Double Bass Gut versus Anima

I acquired a set of Animas in a trade recently and put them on my "gut" bass. It's been a little while since I've used them and I must say that I always really like these strings. I used them on the Ernest Tubb Record Shop's Midnight Jamboree on Saturday night and they performed well amplified with my Underwood pickup. I plan to leave them on for a little while and see how I like them over time. Ordinarily, I've been using Gamut plain guts for my G&D and Pirastro Pizzicato for the A&E, more or less my standard "go to" setup these days.

Both setups have advantages: The guts still give the most "oomph", great attack, and the lack of ringing overtones make them great with a pickup. The flexible, snappy feel of gut is always seductive. The Animas have a pretty nice gut-like attack, but not quite all the oomph. They have more sustain, and with that goes a little more ring and overtone. Also there's a bit more tension, which has it's pros and cons. What I like particularly about the Animas over the guts is that the notes have better pitch definition, especially the Anima D versus a plain gut D, but with the lower strings as well. (The Pizzicatos have more bottom though) You can utilize more of the upper parts of the fingerboard with the Animas. The added tension makes them easier to control and the action can be set lower. My left hand is less fatigued with the Animas. Also, while not fabulous for arco, the Animas are definitely better than plain gut.

The Anima G will "mwah" a bit, you can subdue that somewhat depending how you pluck it. If you're playing in a contemporary acoustic/bluegrass setting, they usually want a lot of the gut-sound 1-5 patterns, but then there will be places where they want some singing, fretlessy-sounding licks thrown in, and it's hard to get that with plain guts. On the other hand, when you're doing root-fifth off of the G string, say in the key of Ab, A, Bb, B or C, nothing beats a plain gut G. But the Anima is still thicker sounding down there than any steel string.

I know that some people like Garbos, but of the Velvet string sets I have always preferred the Animas. The Garbo uppers seem to boom next to the lower strings, and the lowers sometimes seem a little dull to me. (just my opinion guys!) I think Animas are the best cross between gut and steel with some of the advantages of both. I'll have to see if they can consistantly hold up in all of my previous gut situations, I really do like them.

I used the Animas tonight for the "Tribute To The King" Elvis Show. Once again I was quite happy with them, surprisingly. That show is an acid test for being able to hear yourself and projecting at fairly high volume. I play through a GK 800RB head and a 2x10 cabinet, but then they take a line to the PA and it's also in some of the stage monitors. All that can make for all sorts of other voodoo frequencies and boominess. This is why gut, with it's quick decay and fewer overtones, works well in these situations. Still, using the Animas and the Underwood pickup, there was plenty of thump, not too much ringing, and the pitches are clearer which obviously helps for better intonation. The response was more even string to string than with the gut setup. The G string sounded reasonably thick down on the As and Bbs. I love the Anima D string! The set actually wasn't bad for the slap tunes either. And they sure stay in tune a whole lot better than guts.

Definitely less hand fatigue with the Animas. On that show, I do the first hour on upright and then switch to electric. Often when using the guts, my right hand in particular would feel cramped and spazzy for the first couple of songs on electric. The loose tension of guts can actually make you work harder when playing loud. On gut I tend to do a lot of "claw" plucking with my index and middle fingers together, and your wrist/forearm muscles can get a little strained. The tension of the Animas allows you to do more alternating fingers on the right hand and that makes for a smoother transition when switching to electric.

So -- I'm definitely enjoying them and I'll be keeping them on for now.

Uncletoad said:

Are we seeing yet another gut guy bite the dust?

What's in the water here?

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Somehow I suspect I'll jones for the real gut again at some point, we'll see. There sure are a lot of advantages to the Animas. Fortunately I haven't had to do anything to my bridge slots, I just lowered the adjusters a little, so it should be an easy matter to pop on the guts if the monkey starts acting up.

