D’Addario XL Chromes Electric Guitar Strings – ECG24

I am a beginning electric guitar player and I learned that on a bass guitar, that flat wound strings are super comfortable on the fingers, especially for slides. This particular set is still a little too heavy for my fingers and when I installed all of these strings as they come, the tremolo system required extra springs and the tension rod had to be tightened in the neck. I did not like the way it played with the extra tension that made the strings hard to bend and hurt my fingers.

My special trick and best solution to turn these into wonderful, easy bending, light playing strings is to not use the #48 heaviest E string. Buy a separate .008 or 0.009 gauge string to use for the first E string and then shift all of the others over. See my marked up package in my photo. This trick gives you a wonderful 8-38 or 9-38 smooth set with the following:

1-E 8 or 9 (purchased separately)
2-B 10
3-G 14
4-D 20w
5-A 28w
6-E 38w

48w – not used

In the past two years, I’ve changed everything about my guitar playing. My primary guitar (short scale Jagmaster to long scale Jazzmaster), my amps (from Fender modelling amp to Jazz Chorus + Marshall combo), my pedals (basically none to a large board with a dozen of them), and my strings (from lights, as low as 7s at times, to 10s, also changed brands). Now, I believe the evolution of my guitar preferences has finally completed, with the last change, back to D’Addario brand strings, and specifically to the Chromes flatwound strings.

Anyone with a Jazzmaster knows that the pickups are pretty generous with the high end. Before getting my first one, I never touched a tone knob before. Now I find myself needing to use it so my ears don’t get stabbed to death. However, these strings really mellow that quite a bit, to the point where I could probably leave my tone knob at max and just adjust my pedals or amp settings, ever so slightly.

On top of the more mellow sound compared to rounds, these feel great on the fingers. At first I wasn’t sure, but a few days in and I’m finding it hard to pick up any of my other guitars because of the relative roughness. I did try D’Addario Half-Rounds as well, but they feel even worse to me than round-wound; they almost have a gritty, nail file type feeling to them. So, as quickly as the half-rounds went on to my cheapest Jazzmaster, I think they will be coming off and flats will go on.

I primarily play heavy metal, and I think these sound good, but it’ll depend what sound you’re going after. Maybe you want the string noise and a bit more harmonic content rather than fundamental note, so you should stick to round wounds. But these are worth trying at least once, I think. Yeah, they cost more, but I’ve heard they last a lot longer. I haven’t had them long enough to vouch for that. But I really love how they feel so I’m sure I’ll find out in due time.

Only question remaining is, what do I do with these 5 packs of Ernie Ball Slinkys that I’ve got sitting here unopened?

I’ve used D’Addario Chromes XL flats for a long time. Their a consistent quality guitar strings. I’ve enjoyed flat wound strings,there’s a mellow tone A decent amount of playing time before they get dull and need replacing. An important extra,send your worn out D’addario strings back to them for recycling and you can build bonus pts. to get some free stuff.

I keep going back and forth between roundwounds, half-rounds, and flats. Don’t be afraid of these heavier gauge flats. If you have an assertive style of playing, as I do, they’re great. You can lower the action and still get no buzz. They’re not “pitchy,” as lighter strings are, and yet you can still achieve enough vibrato with your left hand. Chromes don’t sound “plinky” on my archtop like the rounds and half-rounds do, and I love it. Again, I go back and forth, but these 13-56 Chromes are wonderful — a great string!

Flat wound strings have a different feel and sound that I wanted for my 7-string PRS. They also reduce fret wear associated with bending notes that a wound string grinds against the frets gradually wearing the frets flat thus setting you up for an expensive re-fretting repair bill.
These strings feel similar when bending but are obviously smooth when sliding up/down the neck, which I also appreciate. They are highly rated as durable – only time will give evidence of how true this is. From initial use I’d recommend these highly.

D’Addario XL Chromes Electric Guitar Strings deliver exactly what they promise—a buttery-smooth feel and rich, mellow tones. The flat-wound design minimizes finger noise and makes sliding effortless, while the polished stainless steel wrap adds a layer of sophistication to your sound. Perfect for jazz or any style requiring warmth and depth, these strings maintain excellent intonation and durability. Highly recommended for musicians looking to elevate their tone with ultra-smooth playability!