If you are looking for black strings that hold up, then you don't want these. I installed these right before my band's practice. The photo shows what they looked like after only two hours. And, on this guitar, I have yet to break a high E string, but before the evening practice was over, the high E string snapped! A waste of money.

Terrible product.
Doesn't hold up to advertising.
Poor workmanship and materials.
Coating started to come off during steinging!

I've been using DR string's for years, mostly pure blues. I ordered a set of black beauties for a guitar I building and thought the black strings would be cool on a white strat. I was blown away by the sound I got with these strings, with out doubt the best sounding strings I've ever used. The other big bonus is that they feel so smooth. I'm sold on the DR coated string. Put the red devils on me Charvel model 6 and got the same results. These string are AWESOME.

First off, they look awesome, feel awesome, and sound good .. for about 30 seconds. They just won't stay in tune. I stretched them, stretched them, stretched them, and stretched then some more .. Still have to re-tune every 3 minutes. Then I snapped one of the strings tuning it to standard tuning. Don't waste your time on this gimmick.

Also, for a $16 pack of strings, you would think DR could be a little less like a cheap garbage Chinese company and actually package the strings individually instead of putting them into odd pairs. Weirdest, dumbest way of admitting to your customers that you're just trying to rip them off for as much money as possible. You won't scam me twice DR.

These look killer on any guitar you put them on. I put a set of 9s on an SG and a set of 10s on an ec1000. Instantly I noticed the same exact issue on both guitars after getting the strings stretched and tuned...
The low wound strings were incredibly quiet, and muddy sounding. In certain circumstances I was actually not able to hear my low strings at all.

I gave these an honest shot. I tried two different sizes on two different guitars about 3 weeks apart from eachother. The first time I thought it might just be a fluke and that I should give them another shot. I ended up with the same reault twice. The manufacturer even includes instructions on, "how to avoid dead strings" inside the packaging. It didn't work.

Other things to know:
Strings are packaged strangely. 1st and 4th strings in an envelope, 2nd and 5th in an envelope and lastly, 3rd and 6th am envelope.

Coating wears off quickly. But, just go over it with a sharpie of it bothers you.

Try them for yourself. Just because they didn't work for me doesn't mean you won't like them. If they sounded as good as they look I'd have no problem spending almost 3 times as much on these as the Ernie Ball or Dunlops I usually go with.

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They are a definite change of pace in the looks department, but sound suprisingly excellent.

Installed these on a '72 Fender Custom Tele to try to reign in the hotter custom shop pickups. Past strings on this guitar include: Elixirs 10s & 11s, Dean Markely Helix 10s, Ernie Ball Slinkies.

Tone.. I've found these to do exactly what I wanted them to do, and more. It seems to me that they diminish out the brittle high treble frequencies, almost like a compressor. Each string is articulated and there is no decrease in volume nor sustain.

Feel.. Different! Smooth!! Fast!! Very comfortable on the callouses. No resistance (or squeeks) with sliding on the string. Probably not ideal for a heavy metal pick drag or dropped death tuning. Easier bends and vibrato. These will be a mainstay on this guitar.

Packaged very strangely.... 3 envelopes. One for 6th and 3rd, one for 5th and 2nd, and one for 4th and 1st... Not a big deal but caught me off guard and made me have to think about such a routine task! No discernible difference between "hand wound" vs machine.

Aesthetically, these strings really stand out above the pelham blue body, black pickguard, and maple neck. Lets be honest - there is something magical about a good looking guitar!! My guitar now suffers from its own vanity!

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