I've heard the 40 can take forever to lose the zing. That's why I wanted to start with the others as zingy as possible (azap).
How long have your Chromes been on your bass?
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D'Addario Chromes User Group- Chromeys Speak Out!
- Thread starter Rip Topaz
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How long have your Chromes been on your bass?
Here's my experience with the two ECB84 sets I have used in the past...
The first set went on my old MIM P bass in 2008 and stayed on there for about 3 years. My son played this bass for the high school jazz band for 3 years and sounded GREAT...until the day I sold it. (a big mistake!)
The second set was on my 2008 Highway One J bass (purchased in 2009) for 4 years. The 100E eventually went all thuddy while the 40G stayed annoyingly bright the whole time. I ended up switching to the Fender 9050L (45-60-80-100), which seems to be a better match for my J.
So, go figure...
As anyone using a .100 E and a .130 B (or a .105 and a .135) would tell you, nothing dramatically weird in a .030 jump between adjacent strings - I'm using a .075 and a .106 and, besides being well balanced tone-wise, they feel like your average A and E.
Did the second set sound similar to mine?
As of now, I'm quite happy with the G string, it's not noticeably brighter than the A and D. I just hope they will all catch up with the E string eventually. Each of them is a bit broken in by now, anyway. Not nearly as bright as when I first mounted them at the beginning of June.
Ah yes, this is where I heard that! Judging from your responses, I'm glad I went with the 95 instead of the 100. Seems like it is holding up pretty well after about a month and 3 sweaty outdoor gigs on it. The 95-40BT set has transformed my PJ into #1 bass for me.
I've got an old set of 45-100 that have a too dead E string like you're talking about.
FYI, the ECB80 set is only one 55 D string away from being a balanced tension set, according to the older D'Addario chart.
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quick question about Chromes, gauge and scale.
I typically play a "medium light' gauge roundwounds (DR Sunbeams), 45-105, on my 34" scale jazz basses.
Just picked up a Fender CIJ '51 P reissue and I'd like to put Chromes on it. It came with an old set (no idea how old) of DR Legend flats and while they are very thumpy, they are just too inarticulate/dull for me.
So, I have used Chromes a few times in the past, and liked them fine for a "flatwound but still lively" tone. When I went to order some, I saw that D'addario lists a Medium scale (up to 34") and a Long scale (up to 36"). I don't usually think of my 34" Jazz basses as "medium scale", so I am a little confused.
The D'addario's Medium scale also only seem to come in a "light gauge" 45-100.
What I would really like is a Medium gauge (45-105) that fit a 34" scale neck. Would I be best off just ordering the 50-105 ECB82's and just trimming them up (they list as for "up to 36" scale), or do I compromise the other way and go for the ECB81's and deal with the 45-100 gague, and assume my bass is really a "medium scale" at 34" ?
questions questions questions ......
I typically play a "medium light' gauge roundwounds (DR Sunbeams), 45-105, on my 34" scale jazz basses.
Just picked up a Fender CIJ '51 P reissue and I'd like to put Chromes on it. It came with an old set (no idea how old) of DR Legend flats and while they are very thumpy, they are just too inarticulate/dull for me.
So, I have used Chromes a few times in the past, and liked them fine for a "flatwound but still lively" tone. When I went to order some, I saw that D'addario lists a Medium scale (up to 34") and a Long scale (up to 36"). I don't usually think of my 34" Jazz basses as "medium scale", so I am a little confused.
The D'addario's Medium scale also only seem to come in a "light gauge" 45-100.
What I would really like is a Medium gauge (45-105) that fit a 34" scale neck. Would I be best off just ordering the 50-105 ECB82's and just trimming them up (they list as for "up to 36" scale), or do I compromise the other way and go for the ECB81's and deal with the 45-100 gague, and assume my bass is really a "medium scale" at 34" ?
questions questions questions ......
No! If your bass has a scale of 34", you NEED the d'Addario long scale strings. They list something they call "String Scale", and that is the length from the ball end to where the cloth starts. Before I knew this, I ordered a medium length set, and it did not fit my 34" scale bass. d'Addario rule of thumb: Short scale = up to 30" scale length on bass. Medium scale = up to 32" scale length on bass. Long scale = up to 34" scale length on bass.
thanks for the reply Shardik, the D'addario scale/length issue is confusing to say the least.
Here is what D'addario says about the Long Scale
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"Fits long scale basses with a string scale length of up to 36 1/4 inches"
Here is what they say about Medium Scale
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"Fits medium scale basses with a string scale length of up to 34 inches"
So, not quite what you said above.
