D'Addario Chromes...first impressions

[Sundogue]

I'm a long time roundwound player that has switched permanently to Flats. I've been digging my TI Jazz Flats a lot lately for their deep fundamental tone and brightness (for a flat). However, they did feel a tad bit on the floppy side, though their tone made me want to just deal with it. But I play a 5 string and I only had the 4 string set of TI's (using a roundwound low B). The TI's are around three years old and have been on and off numerous basses until they stayed on my current bass (Washburn XB125 5 string, with active electronics, soapbar pickups...34" scale).

I had been looking for some flatwounds that retain their characteristic tight low end, yet provide a bit of that 'clanky' brightness. After reading many reviews I went ahead and bought a 5 string set of Chromes ($41 at juststrings.com). They arrived yesterday morning and I've been playing on them all day and night (being self-employed is a wonderful thing. ). After stringing up my bass, I could tell they had higher tension as the neck started bowing up and so the strings were quite a bit higher off the fretboard than they were with the TI's. These are the Regular Light Gauge Chromes. (.045, .065, .080, .100, .132 low B) This size fits a 34" scale bass perfectly though it's a very tight fit through the bridge hole for the low B)

After a bit of truss rod tweaking and saddle adjustments to get the height right and strings intonated, the strings are right where I want them (1/8" at 12th fret). I don't play with super close action. I play hard and I like some room between the fretboard and strings. When strings are too close to pickups or the fretboard, notes sound less full and deep and tend to be more trebly and a bit choked (which is no problem for those who play politely). I am not a polite player. In fact it should be noted that I play mainly classic hard rock. Not the newer death or screamo metal...but hard rockin' songs. Think AC/DC, Def Leppard, Poison, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy, Sammy Hagar, Aerosmith, G'n'R, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi...you get my drift. I play mostly with a pick, though some tunes I play with fingers. We’re a loud band and everything about my playing is about supporting the band with a tight, driving rhythm section. I don’t solo, though I try to put some tasty lines in when it fits the song.

OK, enough about me and the music…onto the strings. The Chromes definitely have a tighter feel to them than the TI's, but they do not feel like they are steel rebar. They are easy enough to play with some vibrato and have some flexibility to them, but they are stiffer than the TI’s. I think most strings are stiffer than TI’s though. The surface feel of the Chromes is very smooth as the name implies. The TI's feel a bit sticky.

The Chromes are quite bright. Acoustically, when I first put them on I had to double check the package to be sure I actually put flats on. They have a very roundwound tone without the ‘zing’ of rounds. Definitely not the duller ‘thud’ of flats. To take my amp settings out of the equation, I played them through my Tascam CD Basstrainer and headphones. But later plugged into my amp and two 115’s, they sounded pretty much the same.

If I had to make some comparisons, I guess the TI’s have a stronger fundamental, with more lo-mids, and extreme highs. The TI’s sound like one used the happy face, scooped EQ. The Chromes have a good fundamental, though not as much as the TI’s and Chromes excel in the mids and upper mids, yet still have a strong enough bottom to them to produce a good fundamental. While the Chromes are bright in the highs, what highs they have just give them some ‘bite’ without being harsh. It’s like the Chromes have a flat EQ sound to them. They have this bright, attacking clank to them. The Chromes are not your daddy’s flats at all.

For those who want that extreme fundamental with a mellow traditional flatwound sound, Chromes are not your string. But if you are a roundwound player going to flats, Chromes would be a perfect string to use. If I had to describe Chromes in one sentence it would be…”Chromes have a piano-like brilliance, if a piano were strung with flats.” They sustain far more than other flats and are as bright as a roundwound, but not in that ‘zingy” way. Chromes sound metallic whereas the TI’s sound more organic. Chromes seem to have a very strong mid presence that I’m sure would cut through any mix, even if you were to scoop the mids in your EQ…it’s that strong.

