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Sharing the love for D'Addario Chromes

OzzyGreg

OzzyGreg

Jun 7, 2008
1,488
471
Illawarra, NSW, Australia
www.tz350.com
#1
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I fitted a set of D'Addario Chromes to my Marcus Miller Signature Jazz a while back.

I'd never used them before. I love 'em!
Full, yet relatively bright tone, right up my alley.
A bonus is that being flats they are quiet, very little finger slip noise between notes.

I've read that they lose that brightness after a while. But hey, doesn't every string encounter this with age?

I'm seriously thinking about trying a set on my Precision.
I just want to research opinions on this before I get the wallet out.
 
#3
I've had a set on a P for over a year, with no serious loss of brightness. I've used so many brands of flat wounds that I can't recall them all. I have a set of TI's that have to be 5 years old, and still going. But Chromes are what I am using on
everything from now on.
 
#4
I have them on both my Jazz p'up basses (one's a series/parallel) and play mostly with a pick. Love them.
However, the Precision gets rounds. I tried the Chromes, but it doesn't sit right for the hard rock I'm playing.
If I were playing covers/blues/jazz/pop, I'd be happy with the flats on a P.
 
#5
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Thanks for the responses so far guys.
(That was quick!)

I have Rotosound rounds on the Precision at the moment which I agree work well with a hard rock band. (We play the same sort of stuff.)

While chromes, to me, don't sound quite as bright as rounds, I'm hoping they still cut through like the rounds if I go that way on the P.
Still undecided though.
 
#7
I've had Chromes on my 4 stringer for over a year now and they sound excellent (to me). A nice fat and thumping sound is what I get.

Just bought some new Chromes for my 5 stringer and they are immense IMO. They do lose a lot of brightness after a year (that's a long time to be fair!) but the brightness I lost wasn't noticeable until I bought a new set for my other bass.

Unlike rounds they seem to age very well and i've found that if you pump your mids a little then they just seem to fit into any style of music. I know they're associated with jazz and motown quite often, but here I am playing bluesy rock, hard rock and even heavy metal with my chromes! The punch is so profound that it makes the kick drum run away in tears haha.

To conclude....I love Chromes
 
#9
I've had the same set of .040-.095 Chromes on my AmStd Precision for almost two years now, and have enjoyed their sound and feel immensely, despite being almost too floppy. But, since tonight's rehearsal resulted in a broken G-string, I think I may go with either a higher gauge set of Chromes (perhaps .045-.105) for a stiffer feel, or maybe even do the Steve Harris Signature Rotosounds.
 
#10
I've been playing .045-.100 Chromes on my main bass for the past year. I love them once they're all broken in after 3 months or so. At that point, I can dime the tone knobs without getting the clank-itty-clanks. This = happy band.

I just put on a new set a couple of weeks ago and they're really pissing me off. Hated to have to do it but the intonation needed an adjustment. Right now, I have to roll off the tone knobs or I have an unhappy band.
 
#11
initially, i didn't like these strings, i put a set of .45 - .132 Chromes on a 5string and couldn't get used to their tacky/friction feel and they felt really stiff. I quickly relegated them to a four string practise bass, but within 5-6months, they started to come to life, loosen up and feel real smooth; and I began to REALLY like them.

They have recently gone back on my 5string and they make the bass sound fantastic, the B string is still a little tacky/resistant - but its getting there. I've played that bass pretty much constantly since they went back on.

Only the other week, I used my main four string that's strung with roundwounds at a gig for the first time in a while. Damn, it felt awful using those scratchy, feeble things. Using flats really adds balls to your sound, I felt castrated!!! So I've ordered a set of Chromes to go on that bass aswell.
 

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