Nick upson

I'm 12 hours in and love it. Does the StingRay well but with a bit more zing I'd say, similar to you I have 3 StingRay specials to compare to. It also does the Jazz thing and the P thing as well. I'm very impressed so far. Superb recommendation from Bassdirect.

I think for the more premium models yes but from the Bassdirect website it says the following but the pick guard is aluminium and maybe some more bits, not 100% sure. Body Wood: Alder Neck Material: Maple Fingerboard: Graphitex Weight: 7lbs7oz/3.5kg

Had some potential redundancy on the way but turns out all is good so I went and had a look at this DarkRay today (which I had reserved previously) with the idea of trading a Sandberg and a Special. I have to say that I really liked it, looks amazing and is obviously a quality instrument but for the price it didn't blow me away vs the other StingRay specials that I have. I ended up trading my Sandberg for a used Alusonic (never heard of them before but it is something similar but also different) and still have one of my Specials. They had a Gold Bar DarkRay there as well which I have to say looks the absolute nuts. If I see a used Gold Bar or in the unlikely event a used bargain Grapes of Wrath I will likely pick it up. But for £3,600 I wasn't quite enough for me. I'm kind of gutted as I wanted to love it but the good news is I still have my Special and now a new brand to play around with. I very almost picked up another Musicman but with piezo pickups in the bridge but I am happy with the advice given by Bassdirect in relation to going Alusonic. They moved a bass on with £2k less of value than they were expecting to sell and were so cool about it, long term investment from them I think as I will definitely be back. The thing is so light, has a vast array of tones, a slick neck and some sort of graphite in the neck. Amazing instrument. Just researching now and have seen that Cass Lewis plays one, along with Flea and Tim Commerford my three inspirations to play bass. https://www.bassdirect.co.uk/product/alusonic-django-standard-4-special-edition-high-gloss-metallic-purple-pre-owned-2/

Thanks for the feedback. It was due to the love in the forums that I gave them a go. As you say maybe they just don't work for me or this bass. It's just a shame to have to change strings so soon due to the waste of money.

Dramatic title but it's got your attention. Now these strings are not cheap and I have put a set on a StingRay special. I have EB cobalt flats on another Ray and Elixir nickel plated steels on another Ray and they sound amazing. I am really struggling with the DRs as they feel horrible on my fingers and against the fretboard and don't sound brilliant. To the point I don't even want to pick it up and play it. So my question is, should I bite the bullet and get rid or should I give them time to bed in? Will they get better in time? Anyone else had experience with these strings?