They certainly have the ability to smack you in the face whether you play down low or go up high. A bass strung with Chromes would never be mistaken for a lower strung guitar like rounds do. But they also will never be mistaken for an upright bass either, as notes played anywhere on the neck are distinct with a fierce, attacking character. They seem to be the perfect string for those who want a more ‘modern flat’ sound. Perfect I guess for a Rock music bass player, because they don’t sound ‘old school’ in any way, but they also don’t sound like wimpy roundwound wanker strings. The Chromes are “in your face” bass strings. As a former roundwound player these strings are simply awesome even when playing alone. Whether they’ll work for me in a live situation I don’t know yet. I may go back to the TI’s.

Stay ‘tuned’. I’ll let you know in a couple weeks how they sound in a live setting with the whole band. And the live gig setting is the whole reason I switched to flats. Flats help me sit more with the drummer, in my own sonic space, instead of competing with the guitars. I think they will work in that regard as they simply have their own character. We shall see how they hold up to the only test that matters…playing out live.

EDIT: I forgot to mention how great the Low B string is. The absolute best low B I've ever played. Very tight, solid and bright. The low B with the Chromes is brighter and tighter than any round I've ever used. It's so good that if I switched back to rounds, I'd leave the Chrome low B on!!!

2nd EDIT: It says on the package from D'Addario, WARM/MELLOW. Are they nuts? What were they smoking when they came up with that description? Warm? Ummm...not at all. Mellow? Yeah, maybe if you've had them on the same bass for the past 30 years, played with deep fried chicken grease on your fingers every time and never wiped them off and cut all your mids and highs and played at a low volume. WARM/MELLOW? That has got to be a joke because they are the total opposite of that.

[snyderz]

Been playing flats exclusively for 8 years now. Osborn stainless for me though.

[Sundogue]

Originally Posted by snyderz

Been playing flats exclusively for 8 years now. Osborn stainless for me though.

How do they compare with the Chromes?

[Joe Smithberger]

Wait till they settle. A lot of the zing will mellow but the strong mids will stay with you.

[JustDavid]

I've GOT to get around to bringing in a bass with Chromes to practice. Never tried it yet through the new tube head.

[Sundogue]

Originally Posted by Joe Smithberger

Wait till they settle. A lot of the zing will mellow but the strong mids will stay with you.

I kind of figured that would happen as they settle, as it does with every string.

Do they still maintain that sustain as well? They seem to be very 'roundwound' in that regard, like notes don't decay as quick as traditional flats do.

[Sundogue]

Originally Posted by JustDavid

I've GOT to get around to bringing in a bass with Chromes to practice. Never tried it yet through the new tube head.

Since switching to flats, I definitely want to get an all tube head. Getting a tube head has been on my mind for quite some time, but switching to flats has only made that GAS for a tube head that much stronger.

[JustDavid]

LOL!! You & I might make an expensive team

[fretlessguy]

A very good post. I think you brought up several good points about the strings, and anyone contemplating a switch to Chromes would be wise to read this. I last had a set of them about ten years ago on my 5 string Carvin, and now I am hankerin' (as we say in the south) to go a second round with them.

FG

[rllefebv]

Originally Posted by Sundogue

Do they still maintain that sustain as well? They seem to be very 'roundwound' in that regard, like notes don't decay as quick as traditional flats do.

They are pretty zingy for the first two weeks or so, but really hit their stride at about the one-month mark... Warm, mellow, with a bit of a drop-off. Maybe not a 'quick' decay, but a peak at the pluck with a hint of after-bloom, (rather like a fine wine )...

In a band setting, they're nearly unbeatable IMO...

-robert

[bassist4dalord]

Chromes are the only flats I've had on my basses... I've owned three sets, and I've had Chromes on a Squier Affinity Jazz V, Affinity P (where they are right now), Fender BG-31, and Ibanez GSR200... I'm planning on buying a set for the Jazz V again... They really are great strings. BTW Nowadays I'm using the Jazz V and Precision in two praise bands at church. They sound excellent!

[Sundogue]

Originally Posted by rllefebv

They are pretty zingy for the first two weeks or so, but really hit their stride at about the one-month mark... Warm, mellow, with a bit of a drop-off. Maybe not a 'quick' decay, but a peak at the pluck with a hint of after-bloom, (rather like a fine wine )...

