I like Chromes but can't use em....

[BornboreD]

About 6 months ago I decided that flats were he way o go o get the tone I wanted. After reading all I could on here I decided upon D'addario Chromes .50 - .105.

I like their tension, and am almost 100% satisfied with their tone, however I am having some pain in the buttocks type issues with them. I find that they're a strange length....

On my MIA Jazz, I have em strung through body in use with a Badass III. When doing so the silk wrapping on the string ends doesn't clear the nut on the E and A strings. I ended up having to cut it away so that the string sat cleanly in the nut grooves. They do however sit fine in the bridge saddles.

On my MIM Jazz, they clear the nut but the silk wrapping ends up coming up onto my E and A string saddles.

Why is this happening, and has anyone else ran into this. I do believe this may be having a negative effect on things...ie, tone, intonation etc.

Can anyone suggest another Flat, with similar tension and sound to the Chromes, that will help avoid these issues??

I've also read numerous posts claiming that Chromes have a little less bottom than the average flat. I wouldn't mind a touch more bottom to be honest, and the availability of a .50 - .110 gauge.

Suggestions or thoughts???

[BornboreD]

Oh, I also forgot to mention that I'm not able to fit my E-string through the hole in the back of the Badass III, forcing me to only have the option of through body stringing....with these particular strings and gauge anyways.

[John Wentzien]

http://www.webstrings.com/flatwound_bass_strings.html


These don't have silk on them at all!
Good price.

[hamertek98]

I think Daddario offers them in extra long scale. They may be too long, though. The silk too long at the saddles seems weird.
I just put med *scale* Daddario strings on a med *scale * bass (32in), and couldn't run them thru the body because the taper wouldn't go past the nut-too short.

[jasper383]

On a MIA string through bass, you'll need D'Addario extra longs.

On the MIM, I wouldn't worry too much about the silk up on the saddles. You can trim silk with scissors/razor blade, won't hurt a thing.

For more lows, try La Bella or Fender. Fenders will fit both basses; the La Bellas will fit the MIM, not sure about the MIA. La Bella makes extra longs, too.

That's a really heavy gauge for flats. The Fenders in that gauge will be much more tense than the D'Addarios. La Bellas about the same.