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Double Bass Velvet strings megathread part III

#462
I'm really liking Blues overall. Maybe my bass is a mud-bomb, but they really don't seem all that bright, at least at medium-high string height. Pretty perfect actually, dark yet clear, with sustain but not sing-y. They also have that good projection I've come to expect from Velvet. I will say that they are noticeably tighter feeling than Animas, which I may get used to, or I may need to bring my bridge down (no adjusters yet :( .) I'm hoping I can adjust, they sound really good as is. My experience with other Animas has been that when the height goes down they start to sound much more "steel" and the projection wanes big time.
 
#464
I did a long gypsy jazz session this weekend, all acoustic, and these strings really performed well. Nice thump, very dark sounding in the mix, but I could hear the pitch at all times. The slap tone is nice, too, not too metallic. My G string is 8-9mm off the board, and the tension is just fine. Not gut soft, not steel stiff. My bass is nothing special, but they brought out enough volume for me to play acoustically and I'm optimistic about doing mic-only gigs, at least with no drummer present.

The arco is killing me. It's like supernil-level bad at the moment which really shocks me as I like Animas under the bow just fine. I'm using some generic rosin at the moment and I'm about to get a new cake. Anyone have a recommendation for a well suited rosin? I've used Nyman in the past, but I'd like to hear what others like w/ the blues.
 
#467
My set of Garbos with a Lenzner G has broken in nicely. Warm, punchy and after about a month now they're holding pitch fairly well. Kinda surprised.

Got my first set of gigs with them next week. Looking forward to seeing how they hold up.
 
#470
Are the Blues not bowable all around? Lots of players say Garbos are not bowable, but I find it actually pretty easy to bow them after you take some time to know how they respond. Of course the sound is not the best in the world, but "workable"!
 
#471
I've used Animas, Blues, and Garbo lights with a gut G. Of those sets, the Blues have given me the most trouble arco. They seem very hard to start with a lot of overtones. That said, I have them on a bass with a "pizz setup" sound really nice for that application. I recently got a Gamut Lyon G medium I'm trying with the Blue set, and it's nice so far. I can run the setup low for gut strings (8mm on the G) with a fairly flat bridge arch and still get some acoustic punch with no buzzing. The tension of the gut feels balanced and blend with from G to D is as good as I've come to expect with the pricier Velvets.
 
#473
The Anima G has a different winding to the other strings with a sort of plastic winding mixed with the normal copper windings. Lowest tension Velvets are Garbo Lights (23kg from memory), whereas Blues, Animas and regular Garbos are each 25kg
 
#476
Used Garbo and Anima with Gamut pistoy for close to a couple years. I felt the Anima's worked best of the two Velvet strings. It seemed to amplify better ,with less lower frequency boom than the Garbo. The Anima also bowed a little better also. Did not have any breaking problems with any Velvet strings also.
 
#478
If you are looking for a very low tension set, the Garbo Light with a gut G might be the ticket. They have a perfect matched feel (I used a Gamut Lyon Medium+), a nice acoustic output for such a light string, didn't need to be set super-high, slap wonderfully, and actually bow better than a full set of Blues IMHO. Kind of an expensive set though. I had a lot of durablity problems with Animas, but none with Garbo light, FWIW.
 
#479
Velvet has a great customer service and warranty policy. I received today a peplacement Anima low C that came in a week after sending mail about windings unraveling at the bridge ( this began when I switched to a lightweight tailpiece ). Off course it`s a pain, but for me there`s no replacement for that sound / playability. Spiro mittel volume, unreplaceable character of sound and easy low tension in the same string.
 
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#480
I would consider the Garbo light but power and volume is important to me. If I can't get that easily then I have a tendency to over play (working on stopping that).

Reiska said:
Velvet has a great customer service and warranty policy. I received today a peplacement Anima low C that came in a week after sending mail about windings unraveling at the bridge ( this began when I switched to a lightweight tailpiece ). Off course it`s a pain, but for me there`s no replacement for that sound / playability. Spiro mittel volume, unreplaceable character of sound and easy low tension in the same string.
Click to expand...

Reiska would you say that you get good volume with nice tension? Any issues with the G coming unwound?
 

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