Oh no, another string thread.............................

[Psycho Bass Guy]

Typical TB bullshit: I have Fender flats on my Fretless Mexi-Jazz and EB Group II's (D'addario Chromes) on my Epi Les Paul and homemande Jazz. They sure as hell are NOT the same strings or even similar. The Fenders have higher tension and bigger, bassier sound but the EB's have a very open midrange that helps with note definition without being overly nasal or "clacky."

[Dave W]

Fender recently stopped making strings in Ensenada, and D'addario now makes them. That info comes from a former senior exec at Fender who is still in close touch.

This does not mean that Fender flats are the same as Chromes, or that any other Fender strings are just relabeled D'addarios. They aren't. D'addario makes them to Fender's specs.

[patman]

That makes a lot of sense to me now...the roundwounds no longer have silk, and they have a color coding scheme at the ball end of the string just like D'addarios...

They still sound like Fender strings to me (I usually think Fender roundwounds have more fundamental and fewer overtones...maybe it's my imagination)...

[Dave W]

Found the thread on TDPRI: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/bad-dog-cafe/273831-fender-strings-question.html

The poster who confirms the information is Ritchie Fliegler (posting as "vcode").

[hieronymous]

Fender recently stopped making strings in Ensenada, and D'addario now makes them. That info comes from a former senior exec at Fender who is still in close touch.

This does not mean that Fender flats are the same as Chromes, or that any other Fender strings are just relabeled D'addarios. They aren't. D'addario makes them to Fender's specs.

Thank you Dave. This is the most cogent statement on this issue that I have seen.

I would like to try and get the same strings that came on my new Fender P-Bass - they have the multi-colored ball ends like D'Addarios, but are presumably "Fender" strings. The website description says "NPS, Gauges .045-.105" - presumably these? So I go into a local guitar store and ask if they carry Fender strings and get told "they're just D'Addario now" - gee thanks. 

[nofi]

same ones came on my p bass. i usually don't like rounds i will keep these on for awhile.

[lowend1]

FWIW...
My MIM Jazz has a set of Fender 9050s SS flats. They do not have colored ball ends and have a teal colored silk wrap at the bridge end only. They are night and day different from the Chromes I had on my P-Bass copies (Squier/SX). The Chromes were stiffer and had more top end. The Fender strings are thumpier, lost their top end quickly and are easy on the fingers in terms of tension. They have the older style packaging as well (plastic outer sleeve/individual paper envelopes/insert with graphics and info) - maybe they changed suppliers along with the packaging.

[Dave W]

FWIW...
My MIM Jazz has a set of Fender 9050s SS flats. They do not have colored ball ends and have a teal colored silk wrap at the bridge end only. They are night and day different from the Chromes I had on my P-Bass copies (Squier/SX). The Chromes were stiffer and had more top end. The Fender strings are thumpier, lost their top end quickly and are easy on the fingers in terms of tension. They have the older style packaging as well (plastic outer sleeve/individual paper envelopes/insert with graphics and info) - maybe they changed suppliers along with the packaging.

Those are the old strings which were MIM. The change to MIA (by D'addario) was earlier this year.

But again, the new ones aren't the same as Chromes.

I don't doubt that some string brands that don't have their own factories, are just selling relabeled strings from the factory that made them. But they're certainly not all that way. For example, it's no secret that LaBella makes Sadowsky Flats, and they are clearly not the same strings as LaBella DTB Flats.

[Dave W]

Thank you Dave. This is the most cogent statement on this issue that I have seen.

I would like to try and get the same strings that came on my new Fender P-Bass - they have the multi-colored ball ends like D'Addarios, but are presumably "Fender" strings. The website description says "NPS, Gauges .045-.105" - presumably these? So I go into a local guitar store and ask if they carry Fender strings and get told "they're just D'Addario now" - gee thanks. 

Fender did keep the same stock numbers, but since the change is relatively new, I wouldn't assume Juststrings has the new ones without checking. Here's the new packaging. Note Made In USA on the front.

As for the local guitar store, remember these are the same boneheads who have been telling everybody for years that there are only two or three string factories in the whole world. It's just a lie to get you to buy what they have instead of what you want.

[Psycho Bass Guy]

I hadn't heard about Fender having new strings. I guess that's what I get for only buying strings every decade or so.

Best string story: when I bought my G&l L2500 new in 1996-7, I quickly grew to hate the SIT's on it, so I swapped them for EB Slinky 5's strung through-body. I loved those strings and played the crap out of them until they finally died... in 2006 or 7, so I bought a set of new EB's. They wouldn't reach through-body. I assumed I had a bad set and bought two more packs just to be safe: same story. Puzzled, I contacted EB (they make their roundwounds) and asked them when the scale length had changed. Their customer service rep was puzzled at first, but after he did some research, he said that it had been about fifteen years earlier, and I must have bought an old set back in '97. They sent me three packs of the EB Slinky 5's for free to make up for them not being long enough. I just string that bass from the bridge now and am still on the set I bought initially. I have a plastic grocery bag full of new strings that I have accumulated over the years so I doubt I'll be buying any new ones anytime soon. BTW, I still LOVE Slinky's regardless of the excellent CS, but boy did it ever not hurt!

[patman]

Just strings has the new ones now...my last purchase were all the newer style...although I haven't tried the flats...My flats are on the upright, and I don't think I'll change soon, although I would like a set with a slightly heavier bottom end, and lighter top end.

[Aussie Mark]

D'addario Chromes are definitely the same strings as Ernie Ball Flats though.

[rahock]

I never get tired of string threads as long as they contain a good description of the strings personality . Amplification and the tone control on the instrument can go a long way to add brightness or darkness to a string, but it's always good to know how one compares to another in that category. Tension is not very negotiable.  Tight and stiff, loose and floppy, or somewhere in between. It changes every thing you do, and although you can adapt somewhat, you tend to like them in one of those categories and your attitude probably will never change very much. I love hearing everyones descriptions on strings and I hate buying something blind and then ripping them off a week later and tossing them in the trash. String threads are great .
Rick

[patman]

I have to agree that if it keeps you from wasting money, it's a good thing. 

[hieronymous]

I've probably wasted a lot of money on strings - I get paranoid, sometimes I want to put new ones on when the ones on there are probably fine. Especially a new-to-me bass - never know what kind of torture they went through previously. I also don't like to loosen strings/take them off a bass and then restring - I'm afraid that they will be structurally compromised - damage from frets, twisting, etc. I did say that I get paranoid, didn't I?    And actually, my hands sweat a lot and my sweat is the corrosive kind that attacks the part of roundwounds that sounds good