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Double Bass Velvet strings megathread part III

#481
Sam Dingle said:
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 would you say that you get good volume with nice tension? Any issues with the G coming unwound?
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All this is very relational and dependend and yadda yadda but definently yes. I`ve had Animas on two different basses ( 104cm and 105cm mensure ) and they compare to Spiro weichs in acoustic volume. I`m now back in 5ths tuning and my Anima low C compares in volume to Spiro Red Mitchell mittel C, which is a floor-shaking beast. Animas feel very different, compared to Spiros, because they`re pretty " loose " copper winding over silk rope core. They are fat, thick gauge and have equal tension of 25kg across the set. Spiro RM mit C has over 30kg`s, and is signicantly harder to play. For me, even RM weichs feel too heavy nowadays, no going back from Velvets and plain gut. Animas feel soft under both hands and IMHO one has to get used to that.

I loved the pizz sound of Anima G, but found it very hard to bow. That`s why I switched to gut G. However, some say that rosin has lots to do with that. I have black hair on the bow and use Pop`s rosin.

I`ve had winding issues on all but the Anima E ( in the peg afterlenghts ), but I`ve been taking them on and off a lot at some point ( going between different basses and trying different tunings ). Only tragig unravelling I had on this particular low C. I contacted Nuno of Velvet / Schertler and got the string replaced.

Today I swapped the downtuned solo Dominant D to Anima and ohhh it`s fantastic. I have a plain gut solo A string on top of it. That Anima is softer to play than the solo Dominant, even when Anima has higher tension. A downtuned Dominant A does the job as my G string. It blends well in every way but isn`t a Anima.

For me, they are the best strings available, even with the breakage bs, bowing difficulties and the price. They are the missing link between gut and steel, easy to hear when played, plenty loud, good sustain and even growl. They deliver sound characteristics that no other string does and are easy on hands, even when set higher than the average string. I wouldn`t put them on shorter than regular 3/4 scale bass though, too low tension.

I`ve had the best luck with amplified and recorded sound with Anima / plain gut highest string combo.
 
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#484
I used Animas with a Chorda G for about a year. It had nice tension and was a perfect guage with the rest of the Anima set. The varnish makes the string feel more "coated" than even the varnished Gamuts, and I never needed to oil or sand it. On my bass the set was very easy on the hands, and the string height could be set pretty low and still get some acoustic punch. That being said, if you need to be "no amp on the gig" loud the Velvets/gut really need to be decently high off the board compared to steel strings.
 
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#486
I'm hoping to play the strings around 6-8 mm on the G. If I can get that and have the tension not be too bad that would be great. What are your ideas on that? When I wasn't hurt and "in shape" my spiro mediums were at 6mm on the G. I haven't been playing for about 2 months now so I'd like to start at this hight while getting back at it.
 
#488
Sam Dingle said:
I'm hoping to play the strings around 6-8 mm on the G. If I can get that and have the tension not be too bad that would be great. What are your ideas on that? When I wasn't hurt and "in shape" my spiro mediums were at 6mm on the G. I haven't been playing for about 2 months now so I'd like to start at this hight while getting back at it.
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My bass is set up with fat low tension strings and guts in mind, so there`s room for a low C string and gut top to vibrate on the fingerboard. 105cm scale lenght and string heights are exactly 6mm - 9mm. 2,00mm gauge solo A string on the top.

Some say at the Gamut guts thread that they set the Anima / gut top to the same height as steels and are doing just fine.

IMO the Lenzner G is a good string as well and a bit cheaper than Gamuts etc.
 
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#494
Unfortunately, breakages are part of life with Animas. I've had A strings break upon installation (by a luthier), strings with weird buzzes out of the pack, and my D and Gs always unwound after some time. That said, I was using them during a "bad run" and my strings were always replaced. On-offs seem to effect these strings pretty badly, IME. That said, I was playing a lot of slap bass gigs at the time and that can't be good for them. The slightly rougher windings also caused significant wear to my (ebony) fingerboard, although I'm pretty sure this would only be a problem for a slapper. Although Animas sound great for slap, it's hard for me recommend them for that use :( . They are fantastic pizz strings though, and sound good enough to carry spares and put up with the related headaches.
 
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#495
Got a question! I put a set of Animas on today and the E string is pretty long for my bass. The playing part of the string wraps around the tuning peg. I can't find a way around this and am wondering if this may be an issue. It's also slightly touching on the G string. Here's a photo.
image.jpg
 
#497
Just wanted to make sure: update below...

So I put a set of Animas on my. Bass on Friday because I've been coming back from an injury and wanted a string that had a big tone, larger D/G and lower tension. Bowability wasn't an issue for me. I got the Animas as they are thinner than garbos and I'm told have more sustain. I played a gig tonight (after not playing for 2 weeks and putting the strings on Friday) with a trumpet player in town named Leroy Jones (always a pleasure playing with him!). This was exactly what I needed in a string. I love the thumpy "Paul chambers" tone I can get from them, as well as being able to push them when I want. They were easy to play so with stretching at the set breaks, I was able to complete the 4 hour gig without any bad issues (arms got tired by the end). Only 2 complaints:

1. They are still stretching! I tuned after every song tonight
2. The G looks weird. It plays well, sounds like the rest and feels fine, but it just looks like I have an unwound string there. Why is that?
 
#498
In my experience the silk core Velvets, including Animas, take at least a couple of weeks (if not more) to stop stretching. As for the G string, the Anima set is unusual among Velvets in having a different winding for the G. It's just the way it is, nothing wrong with your string (although as a warning Anima Gs have been known to break - one did for me, for no reason it just slackened, but Nuno at Velvets replaced it with a new one free of charge)

Edit: as Misterbadger points out below, the Garbo G has the same type of winding. My bad, I thought it was just the Anima G
 
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