Conference napalm::guitar

Don't bother they won't write back...I tried...when they first came out the 
REP was in Al's shop telling me how they made "anything". We tried to order
double ball end strings in a .0095 gage. They cancelled the order saying
that "at this time they aren't making double ball ends strings" even though
they were in the catalog (original catalog, not in the new ones). I wrote them
a letter begging them to make them and got no reply. I mentioned this to the
rep the next time I saw him, his reply "they don;t return my notes/calls 
either"


good luck...

dbii

	Regarding DR Strings.

	A few years ago, I was looking for information on T.C. electronics
	product line. I got a phone number in New Jersey from one of their
 	old catalogs. When I called the number, I was told that T.C. had
	gone out of business, and the company using their old office and
 	telephone line was none other than DR. 

	I had a rather lengthly discussion with the guy about strings, and
	shortly after, I tried a set. They are definately good strings.

	Just for grins, try this number...201-384-4221
    
    	Mark	

        

    The reason I originally asked was that I was in the US last year on
    holiday and someone gave me a set of DR strings with a recommendation and 
    I thought they were very good.
    
    Co-incidentally, soon after I got back from my holiday I received a
    letter in the mail from the UK distributor (I think they got my name
    from a music shop's mailing list after I had purchased an instructional
    video).
    
    The letter said there was a deal on - buy a set, get a set free! So I
    took the deal but now the strings are gone and I wanted to find out
    from the Company who distributes them in the UK.
    
    From the evidence of the replies so far, I suspect the answer is
    "no-one".
    
    andy

    Andy,
    
    Chandlers in Kew advertise DR strings regularly. Try giving them a call
    - I know for a fact that they do mail order. Their number is 081 940
    5874.
    
    Nick

    
    DR HandMade Strings
    41 Allen Street
    Creskill, NJ 07626
    201-894-4744
    fax: 201-894-4743
    
    Paul
    

    Thanks for all those.
    
    I'll post outcome here.
    
    andy
    

Andy,

Try Hamers on the Oxford Road 0734-415800.

Rob has been in touch with the distributor recently and may have some 
info for you.

smitho

    I second Chandlers - they stock DR's and they are damn good strings,
    but that extra string density & weight makes my guitar a bit uncomfortable!!
    
    Nigel (Dusty) Miller           
    Leatherhead

    
     I tried a set of DR's on my guitar this weekend.  Normally I use 
    Daddario XL's.  I couldn't get the DR's off fast enough.  To me they
    had an unnatural silky feel which I probably could have gotten used
    to.  The problem I had was that I had to bend them a lot further to 
    obtain a note, for example 1/4 inch bend on the Daddarios seemed to 
    require almost a 1/2 bend on the DR's to get the same pitch. They 
    also lack the brightness of the Daddarios and have a dull ring. They
    make my humbuckers sound like single coil pickups.  I ended up removing
    the G, B, and E strings and replacing those with some Daddarios I had 
    as extras.  Big difference in feel !  I have to go on record as saying
    I can't recommend the DR strings.  They would be nice for a jazz guitar
    though. They had almost a flatwound type sound.
    
     jmo, lv (rare guitar noter)

    Interesting.  I inadvertently tried a set of DR Hi-Beams on a maple
    neck Fender Precision bass (inadvertent because the store where I had
    the bass on consignment charged me for a setup and string change I
    never asked for, but that's another story...)
    
    This bass had previously been strung with D'Addario XLs.  In this case,
    I thought the DRs were a clear improvement; better low end, clearer
    highs, overall warmer sound.  I've been a dedicated Rotosound man for
    years, but the DRs are the first bass string that have made me consider
    changing.
    
    Perhaps their bass strings are better than their guitar strings.
    
    /rick
    
    ps you can reach DR online at
    
    	[email protected]
    
    they seem to be pretty good about responding on the net
    

    I've tried DR strings on guitar and I thought they sounded good,
    but not good enough to justify paying more than other strings.
    I spoke with a guy at DR on the phone once. He claimed that DR
    has their own winding machines and are one of the few companies 
    that actually wind their own strings. He claimed that they are
    wound more tightly than other strings, providing more mass which
    (theoretically) provides more sustain. 
    
    I mainly use GHS and D'Addario strings. I recently restrung my
    Gibson ES175 with D'Addario "Chromes". These are semi-flat-wound
    strings. They feel silky smooth, but sound much brighter than you
    would expect from flat-wounds. You can slide into chords without
    any finger squeeks or fret noise. Great for Jazz!
    
    It goes without saying, but the best way to buy strings is in
    bulk. You can get a dozen sets of most strings for less than
    $50. They are even cheaper if you buy them in larger quantities.
    
