D.R. Lo-Rider OR D'Addario Strings??

[technik]

Hi,
Im thinking of changing my string into either one of DR Lo-Rider 40-60-80-100-120 or D'Addario 40-60-75-95-125. Which one do you guys prefer? I heard that the D'addario is brighter than the Lo-Rider. I prefer the darker, deep tone but at the same time I want the lighter string

And also, whats the difference between nickel round wound and stainless steel round wound, is there anything different in tone?

Can anyone recommend me which one should I get..

thanks

 

[midopa]

I've heard the DR Lo-Riders are bright. They're made of stainless steel, right? Anyway, I found a little resource on the net that I've found usefull:

http://www.bunnybass.com/e-zine/tips02.shtml

Scroll down a bit and there will be links to scanned pages from an old Bass Player magazine. It's an article comparing strings.

 

[technik]

Still confused I want a deep, low tone, and they have are the bright tone. Which one would you choose midopa?

 

[Disquieter]

use the dr's, and get used to the guage. The lo-riders have a nice thick dark tone. very nice, i have a set on all my stingrays....

won't use anything else (currently).


joel d.

 

[dlloyd]

Still confused I want a deep, low tone, and they have are the bright tone. Which one would you choose midopa?

Have you thought about flats?

 

[midopa]

Roundwounds have have that bright tone. Especially when they're new. They'll have that nasty zing. That's why I rarely wipe down my strings - I want them to get all mucky and yuckyuck. Bovine talked about this and said flats solved his problem and tone-search, but I want to stick with roundwounds because I occasionally do some slap bass lines. Right now I've got DR Hi-Beams on my bass that are quite mucky and yuckyuck. I like 'em lots.

If you want to stick with roundwounds but seek that deep low end, I suggest Thomstak-Infeld Superalloys. I haven't tried them, but Steve "Dude" Barr from the DudePit is a dealer for TI strings. I read reviews on the DudePit that the TI Superalloys have a nice bassiness to them. And they're roundwound. Ain't that weird? Or you can go with Disquieter's suggestion. I've never tried DR Lo-Riders myself.

Of course, you can, as dlloyd suggested, go for the flats. I recently played a bass with flats and really liked it. It felt weird at first, but I really dug the tone. I hope to try out flats one day and try different techniques on it (ex. slap, tap, etc.).

And as to your question regarding nickel and stainless steel, I don't know much about them, but I do know nickel has a warmer sound, while stainless steels've got that ear-piercing, sharp, dog whistle-like tone to 'em.

 

[Aussie Mark]

I want a deep, low tone

Go straight to flats, do not pass go.

 

[MrDigory]

Flats on a fretted bass is pretty damn sweet for fingerstyle. I don't think i ever tried a pick with em. Has anyone had much success with flats and a pick?
The reason I'm asking is because there are songs I ussually use a pick on.

 

[nismaniac]

Still confused I want a deep, low tone, and they have are the bright tone. Which one would you choose midopa?

I have D'addario Prisms on right now but am getting ready to take them off and put on some D'addario XL's. I bought the twin pack in 45-65-80-100 and then bought two additional single XL B strings in .125. Musicians Friend sells the twin packs and the single strings. The XL's are nickel and the Prisms are stainless steel. I have used DR Highbeams in the past and have always been very impressed. I've heard good things about the low riders as well. I don't know where you are planning on buying your strings, but www.juststrings.com has a very very good selection of gauges and types of almost all string manufacturers. The carry the DR lowriders in stainless steel and nickel, so if you want the darker of the two, get the nickel low riders.

I am slowly but surely progressing to flatwound strings. I am going to use the TI jazz flats that everyone speaks so highly of around here. I used to love the zing of stainless strings, but now I am starting to like a darker sound.

I hope this helps a little bit.

 

[StingEye]

I must have bad luck with DR strings or something...Every time I have used them, they lose their life within a week and do not have the same thickness as some of the other brands. But people like em so...I stay away from stainless all together. I do not hear any difference except for the first few times you play them.

 

[bassmonkeee]

Flats on a fretted bass is pretty damn sweet for fingerstyle. I don't think i ever tried a pick with em. Has anyone had much success with flats and a pick?
The reason I'm asking is because there are songs I ussually use a pick on.

See: Joe Osborn

 

[TSanders]

Good reference to Joe Osborn. If im not mistaking he plays exclusively with a pick, since he was a guitarist until falling into a bassist role. Id say he made a heck of a transition.

 

[technik]

Im thinking of getting the Lo-Rider too, but then I want the E and A strings to have thinner gauges than what I have right now (regular slinky), and the only choice is the D'Addario EXL 220, it has 95 and 75 for the E and A respectively.

Can the flats be used for slapping?

 

[technik]

Btw, anyone experiences on the D'Addario nickel XL-5? does it have a bright or low tone?
juststrings.com is quite expensive compared to MF

 

[nismaniac]

Btw, anyone experiences on the D'Addario nickel XL-5? does it have a bright or low tone?
juststrings.com is quite expensive compared to MF

My nickel XL-5's will be here soon, I'll let you know. Generally any nickel string will be slightly darker than the same string in stainless steel. I have not directly compared DR nickel Low Riders to D'addario nickel XL5's. That is an experiment I will be performing soon unless I just decide to go ahead and switch to TI jazz flats.

Juststrings.com is a little bit more expensive for an online store but they have a wide selection of specialty gauges. You can't get DR Low Riders in nickel on MF. What I do know is that DR Low Riders are darker than Hi-Beams and nickel Low Riders are darker than stainless steel ones.

 

[armybass]

I love me some DR Lo Riders on a Stingray or Stingray 5. I used to like D'Adds but not lately. I think the tension and feel are not my style after a few years of nothing but DR's, TI's and La Bella's. But I will give a good mention to the EB Strings which always sound good on EB Basses....but the pull the hair on my arm?

 

[bovinehost]

Well, as usual, I think flats are the answer, but I'll tell you something. For a dedicated flatwound guy, I had my Bongo fiver strung with those Fat Beams, and they weren't bad at all.

Not TI Flats or anything, but they sounded purdy good, I'd say.

 

[technik]

Just ordered the D'Addario XL-5 thru MF, i will let u guys know when it arrives...