Double Bass Velvet Garbos double bass strings megathread part I

[Jeremy Allen]

It's been said here before, but it's worth repeating: Velvets need a good three weeks to settle in, stretch out, and let the bass relax into their tension. And, as the company suggests, you will probably want to raise your action (assuming you have an adjustable bridge) to give them room to vibrate. I had a Garbo G and a D on my bass (with Anima E and A) and the amount of sound and fundamental that came out of those strings was mind-boggling. A double stop of the open D and A on the G string sounded like a cannon, or like organ pedals on steroids. I cannot imagine a bass on which a settled-in set of Garbos will not make more sound than a set of Obligatos. (But, hey, some people have good luck with Obligatos; on my bass, they were wet noodles.)

 

[hofner]

Garbos are louder than Obligatos, as said before. And yes, they need time to give their sound. They stretch for two or three weeks, and the more you play , the more they're ok, as many other strings.
this said, they have a specific sound and its difficult to compare them with other brands. I would'n't say that they sound like Lenzner plain gut : i played both and Garbos were very far from plain gut (except the G string maybe)...

 

[anonymous8547j7d7b]

It's been said here before, but it's worth repeating: Velvets need a good three weeks to settle in, stretch out, and let the bass relax into their tension. And, as the company suggests, you will probably want to raise your action (assuming you have an adjustable bridge) to give them room to vibrate. I had a Garbo G and a D on my bass (with Anima E and A) and the amount of sound and fundamental that came out of those strings was mind-boggling. A double stop of the open D and A on the G string sounded like a cannon, or like organ pedals on steroids. I cannot imagine a bass on which a settled-in set of Garbos will not make more sound than a set of Obligatos. (But, hey, some people have good luck with Obligatos; on my bass, they were wet noodles.)

+ lots for this one - especially for the double stop ("Impressions" was never so much fun ). I think i can comment on the bass-to-bass variance of the oblis as well. I had one bass (small late C19th Jacquet) on which a settled set of oblis sounded pretty mellow and "gutty". On my current instrument (contemporary Hungarian - & a much better bass) they are more like spiros. Can't wait to stick garbos on the new bass.

 

[Robert]

Yes, please keep us informed. I for one have been wanting to try them. I also wanted to try the Lenzner guts. Any specific reason they came off? Was it just the volume? What kind of lifespan can you expect on the guts. Did you have the Oblis on with the gut D&G? I've thought of that for purely pizz playing.

gomez

The Lenzners were too low in volume and too low in tension for my taste. They also lacked fundamental in their sound, at least on my bass. But I guess string sound differ extremely between instruments.

Yes I went for the Oblis and the D&G Lenzners and I always play pizz. I liked my old setup with oblis and Chromcor D&G much better (I'm not 100% certain that those were chromcors, but I think so. Those are slightly lower tension than Spirocores, and slightly heavier gauge. They had a nice fundamental in their sound, although lacking gut-like qualities.)

Yes, I don't know if I'm imagining things, but it seems like the Garbos are a little louder today.. (?)

One thing about the Garbos, they are heavy gauge indeed. They require more effort to play compared to Obligatos, Spiros and Chromcors. (but perhaps you all knew this before?)

 

[Marcus Johnson]

Patience, Robert...ye shall be rewarded

Velvets in general need some time to settle in, I think; moreso than almost any other string I can think of. The payback is well worth the wait.

 

[simandlhandle]

Thanks for the info OLIEBRICE, the prices are cheaper by about 1/3 than shop prices in the UK.

 

[RShew]

I have recently ventured into the world of Animas and so far...love them. I have had Oliv's on my bass for the past 5 years and loved them as well. The Anima adventure started with trying to get a clearer sound. I found the Oliv's wonderful acoustic but muddy with an amp. Anyway I am following Larry Grenadier's model and just using the Anima G right now. (Helicore Hydrid e and a, Oliv D). I just ordered the D from Lou Roten. My question is...am I hurting my bass in the long run by having such a mixed tension (Anima G and D, Helicore E and A)? I know that many use gut on the G and D and steel on E and A. Is the tension on the Anima drastically different then on a gut string? Any lutheirs please feel free to chime in.

 

[Robert]

Thanks Marcus, I am a bit impatient, I now. The strings are still streching like h*ll, and if I just leave the bass for a couple of hours, they're almost a quarter note down when I pick it up again.. Just like guts. :/ I really hope this will settle as well?