    Mark

    I've been using DR guitar strings almost exclusively on my (2)
    electrics. I do find that they hold their tone longer. Even when
    they are mildly pitted and black (my sweat-from-hell strips off the
    silvery finish in minutes) the intonation and tone are truer than
    other strings (with a little mileage) I've tried.
    
    I pay the extra buck-or-so for 'em.
    
    Oops. Sorry Buck.
    
    Larry

    And for all you Ibanez owners with Edge Trems, these strings go quite a
    bit long on my two than all the other brands...  I used to get an extra
    couple of 4-set nights out of 'em...
    

    
    There's a couple of tunes that I do that require some hefty string
    bends, and with the DR's, I just couldn't pull them off accurately.
    They required more bending distance to achieve the desired pitch,
    significantly more distance.  If I liked em, then I wouldn't mind
    paying the price.  I've tried several different strings over the last
    30 years, but the Daddario's are still my favorite string.  I try to
    replace them on a regular basis so I'm not all that concerned about 
    the life span since I'm more likely to replace them before they really
    _need_ to be replaced.  As I mentioned earlier, the problem was mostly
    with the G, B, and E strings.  The E, A, and D strings sound okay and
    feel okay, but I think they lack the brightness of the Daddarios. 
    
     Lv

    
     I tried DR Strings and liked them alot... (tone wise) until I started 
    breaking them! I broke the G and B strings on two different sets of 
    "Jeff Healy gauge". I usually buy three sets at a time, so I returned 
    the third set and bought my normal GHS Nickel Rockers. 
    To this day, I have never broke a GHS, or a Ernie Ball string and the
    tone is fairly consistant from set to set...   IMO.
    
    RE: D'Addario strings
    
    D'Addario's break if I look at them, and have bought a few set's
    that had dead strings before I even took them out of the package.
    Their bass strings aren't much better IMO either. Not enough clarity
    for me.
    
    Haven't used D'Addario's in years. Personally, I haven't wanted to.
    
    	Rock on,
    		 Fred
    

    
    Interestingly enough, I had the breaking problem before with Ernie
    Ball's.  I used to use the GHS strings, and they're still my second 
    preference.  I've been using Daddarios for several years now, and I 
    rarely break strings, but that could be due to many different factors
    related to playing styles.  I've yet to find a string that works better
    for me.  Btw, I'm talking regular gauge strings (010 - 046). 
    
     Lv

	I've been using Ernie Ball Hybrid Slinkys for about 10 years now.
 Oddly, I've noticed that in the last year or so I've been breaking strings 
like crazy. Typically the E & B strings. 

	At first I thought it might be a problem with the bridge saddles, 
so I bought a couple sets of the GraphTech graphite saddles to put on my 
Strat and Firebird. But it doesn't seem to have solved the problem.

	It seems odd to me because (sad to say) I'm playing less guitar 
these days than ever; I just don't have the time I did before the wife, 
kids and DEC came along... so I'm playing less hours and breaking more 
strings.

	I wonder if I've gotten more aggressive in my playing style... Am I 
just getting sloppy? Have all those pints of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream added 
too much pysical mass & I don't know my own strength? Has my stock of 
strings gotten too old? Has this ever happened to you?


Brad

    re: .9
    
    Did this guitar have a floating bridge?
    
    If so, I might be able to explain the required-extra-bending
    phemonmenon.
    
    The DR strings are said to have more mass. More mass in these strings
    probably increases tension (Did you have to set-up your tremelo when you
    tried these strings?). As you bend the 1 string you wish to bend...
    that increase in tension due to bending plus the added tension from the 
    other strings would make the bridge pull up from the neck to try to 
    compensate, resulting in the lowering of pitch across all strings. 
    You only notice the pitch drop in the 1 string you're playing, so you 
    must re-compensate by bending further to obtain your correct pitch.
    
    Yeah. That's the ticket.
    
    Larry
    
    

    I don't think Larry's guitar (Peavey Oddisey) has tremelo. If
    a remember correctly, these are hard-tails. They are basically
    a cross between a Tele and a Les Paul. 

    
     Yes, Mark is correct, there is no trem on the Odyssey. I do have my
    eye on another guitar with a trem however, I'm kinda missing having 
    one.
    
      Lv

    
    	Is it just me or does there seem to be alot of purchasing going
    	on around here?  Is GTS catchy?  I know that everytime someone
    	writes about a new toy, I get to thinkin'...
    
    	Ok, no matter what the wives say, our weekend assignment is to
    	go out and buy something.  Not cheap either - strings don't
    	count.  Gotta be at least $100 minimum.  The noter who spends
    	the most wins.  
    
    	Fire up those amps.  Standby.  Ready...
    
    

    
     I just bought a Peavey Classic 410E 4x10 extension speaker cab last
    week,  does that count ?
    
