D'Addario Chromes Medium

Here are the facts...

The medium-gauge Chromes have a total tension of 224.1 lbs.
The medium-gauge GHS Precision Flats have a total tension of 184.6 lbs.

I can't tell you whether your Squier (not Squire) can handle 224.1 lbs. of pulling weight or not.

 

Most medium-gauge (45-65-85-105) rounds have a tension of 170-185 lbs. The Chromes Flats are notorious for their higher-than-average tension (= pulling weight) as well as stiffness. Not saying your Squier won't be able to take it. All I'm saying is proceed with caution.

 

Might depend on the age/condition of the bass/neck ... if it is fairly new without a lot of truss rod adjustments made, I would say go for it ... I am thinking the newer Affinity PJ's actually use a P spec neck, so it would likely be a bit stouter than a J neck ... I have used 45-100 Chromes on pretty much all of the Squiers I have had at some point or another with no problem ... just make sure you use the correct size allen wrench on the truss rod if needed, they can be pretty soft and strip easily if you don't .... it will also help if you keep your saddles and the string action as low as possible, the higher the saddles/strings, the more 'forward' pull on the neck ...

Edit to add: .. just a personal thing for me (I know you will see lot of folks say you don't need to), but I always loosen the strings before tightening a truss rod, and manipulate the bass and neck between my feet and knee, moving the neck into the position desired, and then just using the truss rod to hold it rather than trying to tighten/move the neck against the string tension ... probably even more important on a lower quality bass ...

 

Not really ... I used a heavy set of Labella DTF's with a 110 E on a Squier Classic Vibe Jazz neck, and that neck is pretty slim ... put the strings on, and don't tune to pitch ... maybe drop tune to D or Eb and see what it looks like ... do you know what shape your truss rod is in? ... I prefer 45-100 Chromes over the 105 set, but that is just me, and I am not sure you are going to notice a significant difference ... don't cut the Chromes you have, if you find you want a lighter gauge, there are always people looking for good used flats ....

 

I am not sure what size wrench for your truss rod on the Affinity PJ, maybe somebody on here can help you with that ... I know the Squier Standards and the Vintage Mod series used the 4mm, and the Classic Vibe used the 5mm, just make sure it is the correct one before cranking ...

 

If you’re near a store they’ll usually have a box of wrenches they can go through to get the correct size for you. I also do what Tjh does, that is manually pulling the neck back and then tightening the rod. That way you’re easing the amount of work that the rod has to initially do.

 

The only thing I have found with Squiers is I have to keep checking the action because the truss rod doesn't stay in place very long. I put medium gauge chromes on mine and they were fine.

 

I've got the Chromes on my Fender American professional precision 5-string.

They sound amazing and they feel amazing and the low B is really tight and punchy.

The main reason I'm using them is because the roundwounds gave me fret buzz, and I didn't want to take the neck off to adjust it. The Chrome's have so much tension that they put a little bit of bow in the neck and I have great action and no fret buzz at all now.

 

Always reading about flats on this site. So I put Fender flats on one of my Squier Jazz beaters, from a setup standpoint it was really not an issue. The bass can handle it easily. Did tighten the truss rod a little bit. It’s stable, have not had to adjust since putting them on initially. I’m a rounds player and the tension increase is very noticeable, substantial and not pleasant. The tone is worth the hassle, though. Not something I’ll use all the time but nice to bust out every now and then.

 

Chromes are not known for having higher tension. They're considered to be stiffer than average. Stiffness and tension are two different things. Their tension won't be higher than other flats with the same gauges.

 

I had 45-100 chrome flats on a fretless jazz bass for a long time with no issues. Had then on fender P for a while until yesterday. Cut the A string too short and got the typical MIM fender break angle buzz. Restrung with fender SS flats just to try a new flavor.

 

+1 on tweaking the neck by hand and loosening strings when adjusting a rod. Unless I'm loosening it.