And my Lull is definitely a 34" scale bass, which I have always considered to be pretty standard for a 4 string (and not a medium scale bass).
Ultimately, I went back in my Amazon buying history (pretty handy feature) and realized that when I bought Chromes in the past, I went with the Long Scale, 50-105 gauge.
I should have them today and will give them a spin on the new bass.
I expect they will work great on the '51 P, with a bit more presence than the DA Legends that were on it.
It's almost exactly what I said above. d'Addario is stubbornly holding on to the "string scale" length term, which is NOT the same as the scale length of your fretboard.
Yup, it is confusing. What's certain is that a "string scale" length of 34" will be too short for a 34" scale bass.
Well...mine are finally starting the march toward Deadsville, and the E string is leading the charge. They're still quite lively but now that they're audibly dulling a bit, there's a bigger spread in brightness from G to E.So, my chromes are like almost 3 months old, and I was wondering if it's normal for the E string to be temporarily deader than the rest.
I'm not talking about output or sustain, they are just fine. It's just that the zing on the E string is almost totally gone and the rest of the set still maintains a bit of brightness.
I hope it will all even out with time.
Will post an audio sample later
For the first time I'm really digging the sound of them 'new' as opposed to the wonderful 'broken in' sound. How about wiping them down with alcohol, is that a sure-fire method to make them sound relatively brighter? Any downside to that? Has anyone tried 'selective wiping' like maybe just wiping the E string to bring it closer to the rest?
These super-light Chromes seem to be filling the role, for me, of being the 'missing link' between flats and rounds. They are SO versatile in combination with the PJ pickup setup. With the P soloed it's quite vintagey, but dial in some J and it gets modern sounding quickly!
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On my Sterling Ray34 the Chromes were initially so bright that I had to dial down the treble half way. But now, after about 3 months they start to get perfect for the Ray. 
Just I'd share my little love/hate/love story with chromes. Bought a used fretless many moons ago with old dead chromes on them. Hated them, put them on my acoustic fretless and magic! Bought a new set for that acoustic and loved them. I took them off when I sold that acoustic and tried then on my Warwick fretless for awhile, very meh. I've been exclusively fretless for years and broken in rounds seem to be the only thing I like on that bass. I recently bought a sister for Warwick that is the same bass but fretted. Bass is too bright and not enough low and mid punch. Tried a new set of (40-95) chromes and holy cow are they perfect! So apparently chromes work better for me on fretted over fretless.
So my first set of flats was a set of standard chromes I loved them they gave me the sound I heard in my head, I then replaced that set for a balanced tension set from Bass strings online, and I loved them more now they felt right and sounded right, I got a new hollow body, went to order my set of chromes and they're it of stock, instead I got a set of labella jamerson flats and those sounded good on the hollow body and had good note definition, swapped the strings on the hollow body to labella copper tapes for a more acoustic vibe and moved the jamerson flats to my PJ I loved the feel of them but the tone was just meh left them on to see if I liked them last week I got a new set of chromes and it was like coming home
ok, we're good thanks. Its their use of a string scale as opposed to a neck scale that threw me.
but, I did order the right length and that's what matters.
Its too bad that they do not make a more std 45-105 gauge set for the "long scale" vs the 50-105. Minor difference, but still .....
I should have my order today and will get them on the '51 P reissue.
honestly I don't find it confusing. D'addario is measuring the actual length of the string, scale length doesn't tell you much about how long a string needs to be, depending on top load vs string through or separate bridge and tail piece it could be 2 inches difference.
I'm in. ECB81s on my Fender PBass, my Fender Jbass, and my practice bass (Cort PJ).
Love the sound and the feeling.
Love the sound and the feeling.
I partly agree with that, but the fact is that almost every bassist knows their neck scale length, but very few know the actual string length needed. d'Addario could at least provide a hint that their "String Scale length" is different from the neck scale length of your bass.
scotch
It's not rocket science!
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This may help. The section at the end gives a way to measure ball end-to nut length to choose the best D'Addario scale length: (pdf attached)
I know that and you know that. Personally I had to get the experience by buying a Medium set for my 34" bass before I understood the complexity. And for the random buyer of bass string sets, it shouldn't be necessary to search the internet for a pdf by default, just to get the correct string length for your bass. IMHO, of course.
Besides I think their table is wrong. I challende everyone to come up with a production bass with 34" neck scale that manage to fit a d'Addario Medium set.
