Agree and my experience. Anyone who needs spare Compass 180 Suits, I have some in the classifieds.
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Double Bass Velvet strings megathread part III
- Thread starter Dudie
- Start date
Agree and my experience. Anyone who needs spare Compass 180 Suits, I have some in the classifieds.
They're not on the Gollihur site anymore.
I just restrung with Animas a week ago and was beginning to love them again. Great.
maybe @Mark Gollihur can comment? They told me months ago they were on the edge of shutting down. String emporium also addressed this on their page.
I've been in contact with him a little, but he has been unresponsive in the past 2 emails I've sent. I had a set of velvet Animas come unwound in May and asked for a replacement. He said they would ship right out. After 2 weeks and no strings I emailed him with no reply and emailed again. He then said that the machine had broken and they were in the process of fixing it...
A few more emails asking for updates and I only got one reply saying they still don't know when it was going to be fixed. He then said he had one set of animas he could send, but then backed out saying the E string didn't look right and he feared it would break.
I've gotten nothing since then. An update would be nice but I understand they are probably going through a hard time. I expect they won't be continuing much longer. I'd say grab a set or 2 from string emporium as they say they have a few full sets left. I'm keeping an eye on the progress or lack there of though because if they do get back up and running, I expect a replacement set of animas.
Just informed a friend about velvets being scarce and he said its time to look for an alternative. Hes playin evah lights on his kay and Compass on his shen willow. Any thoughts on what to replace the compass with anyone? He doesn't like any of the D'addario strings and not a fan of spiro mediums, wasnt a fan of innovation honey or silver slap. Hes thinking maybe evahs on the shen too.
Lousy boat to be in. I'm really gonna miss Velvets if they stop making them. Gotta feel bad for Nuno too, customer service rep for an extinct string company doesn't sound like a promising gig.
I'm thinking Evah Weich too but from what I've heard they're nowhere as easy on the hands as the Compas 180. Like I said before..AARRGH just have to hope it's like a few years ago when they had equipment trouble and came back.
The Evah Light are more polished than Compas 180 and I found easier to play, but less punch pizz.
Is Boeing is still making Jets?
(Too Soon?)
How on earth is this company still selling enough (NON-Breaking) strings to stay in business?
I was initially intrigued by their catalog until the word got out regarding "reliability" and "QC".
Include Me Out.
Thanks.
When reports came in of reliability going even further down hill and the need for a new proprietary machine I knew the writing was on the wall. There was no way they were going to be able to basically redo the initial investment of getting production up and running. But man they were great strings. Warm without being dark, bright without being twangy, soft without feeling limp, and proper all-caps LOUD. The natural core paired exceptionally well with gut on top. There is a string on the market that truly was able to combine these qualities. Feel like people going to talk about these like the old heads talk about Lycon.
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I'm just not surprised this happened. Well, I'm surprised this is how it happened.
I know of 4-5 people (2 personally) who moved from velvets to genzlers because paying $500+ every 2 years was better than dealing with the constant breaking. Not to mention the wear it would have on the fingerboard.
I don't mean to bash the company too much. Nuno I'm sure is a great guy and I'm sorry to hear his buisness is having issues. The product was just not reliable enough to deal with. I'll deal with wrapped pirastro guts before velvets on a gig.
I think thats all to say about it. I'll keep an eye out for updates.
I know of 4-5 people (2 personally) who moved from velvets to genzlers because paying $500+ every 2 years was better than dealing with the constant breaking. Not to mention the wear it would have on the fingerboard.
I don't mean to bash the company too much. Nuno I'm sure is a great guy and I'm sorry to hear his buisness is having issues. The product was just not reliable enough to deal with. I'll deal with wrapped pirastro guts before velvets on a gig.
I think thats all to say about it. I'll keep an eye out for updates.
Interesting... I played on Blues for a couple years, then Compas 180's and Garbos for a while. I never had any issues at all with breakage. I did notice that's they're hard on the fingerboard though. Quality always seemed good, and consistent to me but I only ever used 3 sets of their strings in total. And maybe Animas are the ones with the most problems...
IIRC Nuno hasn't worked with them in years. I didn't think about it but I do remember them being pretty bad on the fingerboard.
I can see how the copper wrapped ones would chew up a FB. I only had Blues on for a short time. The Compas 180 have been on for 2 1/2 years without any noticeable wear though I only play a few hours a week.
Isn't Velvet part of the Schertler Group ? Looks strange that they would go out of business or quit making the strings...
If so, time to buy a few sets of 180's... (they are an excellent match for my bass).
Otherwise; anyone suggestions for a replacement string?
If so, time to buy a few sets of 180's... (they are an excellent match for my bass).
Otherwise; anyone suggestions for a replacement string?
Well, since almost all Velvet string sets (except the Classico which is basically a variation of the Compas 180) have been designed by Gerold and as I was told he was not treated well by the swiss boss, it might be time to get the real developed stuff from him (if you are willing and able to pay the price). But be prepared that every few years your current set is replaced by something “better”. Which might not be better in the sense of every player but different.
Downtuned Dominant solos blend well with Animas, both in tone and tension. They`re not as loud and have smoother winding surface feel, but still surprisingly good match. Compas are one step further to steel string direction from Animas, but the difference is IME still pretty subtle.
I think the first couple batches of Garbo and Anima had an actual gut core similar to the Genssler strings. I believed they switched to silk because of reliability issues. Honestly it seems it's very difficult to mass produce a string like this.
