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Double Bass Velvet Garbos double bass strings megathread part I

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#821
sas said:
I am reporting yet another E string breakage, also within the pegbox, at the start of the silk winding. Nut groves amply wide, so that was not the problem. Never had this happen to me in 20 years (this is my first set of Velvets, the Compas 180 suit variety), yet the gig where it happened was the first time I left the spare set at home ( swear!)

An interesting aspect, besides the challenge of doing nearly the entire gig on 3 strings (jazz/world) was that this particular bass really opened up without the E string on it, so I'll be looking into the ramifications of that.

However, the reliability issue regarding Velvets remains, and since these strings have been on the bass for 3 months tops the folks in Switzerland will be hearing from me.

greets
Alexander
Vienna
Click to expand...

alexander, tomorrow i think ill have my velvet mail and ill PM you ok? thanks for beeing patient
Nuno
 
#822
Excellent Nuno.

At the time of my chiming in here, I wasn't aware somebody from the company was monitoring this thread/forum.

I think Velvet/Schertler have an innovative and ambitious approach to string-making, and it's nice to see they coming up with the kind of after-sales support to back it up.

greets
Alexander
 
#823
It's cool that you're doing this, Nuno. Really nice to have a direct line to the product. The folks at Velvet must know by now that we have a borderline love-fest with their strings. I'd like to be 100% sure that they won't break, but, they're not Spiros, and they sound so f***in' great, that I'm willing to do the tightrope act and pack some backups in the gig bag.
 
#825
I have 360's and Animas on different basses. They are the same feel, wrap and diameters I think but the core is different. The Animas core looks like silk and the 360s core looks like perlon or plastic. The 360's are closer in sound to Dominants. Rounder and a bit more "plastic". The Anima is more natural sounding. More organic. They are more similar than different.
 
#829
In my experience their marketing and their actual product do not always line up.

Feel free to disregard my observations and buy both sets and see for yourself.
 
#831
Hmm, I realize that this doesn't really answer your original question, but if you'd like, you can come try out my bass (strung with Animas) at my place, anytime.

En français : je ne sais pas où tu es en Aquitaine, mais si tu as l'occasion de venir à Bordeaux et si ça t'intéresse, tu peux passer à la maison pour essayer mes cordes Anima.

Timo
 
#832
I've not played the 180's. The 360's and the Animas have been on my basses. The 360's do not last as long as the Animas. They all last a good long while. I imagine for most people at least a year or more. I have played Garbos on other bases and of those three I prefer the Animas. I don't bow much and am primarily a pizz player.
 
#834
Just tried to put on the E and A along with some spiro G & D. E string broke right at the top where the windings meet the nylon. The red nylon collar snapped in two as I started to put the pressure on. I would think that the Nylon, or whatever fabric it is, should break like that. I guess this is the same problem everybody's been complaining about.

I don't think I'm going to get the replacement since I think the Spiros are working well. What a drag tho.
 
#838
Sorry guys. I dunno. I have no basis to back this statement up, but IIWY, I wouldn't take the strings off unless you absolutely had to. It's my sinking feeling. I never had any problems until they were off obviously. I would think tensioning/detensioning them takes a toll on the strings. Just a guess.

But where it broke on me, there wasn't much I could do. It was way past the nut and so the nut slots couldn't have affected it. Perhaps it was due to the red collar being too far over and maybe on the peg that weakened it. I dunno, I don't remember how far the collar went when I strung them up. I tried to be careful with the nylon where the strings connect with the TP, but it didn't break there.

BTW: the collar clean snapped off near the middle but the copper windings were still attached to the other end. If I kept winding the tuners, it would simply unwind all the windings off of the string.
 
#839
Both the 180's and 360's have the same core, but in the 180's, the core is thinner, about difference in durability, its really hard to say because we know players who have been playing the same sets for years and years while others worn them out in months, this for all strings, not just the 180's and 360's, anyway, if you have more questions, please write me at [email protected]
thanks a lot

Nuno
 
#840
I would really like to see pictures of the string and where it broke, at the moment each string which comes out of producton has a serial number, and we are really encouraging customers to keep it because in case of problems, we can see if there are more cases of problems in the same string series and we can even control them here in the factory in case we still have them.
In the past there was a problem with some strings,we dont know how many, probably less than 100 strings, we corrected it and trash all the strings we had here from that series, but some are still out there, and can be bought by anyone, we received a couple of those defective strings from places as japan , australia and north america... anyway, soon or later they'll be gone for sure. most of the strings breakages i've seen lately, were due to bad installation, but of course, some were in fact defective, we will improve the installation instructions in the next times , specially for the 180's where its very important that the metal winding dont go in the tuning machines.
Hdiddy, if you have time and you could send some pics of the damage, i will really apreciate that, i would like to take a look and show Stephan the pics .
anyway, best thing is contact me at [email protected] or at my personal mail - [email protected].
At the velvet offices we have some basses there strung with different velvet strings, one bass even has some of those defective strings i mentioned , everyday, i play them, i even slap them hard, on other basses i mount strings in a wrong way, just to see where they could possible break...its not a easy job because each bass is different and each player plays differently.... but since i accepted the task, im really trying to help improve things, probably due to the nature of the velvet materials, there will be always breakages and probably, some defective strings too, but your help is important too, so we apreciate as much info as you can provide about the string, and please tell me if you want a new string.
thanks a lot

Nuno
 
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