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Double Bass Velvet Garbos double bass strings megathread part I

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#361
i really don't think you can get a Velvet Anima sound out of a flat wrapped steel on gut string. at least not Oliv. as another TBDB regular once told me, and now I believe him, gut strings go "boing" and flat wrapped gut strings go "thud".

i've used Olivs, Eudoxa, and Animas. Animas go "boing". Olivs go "thud". Eudoxas are pretty much a "thud" too, unless you have a bright bass. that's the mono-syllabic explanation, but i found it to be pretty true for my bass and my ears. forgive me for reducing the conversation to such ludicrous terms, you might be surprised who explained it to me that way!
 
#362
...they snap (at the bridge at the nut...)...
Click to expand...

I'd take another look at the gage of the nut and bridge channels. You should also soften the entry to these channels with a rattail file, flair them out a bit. Sounds like the edge of the copper wrappings are binding to the edge of the channels causing the pressure of the tightening to locaize at that point.

The wrapping on the animas are quite a bit more pronounced than say spirocores or obligatos. I think of them as pleasure ribs ;) .
 
#363
Dave Peeples said:
i've used Olivs, Eudoxa, and Animas. Animas go "boing". Olivs go "thud". Eudoxas are pretty much a "thud" too, unless you have a bright bass. that's the mono-syllabic explanation, but i found it to be pretty true for my bass and my ears. forgive me for reducing the conversation to such ludicrous terms, you might be surprised who explained it to me that way!
Click to expand...

Well that's certainly an interesting analogy. The thing is of course that the Animas (as well as all the other Velvet strings) are not gut but silk core strings so if you do think they go "boing" then apparently it's a pretty good recreation. I play on unwound gut (at least for the G and D) and they definitely go "boing" for me and my experience with Animas (many years ago now) is that they are sort of "boing" but not the same kind of "boing." There are some strings on the hand like Obligatos that (to me) are "mwah" or even sometimes "puke." I think Olivs and sometimes even Eudoxas can go "thud" on the bottom two strings (which is why I use steel strings there now) but I think Olivs for the G and D are "boing" for sure.

Has this thread deteriorated or what?
 
#364
:) we use fewer syllables per capita down here...

i agree, the Anima is a different kind of "boing" and yes, it is impressive that they do such a good impression of "boing", perhaps the flexibility of their silk core allows a freer vibration than a stiffer steel-wrapped gut like Oliv.

maybe i should hold back my judgement on Oliv G and D, now that i think about it, they were "thud" on my bass, which is a pretty dark, thuddy bass. the Animas, however, sounded amazing on the same bass..
 
#366
Ya know I have been confused about this for a long while thanks. I used the compas 180's as a pizz string cause I thought they were higher tension and I was mixing sets (G and D) then I got some Animas here and some used garbos ,and after breaking different strings from different sets I cant tell what i have anymore. I think I'm going to try a compas 360 top string now just to confuse myself further.
I could be totally wrong but it felt like the compas G and D had a little more bite center to the note like they were half way back to steel again?
 
#367
Flatback: you are experiencing a statistically high amount of string breakage. I would suggest that the problem is yours. I broke an E string years ago, but realized that it was my problem -- I pinched the string against the cheek of the peg box. This must be avoided at all costs. DB's don't have friction pegs like violins, so the practice of winding the string against the peg box is not recommended.
 
#368
I was thinking on switching to Animas recently, however it was suggested to me that the Kolstein Heritage strings would offer me the same sound but with longer life and, obviously, less money. I currently have a mix of Dominants and Obligatos which are fine, but there's something missing. I see a lot of players I know and listen to making the switch to Velvets, but if the Heritages are a viable alternative, then I'd rather forego spending all that money. Are the tensions similar between the two? Also, which is more bowable? Thoughts?
 
#369
I have only tried Heritages...

I found the sound to be great, at first, with these strings. Although it took a while to break in for the bow, all in all they really sounded great. I found them faily easy to play and they sounded fine for playing classical while the pizz sound was still clear and defined.

However, I think the manufacturer has some quality problems. Often, the D strings would come with flaws and the G strings always developed dead spots around the block of the neck after a month or two. Also, they didn't seem to keep their definition after about 2 months......
 
#370
I've been using Animas and Garbos steadily for 3 years on three basses and have never had a problem with breakage.
I did, however, have the 'D' and 'G' of a fairly new set of Compas 360s break within a day of each other last April while at MerleFest. One broke as I was tuning up seconds before my bass workshop was to begin...
One thing to consider is that the Velvets are actually too LONG for many 3/4 scale basses and you've got to be careful that only the nylon "ribbon" at the top of the string winds around the peg. The manufacturer recommends that you shorten the 'E' string by double- looping it thru the tailpiece. This usually is only a factor for 'E' and 'G' strings beacause of the arrangement of the pegbox.
 
