DR Strings Electric Bass - Sunbeams™ Nickel Plated on Round Cores Lite, .040-.100, NLR-40star rating 3Joshua ChandlerFebruary 10, 2011I know people rave about these strings and that they have a great reputation. But for me, they do NOT fit the bill. At all. I give them three stars just to acknowledge that DR is a good company and not ripping anyone off--otherwise I'll have nothing to do with Sunbeams. The problem I have with these is that even though they are nice-sounding nickel wrap rounds, they have a round core and that causes them to have a really big string excursion. My basses are all set up with really low action and straight necks so strings like these make tons and tons of noise in that situation. On the other hand nickel rounds with hex cores don't do this. Also, I found the note definition of these strings lacking compared to others. And finally, they are a pain to install. Maybe these are great if you have a medium-high action but the way my basses are setup, these are not at all appropriate. Perhaps Nickel Lo-Riders would be better for me because I think they use hex cores.
DR Strings Electric Bass - Sunbeams™ Nickel Plated on Round Cores Lite, .040-.100, NLR-40star rating 5ScottyJanuary 2, 2011Ive been playing music for over 45 years, bass for the last 30. These strings are on an Late 70s custom P-base style fretless, 34 inch neck, maple body with P/J DiMarzios These things are Slippery, even for nickels. After years of trying many nickel round wounds on the fretless and always returning to flats, I was amazed how quickly I forgot these were rounds. Nice! The strings lost their initial zing fairly quickly and settled into sugary smooth melodic highs, very detailed mids with plenty of punch and growl, and nice tight controlled lows. Overall a well balanced sound that could be tweaked to almost any genre. I've strapped these things on a couple of fretted guitars and although they sound good and feel incredible... I still prefer steel. As for stamina, they are at about the 50 hour mark with no sign of deterioration (still early). Bottom line: In my opinion these are about the best nickels out there and can really bring a fretless to life. I will be trying other strings on the fretless but I think I'll keep coming home to these for a long time. Definitely worth a try!
DR Strings Electric Bass - Sunbeams™ Nickel Plated on Round Cores Lite, .040-.100, NLR-40star rating 5DaveMarch 9, 2010I love these strings, they have a great warm and rich tone. Use them on several basses.
DR Strings Electric Bass - Sunbeams™ Nickel Plated on Round Cores Lite, .040-.100, NLR-40star rating 5Alfred GrabkaAugust 14, 2009Great strings for any bass. I like the .040 gauge. it's softer, lighter than the heavier gage. Also long lived.
DR Strings Electric Bass - Sunbeams™ Nickel Plated on Round Cores Lite, .040-.100, NLR-40star rating 5JohnathanAugust 14, 2009I am very satisfied with these strings. I usually play D'addario strings and have tried several different types within that brand but now I do not think I will buy anything other than DR Sumbeams. I am pleased with every aspect, so far...the only thing that I am not sure about is the life of the string because I have only played these strings for about two weeks and three shows.