Double Bass Velvet strings megathread part II

[Marcus Johnson]

Not very bow friendly IME. My favorite all purpose string is Evah Pirazzi Weichs.

 

[doberman]

I'm certainly in the minority but I actually quite like animas for bowing, though i primarily perform pizz. I haven't tried the Velvet Blues and honestly don't plan to (I'll stick with Animas and Garbos) but I wouldn't rule out Animas...though it could be an expensive way to find out you don't like them for bowing either...I seem to get the most volume and deepest tone with the animas. On my back up bass (a Shen hybrid) I thought they were too bright. I think that's just the instrument though, bowing was not a problem for me on either.

I had regular Evah's on my bass before and I prefer Animas by far, but haven't tried the weichs though a lot of people really love them.

 

[uprightbass.com]

I've never tried the Velvet Blue, but I have the Animas and I it works great for me for Arco. They are amazing pizz and I do enjoy them under the bow.

It's not as deep and quick under the bow as orchestral steel strings, but it's easy to get them to move. Compared to my setup on a bass that had Original Flexocors; it required a change in rosin to get a nice response, sound and feel from the Animas. They're not as forgiving as some, but if you have good technique it's far from other strings that feel like Russian roulette at every start.

It's a matter of technique, I've always played with hand weight at most, ever since I was corrected in college. I do not to press/dig into the strings as some bassists like to do, so these play wonderfully for me. Plays like viol da gamba strings so if you dig into your strings, these will choke.

 

[Bobby King]

IMO, you can bow on Animas, but they are not very satisfying in either sound or feel -- sort of a "hollow" tone, and not very good response. If you don't want to use steel strings, then one of the synthetics like Evah Pirazzi, Obligato or Dominant might be your best bet. They are going to have a blunter sound for pizz like Velvets, but are also quite good for arco. Another option would be flatwound gut strings like Eudoxa or Olive (they are very expensive however). Or some combination of the above -- Evah Pirazzi E&A paired with Olive D&G. The Evah Pirazzi weichs seem to be popular currently.

 

[davpal]

You might try a different rosin. I pulled a lot of sound out of Velvet blues using Kolstein soft. Experiment before you give up on them.

 

[Nuno A.]

I've got a Strunal hybrid bass. It came with D'Addario Helicore Orchestra, which I liked both for arco and pizz. I thought I wouldn't be bowing at all, so I changed to Velvet Blue, which gave me a more open and louder sound. I really like these strings, but now I need to do a little bit of arco sometimes, and I just can't bow that A string. It probably has to do with me being a terrible arco player, but I just can't see how I can get this right. I'm wondering if I have to change and wonder what could come closest to Velvet Blue and be more bowable. Could Animas be the solution?

you got pm

Nuno

 

[RShew]

I have tried both Blues and Animas. I currently use animas on the G and D only. I find that they are difficult to bow, but not impossible. A light touch along with the right rosin are key factors. I was never able to get into the sound either arco or pizz of the Blues. They seemed 2D while the Animas were 3D (insert Avatar one-liner now).

If you are doing a lot of arco work or significant solo pieces, I would stay away from both and move towards an arco string or at least Evah's.

 

[johnz]

Has anyone used any of the Velvet line with a Marvin tailpiece? Would the Marvin present any problems on "tying" the loops at the bottom?

Thanks

Louis

Hi Louis, I've had my bass strung with Animas for the last 6 months or so. And, Matt Bohn installed a Marvin tailpiece for me this last Saturday. I'm sure the tailpiece installation took a little ingenuity; but, I didn't hear any complaints from Matt. I'd expect that any competent luthier should be able to install one for you.

For what it's worth, I'm liking the changes the tailpiece made. I'm finding that the claims on Marvin's web site are generally true for me. In particular, it did control several wolf tones that I had. The strings do feel a little looser. The sound is a little more open; The E string speaks better now; and the strings are little quicker to start under the bow (I really notice that on the G).

All that, and the bass is lighter

 

[hgrind]

Nuno at Velvet told me that the 1st generation Velvet Blue has a little rougher winding on the A string and that they've changed it so the windings like the other three strings. A new A string is already on it's way from Velvet for me to try.

Velvet has shown me great customer service before and show it again now. I'm confident this will solve my problem, and I'll be very happy if I get to keep my Velvet Blue strings on my bass.

 

[LouisF]

John,

Thanks.