In a band setting, they're nearly unbeatable IMO...

-robert

Interesting that you'd say the words "warm, mellow..." as that is exactly the words D'Addario uses to describe them on the package.

Right now they are the total opposite (which is what I like about them). I can't imagine them sounding warm or mellow unless they go completely dead. When I think of warm or mellow, I think James Taylor or the Carpenters.

Whereas I'm really more interested in strings that are more AC/DC or Def Leppard. An attacking, clanky yet tight, full low end...which is exactly how I think of them at the moment. I would expect some of the highs to wear off, but not to lose everything tonally.

I don't think I've ever owned any strings (rounds or flats) that morphed from one kind of sound to something completely different later on. Even my one year old Sunbeams and my three year old TI Flats sound pretty much the same as they did about a week after putting them on.

Then again, how one EQ's things can make a difference. I tend to keep my lows and mids flat and my highs slightly boosted, where others may roll off the highs more or cut mids and boost lows. When I relate warm to a bass tone, I imagine lows boosted, highs and mids cut so there is no edge to the sound...'warm' sounding as if sound could be a soft blanket. Mellow just makes me think rubber band sound like a muffled upright.

Of course maybe it's just me also being a writer and using connotations quite liberally. Perhaps Chromes actually are warm and mellow compared to say Rotosound rounds, or even the cold steel of a chainsaw in winter.

[jasper383]

I would love to play a piano strung with flats.

The Chromes will settle down a lot of the next few weeks. They will never fall into the Fender/La Bella Jamerson thump camp, but they will settle down.

[Sundogue]

Originally Posted by jasper383

I would love to play a piano strung with flats.

The Chromes will settle down a lot of the next few weeks. They will never fall into the Fender/La Bella Jamerson thump camp, but they will settle down.

I understand they will settle down. All strings do. I think there are three main stages to a bass strings' life...

NEW > SETTLED > DEAD.

That NEW stage is that super bright, metallic, just-put-on sound we are all familiar with. That stage where the metal is getting it's "metal memory" (for lack of a better term). At first the metal is getting stretched as the string is getting tuned up to pitch. I aid this by gently pulling up on the string, all along it's length and re-tuning...over and over again until it does not need to be re-tuned. I do not pull on it very hard or far...just aiding it in it's stretching it must go through. I also help this "metal memory" by pushing down on it, just as it passes over the bridge saddles and both sides of the nut, because the string is going through a lot having been under no stress to essentially being put on 'the rack".

While still in this new phase the metal is undergoing changes, even while just sitting on the bass. I play the hell out of my strings the first week to aid it in this process. The strings are in this adjustment period for a week to a month (dependent on how often you play it). The metal in the string is basically developing it's "metal memory" (if you think of it in terms of what we call "muscle memory") where it settles into the breaks over the saddles, the nut and it's stretch to pitch. This is the settling in period. This is also where that brand new "sheen" and zing gets lost. But the true overall character of the strings is retained.

The SETTLED period is where the string no longer is going through much change. All strings are in gradual decline at this point (but so gradual as to not even being noticeable any longer). This settled stage is the "playable" phase where whatever initial zing and brightness the metal had when first put on is gone. This stage is where I separate the good strings from the bad ones. Since all new strings settle, I don't really feel the NEW stage is all that important, though a great string should not lose much tonal quality from the NEW to the SETTLED stage, except for that initial zingy sound.

This SETTLED stage should last for a long time. There are some players who only want that new sound and will change their strings before they've even settled. I've been that way back when I had to have that bright, new sound with my roundwounds and I lived life on the road gigging almost daily. I could afford string changes every few days or once a week at least. I only play out from 4 to 8 times a month now and it's important for me to have strings where the sound is as good at the beginning of this stage as it is near the end of it, for as long as possible.

The DEAD stage is obvious. The string has lost it's ability to stay in tune, develops weird overtones, and is completely lifeless where it doesn't sound the same anymore. This of course is due to metal fatigue where the metal has just been stressed too long.

