Having just finished my 2nd weekend playing my first ever set of DR Nickel Lo-Riders, I can honestly say I love these strings more than anything else I've played in 35 years of playing.
Quick backstory... the bass is a 78 Precision black/black/maple that I've played since I was 16. For years I was an all-in stainless rounds guy (Rotosounds, Dean Markley, GHS) and they were all OK for what I was doing. Then started picking up more classic rock and country gigs, plus some jazz, so gave Fender flats a spin. Pretty good, but a little too thumpy once I joined a Nu Country cover band. GHS Pressurewounds fit the bill for that but when they hit end of life a few weeks ago and with that gig in my rearview I thought it was time to get something a little more forward and modern sounding as my main gig now is contemporary praise music at my church and rounds are pretty much the sound in that genre plus the sound guys were having a hard time getting me in the mix when all the other bassists were rolling active basses and rounds. So after some research and the usual flawless service from BassStringsOnline, a new set of DR Nickel Lo-Riders showed up at my door and we were on our way.
The first thing I noticed about the Lo-Riders was that even though they are definitely rounds, they feel good under my fingers. I was concerned about that since I had gotten used to my broken-in Pressurewounds on top of which I don't play nearly as much as I used to so my finger pads have gotten pretty soft. I was also really happy to not be fighting a lot of string noise. They are very nicely balanced string to string, intonate extremely well, and even though they are little light for my taste (.45 to .105 for mediums) they put out good output, even the skinny G string.
The other thing I really like about them is that they are the first string that really seems to "work" with my bass. For whatever reason my bass absolutely sings in the mid registers (A and D strings 7th through 12th fret) but the tradeoff has always been this clanky attack with pretty much every string I've ever used (even flats with the tone rolled off still threw off a "tick"). I play fingerstyle with a light touch so I've never known how to tame the sharp attack the bass seems to put out just on its own and the combination of clank/thump with not enough meat in the middle just wasn't doing it for me at all. To the point I considered yanking off the original neck and putting on one with a rosewood board but could never bring myself to do it. Well with the Lo-Riders the definition is just THERE, without the tick or clank. You can hear each note and they reward precise playing but the attack doesn't overtake the fundamental which has always been a thing on my particular bass. Result, sound guy isn't rolling off all the highs and causing my bass to go into the mud in the P.A.
I went back and forth for a long time between these and Sunbeams and I may give the Sunbeams a try still at some point but it would take a lot to make me any happier than I am with what I'm rolling now. Full disclosure, NOT an endorser in fact I'm not even getting paid to play music at all right now; just a guy who's really happy to have finally found what seems to have been the missing link in my sonic equation.
Quick backstory... the bass is a 78 Precision black/black/maple that I've played since I was 16. For years I was an all-in stainless rounds guy (Rotosounds, Dean Markley, GHS) and they were all OK for what I was doing. Then started picking up more classic rock and country gigs, plus some jazz, so gave Fender flats a spin. Pretty good, but a little too thumpy once I joined a Nu Country cover band. GHS Pressurewounds fit the bill for that but when they hit end of life a few weeks ago and with that gig in my rearview I thought it was time to get something a little more forward and modern sounding as my main gig now is contemporary praise music at my church and rounds are pretty much the sound in that genre plus the sound guys were having a hard time getting me in the mix when all the other bassists were rolling active basses and rounds. So after some research and the usual flawless service from BassStringsOnline, a new set of DR Nickel Lo-Riders showed up at my door and we were on our way.
The first thing I noticed about the Lo-Riders was that even though they are definitely rounds, they feel good under my fingers. I was concerned about that since I had gotten used to my broken-in Pressurewounds on top of which I don't play nearly as much as I used to so my finger pads have gotten pretty soft. I was also really happy to not be fighting a lot of string noise. They are very nicely balanced string to string, intonate extremely well, and even though they are little light for my taste (.45 to .105 for mediums) they put out good output, even the skinny G string.
The other thing I really like about them is that they are the first string that really seems to "work" with my bass. For whatever reason my bass absolutely sings in the mid registers (A and D strings 7th through 12th fret) but the tradeoff has always been this clanky attack with pretty much every string I've ever used (even flats with the tone rolled off still threw off a "tick"). I play fingerstyle with a light touch so I've never known how to tame the sharp attack the bass seems to put out just on its own and the combination of clank/thump with not enough meat in the middle just wasn't doing it for me at all. To the point I considered yanking off the original neck and putting on one with a rosewood board but could never bring myself to do it. Well with the Lo-Riders the definition is just THERE, without the tick or clank. You can hear each note and they reward precise playing but the attack doesn't overtake the fundamental which has always been a thing on my particular bass. Result, sound guy isn't rolling off all the highs and causing my bass to go into the mud in the P.A.
I went back and forth for a long time between these and Sunbeams and I may give the Sunbeams a try still at some point but it would take a lot to make me any happier than I am with what I'm rolling now. Full disclosure, NOT an endorser in fact I'm not even getting paid to play music at all right now; just a guy who's really happy to have finally found what seems to have been the missing link in my sonic equation.
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