Actually the question was meant the other way around. I have a Marvin tailpiece on my DeAnda bass already and I love it - it really opened the bass up. I was just curious about attaching the Anima loops etc to it.

It will, as you say, take some ingenuity, but will give it a try after this current run of concerts is over (I have Corelli 370TX fortes on now)

Again, thanks very much.

louis

 

[drasticDUB]

thought I'd chime in here. Just got a used set of Garbos, and Im suprised in just how much different they are than what I was expecting I guess.
Maybe not though...I've played Spiro weichs exclusively for the past 10 yrs or so. The garbos seem so much looser, with considerably less tension than a steel string. I'm having a little trouble adjusting, which is to be expected I guess. Wont gig with these strings until Tuesday, so we'll see.
I'm loving the sound...as I've been hearing a more trad. gut sound...just home my hands can get used to it!

 

[bassbuddie]

To me Garbo are very similar to gut. Switching from Spiro to gut (or garbo) takes time. The ear and technique has to adjust. But if you are patient, you won't look back.

 

[Phil Rowan]

thought I'd chime in here. Just got a used set of Garbos, and Im suprised in just how much different they are than what I was expecting I guess.
Maybe not though...I've played Spiro weichs exclusively for the past 10 yrs or so. The garbos seem so much looser, with considerably less tension than a steel string. I'm having a little trouble adjusting, which is to be expected I guess. Wont gig with these strings until Tuesday, so we'll see.
I'm loving the sound...as I've been hearing a more trad. gut sound...just home my hands can get used to it!

Did you raise your string height enough to accommodate the string's lower tension?

 

[bassivus]

John,

Thanks.

Actually the question was meant the other way around. I have a Marvin tailpiece on my DeAnda bass already and I love it - it really opened the bass up. I was just curious about attaching the Anima loops etc to it.

It will, as you say, take some ingenuity, but will give it a try after this current run of concerts is over (I have Corelli 370TX fortes on now)

Again, thanks very much.

louis

Hi,

I have had the I A-solo of Compas 180 SOLO installed on my bass with the Marvin tailpiece. I was afraid that the relatively sharp edges of the t.p. brass rings could cut in the string so I made a few turns on them with the cotton duct tape, and than installed the string. It worked fine

Ivica

 

[drasticDUB]

dont know what numbers I was at as far as height, but putting the garbos on seemed to instantly make my heights way taller, so I left it?

 

[davpal]

I found the same thing happened to my string height when I put on Velvet blues... I believe the lower tension of the strings puts much less force down on the top and the top rises (as well as the bridge, of course). My bass has a carved top which may be affected more than a ply....

 

[hgrind]

I got the new A-string to try out from Velvet very fast. Put in on today, and it seems that my problems are solved.

Thank you Nuno A. and Velvet!

 

[fred pratt]

Okay, I'm not into name-dropping, but a chance encounter I had recently pertains to the discussion of Velvet bowability. I was at David Gage's shop getting some work done and John Patitucci happened to be there gettting some work done on his new road bass. After Mike Weatherly introduced us I hung out probably longer than I needed to, talking to John (very nice guy) and listening to him play the bass as Mike made adjustments to it. We talked very briefly about strings. John had EPs on his bass and I was reminded to ask Mike how he removed the grime that Velvet Blues left on my fingerboard. (The answer is a fine cloth or fine steel wool). John said something about not wanting to be anywhere near Velvet strings when he had a bow in his hand. Obviously that's just his own experience.

Me, I don't know, since I'm not going to start on the bow until I master two more Lennie Tristano/Sal Mosca-created exercises that are probably going to take me at least a couple months a piece. I love the pizzicato sound of the Blues on my bass, both acoustic and amplified.

Someone told me Animas bow better than Blues. I have a lightly used set of Animas in my drawer, just waiting in case that's true. I also still have an un-opened pack of EP Weichs in my drawer, just in case I wind up agreeing with JP.

 

[kurt]

Hey guys. Which of the velvet strings have the smoothest windings? I do a lot of slap playing and I'm worried that the roughness of the velvets I've tried will damage my fingerboard. I also do some bowing. Would the compas 180 suit be the best? I like nylon strings like the innovation rockabillys for slapping but they suck with the bow. I tried some Evah solo's and they're great for bowing but a lot harder to slap on. Any ideas?

 

[Francois Blais]

AFAIK, the 180s have a flat metal wrap, unlike the others.