#371
When my Kolstein bass arrived, it was strung up with heritages. I liked them for the most part. I kept them on for about 8 or 9 months, but then being the orchestral player that I am, I switched out because I wanted something more bowable. I liked the feel for the jazz gigs I played. The animas I have tried on a few of my friends basses, and I didnt like the feel of them. I would give my vote to the Kolstein strings.
 
#372
I've used both, and I think the Animas are far superior strings. They last longer than the Heritages, and they've turned my bass into a beast without wolf-tones that sounds like it's amplified even when it isn't.

However, the Animas feel pretty strange under the fingers and thus may not be for everyone. I decided to suck it up and learn to play on them, placing higher priority on the outstanding tone than on the ease of finger-wiggling. Now I find them to feel perfectly normal.
Heritages are more "normal" feeling, but even they are a little strange compared to steel strings like Spirocores or something.
As usual, your results may vary...
 
#373
And after you play the Animas for awhile, it feels really weird to play Spiros, or something of a similar gauge. I just got done with a gig on my Azola, strung with weichs (on a boat, didn't want to get salty funk all over my main bass). They felt really spindly, like I was playing guitar or something. I still really like Spiros, and I don't hate Obligatos as much as a lot of TBers seem to. But the Animas are really in another class as far as I'm concerned. Any hesitation that I ever had because of the price is long gone; I think they're worth every penny.
 
#375
I raised the adjusters about 1mm (they were all the way down when I had the Obligatos on), to get them feeling and sounding right.

I haven't used an amp on my regular duo gig, a large open-air lounge adjoining an even larger hotel lobby, since I installed the Animas. Bob Harrison, a bassist friend I've mentioned here, came up from a gig down on the lower grounds of the hotel, and said, "Man, I can hear you all the way down there ....the bass is just blooming". I've also noticed better audience response from the unamped bass. People seem to enjoy the true sound more, even though I was using the excellent Bose L1/B1 before unplugging.

Most importantly, I'm enjoying myself immensely. The first few notes of each evening are very satisfying, to say the least. I don't foresee myself doing any more string experiments anytime soon.
 
#376
I didn't have to widen any slots, although there is a bulge in each string's wrapping that had some difficulty going through the nut. I didn't even raise my bridge: with the lower tension, the bass kind of swelled after a few days and the strings are higher than my old steel ones even without doing anything to the bridge.
I would recommend using a load of graphite on the bridge slots and maybe even the strings where they pass over the bridge: because of the windings, it's harder to push the bridge backwards into the proper position as the strings are brought to tension. But this may not be an issue for everyone.
And I've had a similar response to Marcus: I still take an amp to gigs, but I've yet to turn it on since I started using Animas. The sound just projects so well, and I feel like I've installed a subwoofer on my bass. It's hard to beat the pleasure of playing acoustically and actually being heard--it's heaven!
 
#377
i had a set of Animas for a few days, man they sounded great! but i only had one bass and needed a better arco thing for practice...
now I have 2 basses, and I wish I still had the Animas! one question for Anima users: how would they respond to being played at lower pitches? for instance, my main gig now is with an artist whose upcoming album has Viktor Krauss on several tracks, and he tuned his bass down (all four strings, I'm pretty sure) a minor third (the song was in C#, he played it like it was E, sounds awesome!). So for live shows, I need a set up to play one song tuned down a MINOR 3rd, all four strings! medium gauge Thomastiks are working fine (prolly what Viktor uses too) but I wonder how the Animas would do.... anyone willing to try it and report back? specifically important is how they'd feel and play in the first couple postions, nothing past "seventh fret" would matter.
btw, i'm pretty sure a "drop D flat" tuning won't cut it. the licks Viktor played just lay perfectly in E positions. anyone?
 
#378
I actually recorded something this weekend where I tuned by bass down a minor third on one song and a half step for another. I have Spirocore mediums E and A and Eudoxa D and G. I can't speak for Anima's.....but this setup sounded incredible when detuned.

It actually made me wish I had strings that were that low in tension at regular pitch...it really made the basss resonate.
Animas are supposed to have lower tension right???
 
#379
brianh said:
It actually made me wish I had strings that were that low in tension at regular pitch...it really made the basss resonate.
Animas are supposed to have lower tension right???
Click to expand...

Try tuning solo gauge strings at regular pitch. It's working well for me. I'm using spirocores, but people do it with whatever strings they like that come in solo gauge.

My guess is that Animas would be pretty floppy tuned down a minor 3rd, since they are already pretty low tension, but you'd have to try it to be sure.
 
#380
Tension is also a question of bridge height. You can tune strings down and raise the bridge if you're looking for a pitch difference without sacrificing much tension.
Animas aren't floppy like some low tension strings, just...different. But down a minor third might be pushing it, especially for the E string (which I find is the least satisfying of the four, bordering on being too loose).
Does Viktor Krauss always tune down? He does have a very recognizable sound.
 
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