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Double Bass compas 180 suit

P

pipeman

Mar 20, 2005
99
48
New York City
#1
hello all. i recently broke my anima D string after one month of playing. i replaced it with an olive D. a little darker sounding.
i have a set of the standard tension compas 180's but the tension is too stiff for my liking.
wondering if anyone has used the 180 suit, and if the tension is similar to the anima and the 360's. also, if the strings grab the bow better than the standard tension 180's
 
#2
Hello.
I've never used Animas or compas 360.
All I can say is that compas 180 suit is a wonderful string according to me..it depends a lot on your bass obviously.. but they let your bass sounds as it is..they have generally warm and acoustic sound.
The 180 suit set is very bowable, but you can play them even pizz.
The 180 suit set has lower tension than the 180 standard, as Velvet says you can tune 180 suit in Orchestra and Solo tuning. They work really fine in solo tuning, and they still bow wonderfully.. no scratches, warm sound, tha vibration starts as you touch them.
If you're looking for a very precise and bright string,they maybe are not for you..
PS- the Velvet customer service is very efficient. For any problems you should contact them, ant they will replace your string, especially if it is nearly new! I broke an E of my 180suit set,and they immediately sent me an extra E..
Hope this helps..
 
#4
I've been interested in trying the 180 SUIT set on my King bass. The King is 43.5 scale and I've had the best luck with lower tension strings. I would use the 180s at standard tuning. I've been using Corelli 370M on my King and I like them very much for arco. The pizz is decent too, not too bright. The thin diameter is something I've never been totally crazy about though. On my Strunal Hybrid, I have a Gamut gut set up which is my favorite for pizz, but arco on gut is....

So my questions for you folks who've used 180 SUIT:

How does the tension, diameter, tone, arco and pizz response of 180 SUIT compare to Corelli 370M?

I'm hoping to hear: the tension is similar, they are a bit thicker, the arco is just is good and the pizz is a little darker, punchier and more "gut like" :) But don't tell me this if it's not really the case :rollno:

Thanks in advance!

Bobby
 
#5
Well, it seems it is your lucky day...!

I've never tried Corelli 370M, but right now I'm trying Corelli 370TX..I guess it is not very different..

I'm going to compare Velvet 180suit with Corelli 370tx..

..maybe Compas180suit -in orchestra tuning- have lower tension compared to 370tx..
They are a little thicker than 370tx, so, as 370tx are -probably- the thickest strings of Corelli, I easily guess that 180suit are thicker than 370m..
The arco response in Compas180suit is very smooth and they bow wonderfully...no scratches at all..the vibration starts as you touch the string..you don't need pressure to get a good sound.. The sound is warm and not bright, even if harmonics are wonderful.. Maybe it is not a very precise and brilliant string (as spiro are..). They have more a warm sound..
Velvet says this is a string for ArcoPlayer..!
The pizz is good too! it is darker than corelli and more gut-like (and less "spiro-like"), but this not gut.. I think they have a silk-core.. The sustain is good (not as long as spirocores.. but still good..)
If you'll try them, remember to have an action on your bass that allows them to vibrate..as this is a low tension string and the vibration of the strings is wide, the strings need some "space".. It doesn't mean you'll need to have the G at 12mm..!!!! I think 9-10 mm would be good.. but, you know, it depends on your bass..

Hope this helps...

Have fun with 180suit, and pay attention to the mounting instructions..
For any problem with this string (for instance breakages..), contact Velvet customer service. They are really very kind.
They quickly replaced me an E I got broken.
 
#6
I was forgetting to say that I like even Corelli370tx response for arco and pizz...
The pizz has more sustain and is brigter than Compas180suit
The arco is really very easy too... the sound is less warm, but overall is a very friendly and easy string..
 
#7
My favorite strings these days are Dominant's or Compas 180's. I've got the 180 SUIT on the bass now, except for a regular tension E. I'd ultimately like to have all regular tension 180's on, but the cost to do so is an issue right now.

The 180's are a great hybrid string, in my opinion. Great arco, and very good pizz as well. I tried Corelli's once and gave up on them. Perhaps I tried the wrong set for my bass and playing needs.

If anyone needs a SUIT 180, I'm happy to let it go. I'd also be cool with trading a fairly new set of 180 SUIT's for regular tension.
 