The best strings I've ever come across that had the longest "settled" stage are TI Flats (3 years and counting) and DR Sunbeams (over a year so far). They still sound the same after all this time. Other brands have had as little as a month, to up to half a year at best.

But I have never had a set of strings in 30 years of playing that completely changed their tonal character from NEW to SETTLED. While that newness wears off and that bright sheen of a new string goes away, the string should still have the same tonal characteristic that makes it what it is, only less bright. Which is why I asked how anyone could think that the Chromes go from very a distinct, attacking, clanky, in-your-face sound to "warm and mellow" just by settling.

These Chromes are anything but "warm and mellow". The only way I can imagine them being warm or mellow is if they went dead rather quickly. Some strings do lose more initial zing than others, but with Chromes being so mid and upper-mid heavy I can't see how they can morph from one sound to the opposite of that sound simply by settling.

Perhaps we have different ideas as to what warm and mellow mean. If they truly do get warm and mellow with age, perhaps I'll go back to the TI's at some point because after three years they still sound quite bright, and very much like they did when they first settled.

I will give an updated review in about a week or so and then again in about a month. That will give me a fair appraisal of the Chromes because they will have had time to settle, they will have been played in a band setting and also on a few live gigs. That's where any equipment proves itself anyway. Bedroom bass playing never proves much of anything.

[bassbully]

I use both TI and chromes. The TIs are new to me and i am still trying to understand the tone of them to a degree. Chromes i know and i prefer them about 1-2 months after i have them on. Later Chromes Compaired to TI will sound more like regular flats...more thud and decay of the note.I am recording soon and will take both basses due to not knowing which i will use on certain songs. Chromes are more forgiving to play in string noise or honking that TIs are known for if you dig hard...thats is for sure.

[coolrunner989]

sundogue - you know I just picked up some TI's and am really liking them, but I disagree with you (or at least my memory does) about the difference in tone between Chromes and the TI's. The TI's have alot more upper mids/treble than the Chromes did, and the chromes had more low mids/bass to them, more fundamental I think. I'll probably grab some from juststrings in a few weeks (next paycheck) and double check my memory, but that's what I'm thinking right now.

+1 on the tension difference though - the TI's are at the other end of the spectrum from the Chromes.

Either way, they are great flats - just different strokes IMO. I'll chime in again once I've got some Chromes in hand again.

[Sundogue]

Originally Posted by coolrunner989

sundogue - you know I just picked up some TI's and am really liking them, but I disagree with you (or at least my memory does) about the difference in tone between Chromes and the TI's. The TI's have alot more upper mids/treble than the Chromes did, and the chromes had more low mids/bass to them, more fundamental I think. I'll probably grab some from juststrings in a few weeks (next paycheck) and double check my memory, but that's what I'm thinking right now.

+1 on the tension difference though - the TI's are at the other end of the spectrum from the Chromes.

Either way, they are great flats - just different strokes IMO. I'll chime in again once I've got some Chromes in hand again.

I think the TI's have more highs for sure...very bright, even being much older. I think the Chromes have more mids though. But again, this is just initial impressions on my part as they haven't settled yet, so the Chromes may have more right now, but less later.

I'll be sure to update this in a week and then in a month after a few live gigs.

[Sundogue]

Well, it's been about a week now with the Chromes.

After a week of steady playing (by myself, not with a band yet), the Chromes are settling down a bit.

They still have an edge to them, but I can see how they are starting to develop a "warmness" to them. By 'warm' I don't mean they are sounding "soft" be any means. They just seem to be blending the lows, mids and highs together more.

When I first got them they were very bright and clanky, where they had good lows, but VERY distinct mids whereas the mids overwhelmed the highs and lows. Now the mids are still very present, yet they seem to be in better balance with the lows more.

They do sound like a very full sounding string and EXTREMELY even in tone across all strings. The Low B sounds even in volume and tone with the E...and the D and G strings sound even in tone with the E and A. On nearly every set of strings I've ever played, including the TI's (flats) and Sunbeams (and most other rounds) when I would play on the D and G strings it seemed as if the low end dropped out. Obviously when going to a higher frequency note it won't sound as heavy, but it shouldn't sound thin and weak either. That has been the case on other strings, but the Chromes' D and G strings sound full, so when playing on them the low end is still supported.

