D'Addario Chromes - Flatwound Jazz/Light Strings


marke
Registered User
Joined: 06/20/05
Posts: 4
marke
Registered User
Joined: 06/20/05
Posts: 4
06/21/2005 6:51 pm


Pricing information
$6.99 USD at guitarvision.com and musiciansfriend.com

Pros: silky smooth, no noise when sliding, resistent to corrosion
Cons: hard to bend

Review

My new Ibanez Artcore came with extra light (.009) strings installed, so when I wore them out, I decided to try out the new D'Addario flatwound jazz strings with the label of Chromes.

Here's a description: "Gauges 11-15-22-30-40-50. nickel-plated steel under winding on hex cores with chrome ribbon winding. 3 polishing steps produce an incredibly smooth finish. "

I had to file the groove in the nut for strings 4 and 5, carefully keeping the string height above the fretboard consistent. The only other adjustment I had to make was neck relief - it took about one full crank to bring it into "spec" Action remained the same as did intonation. I might lower action a tad at some point. I was expecting to have to make some adjustments for intonation, but they were not needed. Maybe the move from 0.009 to 0.011 wasn't significant enough. The only annoying thing is that string six is so thick (0.050) that two wraps just barely fits on my Artcore's tuning post. The setup has held its tune with no problem though.

These strings are silky smooth. They actually feel "oily" and your fingers can slide for many frets with barely a sound. It makes moving around the fretboard a much more pleasant experience. Since the strings are thicker and seem much stiffer as well, it's very hard to bend them, but in every other way, they are definitely superior to the round-wound strings I have used on my Artcore and my son's Strat.

The guitar has a fuller sound now as well. The brass round-wound produced a more shallow "tinny" sound. The high notes didn't suffer at all.

Summary

All-in-all, I am very pleased with these strings and will probably continue to use them until something better comes along. Maybe 0.010 would have been nicer, but D'Addario doesn't make them.
# 1
Lordathestrings
Gear Guru
Joined: 01/18/01
Posts: 6,242
Lordathestrings
Gear Guru
Joined: 01/18/01
Posts: 6,242
06/21/2005 6:59 pm
[font=trebuchet ms]Please edit your review to fit the post format a bit better. READ THIS THREAD BEFORE POSTING -- THIS MEANS YOU! was posted for good reasons.[/font]
Lordathestrings
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# 2

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