About the nut slots. Since the strings are heavy gauge, they don'
t really fit into the slots. This gives a few mm higher string height in the "top" positions.. How much does this affect actual playability and sound? I guess the best setup would be to fix the nut and raise the bridge if the need would arise (to let the strings swing freely).

Marcus, was it you who played with "unfixed" not sluts with your Velvets as well?

 

[Marcus Johnson]

Yes, I never modified my nut slots. However, I use the Anima set. The Garbos are quite a bit thicker than the Animas.

 

[Robert]

Ah, will I never get some peace.. Hm, perhaps it would be a good idea to widen those nut slots.. But if I decide the Garbos are too heavy for me, then I have to get a new nut perhaps.

I just wish my D and G-string hadn't broke, then I wouldn't have these "problems" and could focus on the actual playing instead. Hah.

But then again, I really wanted more output from the bass. I hope this does it.

 

[Marcus Johnson]

Hmm, "will I ever get some peace"....well, in regards to double bass strings, I'd have to say "no"

It just never seems to end, does it?

 

[Robert]

At least I managed to stay off strings until mine broke. Now the beast is unleashed..

I see years and years of experimentation ahead.. I guess I could buy a set of Spiros and just act happy with that. At least it would save time.

 

[61pollmann]

Just what is Larry Grenadier's current setup? I thought he used all 4 Garbos. Anyone know for sure?

 

[oliebrice]

I saw him play about 2 weeks ago, and I'm pretty sure he had an Anima G. Didn't recognise the other other 3, but I wouldn't expect to, theres very few strings I would recognise.

 

[Michael Case]

I saw him at the Vanguard in January and he had Heliocore Orchestral E, A, D, with a Velvet G (looked like an Anima to me).

 

[bassame]

How's that for a thread hijack!

 

[PIZZAcato]

I have recently ventured into the world of Animas and so far...love them. I have had Oliv's on my bass for the past 5 years and loved them as well. The Anima adventure started with trying to get a clearer sound. I found the Oliv's wonderful acoustic but muddy with an amp. Anyway I am following Larry Grenadier's model and just using the Anima G right now. (Helicore Hydrid e and a, Oliv D). I just ordered the D from Lou Roten. My question is...am I hurting my bass in the long run by having such a mixed tension (Anima G and D, Helicore E and A)? I know that many use gut on the G and D and steel on E and A. Is the tension on the Anima drastically different then on a gut string? Any lutheirs please feel free to chime in.

How do you mean, bridge wise? If this is the case your bass should be fine as long as the bridge stays in its place from all the repeated tunings. If not give it a 'lil karate chop

 

[RShew]

I have just heard (and it does make sense to me) that if the tension is off across the strings you can cause some longterm damage and warping in the wood (causing the bass to twist). I am guessing this is why Velvet does not like to mix sets. Once I learned about Larry using one Velvet...me inclination was to try it myself, not to capture his sound but to see how they would compare with the guts I have already been using. So far so good. I just don't want to cause my bass to warp if i switch to two Velvets and two steels. Does anyone know the measured tension of Velvets? Anima or Garbo?

 

[Jeremy Allen]

Well, Velvets are the only string sets for which the tension is the same on each individual string (a characteristic they claim as one of their advantages, and I don't doubt them). "Normal" string sets all have different tenions--like, with Spiro mittels, the E string is putting more pounds of pressure on the top than the G string is. That doesn't seem to damage the top of a bass (except for basses with particularly fragile/thin tops--I've seen steel strings make the top of an old Italian bass gradually cave in and it was pretty scary).

When I mixed Velvet Animas and Garbos (Garbo on top, Anima on bottom) I definitely noticed that some of the beneficial effects of the Velvet touch were lost; the bass still sounded good, but a wolf tone that had disappeared with the full set of Animas on reappeared when I mixed the set. I trust them when they say that their string sets are meant to work as a set.

I tried mixing Spirocores and Velvets, and I didn't get very far with that set up because I was really freaked out by how much the tailpiece was twisting: Velvets sort of pull along the top of the tailpiece where they connect, and the ball ends of the Spiros sort of pull along the bottom end, and it made the whole tailpiece twist so that one side was quite a bit higher (i.e. further from the table) than the other. I thought "Well, that's probably not good," and ended the experiment.

 

[Michael Case]

Sorry to not really answer the question before. The main thing about Velvets (and it has been mentioned already) is that mixing them with other strings diminishes the effect of even tension across the entire bass.