Double Bass My New (Old) Velvet Anima’s

TheDellow

TheDellow

The Recovering Guitarist
May 19, 2021
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#1
There seems to be some sort of folklorish aura surrounding Velvet strings. So, I saw some lightly used Anima’s on Reverb for a good deal and swept them up on a whim. Anyone rocking these strings? For what styles? Likes and dislikes about them?

TBH, I am a bit weary of installing them on my bass (‘67 Kay S-1 currently w/ Zyex Mediums) because of their well known fragility. Are they more versatile than the Zyex? I do approximately 70% arco in the practice room, so bowability is a big deal for me. Thanks y’all!

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#2
I'm a jazz player who practices maybe 1/3 of the time arco. I loved Animas and never had breakage issues. They don't bow as well as Zyex, which aren't great with the stick either, but do get kind of a grainy usable sound. I have resisted buying sets of Animas that I see for sale because Velvet is gone, and I don't want to be hooked on something that I can't replace. I haven't found a replacement yet. I'm currently using Evah Weich E & A, regular D, and Oliv G. I like this set, but not as much as Animas. I'm tempted to spring for a set of Gennsler's strings, but they are quite expensive.
 
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#4
lurk said:
I'm a jazz player who practices maybe 1/3 of the time arco. I loved Animas and never had breakage issues. They don't bow as well as Zyex, which aren't great with the stick either, but do get kind of a grainy usable sound. I have resisted buying sets of Animas that I see for sale because Velvet is gone, and I don't want to be hooked on something that I can't replace. I haven't found a replacement yet. I'm currently using Evah Weich E & A, regular D, and Oliv G. I like this set, but not as much as Animas. I'm tempted to spring for a set of Gennsler's strings, but they are quite expensive.
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I just installed the Anima's on my bass...WOW they are loud, punchy, articulate, warm and easy on the hands. IMHO, the E, A and D bow much better than the Zyex, but the Anima G has that nasaly plain gut sound that I'm not too fond of under the bow. Stoked on this set, but not stoked that I like a discontinued set of strings lol
 
#5
Why did they stop making them, I wonder? Velvet Animas seem to have this aura about them from many players. I’ve watched a few videos of Rufus Reid lamenting their demise and I can understand why a company would stop making such a well known set of strings. The same goes with nylon wrapped gut and specialty gut strings like Golden Spirals, Red-O-Rays and La Bella Goldentones. All of these strings have this amazing backlist of players that swear by them yet they stop making them. It’s frustrating. I wish I had the money to afford them 15-20 years ago as I would have bought several sets of each for my own personal use.
 
#6
Keith Rawlings said:
Why did they stop making them, I wonder?
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Probably a combination of their unique, special, custom winding machine breaking, Schertler not making it a priority to get them back up and running, followed by the plague hitting in, throwing everything everywhere into lockdown, and finishing off any final hope that Velvet Strings might come back to the market.
 
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#9
I'm sure they will be remembered more for their good qualities than their bad and in some ways, I'm sure with strings like golden spiral and red o rays people have glorified them over the years as well.

I worry for the day where an unused set of velvets found in the back of a barn are sold for $400 because they are marketed as "the discontinued strings used by Rufus Reid and Larry Grenadier" and the buyer sadly finds out they make his hands turn green and break if you look at them wrong.
 
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#10
Keith Rawlings said:
Why did they stop making them, I wonder? Velvet Animas seem to have this aura about them from many players. I’ve watched a few videos of Rufus Reid lamenting their demise and I can understand why a company would stop making such a well known set of strings. The same goes with nylon wrapped gut and specialty gut strings like Golden Spirals, Red-O-Rays and La Bella Goldentones. All of these strings have this amazing backlist of players that swear by them yet they stop making them. It’s frustrating. I wish I had the money to afford them 15-20 years ago as I would have bought several sets of each for my own personal use.
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#12
Sam Dingle said:
... and break if you look at them wrong.
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That's not everyone's experience, I think my personal best was 6 years before the D string broke. And was replaced for free by the company. Likewise Golden Spirals, they didn't become deified after the fact, their loss was lamented by those of us who played them all the time and those who search out "unused sets" (like Charlie, before his death, and Neal Miner) do so because of the way they sound on their basses and under their hands. Not because "...they are marketed as "the discontinued strings used by..."
 
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#13
Ed Fuqua said:
That's not everyone's experience, I think my personal best was 6 years before the D string broke. And was replaced for free by the company. Likewise Golden Spirals, they didn't become deified after the fact, their loss was lamented by those of us who played them all the time and those who search out "unused sets" (like Charlie, before his death, and Neal Miner) do so because of the way they sound on their basses and under their hands. Not because "...they are marketed as "the discontinued strings used by..."
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Ed, do you happen to know if Red Diamonds compare favourably to Golden Spirals? Just curious...
 
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#18
i liked the red diamonds, but they're beef, which my account for the higher tension on the D and G. the wound E and A were more loose than i expected, but i liked that very much. i ended up pairing the wound E and A with pistoy D and G
 
#19
Keith Rawlings said:
New Gamut Red Diamond Gut Strings

There’s tons of Red Diamond String info on this thread. They apparently are higher tension than golden spirals from what I’ve read. I still would like to try a set someday though.
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Thanks. I've got that thread bookmarked and read any new posts when they come up. I don't remember reading any direct comparisons, but maybe it's worth another look. Cheers.
 
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#20
bassmanbrent said:
Thanks. I've got that thread bookmarked and read any new posts when they come up. I don't remember reading any direct comparisons, but maybe it's worth another look. Cheers.
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I don’t remember if it’s on that particular thread but I remember reading it somewhere on TB. I went down the “golden spiral alternatives” rabbit hole during the pandemic and I must have read a hundred posts about strings. I even emailed D’Addario who said they have no intention of making Golden Spirals ever again.
 
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