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Feelings about Flatwound D'Addario Chromes?

#62
Love 'em on a J where they are nice and thumpy with the neck pickup solo'ed, and whose natural midrange emphasis compensates for the scooped tone you'd otherwise get with both pickups on full. Very twangy when broken in, and still somewhat so when broken in which is great on the J. Hated 'em on a P where there is already enough midrange to go around, even when broken in.
 
#67
Smit_Dogg said:
Excellent. The best low b I've used... Nice and taut and has decent brightness. For a brief time I used to use a chromes low B with roundwound EADG because I preferred it over any other low B.
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Seriously? The low B is the very reason I don't have a set of Chromes on my 5er anymore. I had a set on it for a long time and hated the B. Felt pretty good, but the sound was so blah. Maybe just this bass, but I seem to remember a lackluster Chrome B on a different 5er. Hmm.
 
#68
Smit_Dogg said:
Excellent. The best low b I've used... Nice and taut and has decent brightness. For a brief time I used to use a chromes low B with roundwound EADG because I preferred it over any other low B.
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bassist4dalord said:
Seriously? The low B is the very reason I don't have a set of Chromes on my 5er anymore. I had a set on it for a long time and hated the B. Felt pretty good, but the sound was so blah. Maybe just this bass, but I seem to remember a lackluster Chrome B on a different 5er. Hmm.
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Totally different opinions! Haha I have a squier Pro-Tone Precision V with a 5 in-line headstock so the sunbeams I have now are extremely floppy.
Is either of your basses on a similar setup
 
#70
I've fallen in love with Chromes over the past year. I originally bought them to try and save money on strings, since I was going through a set of rounds every couple of weeks (gigging at least 2x a week) because of sweat, mostly. They HAVE saved me a ton on strings as I've used 3 sets on 3 different basses, all for the better part of a year. I can wipe them down with denatured alcohol to bring back the high end I eventually lose, but when they break in they sound great.
 
#71
What was the bass that each of these .132 Chromes B string was on? If the pickup is not in the same position on the bass as the D-G segment of a P-bass, then if the pickup is upstream (towards the neck) from that, there will be too much fundamental and not enough overtones. If it is too far downstream (towards the bridge) then the reverse: not enough fundamental to go with the overtones.
 
#72
I prefer just about any flatwound to Chromes, too stiff for me, no time to wait for them to break-in. out of the package, my faves are, in this order, Sadowsky Black Label Flats, Ernie Ball Group III Flats, and then TIs.
 
#73
I just tried chromes. At first I hated them, too bright, but now they're smoothing out a bit. Turning down filter helped but it wasn't quite right but that is getting better. I miss the La Bella bottom but I like having more top. So I need more time with them. The next string I try will probably be Sadowsky's.
 
#77
Chromes are okay. I used them for a while, when I first switched from rounds - and they are a really good 'transition' string for getting used to the flatwound sound and feel.

I call them 'beginner flats' because they're so much brighter than other flats, with less (perceived) tension, so the difference between them and other flats doesn't seem so drastic that it'll turn off someone who's used to rounds.

I used them for about a year or so, but then I sold the bass they were on and got a Squier CV Jazz, and bought a set of Webstrings Detroit Flats for that. They are a stiffer, more traditional sounding (and cheaper! :D ) flatwound string, which is what I was ready for at that point.
 
#79
They're alright once they break in, after the zing finally wears off... although I think that extended period of brightness and clank is what makes them such a popular segue for roundwound users trying out flats for the first time.

Overall, they're a tad stiff for my taste (and I like some firmness behind my strings), with a little too much upper-mid presence... LaBellas seem to provide a much more satisfying flatwound experience with their warm, fat low-mids. YMMV.
 
#80
Chromes were the first flats I tried after reading about flats here on TB two years ago. I switched them for TI flats after finding Chromes too bright, and too high tension for my liking.

I now play TI flats or Sadowsky flats, with Pyramids as my third fave. I don't like the high tension "cable-feel" of the LaBellas I've tried so far.

PS: a tip for everyone googling and searching for different brands of strings, and other bass stuff, go look at the Reviews section too! I have a feeling that is an underused section of these boards :(
DS
 

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