#9
I've never measured either, but the Dom's are noticably thicker I believe. The freaky thng about the Dom's is how stiff they are off the bass. I thought the 180's were as well, but not as much as the Dom's. On the bass, I kind of miss the heft of the Dom's, but the Velvet's are slightly less harsh to me with the bow. While both are great hybrid sets, the 180's are a less raspy with the bow, thinner, less tension, less expensive, and ultimately a really good string for double-duty.

It's interesting to string them up by tying the peg box ends first.
 
#10
I've been looking online at prices for the Compass 180 SUIT set. There are some pretty big differences in prices.

LNR, Quinn and Lemur all show the list price to be $325. Quinn (surprisingly) offers no discount. LNR's discounted price is $257. Lemur's price is $199.

I'm a little suspicious because Lemur offers the 180 SUIT and the newer, higher tension 180's for the same price. Everywhere else the SUIT set is more expensive.

Is what Lemur is selling as 180 SUIT the same string as LNR and why is it that much cheaper, especially since LNR (I thought) is the US Velvet distributor?

Thanks for your help!

Bobby
 
#11
i talked to lou roten at lnr and the people at ideal music in new york, and they both said that the 180 hightension, 180 suit, and the 360 all do not sell very well. i know ideal gets them fom lemur and they go for $199. lnr costs more but they sell single strings.
i just tried the suit G string yesterday. it's ok. its very much like the regular 180 but with less tension. not too floppy for standard tuning. the bowing is ok, but still nothing like pirastro or TI belcanto orchestra strings. plenty of sustain and brightness for pizz though. i think it's velve'ts answer to spirocore strings. they are warmer though.......
 
#13
just wanted to update my 180 suit g string review.

after being on my bass for a couple of days, the bow response got much smoother and the pizz has that distincive velvet tone and weight to each note. the g string is thin by velvet standards, but definitely thicker than your standard steel string. right now i'm mixing the 180 suit g with weichs. much easier to bow, and a darker/rounder tone than the weichs.
thinking about trying the rest of the strings. forgot to mention that they stay in tune much faster than the other velvets.....
 
#14
Put a set of Velvet Compas 180 Suit on my bass a few days ago. Tuned to Orchestra pitch, they are very loose feeling, more so than weichs on my bass, and have a big dark sound. They bow nicely too, but they are loose, so digging in isn't the same as with higher tension strings.

They are a bit slower to respond pizz than the other steel and hybrid strings I have used and also kind of a pain to install, it took me over two hours. Not sure if I'll keep them but they are kind of nice for now.
__________________
 
#15
Does anyone know how the Velvet Compas 180 suit compares with the Evah Pirazzis or Belcantos? (for both pizz and arco) The reviews on the ease of arco play of the BCs are enticing, but I don't want to sacrifice volume, especially on E/A string. is compas 180 comparably unresponsive or is it fine?
 
#16
kokiri said:
Does anyone know how the Velvet Compas 180 suit compares with the Evah Pirazzis or Belcantos? (for both pizz and arco) The reviews on the ease of arco play of the BCs are enticing, but I don't want to sacrifice volume, especially on E/A string. is compas 180 comparably unresponsive or is it fine?
Click to expand...

The Compas Suit are much looser feeling than both Evahs and Belcantos. The Compas E sings more with greater pizz volume than the Belcanto E's I've tried on a few basses. I've found the Belcanto E pizzes with a lower volume than the other Belcanto strings, somewhat thuddy sounding. I think that Evahs might be louder than Compas 180 Suit, they feel tighter on my bass and are the loudest of any string I've tried on it so far.

Comparing Belcantos to Evahs, one of my students went from a full set of Belcantos to Evahs on his new bass and the jazz pizz sound, particularly on the E and A string is much better. Another student just bought an extended Spirocore to replace the Belcanto E. We'll see how that goes when he installs it. Full set Evahs are by far the better hybrid jazz/classical string. The Belcanto G and D are very nice hybrids but the A and E are not as good for jazz pizz.
 
#18
off topic but not too far: a friend of mine in ATL has broken more Anima strings than i can keep count of... ok, so it's in the ball park of 3, but still, that's 3 more than i've ever broken of any type of double bass string, ever... :hmm:

as for the 180 SUIT, i'm really thinking of trying them as a more bowable and stable alternative to my plain gut/wrapped gut combo..... does that sound like a good move?
 
#19
Are the SUIT the new 180s or the old ones? Either way, anything is more bowable than unwrapped gut which I just switched from after years of using it. Like you, I've never broken any strings and now I have a full set of Animas with a Garbo D. I totally love them (and they are definitely more bowable than the unwound guts).
 

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