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D'Addario Chromes User Group- Chromeys Speak Out!

#701
I put a custom light set of Chromes on my main Warmoth fretless yesterday, and I'm really enjoying them. I ordered singles via Strings By Mail. The gauges are 40, 55, 70, 95. My last try with Chromes was the ECB80 set (40, 60, 75, 95). I had some concerns the 60 D would feel tight, but I was hoping to just stick to standard sets rather than custom ordering. In the end, I found both the D and A a bit tighter than I liked. Ordering the singles via SBM turned out to be quick and easy--I should have just done that in the first place. It's early yet, but so far I am very happy with the result.
 
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#703
I'll just leave this here...

Yam-Head.jpg
 
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#706
thisheregiraffe said:
I put a custom light set of Chromes on my main Warmoth fretless yesterday, and I'm really enjoying them. I ordered singles via Strings By Mail. The gauges are 40, 55, 70, 95. My last try with Chromes was the ECB80 set (40, 60, 75, 95). I had some concerns the 60 D would feel tight, but I was hoping to just stick to standard sets rather than custom ordering. In the end, I found both the D and A a bit tighter than I liked. Ordering the singles via SBM turned out to be quick and easy--I should have just done that in the first place. It's early yet, but so far I am very happy with the result.
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Keep us posted please as I very much want to try that as well...I like the ECB80 set alot but was curious as well about the 55 and the 70....:thumbsup:
 
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#708
It’s been about a month since I installed the chromes on my p-bass and they seem to have settled in nicely. They’ve not lost much in the way of treble yet. The topmost frequencies seem to have rolled of a bit, but the hi mid/low treble seems to be sticking around with theses. They have a wonderful clarity even with the tone knob rolled off while maintaining a solid fundamental.

I really like the feel of these strings, they’re firm but I wouldn’t call them stiff. And the outer wrap is smooth, (maybe not labella smooth, which is what I normally play). They were comfortable enough on my 3 hour set Friday night, I didn’t have any hand fatigue to speak of.

I was planning on eventually getting a set of Dunlop flats, but I’m finding that I just don’t want to take these off.
 
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#709
Steve Fox said:
It’s been about a month since I installed the chromes on my p-bass and they seem to have settled in nicely. They’ve not lost much in the way of treble yet. The topmost frequencies seem to have rolled of a bit, but the hi mid/low treble seems to be sticking around with theses. They have a wonderful clarity even with the tone knob rolled off while maintaining a solid fundamental.

I really like the feel of these strings, they’re firm but I wouldn’t call them stiff. And the outer wrap is smooth, (maybe not labella smooth, which is what I normally play). They were comfortable enough on my 3 hour set Friday night, I didn’t have any hand fatigue to speak of.

I was planning on eventually getting a set of Dunlop flats, but I’m finding that I just don’t want to take these off.
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You'll find that the Dunlops are a little less stiff. Maybe a tiny bit smoother with a more "finished" appearance. If you're digging the Chromes, the grass may not be much greener with other brands.

Flats used to be somewhat affordable prior to COVID. Now, most of the popular brands are around $50 a set, which sort of discourages the experimentation that I and other players have done.
 
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#710
cxcxcx said:
You'll find that the Dunlops are a little less stiff. Maybe a tiny bit smoother with a more "finished" appearance. If you're digging the Chromes, the grass may not be much greener with other brands.

Flats used to be somewhat affordable prior to COVID. Now, most of the popular brands are around $50 a set, which sort of discourages the experimentation that I and other players have done.
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I may grab a set eventually, I have a Jazz bass that I’d like to put flats on. How do they compare tone wise to the Chromes?
 
#711
Steve Fox said:
View attachment 4794542
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Steve Fox said:
It’s been about a month since I installed the chromes on my p-bass and they seem to have settled in nicely. They’ve not lost much in the way of treble yet. The topmost frequencies seem to have rolled of a bit, but the hi mid/low treble seems to be sticking around with theses. They have a wonderful clarity even with the tone knob rolled off while maintaining a solid fundamental.

I really like the feel of these strings, they’re firm but I wouldn’t call them stiff. And the outer wrap is smooth, (maybe not labella smooth, which is what I normally play). They were comfortable enough on my 3 hour set Friday night, I didn’t have any hand fatigue to speak of.

I was planning on eventually getting a set of Dunlop flats, but I’m finding that I just don’t want to take these off.
Click to expand...
I find the Chromes lose some of their high end quickly and then the rate slows down and they'll slowly lose more of it until they finally stabilize and just sound GOOOOOOD. And then they hold that tone for a long time. The set on my Stingray 5HH are about 2.5 years old and the set on my L-2500 are about 1.5 years old and they sound fantastic on both basses. Come to think of it, I also put a set on my short scale Ibanez semihollow earlier this year, too. :D. I've been tempted to shake things up and put a set of DR nickel Lo Riders (my favorite overall strings) on my Stingray, but the Chromes are so nicely broken in now that I'm hesitant to change them. I'll be curious to hear what you think of them over time if you keep them for a year or more.

I agree about the feel, too. They are a stiffer string and I know some people don't like that. But I tend to pluck pretty hard so the stiffer feel works well for me.

