4 Years For Chromes?

[Michael Jewels]

Over on the double bass side of this forum, you will read posts of players that talk about their Thomastik-Infeld Spirocores are not even settled in after ten or more years.

Wow, I almost can’t imagine that, iiipopes.

Mike

 

[Michael Jewels]

My Jack Casady bass.

 

[Pilgrim]

Hello, all.

Today, I was all set to put a set of Ernie Ball Slinkys on my Jack Casady bass, which currently has a set of D'Addario Chromes on it, but as I took it out of the case to give the Chromes a farewell practice, I was truly surprised; I finally liked the sound and the feel.

These strings have been on my Jackbass 4 years as of the December just passed.

I always "kind of" liked their tone, but I never completely fell in love with them until today.

Has this happened to anyone else? Have you had a set of strings on a bass, any strings, for years before you warmed up to them?

And now that I finally like these strings, I have to take my Jackbass in for repair; the 3 way switch is acting up, so I'll have it set up too.

I know I can leave the Chromes on, but I'm very tempted to put Tomastik Infield strings on it. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

So has anyone else taken years to warm up to a set of strings?

Mike

My oldest sets of Chromes were installed about 2020. I have them both on an electric holllowbody and an acoustic/electric. Both sound great! Shortly after that I found Labella Deep Talkin' flats (light gauge) and I have used them since then without changing any of them. Most of the strings on my basses are more than 10 years old and I find them to sound very pleasing, so I don't change them.

I keep saying I'll only change strings if one breaks, but I've never had a string break after installation. The one break I have experienced was when I tried to load 34" strings onto a short scale bass and the E broke at the tuner during installation. I wasn't surprised, as that large diameter E string was clearly not designed to have the speaking portion of the string wound around the tuner. I replaced the set with short scale strings and the problem was eliminated.

 

[Jeff Scott]

...I am tempted to put TIs on my bass.

Besides the Chromes on the Guild I have TI JFs on two basses; one of the Ricks and one of the Martin Keiths. I started using the TIs in the mid '00s when I put a set on the AV '62 Jazz Bass I had at that time.

 

[MrAB4003]

Hello, all.

Today, I was all set to put a set of Ernie Ball Slinkys on my Jack Casady bass, which currently has a set of D'Addario Chromes on it, but as I took it out of the case to give the Chromes a farewell practice, I was truly surprised; I finally liked the sound and the feel.

These strings have been on my Jackbass 4 years as of the December just passed.

I always "kind of" liked their tone, but I never completely fell in love with them until today.

Has this happened to anyone else? Have you had a set of strings on a bass, any strings, for years before you warmed up to them?

And now that I finally like these strings, I have to take my Jackbass in for repair; the 3 way switch is acting up, so I'll have it set up too.

I know I can leave the Chromes on, but I'm very tempted to put Tomastik Infield strings on it. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

So has anyone else taken years to warm up to a set of strings?

Mike

Chromes are interesting strings. They tend to sound brighter when you first put them on your bass. But then they mellow out after 6 months. Unlike Rotosound 77s, Chromes tend to age nicely - like a fine bottle of whiskey.

I have a set of Chromes on one of my Rickenbacker 4003s and it has been on my bass for about a year and a half. They respond well to my 4003's tone knobs. They can become bright when the tone knobs are turned up and more mellow when they're turned down.

 

[iiipopes]

Wow, I almost can’t imagine that, iiipopes.

Mike

It gets better. I have read posts where a player brags about 20 years on a set of Spiros. I encourage you to peruse the DB side of the forum.

 

[Jeff Scott]

Five year old Chromes on my old 4001V63.

 

[bass.slinger]

As someone who regularly changes out Rotosound Swing Bass or DR Lo-Rider SS strings after a month, I am going to need therapy from reading this thread…

 

[lowendrachel]

I just took my Chromes off my Stingray last week and replaced it with TIs. I like the TIs better..

 

[blacktocomm]

The Chromes on my EB3 have to be close to 15 years old. I couldn’t imagine that bass with any other strings.

 

[Michael Jewels]

It gets better. I have read posts where a player brags about 20 years on a set of Spiros. I encourage you to peruse the DB side of the forum.

I think I might do that, iiipopes!

Mike

 

[lowfreqgeek]

I have around a decade of continuous use on one set of Chromes, spread across 2 P-basses. I have nearly the same (or longer) for a set of TI's spread across 2 different basses, and this Spring will be 10yrs on my TI Spiros on my upright. Those really could probably be changed, and I have another set ready to go when I do, but I'm lazy.

 

[Mastermold]

I had the same issue with Chromes. When I bought a P bass, I had the shop put on flats and do a proper setup, and there was a certain global pandemic issue at that time, which is why they had no LaBella strings available, so Chromes were not my first choice. I did not particularly like them, but since this P bass has the truss rod screw on the heel of the neck and I loathed having to remove the neck screws, so I let them on for the time being.
I cannot pinpoint the exact moment, but at some point, which was more than a year in, I started really liking them.

I’ve always liked Chromes on a P-bass. This ‘64 has had the same set since I think 2015:

 

[Pocket Dave]

2 year old Chromes on my fretless Jazz:

 

[Moredator]

I have chromes that are +5 years old. Just recently swapped them for stainless steel rounds, which I currently like more (they are harley benton branded, but I suspect they are d'addario EPS). They don't amplify finger noise as much as regular rounds and sound cool, like a piano or so. Happy medium.
The chromes were extremely dead sounding, kind of tired of that sound. At least on my humbucker bass. Maybe I should check how they sound with single coils. I do love their attack/decay combined with a compressor though.

 

[Nuisance]

When I used Chromes I had to rub a little hand lotion on them (when new) to tame them down. It's crazy......they are annoyingly bright until broken in.

 

[CrimsonGhost]

I have a set of chromes on for like 7 years, it really takes ages for them to go fully dead. However I loved the brightness and response from them. they always have a bit of spark to them. but more than anything. some flats "Feel" and bounce when digging in and chromes seem to keep that going for a long time.

 

[Michael Jewels]

You know, from all the stories here about how long people have had a set of Chromes on their instruments, it makes me wonder how D'Addario
makes any money on Chromes.

These strings must have a very low rate of repeat buyers.

Think about it.