Review: DR NEON Guitar Strings

I bought my first set of NEONs around the time they came out. The viral pictures and videos floating around the Internet certainly made them look cool enough, and DR strings have a good reputation for making decent guitar strings (though at the time, that didn't have anything to do with my purchase; I mean, what axe-slinger passes up the opportunity to buy glowing guitar strings?) I decided to try them out on one electric guitar I was recently given that hadn't been used in an extremely long time. It had actually been so long that each string was covered in a thick layer of grime and dirt. After removing the old strings and giving the neck a nice rub-down, it almost looked good as new. Now it was time to start stringing.

I'll be honest with you: coated strings are not my area of expertise. In fact, this was the first time I'd ever actually owned my own set of coated strings. I figured the "normal" ones I'd been using for years worked and sounded perfectly fine. Why pay extra money for something I didn't need? While my opinion on coated strings has since changed, it was no thanks to DR NEONs.

Despite their cool appearance on the DR website, these strings (to be frank) kinda suck. They feel like plastic and are very weak; after attempting to tune my guitar into drop C and re-tuning it to standard, both the first and third strings snapped. Don't get me wrong, these strings are really cool-looking from the moment you pull them out of their package. However, it really doesn't take much force for the coating to rip off. You must be extremely careful pulling each string through the bridge of your guitar to avoid damage, but then, playing for even a few hours will create noticeable cracks in the coating. Another thing: the glow is really only noticeable if you have the guitar under direct UV lighting, and even then strings 1-3 are kinda hard to see due to their size (that said, bass NEONs will probably look much nicer).

All of this in mind, I think NEONs are really meant (and might actually work great) for onstage performance, rather than practice. They may not feel nice or work perfectly, but the visual appeal makes up for it. Play these bad boys in front of friends or fans and you'll definitely get people talking!

Get your own set of NEONs for $11.05 at Amazon.com!