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Double Bass Velvet strings megathread part III

#24
BassPulsar said:
What brought me here … I would like to know if someone has experience playing with the “new” velvet blue strings? Any advice or insight (e.g., “stay away from it”, …)

Regards.
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I got some blues. i didnt like them. the bow response was bad, the e string didnt match the rest of the set in sound, and they had a really metallic twang about them with pizzed. It could just be my bass though
 
#25
I really wish you could buy singles in these for a resonable price,and I wish they make these strings so that the wound part of the string would go into the peg,,I'm tired of these little string thing just pulling off the end of the wound string,,what a great string with a poor design,,could some one copy and make this string in the USA?? if it's not pattened here??these strings would be very good sellers if you could just get them and if the problems were corrected,,but $100.00 for a copper over nylon A string is just too much,,Kent
 
#26
I've never been crazy about the Garbo or Anima G but I love the Anmia A and D string. I also really like the Garbo D. On my jazz/blues/country bass I've been using Oliv G Anima A and D and Spiro E. While my other bass was in getting restored I used this setup for orchestral music as well and although it didn't sit in the section as well, it was a big sound that really had a lot of girth. Haven't tried the blues but I really like Velvets. My Anima D recently snapped and I immediately replaced it with another Anima.
 
#27
Mingus Fingus said:
Hey Everybody,

I just switched to a full set of Velvet Blues from Spiro Mittels with an Olive G. It took me a few days to get used to the low tension, but I'm starting to really love the feel and sound of the Velvets. Sound great pizz and bowed, and are really easy on both the left and right hands (minus turning my fingers slightly green).

I play an extended E (low C extension) and the E is something I can't quite get used to yet. It is really low tension, and a little more difficult to bow. I'd really like to use the full set of Blues...is this something that might change over time, or should I be searching for a new E string? A friend of mine said Helias had the same problem when he switched to Blues and they had a higher tension E string that he could use. I know the Velvet guys are around this thread, and have only heard amazing things about their customer service. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Adam.
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Just wanted to let everyone know of the GREAT customer service I got from the Velvet folk in regards to this problem. I had apparently bought an old-ish set of blues, and they had changed the tension on the extended E since then. Nuno sent me a message immediately and I had the new string within the week. Since then no problems, matches the feel and sound of the A-D-G much better. Great business to work with.
 
#28
Thelowestoflow said:
I got some blues. i didnt like them. the bow response was bad, the e string didnt match the rest of the set in sound, and they had a really metallic twang about them with pizzed. It could just be my bass though
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I just put blues on one of my basses.

They are very pleasantly loud, growly, even and a nice feel ... but hmmm ... oh so bright. Do they mellow out after a while?
 
#30
Matthew Tucker said:
I just put blues on one of my basses.

They are very pleasantly loud, growly, even and a nice feel ... but hmmm ... oh so bright. Do they mellow out after a while?
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Yeah, they definitely mellow. I had the same thought when I put them on. They've kept the growl, but are much darker now. E string is still a little bright for me, but I also put that on later so I expect it to darken as well.
 
#31
I just put Garbos in my best bass. Thunderous piz in E,A and D strings. The G string gives a floor shaking open G sound but quite less than expected volume lower in the FB. As i approach the octave the volume becomes even lower. With the Spiros mittel or the EP Weich i had not experienced this problem. The G string clearance in the FB end is 5 mm. Is it too low for a Garbo G string?
Any suggestions?
Mike
 
#33
I installed a new set of Garbos yesterday. I really like the sound of them as I was looking for a gut-like string that stays in tune better. I was expecting loose ropes (tension-wise) but they really are not that low-tension IMO. The perfect pizz string for old-school blues and jazz. One thing I noticed is that I hear more fingernoise than usual (my previous strings were Obligatos). Will that go away when they are broken in or is that normal for Garbos?
 
#34
Hey, I've got a question about the Garbo and Anima from Velvet.

I've been using Velvets for a year and a half now, but a couple of months ago i noticed some unwinding on the Garbo E i was using
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As the garbos where quite old i switched them with a set of Anima's E+A, but here the unwinding of the strings happened again. The Animas are on my bass for a month or so, but i don't know how old they are.
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So my question was: do i just had bad luck with the Anima's, or could it be my bass?

cheers, hcf
 
#39
Velvets are great strings, I've got Garbos on one bass and Animas on the other. The Garbos for me are a beautiful sounding pizz string but they're hard to bow. Animas on the other hand sound wonderful bowed but sound thin when played pizz! Are any of the other velvets sets a combination of the two? That would be my ideal string: plucks like Garbo but bows like Anima.
 

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