D'addario Chromes -- yay or nay?

[Joseph Lazo]

Just fishing for opinions on D'addario Chromes. I have a set on one of my steels and am undecided. Some days I think I like them, others I think the bass strings (semi-flat wound, I guess you'd call them) just seem dull and lacking the volume I think they should have.

I guess the appeal of these strings is that they're smoother on fingers. I don't use fingerpicks, so I do notice the smoothness on my thumb, but don't notice any huge difference under my tone bar.

I'm not intending this to bash D'addario strings. I use them almost exclusively on my guitars and have never had an issue with them.

[Frank James Pracher]

I think the Chromes are considered a flatwound (as opposed to a semi-flat). They're definitely a different sound... not quite so bright... a mellower tone than round wounds.

I like them for some of my brighter sound steels. I use a polymer bar (Clinesmith, EZZEE slide, and Tribotone) so string noise isn't really an issue even with rounds.

The flats sound a little more "thumpy" if that makes any sense.

An old timer said it like this to me years ago.... "flatwounds start out sounding a little dead, but they don't get any deader"

[Jerry Overstreet]

Don't know if I'd choose those for a lap steel. Pretty mellow. I used them all the time on a big body jazz guitar. Great for that for a mellow jazz tone.

If you used finger picks, they would brighten up some, but with fingers not. Depends on the type of tone you are looking for. Nothing wrong with that tone if that's what you like. Maybe pretty good for big band, jazz etc.

[Rick Aiello]

I like them … a subtle haunting sound.

[Twayn Williams]

I'm not a fan of flats on anything. Every now and then I toss a set on a guitar and play 'em for a while, but always end up removing them after the novelty has worn off, usually in a couple weeks.

OTOH, I put them on my Ricky Silver Hawaiian as that guitar exhibits a lot of handling noise and they seem to really suit that guitar. Not so much my Pandas though...

[Glenn Wilde]

They're okay, not bad really, however there's better flats available like Thomastik Infeld, these have been on my Fender for years and sound great. There are slightly deader sounding rounds available too, pure nickel strings mellow out a lot after about a week.

[Erv Niehaus]

The only instrument that I've used flat wounds on is a Fender Precision Bass.
Easier on the fingers.

[Michael Kiese]

The only instrument that I've used flat wounds on is a Fender Precision Bass.
Easier on the fingers.

That's also the James Jamerson and Carol Kaye setup and sound. Can't go wrong with that.

[Mike Neer]

I’m on the nay side for Chromes on steel guitar. I did like them on my electric guitars when I was playing slide and going for that Ry Cooder and early R&B sound, but for steel the bass strings become lifeless quickly, especially if you play a lot.

[Michael Kiese]

Just fishing for opinions on D'addario Chromes. I have a set on one of my steels and am undecided. Some days I think I like them, others I think the bass strings (semi-flat wound, I guess you'd call them) just seem dull and lacking the volume I think they should have.

I guess the appeal of these strings is that they're smoother on fingers. I don't use fingerpicks, so I do notice the smoothness on my thumb, but don't notice any huge difference under my tone bar.

I'm not intending this to bash D'addario strings. I use them almost exclusively on my guitars and have never had an issue with them.

Aloha Joseph,

I prefer semi-flats for the wound strings because they're brighter than flats, and the windings are tighter than round wounds, so you get significantly less string noise than round wounds.

My preferred string brand for steel is GHS. I just use GHS plain and GHS rollerwound for the wound strings. They work well for me and that's what Uncle Bobby uses, and what SRV used too, so why reinvent the wheel, right?

Incidentally, there are many names for "semi-flats" which include but are not limited to: half-wounds, half-rounds, semi-flats, ground-wound, semi-wound, semi-round.

Some brands like GHS have proprietary names aka "rollerwound", "pressure-wound", or "brite flats".

Basically, it's just halfway between flats and roundwounds. Those are the strings I like, and for electric guitar too.

I have nothing against flatwounds either, I have them on one of my Jazz Archtops, and also on my Fender P Bass.

There's no "good" or "bad". Everything is just a tool to achieve a specific sound.

If you're like me and have an overabundance of guitars, there's absolutely NO REASON to set them all up the same, and with the same tuning.

If you have 20 guitars, there's no need to set them all up like Swiss Army knives that'll hopefully do everything.

It's actually nice to have a couple of specialty guitars in your lineup that are specifically set up as one trick ponies that do a hell of a trick.

I keep one of my acoustic guitars strung up with Nashville tuning (all the high strings on a 12 string guitar). Another acoustic guitar is setup and left in slack key tuning.

I have many friends who are guitar collectors, and they just have 'em sitting around all with the same setup. You end up gravitating to the same couple of guitars anyway. So why not turn the rest into something different that may inspire you with their different color?

Learning something new is always fun and inspiring.

Just a thought.

Enjoy!

[Joseph Lazo]

Great replies here! They mostly confirm my own perception that flatwound strings just sound dull on lap steel, and provide no perceived increase in slickness under the tone bar.

I picked up the Chromes out of curiosity (and they were on clearance), just to see how they'd sound. The experiment was not a total fiasco, not like the Cobalt set I tried on "regular" guitar (removed with extreme prejudice after 2 weeks), but it's not a set of strings I'd get again.

[Tim Whitlock]

I used Chromes on my Stringmaster T8 for a couple of years and though they sounded great. Eventually the cost and bother of putting together custom sets got old and I went with semi flats. Been using them for 20 years or so and very happy.

[Carey Hofer]

Yay for me. I have flatwounds on my electric archtops. Jazz is the music I play a lot of on my guitars and also my 8 string Melbert so I put Chrome Flats on my lap steel also.

[Glenn Wilde]

TI's for the win..

IMG_20260306_101119692.jpg

[Michael Kiese]

Great replies here! They mostly confirm my own perception that flatwound strings just sound dull on lap steel, and provide no perceived increase in slickness under the tone bar.

Aloha Joseph,

To me, the value proposal of using flats on a steel guitar not a decrease in friction (or increase in slickness as you put it).

The value proposal of using flats on a steel guitar is a vast decrease in string noise on the wound strings, with a tradeoff of brightness.

Steel guitars are very treble heavy anyways, so some players may like the sound of flatwounds. Playing in a large hall or bar with all flat surfaces and a loud PA...a steel with flats on it would probably be best suited for that venue.

Also keep in mind that plain strings are used for the non wound strings on both flatwounds and roundwounds, so the melody strings would sound the same.

A lot of times, when you hear players who use round wounds on steel, you can hear the scritchy-scratchy friction sound of the bar and your hands traveling on the strings. You also hear more scratchy pick attack.

You get absolutely no friction sound on the bass strings if you're using flats. So that can be a worthwhile tradeoff for some players who value that.

It's all about what the player wants and values, and matching it with the individual instrument.

I actually don't mind flats on a steel. It's a pleasing and very nostalgic sound. I just prefer semi-flats. Brighter than flats, and less string noise than rounds. Also feel-wise and visual-wise, it's easier to see and feel the wounded strings.

We all have our preferences. Beauty and function is in the eye of the beholder.

[Steffen Gunter]

Yay for me. I use them for years with all my steel guitars. Love them together with my Clinesmith frypan. To tame the dullness on the bass strings I use a small amp (Laney Cub8) and it now suits my taste for the vintage Hawaiian sound.