| I have two P basses. One has Chromes, the other has La Bella 760FS flats. The Chromes are less tension, brighter, more rock to my ears, but with the right fiddling of the tone control and EQ on the amp it can get a 'decent' old-school thump, but not ideal if you really want the 'thump', but still a very versatile string for sure.
The La Bellas are much higher tension (whether you like this or not is purely personal preference, and I happen to be liking it a lot!). For old school 'thump' this is where it's at, in my opinion! Even with the bass unplugged this strings give a very upright-like sound. I was shocked too that if I play these strings with a thinner pick (a thick pick with give you a more muted sound) and change your EQ they will give a nice tone that would cut through in a rock/heavier rock setting, but these strings are meant for Motown, old-school tone for sure! I dig the higher tension too, because I can really dig in with my fingers or a pick and not ave the strings bottom out or buzz while still keeping the action on the lower end. I love these strings so much I am seriously considering replacing my Chromes with them, but will admit I do like the versatility of the two basses since they sound so different from each other.
I'd say if you like a higher tension string and really want to nail the old-school thump go with La Bellas, if you want a very well rounded string that is more geared toward a modern sound, but is still a flatwound string, and will hold it's own but not excel with old school thump, go for the Chromes!
Last edited by sbpark : 03-17-2013 at 08:50 AM.
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