Thinking back, I recalled the Klip Legend did not even stretch much when I strung it at 32 lbs. It seems like natural gut needs to be stretched a little more before its true playing potential surfaces.
Having spent so much on this one set of strings, I am reluctant to cut it out. But neither am I enjoying it at all.
So I thought I'll re-use the natural gut in the mains and convert this to a hybrid! Since gut does not lose its resiliency at all, even up to the point of breakage, this should work very well, isn't it?
As usual, I mounted the racket and carefully cut out only the cross strings. Then I loosened the mains and removed the power pads as well. The gut still feels very crispy to the touch.
I checked the mains for any serious notching or fraying. All seems fine despite more than 6 hours of play. So I started tensioning the mains.
I just cannot resist pinging the mains after it is done. The sound is just so melodious and pleasant!
Weaving the synthetic gut cross is very easy. It is lubricated with silicon and pulling it across the mains is almost effortless.
Playtest:
- Despite the re-used gut, the feel and pocketing is still plush, deep and nice! Plus, ALL the vibrations disappeared!
- Power levels have toned down significantly from the previous fullbed, but the stringbed is not dead. It still has the unmistakable feel and comfort of natural gut.
- Despite the drop in power, power levels are still higher than fullbed ELT syn gut or multi.
- Spin is good. Definitely more so than normal tensions but maybe slightly less or same as ELT syn gut. My bald balls may not provide sufficient fur for the strings to grab.
- Directional control is among the best ELT I've tried. No surprise considering I'm using very "pre-stretched" nat gut.
- Overall, this is a very pleasant surprise for me as I expected the gut to be much less lively and playable.
- Even my lady partner preferred this gut/syn gut feel compared to the previous fullbed. So I think this hybrid will be a very good cost-saving alternative for one to enjoy natural gut.
- The next question on my mind is durability. I'll continue to play with this and monitor.
03Apr2013 update:
- Weather is finally dry enough to use this racket again.
- Tension holding is superb! It felt as stable as when I first used it.
- Comfort, power and pocketing are probably the best aspects of using natural gut and all three are still in abundance!
- Spin is good. To get more, I'll have to hit harder. When I feel the pocketing go deeper, I know that's also when the "bite" is stronger. A slightly steeper brush upwards and spin goes up.
- This gut would have clocked 8+ hours of use after today and there isn't any significant increase in fraying nor notching!
08Apr2013 update:
- The feel of natural gut is highly addictive! I just keep coming back to this racket because of the gut strings!
- While pocketing are both deep for ELT syn gut and ELT natural gut, I am beginning to understand the differences.
- With ELT natural gut, the stringbed feels tighter as the pocketing deepens. I can feel the strings "wrap around" the ball and then rebounds very powerfully and directed accurately at where I was aiming the ball to go.
- For ELT syn gut, I get a slight "hollow" and loose feeling as the pocketing deepens. It almost feels like a butterfly net. And when the ball departs the stringbed, I have a little less confidence whether the ball trajectory is going to match where I was aiming.
- Keep in mind I used the exact same racket for both stringjobs so the racket properties and flex are not in question.
- This session marks about 10 hours of use.
10Apr2013 update:
- No matter what racket I bring, I keep coming back to this stick when the going gets tough.
- Natural gut is just so comfortable, powerful and predictable. Nothing comes close.
- Huge chunks of ball fur keeps getting ripped off by the strings.
- Added another hour of hard hits to make 11.
15Apr2013 update:
- Just to add another 3 hours of play with the gut to total about 14 hours now.
- String movement remains less than ELT syn gut.
- There's a little extra fraying on the mains.
16Apr2013 update:
- The gut just completed its 15th hour of use.
- I can feel the stringbed start to get less powerful with less rebound.
- Since this is a hybrid, I cannot determine whether it is the gut or the syn gut "losing" its elasticity. But given natural gut's reputation for tension stability and playability till the it breaks, the more likely culprit could be the synthetic.
- Let me ponder if I should re-do only the cross.
- Another ball's felt cover was ripped open with the amount of spin we are hitting using ELT.
Strings:
Klip Legend Natural Gut 1.30mm mains @ 35 lbs
Pro Supex Synthetic Gut Titan 1.25mm crosses @ 33 lbs
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