“I never thought I would like coated strings, but these are silky, easy to play, and lasted 9 shows”: Jared James Nichols and Henrik Linder have a new favorite set of strings – and they're designed to “get more from your guitar”
DR's Dragon Skin+ strings feature an innovative coating design that aims to get strings vibrating to their full potential – so much so that Henrik Linder thinks they “will change the way I play music”
DR Strings has launched its new Dragon Skin+ range of strings, covering electric and acoustic guitars, as well as bass, multi-scale bass, and mandolins.
Their design centers on getting “more from your guitar”, with DR’s patented Accurate Core Technology and K3 Coating sitting at its heart – and they’ve already got some big admirers.
Dirty Loops bassist Henrik Linder has called them “the best strings I’ve ever tried” and believes they “will change the way I play music.”
Jared James Nichols, meanwhile, was suitably impressed by their longevity: “These are next level,” he says. “I never thought I would like coated strings, but these are silky, easy to play, and lasted nine shows!”
Hyperbole aside, what makes these coated strings all the (dragon) rage?
Well, DR says that “ tone starts at the core wire,” and so has primed each string with “micro-thin” coating to maximize resonance, with the locking grooves on the wrap wire helping “achieve superior tone, projection, and tuning stability”.
This combination allows each string to “vibrate to its full potential with better projection,” which feels quite poetic.
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The string’s wrap wire is coated before being, er, wrapped around the core wire, allowing the strings to ring out naturally, compared to when the coating is applied post-winding.
The acoustic strings are available as Extra-Light 10-48, Custom-Light 11-50, Light 12-54, and Medium 13-56 sets and have a “bright and bell-like tone”. There are versions coated in bronze and phosphor bronze.
For electrics, players can choose from quantum-nickel strings ranging from Light 09-42 sets through to Heavy 11-80 eight-string sets.
There are quantum nickel and stainless steel bass strings available, covering a range of gauges, from Light 40-100 through to Medium Multi-Scale-6-String 30-125 sets.
All the sets are available to order.
Head to DR Strings for more information.
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A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.
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