening again. This time with the Player's Guitar who I gave a set of D&R to use..

Power Chords(especially fretting a F Chord on the low E sounded awfull.) Esp when the gtr player would stop. There was just a weird after-tone... Everyone noticed it.. It was bad..


We checked everything ... Finally I remembered the session problems I had last year and decided to switch out the top 2 strings(E,A) with D'Addario's..

The problem went away..

Another problem I had recently with the strings was very poor intonation problems. I had the bridge saddle on my Gibson SG All the way forward trying to compensate for a Flat note at the 12th fret on my G String.. It was horrible, It was still well out and the saddle couldnt be adjusted anymore..

I switched the strings over to D'Addarios and I was able to move the saddle back and all is well now..

I am officially done with DR..

dfegadfuuckdfegad

[taturana]

My strat had to go thru a repair in the bridge after using their different gauges .010 kit, not putting the blame on d&R, but i never bought those strings again.

[heyman]

Oh, I should also mention that DR suck for string bends as well. I put the same gauge D'Adarrio (10's) on my Guitar and it was like I went to a lighter set..

[JoeyM]

I can relate, one time I spent $200.00 at the local music store to try all the strings relevant to a Gibson SG, and since I was gigging constantly it amounted to changing them every two days anyway.

The Heavy Metal strings sound like what you got. They sounded fantastic, but were so rusty the next day and broken a few hours after that.

I settled on GHS Boomers @ .11 guage on my SG. I think there's more nickel in there but rust isn't a problem. Tone is very ballsy and versatile. If you haven't given them a try, I hope you try them.

Oh, I forgot to mention, my SG has an ebony fretboard and dots for markers, which may yield a different result entirely than if you have rosewood fretboard and/or abalone markers.

[Funk Dracula]

Originally Posted by heyman

Oh, I should also mention that DR suck for string bends as well. I put the same gauge D'Adarrio (10's) on my Guitar and it was like I went to a lighter set..

That's because they're compression wound. There is more metal in a DR string than your average string of the same gauge.

Maybe it's just a guitar string thing... or maybe your guitar needs to be set up differently when putting DRs on... as I mentioned earlier, there is more metal in them. When I first strapped 'em on my bass, I had to get it set up.

I've been using DR Bass strings exclusively for over 13 years now. They last really long, have excellent tone and sustain, and the company is fantastic at meeting an artists needs. They even make a custom set for me to suit my needs for my six string fretless. Tapper wound on the low B, medium gauge to heavy gauge going on up the strings. (the opposite of the way it usually goes for a set of bass strings.) I have to order them six sets at a time, but I can't say enough good things about these strings. They've been doing this service for me for over a decade.

As far as rust... I've NEVER experienced rust on a set of my strings. I even rocked a set for 4 months, deadening them to get a more "motown" esq sound. No rust, just really worn in strings that were far from having that "piano" like quality of a new set, which is what I was diging at the time. That set was on my bass outdoors in the summer with crazy humidity, on thru the fall and into early winter. No rust...

Maybe it's the place your buying your strings from? Region specific problem? Knock offs?

Furthermore, I'm not saying your findings are unfounded at all. I'm really just chiming in to offer possible reasons for your conclusions, and to give a perspective from an extremely satisified DR user.

I can't imagine living without these strings! They are without a doubt essential to my instruments sound.

[climber]

Originally Posted by Funk Dracula

SNIP...

I can't imagine living without these strings! They are without a doubt essential to my instruments sound.

interesting... I've been playing bass for 40+ years. tried everything in that time. put together a custom set of dAddario for my 5 string and stuck with them for a long time. after friends kept pressuring me I switched to DR Hi Beam for about a year. they were terrible IMO. simply didn't last. I change strings every month, but these would last about a week. went back to Smith's & have been happy ever since.

YMMV

[slaves666]

I find Blue Steel to be the best strings for metal and rock. 11-56 in 440 (drop D)

[heyman]

I intonate all my guitars..

I have used all these strings successfully without having to do major modification to my guitars..

Dean Markely
GHS
D'Addarios
Ernie Ball
Fender
Elixir

I am sorry, but when I go buy a set of DR strings I shouldnt have to bring a perfectly good working instrument to a Guitar tech to have it setup..

[JoeyM]

Originally Posted by slaves666

I find Blue Steel to be the best strings for metal and rock. 11-56 in 440 (drop D)

Thanks for the tip, that's one set I've not tried.

[Jax]

Originally Posted by slaves666

I find Blue Steel to be the best strings for metal and rock. 11-56 in 440 (drop D)

You're playing with your axe tuned to an open D chord?

[Qor]

Ernie Balls, man!

Balls are best!

No, but seriously...

I use D'Addarios on my acoustic. Sounds like heaven!

My friends all laugh at me 'cause I spend the extra $5.95 for them, but they go silent when I play.

I gues you really DO get what you pay for...

[taturana]

Originally Posted by slaves666

I find Blue Steel to be the best strings for metal and rock. 11-56 in 440 (drop D)

+1 for blue steel!

[Sid Viscous]

Originally Posted by Jax

You're playing with your axe tuned to an open D chord?

Drop D not Open D.

[AllAboutTone]

Originally Posted by heyman

Oh, I should also mention that DR suck for string bends as well. I put the same gauge D'Adarrio (10's) on my Guitar and it was like I went to a lighter set..

I agree...I do hate DR.

[Jax]

Originally Posted by Sid Viscous

Drop D not Open D.

My mistake. What I meant is that many people confuse drop D, which is only tuning down the sixth string one whole step (DADGBE), with tuning every string down a whole step. In that case it's called down-tuning to D.

I've seen a lot of people mistakenly say they were in drop D when they were in fact down-tuned to D.

[JQ127]

Anyone ever try Everly strings? I got turned on to them a few years ago. They fly mainly below the radar screen-you won't see them at GC-but they're hands down the best strings I've used. After almost 20 years touring and recording Everly's are the first strings I've found that sound great-hold up night after night and don't sound all used up after the first 20 minutes of playing them.

Ernie Balls-D'Addarios-GHS......I wouldn't touch these again in a million years. And I'm not a guy who goes around talking about guitar strings. Or I wasn't haha! Seriously try some out. Everyone I've turned on to Everly's loves them. Killer for recording too imo. Go to everylymusic.com I think it is and shoot them an email. Great guys to deal with too.You can thank me later.

Joe

[PoorGlory]

I've been using D'Addarios for 15 years, and never want to change. Just switched to light tops-heavy bottoms on my guitars (10-52 in standard tuning), and I use the ProSteels on my 5 string bass.

I haven't tried every string there is to try, but I will say that D'Addario (bass and guitars strings) sounds better than and outlasts Ernie Ball, by far. And I have tried Ernie Ball multiple times over the years, so it definitely wasn't a bad batch.