     Lv

    
    	Yeah, we should have a 2 week, grandfather clause in there.
    
    	That would incluce my Fender Blues DeVille...
    

    
    Yeah but Tom, you NEED an acoustic guitar, bad! Believe me. I know
    you got this mental thing about acoustics, but I gaurentee once you
    own one, you'll never want to be without one again. I can see you
    with a Takamine and a Stenson!
    
    Let's see, in the past week, I have bought 3 dozen sets of strings,
    2 Gruven display stands, 4 Gruven display hangers, a guitar humidifier,
    a set of Grover tuners, and I'm waiting for the UPS man to deliver the 
    National Reso-Phonic. Does this count? Last month, I bought a Harmony
    Bass, a Kay electric, a Sabine ST1100 tuner, A Les Paul copy, an old
    MXR rack-mount Flanger/Doubler, a hard-shell case for my Dobro, and 
    about $3500 worth of construction materials for my house (my wife's got 
    HRS, House Repair Syndrome :(=) ).
    
    I believe it's your move.
    
    Mark

    I win...At least I think I do.  :-)
    
    Mister UPS is showing up tonight (Friday night makes it a weekend,
    right?) with my new Mackie 2408 recording console...  :-)
    
    jc (Psyched)
    
    PS - UPS has been showing up all week:
    
     	- Tuesday - A dozen spools of Ampex 456 tape
    	- Wednesday - Rocktron Intellifex, Mogami/Neutrik snake
    	- Thursday - AKG D112 Kick drum mike
    	- Friday - Mackie console
    
    
    Unfortunately, it'll be MONTHS before I can talk the spouse into
    letting me spend any more...   :-(

    Coop
    
    
    The AKG D112 works pretty well for that big. round KD sound. 
    Personally, my favorite is a combo approach -- Sennheiser 421, 
    close mic'd (head sound), off-center, two pos bass roll-off 
    coupled with an EV RE20, distant mic'd in drum (drum sound).
    
    A little gating, a little eq and you have one kick ass kick.

    That Mackie 8-buss board is AWESOME for the money.
    I don't even know how to use all those buttons and pots!
    
    My GTS is secondary to DJTS (Disc Jockey TS). I just got my 
    Denon 2000F MKII today. I'm probably the first dude in New England
    to get one of these puppys. Fortunately, the next toys to buy on my
    list can pull double-duty between playing and DJ gigs.
    
    Shure Beta87 wireless mic
    AB International 1100A power amp
    
    Next toys are Alesis ADAT and RACPACK mixer.
    
    Larry (who's glag money doesn't grow on trees, 'cause I don't have any land)
    

    RE: Buck
    
    Yeah, I've been borrowing a pals D112 for over a year, and using a 57
    up-close for the beater sounds...  The D112, for the $$, is a decent
    mike - if only it didn't have that inverted-midrange-scoop, then I 
    wouldn't even need the 57 (which has a bump).  Anyhow, the price for
    this one was right...
    
    RE: Mackie
    
    The signal routing and EQ on the mackie are mind boggling...  I'm
    way-psyched.
    
    jc

    
    I prefer the RE20 or a 421 on the beater (1" from head),
    with a large diaghram condensor for getting the "drum" sound.
    I use my D112 on bass cabs, and the guy who does sound for
    Morphine says he likes it on a barry sax...
    
    I also like doubling the beater sound with a sampled kick
    (MIDI triggered, of course). Same goes for snare.
    
    -b                                               

    
    Well, just for the record since I did slag DR strings in an earlier
    note ..
    
    I really didn't like the way they played on my Peavey Odyssey, but I've 
    been using them on my G&L S-500, and I have to say I really like em a 
    lot. In fact, last time I restrung with Daddarios because I couldn't 
    get the DR's at the store I was in at the time, and I missed the DR's
    tone & feel.  Just bought a new set today for a Xmas restringing.
    
    The Peavey will stay with the Daddarios however; heck, it doesn't get
    played a lot lately.  I think I need to drop in some hot humbuckers and
    revitalize it one of these days.
    
      Rgds, Larry
    

    Ah Ha! Peavey fevor begins to chill!
    
    Just kidding Larry. glad you're still enjoying the G&L. 
    
    Long time no see. We've got to get together one of these dayz.
    Say hello to Linda and wish her Merry Christmas for me and Carmen.
    
    Mark

    
    Well, the Peavey & G&L couldn't be more opposite feeling guitars. 
    I like em both.  I went by your office a while back when I happened 
    to be in Marlboro, but it looked like you were out that day. 
    
     Happy holidays to you, Carmen, and your family as well! 
     (As well as all you fellow guitar noters).
    
      Larry
    
    P.S.: How come you didn't come to the 8 Points Jam, (WoodsJam). We were
    all expecting you.