I've had the Animas on for almost 2 weeks now and I'm still really liking them. I've used them on a variety of gigs and have been happy with them in all of the situations. The things I like most about them over my gut setup are: Less hand fatigue, both left and right. I have my action lower but they still sound punchy and are easier to control. I also like the clearer pitches, it helps me focus on intonation. I can make much more use of higher positions on the neck. The D is great all the way into thumb position, and I can even play like C, C#, D on the E string without it being a total mud-bomb.

Sound-wise, it seems that you can get them to sound more thuddy or more sing-y depending on your attack and where you pluck. Real gut has a bump to it that Animas don't quite get, but there's plenty of punch from the Animas and they're much more versatile. I'm going to be doing some gigs with a talented singer/songwriter named Donna Ulisse. Her stuff is bluegrass-oriented but more contemporary, a la Alison Krauss or Rhonda Vincent. Byron House played on her CDs and he's not just a strict thumper, there's definitely some melodic stuff in there too. So the Animas seem like a good choice for her music. Also, the Animas are nice and loud acoustically. I can hear them unamplified better than guts.

So, my poor guts are all lonely in the dark string drawer, cussing those newfangled Swiss bitches for getting all the "bass time".
But the Animas remain on...

Hey Mike!

Actually, I'll be playing with that woman I mentioned, Donna Ulisse, at the IBMA on Tuesday evening, Sept. 30th. We're also supposed to play some late night party there as well that night. Definitely come and say hello. BTW, is it your son that plays with Randy Kohrs? Randy was on Donna's first CD. I also played with Randy in Holly Dunn's band some years ago. Quite a character!

So what combo of Anima's and Garbos do you use?

arnoldschnitzer said:

I personally don't get the Velvet/Gut connection. I don't understand why they are constantly being compared. To me none of the Velvet strings sound anything like a gut string. Is there something wrong with my hearing?

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Well, it's a relative sort of thing. I think that Animas are somewhere in between guts and Spirocores. Like guts in the sense that they have a punchy attack and some of that kind of note "blossom", and a blunter sound and more flexible feel than a steel string. But like steel they have more sustain, definition, and they're more stable.

I'd agree that they sound distinctly different from real gut, but the Velvets seem to appeal to a lot of us that also like gut. I suppose that's the connection.

As far as your hearing, more likely it's just LHS: "Luthier's Humbug Syndrome"

I'd been using the Animas with this bluegrass artist that I'm working with but I was finding the G&D just a little too "singy" for all the root -fifth stuff I have to do. They're sort of borderline in that regard. I had just sold a little practice amp and so I used the proceeds on a set of Garbos from Lou Roten at LNR (great prices!). Garbos seem to have changed a bit since I last used them. The G used to be even thicker in diameter, and the color is now more uniform between the strings. Anyway, I used them on a gig last night and mostly liked them. I didn't really like the G though! It has a more plastic quality than the rest of the strings and seemed to disappear with the pickup. The Anima G comes through clear and strong with my pickup (why is it always like this?) Also the Garbo E starts to feel a little large and unwieldy, plus a little indistinct sounding.

So I came home from the gig and started "Frankenstringing". Here's what I have on now: Plain gut G - nothing so far beats a plain gut G for bluegrass; Garbo D - nice gut-like quality but clearer pitch, better tension; Garbo A - I'm getting a big full sound from this string; Anima E - I prefer this to the Garbo E, easier to manage, more distinct pitch. But - it's about the same diameter, maybe thinner than the Garbo A. Oh well, whatever. The set sounds good and it's pretty balanced.

Unfortunately, my Anima D's winding developed a separation at the bridge. I had it off the bass a few times and had messed with the action a bit. Somehow f*#ked it up. It's best not to mess with strings too much. (famous last words).

I still think that as a set, the Animas beat Garbos. Animas are balanced and consistant in tone and feel. Great strings. The bit of "mwah" they get on top is good for some settings, less good in others. I'll see how my latest concoction holds up.