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Double Bass Velvet strings megathread part II

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#121
Sweet51, first of all, search the archives. There's a ton of info in there on the various Velvet strings. There is even a sticky thread if you look under the strings forum.

I've never had a set on my bass, but everytime I see someone play them, I want a set. They sound great. However, I had a shop loaner bass with Animas on it once and it was virtually unplayable. I assumed it was the bass, but everytime I play someone else's bass with Velvet strings on it, it drives me batty. I sat in on a friend's bass at a jam session a few weeks ago and he had just strung with Animas. I played 3 songs and my hands were hamburger meat for about 10 days afterwards.

High action, very low tension and semi-round wound on the surface. I'm sure that you can learn to play them and condition your hands for them, but I'm not going to take that leap any time soon.

Like someone else said, they are a love um or hate um string. They're expensive to try and then once you do and adjust to them, you're either a convert or you're not.

-tk
 
#122
You know, the current Animas are really not that roundwound at all. They're not as smooth as Spiros, but they aren't as gnarly as some other strings I've played. If you do a lot of slippery slidey Buster Williams stuff, they probably wouldn't be your top choice.

Someone (Timo, I think) posted some great upclose pics of Animas awhile back. Maybe you can find them, just to give you an idea of what they look like.
 
#123
Yeah, I've been a voyeur of these strings for a while and I hear that and can kind of buy into it, but they shreaded my hands after 3 songs, so there is definitely a difference.

I'm sure that you get used to them, but it's misleading to say that there isn't that much difference.

-tk
 
#127
I started off on Spiros and was determined that if they were good enough for the Jazz greats I know about, then why should I complain?

But I always felt they were lacking something and just sounded too "metallic" to me ...?

I then read a huge amount of favourable stuff around here - from some people who have provided sound clips as well and was convinced that Animas were what I was looking for !

I fitted then a few months ago - maybe 4 or 5 now and it was a huge difference and very positive. I've let a few others try them - tutors who are Jazz pros and they weren't overwhelmingly in favour like me - just found it an interesting difference - but not what they wanted...although they saw no problem me using them and acknowledged the high quality.

I'm still very happy and love the sound on my bass. :)
 
#130
Another Anima question.

On a gig a few nights back, I noticed the winding on the D string coming undone, about 1" below the fingerboard.

I've had the set on for about a year, which I'm told is rather long. My questions are: what can I do to arrest the unwinding? How liable is the string to break outright at this point? Since Velvets don't sell singles, what kind of string could I swap in that would offer a comparable tension?

Thank all of you for your attention to this matter.

:help:
 
#131
The same thing happened to me, in the same place you describe, after playing a set of Animas for about four months. You can get Velvet singles from the US distributor, Lou Roten, whose company is LNR Music (www.lnrmusic.com). Call rather than emailing for quick service; he will replace them for free if they are still under warranty, but after a year I'm not sure.

I was disappointed with the unraveling, and I felt that it made the open string and any harmonics sound a bit false. But the fact is, I have taken that set of Animas off and on several times, on different basses, since then, and they still play well. The thread separation just continues to get bigger; right now, the set is on my plywood bass, and the D windings are a mess, separating above the nut and all the way to the E on the D string. This means you can't really slide when shifting in that one particular spot, but I've been managing well with them. I just did a studio recording with that bass last night, and it worked out fine.

Oh yeah, why am I still playing that D when Lou sent me a replacement for free? Because I asked him to send a Garbo instead of an Anima to try out...and I hated it. Wish I hadn't done that!

Edit: I think that the windings separate in the first place because the nut slot isn't wide enough, and the D string seems to be the one with the type of winding most susceptible to the problem. Especially because of the round windings, Animas need to be well-lubricated with graphite when you put them on (I put some on the strings themselves in the areas where they pass over the bridge and nut), and I bet if your D slot was wider the problem won't happen again.
 
#132
My personal record was 3 years and the only reason they got changed was I had a new bridge and nut put on my bass. That was in September of 05 and the sets of Animas that got put on then are what's on now, so we're into month 3 of the second year.
 
#133
I had a D that was doing the same thing as well. This was after about 14 months. The nut slot was wide enough and well lubed, so I don't think that was the problem. I think this is something that just happens over time with this type of string -- I experienced the same thing a while back with an old Olive G. I think the combination of the smooth outer wrap over the flexible core leads to this string showing "unwinding" faster or more conspicuously than the others. I didn't notice any sound deterioration from it.
 
#134
Hi just curious what TBr's think - I searched the threads but couldn't find this is specific question answered. Are Garbo's that much louder then Anima's?? are they really thicker and punchier - how big is the difference?
 
#135
Everybody's bass is different BUT, I played one of my teacher's studio (teaching) basses (A Kay C-1)with Anima's and with Garbo's. The Animas were loud, warm and projecting, the Garbo's were tubby, thumpy and kind of indistinct. They may have been as loud as the Animas, but the sound was NOT happening so I didn't dig them. They certainly weren't louder than the Animas.

On that bass.
 
#136
A few months ago, I replaced a year old set of Animas by a year old set of Garbos and I must say that on my bass, they have a very similar sound. Garbos might be a tad louder, but I'm not sure, really. I recently listened to some gigs a pianist I often play with recorded around the time I made the switch, and I had to look at the date to tell which strings I was using. They feel a bit different (the Garbo G almost feels like a plain gut G) but there's certainly no night and day difference. If weichs were 8am and plain gut 11pm, I'd put Animas at 5pm and Garbos at 6pm.

Then again, on recordings, I always sound like myself no matter what strings I am using... I guess it's the same for all of us. There's just no damn string that plays with impeccable intonation and has great ideas... :)
 
#138
For pizz, I'd say that they are close sound-wise, and a bit different feel-wise. Arco, they both are more or less difficult, and a special mention goes to that Garbo G that has got to be the most bow-unfriendly string that I've tried. It makes bowing plain gut strings seem easy in comparison.

On my bass, of course.
 
#139
bassdogEmer said:
OK so.....is the main difference really then the bowability of each string?? pizz wise they are close?
Click to expand...


Andrew,

They're very similar. Now, you know I don't bow the bass but for pizz I can't see much difference. If I WERE to try bowing, I'd think the Animas would have the upper hand, due to the copper winding of the G string.

Wonder where I got to try these strings? ;)
 
#140
yo Michael,
nice to hear from you again! how ya doin? thanks for the advise from you and everyone else.. I tried the Animas againbut suspect I might be happier with the Garbo's. I was mainly wondering if the winding on the E,A and D strings of the Garbo set are SMOOTHER than the Anima windings???
 
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