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Feelings about Flatwound D'Addario Chromes?

Decoyx7

Decoyx7

Sep 18, 2011
71
2
Baden-Württemburg, Germany
#1
I'm thinking about switching from rounds to flats soon...and I'm looking at these D'Addario Chromes for my Ibanez. They're cheap, and I don't think that it'd be a disaster soundwise, but I've never played with them before and I wouldn't know what they'd sound like exactly.

Essentially...are they good strings? Any problems anyone had with them? If you didn't like them, would you reccomend any other flats?
 
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#2
Depends on what kind of flat sound you're after, but they're mighty strings.

Brighter than most flatwounds, and with strong punchy low mids. A bit lighter in tension than usual flats too.
 
#12
"Good" is relative -- some love them, others hate them. I agree that they can't be called "low in tension," but they seem less stiff to me than GHS Brite Flats, and I think they are somewhat less bright than Sadowsky flats, which are now my preferred flats. I had Chromes on my 55-94 but found they worked better on my Lakland JO5 with Fralin single coils.
 
#16
If I could go back 5 years and give myself advise about trying flats for the first time, I would recommend webstrings flats in the medium or heavy guage. These are inexpensive and give an accurate reproduction of the flatwounds of the 50's, 60's and 70's. If you don't like em, then you're out $20.

My problem with chromes is that they take a while to break in and even after that have less fundamental than a traditional flat. I say go big or go home when switching to flats and if you don't like the webstrings big, thumpy feel and sound, go closer back to the middle ground with chromes.
 
#19
I've played rounds for a long time and like the way they sound when well aged (months of playing, in my case). I'd only change them when they were just DEAD. I've got Chromes on 2 basses now and really like them. They sound like the rounds sounded when well broken in and to me seem easier on the fingers. I play mediums on a 32' fretless and 30 in fretted. I had mediums on a 35' fretless 5 and "stiffness" or "perceived tension" wise they were about the same as the previous medium rounds. And instead of too bright for a month, then good for 3-4 months then dead, they sound bright for a few days, great for a year and a half so far.

There are certainly a lot of other options I haven't tried yet in flats, but I love these.

Buy them and try 'em. If you don't like them somebody will take them off your hands in the classifieds.
 

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