D'Addario XL Chromes ECG24 Flat Wound (.011–.050): the jazz guitar standard

D'Addario XL Chromes is the company's flatwound electric guitar string, wrapped in a flattened ribbon of stainless steel instead of the round wire used on standard sets. ECG24 is the .011 to .050 Jazz Light gauge, D'Addario's own best-selling flatwound spec and the one most players mean when they just say "Chromes."

Flatwound construction changes more than the tone. The ribbon wire is polished smooth after winding, so your fretting hand slides along the string with none of the squeak a roundwound set makes. D'Addario calls XL Chromes "the industry standard in flatwound guitar strings," built for a round, full low end that suits jazz players of every style, alongside the blues players who reach for the same warmth.

Only the wound strings in this set are actually flatwound. D'Addario's own tension chart marks the .011 and .015 as plain steel, item codes PL011 and PL015, the same thin plain wire used across nearly every one of the brand's electric sets. The flattened ribbon wire only wraps the bottom four strings, .022, .030, .040, and .050, item codes CG022 through CG050. That split is standard across every flatwound electric set on the market, not just Chromes, since a flatwound top string would be too stiff to intonate cleanly at that gauge.

Every flatwound string trades brightness for smoothness. Where a roundwound string wraps round wire around the core, leaving raised ridges your fingers can feel and hear, Chromes wraps a flattened ribbon of stainless steel, then polishes it. The result is a mellower, more compressed tone with a fast, dead decay, the sound jazz guitarists reach for over a bright roundwound ring.

That dead tone wasn't an accident. D'Addario's Chromes line grew out of the company's decades-long relationship with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, a D'Addario artist since 1982. Per Guitar World's 2025 report on a D'Addario-filmed interview with him, Metheny had grown attached to the tone of the worn-in flatwound strings already on his Gibson ES-175: "They were these flatwound strings that were really dead. And so I asked Jim and everybody, 'Could you make a string that sounds kind of dead?'" D'Addario's own promotional material frames that exchange as part of the story behind XL Chromes, though Metheny's account itself doesn't name the ECG24 gauge specifically.

Compared to D'Addario's roundwound electric lines, the difference is construction as much as gauge:

Reach for ECG24 when you want the dead, warm jazz-box tone on purpose. Reach for a roundwound set when you want brightness, sustain, or an easier bend.

XL Chromes 11-50 isn't only a jazz string. D'Addario's own ECG24 product page runs an artist-testimonial carousel naming blues guitarist Gary Clark Jr as a Chromes player, directly under a caption reading "XL Chromes 11-50." D'Addario's separate Gary Clark Jr artist-bio page headlines its own strings section the same way, "Gary's String: XL Chromes 11-50," naming this set, not the roundwound EXL115 also in his rig (see his full CYS rig profile), as his nightly stage set.

Flatwound strings ask a little more of your setup than a roundwound set. The stiffer, denser wrap adds string tension at the same gauge, so a guitar that's been strung with a lighter roundwound set for years may need a truss rod or action check after the swap. Go easy on aggressive string bends, too: the flattened wrap doesn't have the same give roundwound strings do, and hard bends can leave a permanent kink at the bend point over time.

Wipe the strings down after each session, the same as you would any set. Flatwound's smooth surface already resists grime better than a roundwound string's exposed grooves, and a quick wipe stretches that advantage further, which is part of why players who settle into a flatwound set tend to go longer between changes.

• Traditional jazz and archtop or hollow-body electrics where a dead, mellow low end matters more than sustain or a bright attack
• Players bothered by finger and fret noise sliding along the neck on a roundwound set
• Blues tones that want warmth over brightness, the lane D'Addario's own product page cites Gary Clark Jr in
• Anyone who wants a string that resists corrosion and holds its already-mellow tone longer than a bare roundwound set at the same gauge

• Fast rock or metal lead lines: the stiffer flatwound feel and rolled-off top end fight against the bends and bright articulation a roundwound set like EXL110 handles better
• Beginners still building finger strength: flatwound's heavier feel and this set's .011 gauge ask more of a new player than a .009 or .010 roundwound set
• Players chasing maximum brightness: even fresh, Chromes is voiced dead and mellow by design, the opposite goal of a crisp modern roundwound set

ECG24 is the string most jazz guitarists picture when someone says "flatwound." D'Addario's own copy calls it the industry standard, and the .011 to .050 Jazz Light gauge is the brand's best-selling flatwound spec for a reason: stiff enough to stay controlled at a mellow, dead tone, light enough to still comp chords through a long gig. If your rig is an archtop or a hollow-body and you want the sound traditional jazz recordings were built on, this is the default, not a niche alternative.

If you play fast lead lines, want easy string bends, or need a bright attack, a roundwound set like EXL110 or EXL115 will serve you better. Flatwound is a deliberate tone choice, not a strict upgrade.

Gary Clark Jr Approved

D'Addario

XL Chromes ECG24 Flat Wound, Jazz Light (.011–.050)

.011 – .050

Price tier: $$

Why this one: D'Addario's best-selling flatwound gauge and the set its own product page ties directly to Gary Clark Jr, not just a jazz staple.

E StandardJazzJazz fusion

View on AmazonFull review →