That has been a major gripe of mine for a long time. To the point of avoiding playing sometimes on the D and G (G string especially). The Chromes have it covered though. For instance, when doing a run up to an octave, I now can feel ALL the notes throughout instead of it getting progressively weak. Very Cool.

The Chromes still have bite, but instead of being harsh like a slicing shark bite...it's more solid, like a Pit Bull grabbing on and not letting go.

So far the Chromes are tight, distinct and very even in tone and output throughout all strings and notes. Not extremely "thumpy", but with more fundamental than any roundwound. The real proof is still in playing with the whole band, but given my experience with playing different strings both alone and with the band, I can assume these will allow my bass to be distinct, yet very much locked in with the drummer, thus keeping my bass in it's own sonic space and avoiding the conflict with the guitars.

[edbutler3]

Originally Posted by Sundogue

<snip>...and the D and G strings sound even in tone with the E and A. On nearly every set of strings I've ever played, including the TI's (flats) and Sunbeams (and most other rounds) when I would play on the D and G strings it seemed as if the low end dropped out. Obviously when going to a higher frequency note it won't sound as heavy, but it shouldn't sound thin and weak either. That has been the case on other strings, but the Chromes' D and G strings sound full, so when playing on them the low end is still supported.

That has been a major gripe of mine for a long time. To the point of avoiding playing sometimes on the D and G (G string especially). The Chromes have it covered though. For instance, when doing a run up to an octave, I now can feel ALL the notes throughout instead of it getting progressively weak. Very Cool.
</snip>

That's just what I've been looking for. I've been using the TI JFs on one of my basses, and I was a little disappointed that the higher notes didn't have as much low end "heft" as I was hoping. I think I'll give the Chromes a try. The extra string tension will be good for me too since I tend to dig in a little too hard for the TIs.

[guitardefector]

Originally Posted by Sundogue

Well, it's been about a week now with the Chromes.

After a week of steady playing (by myself, not with a band yet), the Chromes are settling down a bit.

They still have an edge to them, but I can see how they are starting to develop a "warmness" to them. By 'warm' I don't mean they are sounding "soft" be any means. They just seem to be blending the lows, mids and highs together more.

When I first got them they were very bright and clanky, where they had good lows, but VERY distinct mids whereas the mids overwhelmed the highs and lows. Now the mids are still very present, yet they seem to be in better balance with the lows more.

They do sound like a very full sounding string and EXTREMELY even in tone across all strings. The Low B sounds even in volume and tone with the E...and the D and G strings sound even in tone with the E and A. On nearly every set of strings I've ever played, including the TI's (flats) and Sunbeams (and most other rounds) when I would play on the D and G strings it seemed as if the low end dropped out. Obviously when going to a higher frequency note it won't sound as heavy, but it shouldn't sound thin and weak either. That has been the case on other strings, but the Chromes' D and G strings sound full, so when playing on them the low end is still supported.

That has been a major gripe of mine for a long time. To the point of avoiding playing sometimes on the D and G (G string especially). The Chromes have it covered though. For instance, when doing a run up to an octave, I now can feel ALL the notes throughout instead of it getting progressively weak. Very Cool.

The Chromes still have bite, but instead of being harsh like a slicing shark bite...it's more solid, like a Pit Bull grabbing on and not letting go.

So far the Chromes are tight, distinct and very even in tone and output throughout all strings and notes. Not extremely "thumpy", but with more fundamental than any roundwound. The real proof is still in playing with the whole band, but given my experience with playing different strings both alone and with the band, I can assume these will allow my bass to be distinct, yet very much locked in with the drummer, thus keeping my bass in it's own sonic space and avoiding the conflict with the guitars.

Great thread Sundogue. My only question: where do you find ALL this time to answer "flat" questions, play in a band and sleep? Just curious?