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Old 03-27-2009, 11:03 AM
Greg Clinkingbeard Greg Clinkingbeard is offline
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Thumbs up Velvet Animas

I know the Velvet Animas have been around for several years and have been reformulated some. I bought a set over at TB and played a gig with them last night. Mine seem almost perfectly flatwound on E-D with the rougher G.
I have played on others with halfwound (ground) lower strings that felt weird.
This bass has worn Mittels, Hybrids, Corellis, Superflexibles and Obligatos. It works best with lower tension strings and these Animas are the best of all. The bass is very easy to get a good tone out of, both pizz and arco.
I know these things were the rage before Evahs and Obligatos. Maybe the were the flavor of the month 3-4 months ago , but some people have stuck with them. Maybe they are a love/hate string.
Anyway, experiences?
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Old 03-27-2009, 11:28 AM
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Ken Smith Ken Smith is offline
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Lightbulb Experiences??

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Originally Posted by Greg Clinkingbeard View Post
I know the Velvet Animas have been around for several years and have been reformulated some. I bought a set over at TB and played a gig with them last night. Mine seem almost perfectly flatwound on E-D with the rougher G.
I have played on others with halfwound (ground) lower strings that felt weird.
This bass has worn Mittels, Hybrids, Corellis, Superflexibles and Obligatos. It works best with lower tension strings and these Animas are the best of all. The bass is very easy to get a good tone out of, both pizz and arco.
I know these things were the rage before Evahs and Obligatos. Maybe the were the flavor of the month 3-4 months ago , but some people have stuck with them. Maybe they are a love/hate string.
Anyway, experiences?
I have experienced them 3 times over already. The first was an old formula where the G was bronze colored and the other three silver colored. Those I hated so bad I wanted to sell my bass. I put Flexocors back on and kept the bass. Then about 2 years ago I got another set, the next formula and put them on. They felt ok but on a jazz gig I wore my finger down to the bone trying to get some audible volume from them over, not out in the audience. Also, I bowed that 2nd set in Orchestra and they were too flimsy for my not so heavy bow hand. I sold that bass with the strings on them, a different bass than the first. Then last year I got yet a 3rd set, newer formula and still had to tie the ends (what a royal pain). I put them on in the evening, didn't know what to think, like, not like..?.. Slept on the idea, and the next morning tried them again and took them off and put back the one year old Flex. 92s that were on the bass.

I think the new Evah Weichs are the answer for a similar tensioned string but without the stringing problem (these can go around the tuners) and without the slow bowing response. Regular Evahs are good as well with the medium-light tension they feel like to me. Tonally, I might like these weichs better than the regulars but have only had the regulars on one bass so far.

Flex 92s or Evahs work best for me with some Belcantos if I need smoother bowing. I don't have that much time for fiddling and testing strings out so the styles above are what works for me. On my newly restored old English Gamba bass the Evah weichs work great for both orchestra and jazz. Maybe its just a really good bass.. lol

Animas or Velvets? Sorry, not for me..
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Old 03-27-2009, 12:03 PM
Greg Clinkingbeard Greg Clinkingbeard is offline
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I hear ya' Ken. I may try the Evah Weich set at some point, but want to run with these for a long while.
Tying the ends? The loop goes through the tailpiece end and the textile other end goes through the tuner. The KC Strings tuners have two holes bored through the barrels. I sent the string through one hole, around the barrel and through the other. No tying at all. I like the way they fit in the pegbox; very efficient and tidy.
This bass needs a low tension string. Maybe that's why they bow well. Dunno.

Minor embarrassment. I realized last night that I have them coming behind the tailpiece rather than over the front. I should have just pushed the loop through the tailpiece from front to back and run the string through. Mounted the way they are, I guess they will have slightly more tension, but I doubt any problems.
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Old 03-27-2009, 02:55 PM
Eric Hochberg Eric Hochberg is offline
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I just took off a set of Compas 180 Suites. With these you have to tie, or wrap around both ends of the strings. There are no loops. Yes, it is a pain, especially on the E string as the wound section is so short, you have to center it exactly which is tough to do when trying to tie the correct length top and bottom, and then the string starts stretching while you tune it up, the wound part approaches the tuner, and you have to start all over. Confused yet? The first time I put them on it took me 2.5 hours.
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Old 03-27-2009, 03:14 PM
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Originally Posted by Eric Hochberg View Post
I just took off a set of Compas 180 Suites. With these you have to tie, or wrap around both ends of the strings. There are no loops. Yes, it is a pain, especially on the E string as the wound section is so short, you have to center it exactly which is tough to do when trying to tie the correct length top and bottom, and then the string starts stretching while you tune it up, the wound part approaches the tuner, and you have to start all over. Confused yet? The first time I put them on it took me 2.5 hours.
Playing the Bass is a tough enough Job as it is. You shouldn't have to work so hard putting strings on. When ever I put the Compas strings on in the past, I was too tired to play afterwards.
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Old 03-27-2009, 04:52 PM
Eric Hochberg Eric Hochberg is offline
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Playing the Bass is a tough enough Job as it is. You shouldn't have to work so hard putting strings on. When ever I put the Compas strings on in the past, I was too tired to play afterwards.
I know, I remember being completely toasted after that, I think I went straight to bed...
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Old 03-27-2009, 09:24 PM
Greg Clinkingbeard Greg Clinkingbeard is offline
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Yea, I wouldn't go through that hassle either. So I mentioned that I ran them through the tailpiece backwards? I decided to do it right and while I was at it, I had Garbo A and D's which I switched for the Animas. The whole process took me less than a half hour.
Aside from the round winding on the Garbo D, I like them even better.
FWIW, I find these no harder to put on than any other string.
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Old 04-02-2009, 04:25 AM
Joel Larsson Joel Larsson is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg Clinkingbeard View Post
Minor embarrassment. I realized last night that I have them coming behind the tailpiece rather than over the front.
I've done ALL sorts of cheap mistakes... put even regular ball ends in the wrong way, started tuning the string while I still hadn't pulled them through the tailpiece, tuning them the wrong way, things like that. And of course, making a complete mess in the pegbox with strings crossing or going over the wrong barrels and whatnot. Thing is, I HATE changing strings, and want to get it over with asap. This mentality probably costs me more in loss of time than a more focused approach would, but I can't help it. Worst case scenario is you have two basses with one set on each, and you need the other set for the first bass, so you have to change on two basses simultaneously... besides taking a lot of time, I also use to mix up the strings, i.e. I take off the two A strings, and then put them back again, BUT ON THE SAME BASS. Aaaargh. Jag thinking about it is about to ruin my day.
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