DR Veritas Acoustic Strings

Lerxst

spaghetti and blankets
VERITAS™, we believe is a completely new category of long lasting acoustic strings that last up to 4X longer than ordinary acoustic strings, according to Stefan Grossman… a renowned concert artist, educator, and owner of The Guitar Workshop Catalog. Stefan says “I can play 4 concerts with one set of VERITAS™. I used to only play one concert with other strings.” “Love the way they sound,” said Happy Traum, educator, performing artist, owner of The Homespun Music Instruction Catalog.

Accurate Core Technology™ (ACT™) is at the heart of VERITAS™ strings. Superior core wire is recognized as the foundation for rich tone, accuracy of intonation, and durability. Accurate Core Technology™ was designed to reinforce the core wire and fill in imperfections along the length of the core wire. In our opinion, this results in strings with improved pitch retention, and stability.

http://www.drstrings.com/veritas

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Marketing blurb on the pack adds:
-Loud and bright, notes seem to jump off the pick
-Extremely stable, they seem to lock into tune
-Robust and resonant tone, excellent sustain

These are not coated or treated strings in the conventional sense. The improvement in life and tone is supposed to be due to the core wire treatment. The ACT treatment is supposed to 'normalize' and treat the core wire to ensure that it's consistent w/r/t a number of properties, beyond just diameter. Per DR they believe that corrosion & string failure starts from the core wire out to the wrap so the this is how they achieve longer consistent string life without coating the string.

Happened across these strings on sale when my local shop was out of the usual D'A EJ16s that I usually buy. (EJ16s are a great fit for my Larrive OM and they have a really nice balanced tone with great bottom end, decent mids and clear upper range tones. John Pearse PBs are even better but I rarely find them local at a decent price and haven't ordered any off the web in a while). These were on sale for 4 bucks and change, out the door. I've also played DR Sunbeams a couple times in the past but I did not the tone as much as the D'As. This guitar has also seen Elixir Nanos, D'A EXPs, EB Earthwoods & Dunlop PBs. Strung them up this morning using the technique demonstrated in the Martin guitar videos on YT then tuned to pitch, stretched them and re-tuned. They pack them 6-3, 2-5 & 1-4 which while it's not a big deal (and other mfgs do this too) isn't optimal for a typical 3x3 headstock stringing working from the outside in

Initial impressions:
Tone - Fresh out of the pack they are indeed loud & bright with a mid range and upper emphasis compared to the well worn DAs that came off. Tone reminds me somewhat of the DR Dragon Skin coated acoustic strings that I tried a few years ago but with slightly more low end; these sound a little more rounded or full & have nice crisp note definition. This guitar has great resonance & sustain and these strings seem to have a really nice even decay as the notes and chords trail off.
Feel - The wound strings feel a little more edgy than the D'As and I do notice more of the pick, which is probably partly due to more mid range emphasis too. The 3rd and 4th strings can be a little squeaky sliding up and down the fretboard but the 5th and 6th are quiet. Play a little looser than some other 12s & have an already broken-in new string feel to them, if that makes any sense.
Overall - They seem to have settled into pitch with less adjustment needed than most strings. Since I play unaccompanied, at home, I generally like a little fuller sound and don't need volume/projection but these are a nice compromise string.

So I'll update with impressions as the strings break in more.
 
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I have no opinion on the strings, I just want to say that guys name "Happy Traum" sounds like it should be bullshit, if not them I'm not sure what to think. Cool or not???? Hmmm....
 
I have no opinion on the strings, I just want to say that guys name "Happy Traum" sounds like it should be bullshit, if not them I'm not sure what to think. Cool or not???? Hmmm....
Happy Traum is a real person and a first class guitarist - more in the traditional folk americana end of the spectrum.

I saw him perform near the end of the 70's at the Silvercloud Bluegrass Festival near Woodstock with his brother Artie. I think Artie founded Homespun, which sells dvd's and other materials related to teaching guitar and lots of other things.
 
Happy Traum is a real person and a first class guitarist - more in the traditional folk americana end of the spectrum.

I saw him perform near the end of the 70's at the Silvercloud Bluegrass Festival near Woodstock with his brother Artie. I think Artie founded Homespun, which sells dvd's and other materials related to teaching guitar and lots of other things.
Figured he must be real. Traum means dream in German though, so top see that name the first time for me is hilarious.
 
The strings are definitely really stable. Pulled the guitar out of the case earlier this morning and it's still dead-on. I don't think I've touched it since tuning up after stretching the strings.
So far I like these strings w/r/t sound and note definition. Still a bit squeaky so I have to play a little more aware of technique and can't be as lazy with my fretting hand sliding around.

I checked out a couple YT reviews and the guys were pronouncing it a "va-ritas" when it's "ver-a-tas"
 
Still pretty impressed with these strings three months on. We've been going through a really diverse weather cycle and the guitar is almost always spot on when I pull it out of the case. Otherwise, even with plenty of playing time the still feel and sound like the did out of the pack with a touch less initial edge on the attack.
 
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