D'AddarioGuitar Strings - XL Chromes Electric Guitar Strings - Flat Wound - Polished for Ultra-Smooth Feel and Warm, Mellow Tone - ECG24 - Jazz Light, 11-50, 1-Pack

I'm sure why I bought these and had no idea what I was getting into. I like to play a jazzmaster heavily overdriven through a boss blues and then a fuzz pedal, preceded by a wah, through a fender Princeton. Sound is like heavy david gilmour. These strings are very different from anything I've used in the past, which have always been cheap ernie ball wound strings. Here are the cons (after a couple days of playing): They feel weird - very unnatural without the regular wound feel. My fingers do not slide as well on them - they feel sticky, kinda like a suction cup feel. Also, the G string (well I tune a step down, but you know what I mean). - is really weird. It is not your typical thiner string. It is a fat one, and it's really hard to bend it up a half step. I mean, it IS possible, but you have to bend it really far to bring the note up a whole step. Weird. The B & E are bendable, yet thicker than I'm used to.When I first installed these strings, I was like WTF, and actually was thinking to rip them off and replace them. But, I didn't have any other strings on hand, so I just played my guitar like usual, jamming out to some blues, classic rock, psychedelic backing tracks. Then I began to notice - the guitar's voice had been significantly altered. And here is the reason I'm not really sure what I'm gonna do, and I may even leave them on, or buy a second guitar, maybe a strat, which I can set up with regular strings --- the Jazzmaster, with these strings, changes sound so much, it's unbelievable. It adds balls, weight, grit....it almost makes it sound like what I'd imagine a reallly good Les Paul might sound like (that's a guess). For anything that involves non-soloing - playing chords, playing songs, there is a significant improvement in sound. The guitar now, through the setup I'm using, has without a doubt the best sound I've ever been able to produce in my life. I'm going to have a hard time taking these strings off this thing because of that. I was a little concerned my fingers might take too much of a beating trying to bend these fat ass strings, but idk - I think I'm gonna try to limit my playing to ~30 min / day while my fingers adapt and stick with these, and like I said, maybe get a second guitar that's set up with regular strings ( nickel wound 10 - 13 - 15 xxx ). Here's another thing - so an issue I have when soloing is I am going in the direction where I play so many notes I kinda sometimes feel like I'm just jabbering away and making sounds without making musical statements. What these thicker strings do for me, is they kinda make it harder to play quite as fast, but each note you do play will have more character, so it encourages me at least to slow down a little and really enjoy the articulation??? ( the character ) you can put into less notes. In other words - my playing actually sounds, to me, more professional, more like what I hear on great records....bottom line, these are friggin amazing, yet uncomfortable in ways, strings.

As always, great guitar strings!! Thanks again

if you're not familiar with flatwounds - they arent as bright sounding as normal strings. if youre just buying flatwounds for smoother sliding, you might be underwhelmed by the tone. that said, i knew what to expect from the tonal differences. i put these on a jazzmaster, the jm's bright pickups paired really nicely with the flatwounds more mellow tone. had 0 issues with tuning stability, didnt even need much stretching to get to ready to play. the quality is great! definitely buying these again

Chromes have this lovely quality where you can downtune them far more than any traditional roundwound string, because the flatwound structure provides a lot of rigidity. I use these for A# standard on a Strat, and they are very slinky in exactly the right way.

I thought I liked higher guage strings until I tried these. The flatwound 13s sound great, but the tension is really tight, even with the action lowered and neck adjusted. They made for a slightly cramped hand after playing for a little while. They feel like your average flats and sound good, so if you don't mind tight tension, I'd recommend them. If you want to save your hands from arthritis in the future or already have it, I don't recommend them.

I continue to try various flat wound strings and come back to D'Addario Chromes. They hold tone well and always are consistent in quality. The fat tone is evident, especially in the 10-48 set, which helps my older fingers! The lighter strings help for bending, though the repertoire I play on a big D'Angelico doesn't call for too much bending. They also are widely available, so it is easy to pick up spares. Highly recommended.

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!