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Double Bass Velvet strings megathread part III

#521
Ed Friedland uses Innovation Golden Slaps on his, would they be similar to the Braided? Basically, I'm looking for a bit less stiffness to the string for the left hand while still retaining tonal power. You know, sort of like finding a unicorn.

Nuno emailed me back saying Rufus Reid uses a travel bass with a removable neck and has reported no issues. He did recommend keeping up on the graphite religiously. Maybe I'll buy a used set and see if they can hang. That way I'm not out much if they do go belly up.
 
#522
The Golden Slaps have the same core as the Braided, but the Braided are metal wound like the Evahs or Obligato, the Golden Slaps, Silver Slaps, Super Silvers etc. are all synthetic wound strings. No problem if you don't play with the bow, but otherwise ...
I can play the Braided on my 110 cm scale for hours without a problem. Pizz is better sounding at the end of the fingerboard.
The Silver Slaps have even less tension, which is similar to gut. I think the Golden Slaps have the same tension. A bit low for jazz, but for slap, roots etc. this is nice. Very soft.
The Braided E and A were initially a bit stiff out of the sleeve with limited sustain. For some time I replaced them with S42W 4/4 Spiro Weich, but then did run the Braided E and A over my thumb bending them over the whole length (a wheel with a groove might have done this much faster) and they got more sustain and were nice to play after that.
 
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#523
I love Animas dearly and used them for years, but they are pretty fragile and one bad on-off or kink can kill the string. They are much sturdier than wrapped gut, but they are easy to ruin even if you are vigilant, and it's probably the last thing anyone needs to be obsessing over when the hit is an hour away. That said, I'm using the Velvet Blue for my E and A, and they seem heartier with tighter windings than the Animas. They also don't crimp up at the bridge in the same way all other Velvets have for me in the past, so that makes me believe they are likely more stable to the core. If you want to try Velvets on a Chadwick, I think the Blues might be a better bet from a longevity standpoint.
 
#527
So here's the net net of the Chadwick situation. Folks who own Velvets but not Chadwicks say its a very bad idea. Folks who own Chadwicks, but not Velvets agree. Nuno Alexandre said his own experience with travel basses and Velvets were favorable, but he has no experience with the Chadwick. Rufus Reid's removable neck travel bass wears Velvets, and he reports no issues with tuning stability or durability. But again, this isn't on a Chadwick.

So, I asked Charlie Chadwick himself, and he's used Velvets before on one of his Chadwicks, and said he had no issues with breakage of tuning stability.

So I took a flyer and bought a used set of Velvet Garbos with an Anima G, and a set of Velvet Blues off the TB classifieds.

If all else fails, they'll probably sound pretty nice on my EUB.
 
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#529
So far, stable. Sounds good too. A lot more low mids and bass tone, which I definitely like. After the neck settles, should be even better. Going from 60+ pounds per string down 10 ,are a big difference, as my string action slowly lowered about 3mm over the course of the day.
 
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#531
rolandm said:
So far, stable. Sounds good too. A lot more low mids and bass tone, which I definitely like. After the neck settles, should be even better. Going from 60+ pounds per string down 10 ,are a big difference, as my string action slowly lowered about 3mm over the course of the day.
Click to expand...

Glad they are working out. Did you try the Garbos/Anima or the Blues?
 
#534
Gig report. In short, all went well. Got to the gig, set up my Chadwick, tuned it to pitch and let it settle in while I set up the rest of the lights, PA, ran the cables, etc. Went back, checked the tuning, and retuned it to pitch, it was off a half step. Got done with soundcheck. Total time, one hour. Went back up a half hour later prior to the first song of the night, only had lost about a 1/4 step on the G and D. Everything else was relatively stable. Played the night and checked the tuning every third or fourth song, and by the end of the 8th song in the set the strings were holding pitch very well.

Had the set of Anima Blues in the case as backup in case something broke. Strings held well, all things considered. A little less stable than the Zyex, but they sounded better under my hand than the Zyex to my ears.

So far, so good.
 
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#535
DSC_0082.JPG
 
#537
Hi! I'm wondering if anyone have any thoughts about the Velvet Classico strings? Since they're a fair bit less pricey then the Compas 180s, wich I'm also insterested in, I'm curious about them. From what I've managed to find about them on this forums is that they are the same gauge and tension as the Compas 180s, smother to bow and softer (darker?) pizz tone. Is the sustain still good? Do they still have some sort of Velvet "vibe" to them pizz? I'm thinking if they could be a good G&D match with a pair of Spiros underneath?
 
#538
Got then on and I'm a happy camper. Nice tone from the copper and I love how they hit the board. Fast attack and lovely soft pull. They are understated in that they just sound the note without flavoring or color. Lots of tones without sounding like the note is taking over the bass. Going back to dig in some more.
 
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#539
The Compas 180 have a bit more tension on the lower strings than the upper ones, similar to Spiro Orchestrals. The Classico are almost the same tension across the strings with the higher strings being the same tension than the Compas 180 (which means weaker on the lower strings than the Compas 180).
Two times (out of two) I had a serious quality problem with the A string of the Classico set. A combination of Classico G and D with Compas 180 A and E is nice, but bowing is still different from other strings (use less weight). They also might need a longer break-in period with the bow.

I like the Compas 180/Classico mix for pizz, but didn't got warm with bowing. But since I also had quality problems with the Compas 180 high C (I was told that the whole high C series had that quality problem and that the company owner decided that no new batch will be made until the old one was sold), I didn't invested too much time getting warm with the Compas or Classico with the bow. I even prefer well broken-in Spiros over the Compas180 / Classico with the bow, but maybe because I'm used to them.

A combination of other strings with Compas 180 or Classico needs a different kind of bowing for the different string sets. Think of naked gut combined with any metal wound strings. If you think you can adapt to that, fine, if not rather stay away from those kind of string mixes.
 

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