My apologies for the derail, but I see you have a pair of Hartke cabs. I have a pair of the HD210s, which I like a lot. They don't go as deep as my Barefaced cabs, but I don't think that was their intent. They seem designed for a tighter low end that still sounds full but without extreme lows that can get boomy. I haven't tried them on a gig yet, but we have a show in a pretty small bar coming up and I think they might work well in that kind of environment (and, actually, I think one cab might even be enough). Looking forward to trying them out.

How do you like yours? How does the HD410 compare? Is that one a 4 ohm cab?
 
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#712
dave64o said:
I find the Chromes lose some of their high end quickly and then the rate slows down and they'll slowly lose more of it until they finally stabilize and just sound GOOOOOOD. And then they hold that tone for a long time. The set on my Stingray 5HH are about 2.5 years old and the set on my L-2500 are about 1.5 years old and they sound fantastic on both basses. Come to think of it, I also put a set on my short scale Ibanez semihollow earlier this year, too. :D. I've been tempted to shake things up and put a set of DR nickel Lo Riders (my favorite overall strings) on my Stingray, but the Chromes are so nicely broken in now that I'm hesitant to change them. I'll be curious to hear what you think of them over time if you keep them for a year or more.

I agree about the feel, too. They are a stiffer string and I know some people don't like that. But I tend to pluck pretty hard so the stiffer feel works well for me.

My apologies for the derail, but I see you have a pair of Hartke cabs. I have a pair of the HD210s, which I like a lot. They don't go as deep as my Barefaced cabs, but I don't think that was their intent. They seem designed for a tighter low end that still sounds full but without extreme lows that can get boomy. I haven't tried them on a gig yet, but we have a show in a pretty small bar coming up and I think they might work well in that kind of environment (and, actually, I think one cab might even be enough). Looking forward to trying them out.

How do you like yours? How does the HD410 compare? Is that one a 4 ohm cab?
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I love them both. Since I only have the one 2x10 I can’t compare them to the HL410 that I have. I think the 410 gets more than enough low end, but I’ve always liked sealed cabs. The speakers have great range with pretty damn good clarity. And it can do all that at near deafening volume. So yeah, big fan!
 
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#714
Use Chromes 45-105 on my '75 P bass. Set has been on there about 20 years.
Set of RotoSound Swing 66 on the '80 Ric 4001. Been on there since '93.
D'addario Halfies on the fretless '77 Ripper. Been on there forever.
Use Dunlap SuperBrite rounds on everything else; nickel/steel and steel.
 
#715
Steve Fox said:
I may grab a set eventually, I have a Jazz bass that I’d like to put flats on. How do they compare tone wise to the Chromes?
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Most players find that the Dunlops aren't as bright as Chromes out of the package, which I'd agree with. They never seemed to get dead enough for my tastes, but that's not to say they wouldn't work well for someone else.

I even did the old trick of rubbing Eucerin into the Dunlops, which helped in deadening the strings a little bit. I never did that with Chromes. Outside of tone concerns, I'd argue that the silk wraps and final smaller gauge end wraps on the Dunlops are a little more durable than what's found on Chromes, but it's not a big worry point.

All told, I prefer Chromes, but I'm a creature of habit. If Dunlops were the only flats I could get for bass, I wouldn't feel too beaten up about it.
 
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#717
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#718
cxcxcx said:
Most players find that the Dunlops aren't as bright as Chromes out of the package, which I'd agree with. They never seemed to get dead enough for my tastes, but that's not to say they wouldn't work well for someone else.

I even did the old trick of rubbing Eucerin into the Dunlops, which helped in deadening the strings a little bit. I never did that with Chromes. Outside of tone concerns, I'd argue that the silk wraps and final smaller gauge end wraps on the Dunlops are a little more durable than what's found on Chromes, but it's not a big worry point.

All told, I prefer Chromes, but I'm a creature of habit. If Dunlops were the only flats I could get for bass, I wouldn't feel too beaten up about it.
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That might work for me. I prefer flats because I don’t want the string noise or the zing, but I don’t always want my sound too thuddy. The Labella’s on my Mustang are only about a year old and they are super dead, I’d rather have something on there that had a bit more life.
 
#719
thisheregiraffe said:
I put a custom light set of Chromes on my main Warmoth fretless yesterday, and I'm really enjoying them. I ordered singles via Strings By Mail. The gauges are 40, 55, 70, 95. My last try with Chromes was the ECB80 set (40, 60, 75, 95). I had some concerns the 60 D would feel tight, but I was hoping to just stick to standard sets rather than custom ordering. In the end, I found both the D and A a bit tighter than I liked. Ordering the singles via SBM turned out to be quick and easy--I should have just done that in the first place. It's early yet, but so far I am very happy with the result.
Click to expand...
Well, it's been a little over a month with these strings, and it is safe for me to safe that they aren't going anywhere :thumbsup: These gauges (40, 55, 70, 95) feel just right for me. This bass has an MM pickup in the sweet spot, and a J pickup placed up near the end of the fingerboard (approx. 1.5" from 21st fret position). When I pluck over the MM pickup, the strings are not too tight. And when I pluck over the J pickup or over the end of the fingerboard, the strings don't feel floppy either. The neck is set with very little relief, the action is nice and low, and the bass plays and sounds wonderful.
 
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