Do Chromes mellow out?

[Surly]

Sweet recordings.

The first I listened to (from P.Bass) I could tell are Chromes.

The Chicken Box doesn't sound as bright to me (could be the mix). If I had to do a blind test I would think they're Labella 760FL's.

 

[vin*tone]

What I THINK you are referring to is probably not the fault of the chromes. I am hearing a bit of "clack".
You have to keep in mind that flats have a much larger "footprint" on the fret than rounds. The round wound string touches the fret only with the pin point contact of the round winding. The flat touches with the whole width of the crowned fret. This means fretting accuracy is very important. As well, you may have to adjust your attack location to slightly back of where it was when the problem occurred. It is much more difficult to play flats WELL than rounds, which are pretty forgiving.
The chromes will accentuate mis-fretting because of the prominent overtones they have when new.
B.

Edit: I want to stress here that the mis-fretting I refer to is NOT related to finger pressure on the strings. It's the location behind the fret that is important. With a bit more tension of most flats you are able to lower the action a bit and still get good playing comfort. Don't let this string stiffness issue scare you. It just requires getting familiar & adjusting setup a tad if it suits you.

Yes you're probably right, but in the intro where it's most prominent it's a slide up to the E - finger positioning is not altogether relevant. I should be able to do that without it sounding like a barking hyena.

I think my issue there is a mix of a few different things including the bass, the action, the amount I'm digging in, EQing... but also the strings. I recently did another recording with it (different band) and we basically needed to redo everything after a string change.

I'm not dumping on Chromes BTW - as I said - on my 51RI these things just SING.

 

[JB36]

What I THINK you are referring to is probably not the fault of the chromes. I am hearing a bit of "clack".
You have to keep in mind that flats have a much larger "footprint" on the fret than rounds. The round wound string touches the fret only with the pin point contact of the round winding. The flat touches with the whole width of the crowned fret. This means fretting accuracy is very important. As well, you may have to adjust your attack location to slightly back of where it was when the problem occurred. It is much more difficult to play flats WELL than rounds, which are pretty forgiving.
The chromes will accentuate mis-fretting because of the prominent overtones they have when new.
B.

Edit: I want to stress here that the mis-fretting I refer to is NOT related to finger pressure on the strings. It's the location behind the fret that is important. With a bit more tension of most flats you are able to lower the action a bit and still get good playing comfort. Don't let this string stiffness issue scare you. It just requires getting familiar & adjusting setup a tad if it suits you.

This is very much true. I'm new to flats. I bought a used P bass with TIs and love them. Chromes are the 2nd set of flats I've tried. I just put them on a passive jazz last weekend. I've been working on my reading and it's very common for me to mis-fret while reading. The softer TIs are very forgiving as compared to the chromes. Any fretting mistakes with chromes are made known quite clearly. They definitly have a stainless steel kinda of bite as compared to the nickel TIs.

I've haven't found the chromes to be sticky at all. They're not as smooth as a well broken set of TIs. I've got quite a few hours on them and they seem to have a mellowed a bit and I expect a little more. These are the light set. The tension is a bit stiffer than the TIs. I'm wondering if the tension will change on them at all as they get older.

 

[johnk_10]

I'm wondering if the tension will change on them at all as they get older.

you'll probably just get used to them, but i don't think that they will change, that's why i went with the super light chromes (.040-.095). IME, they have close to the same tension as the TI's on my other basses.

 

[TheMutt]

I've had a set of chromes on my Jazz for about 3 years before I changed them for a new set (combination of laziness, and I loved the tone, but intonation was getting spotty). They had settled in quite a bit, but weren't dead like most other flats would end up being at that age and beyond. Personally, I love Chromes.

 

[JB36]

you'll probably just get used to them, but i don't think that they will change, that's why i went with the super light chromes (.040-.095). IME, they have close to the same tension as the TI's on my other basses.

I'm using the regular light 100-45.

 

[madmatt]

They usually mellow out after a couple of bowls. Otherwise they are SO uptight...

But seriously, try the Fender 9050's. They are essentially the same thing but half the price. If you want a more subdued sound turn down the tone, it really works you know.

 

[steelhead2]

ok that's what i was considering on my fretted P=Fender flats,the Jazz came with them and i swapped them onto a Squire special P; i liked them!,sold that squire with those on it

around here i think the only flats you can walk in and buy are chromes,fenders,or rotos(guitar center) one store has a set of DQuistos(and has for years),,ok hijack over