Double Bass Alternative for velvet garbo D and G

[Bas Kisjes]

Hi.

my name is Bas (I know…)

i’m new here, but after searching through old posts I could’d find an answer to my question.

I’ve been playing Velvet Garbo D and G strings for many years now (playing jazz), and I was always very happy with them. Maybe not so much with the D, but definitely the G. Now it seems they went out of production.

does anyone know of a similar string? I’m looking for the same punch, thickness. A different tention would be fine, but I don’t want to lose sound/volume.

real gut scares me. I like to keep my strings on for years without changing and without much maintenance.

I tried listening to some different ones in youtube videos. What i liked so far more than others were the pirastro olives. But they have a real gut core, right??
What’s the maintenance like? And how long can they last?

Thanks for your help!
Bas

 

[Adam Booker]

A lot of great questions. I would check out regular gut. With proper maintenance, they can last a good while, and match up great with Garbos. Gamut or Dlugolecki guts are fantastic strings.

 

[AGCurry]

real gut scares me. I like to keep my strings on for years without changing and without much maintenance.

I tried listening to some different ones in youtube videos. What i liked so far more than others were the pirastro olives. But they have a real gut core, right??
What’s the maintenance like? And how long can they last?

Bas, yes, Olivs have gut core. Plain gut strings can and do last for years, without much maintenance. Olivs are great strings, but they will not last as long as plain guts; it is their windings which tend to fail with time and use.

 

[Bas Kisjes]

I guess I forgot to mention before that so far, the real gut strings I´ve tried, although being punchy as hell.. they all lacked a "singing" quality (you know, what metal strings are so good at). The Velvet Garbe sang for me. I don´t know why.

so maybe the better question is: which gut or fake gut G and D string can sing a bit?

Sorry to bother you all with this. It´s hard to find basses with these types of strings here in Madrid to try them.
Thanks for all the help!

 

[shwashwa]

i would look into innovation golden slap or EP slaps (synthetic d and g string version)

 

[lurk]

Alas, I'm a former Anima guy too, and have yet to find their equal. Evah Weichs are pretty good on my bass.

 

[elmer]

Hi Bas. I´m a former Anima player too and I also liked Garbos. Innovation Super SIlvers were great replacement on my jazz bass. They are round wound but smooth, they sing and sustain and are more durabel and cheaper. Olivs feel quite different being flatwound. They are also very expensive and the windings are delicate. Tuning stability isn´t their strong point either.

 

[Sebastian Owens.]

The Genssler J-Roque synthetic G and D are similar but pricey. Recently he’s gone back to the velvet core for his synthetic strings, so they’re probably the closest you can get these days. If you’re not willing to spend that much money, I second the EP slaps.

 

[HateyMcAmp]

Evah Slap is a great alternative gauge, tension and tone-wise, although there might be some loss of volume. I think Gamut Lyon with with the nylon wrap might be more of your speed though. They’ll be thick, but they’ll have punch synthetics just won’t have. They nylon will likely provide the “singing” sound you missed with plain gut previously.

 

[Povl Carstensen]

Evah Slap is a great alternative gauge, tension and tone-wise, although there might be some loss of volume. I think Gamut Lyon with with the nylon wrap might be more of your speed though. They’ll be thick, but they’ll have punch synthetics just won’t have. They nylon will likely provide the “singing” sound you missed with plain gut previously.

I was so ready to buy nylon wrapped Lyons, as a venture into Golden Spiral land, when I realised they are flat-, not round wound, and probably won't have the ping gut sound of round wounds.

 

[AGCurry]

It´s hard to find basses with these types of strings here in Madrid to try them.

It's hard to find them anywhere.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

For a non-gut version of the Olive the Innovation Braided or Polychromes might work.
They don‘t have the limitation in dynamic response that the Evah Weich has.

 

[Bas Kisjes]

Thanks for all the help guys.

btw, i found this:
String Matrix - Hervé Jeanne

This guy put a lot of work into making strings comparable. Olé for him.

I decided to stop being afraid and go for real gut.
I seem to like how the D and G of the Efrano darm plain gut sound. Plus they’re not so expensive, so if I end up not liking them I won’t have wasted too much.

again thanks to all!