Two different brands of poly strings snapped while stringing. They could not handle the tensions I wanted.
My original intention of creating another tri-brid (link) was shelved. It was a pity because I found the fishing/poly/multi tri-brid to play very well. Syn gut was used instead.
That explained why I strung the outer mains with syn gut first in the pics below. Otherwise, I would have just done it up as a straightforward two-piece hybrid.
This string was not made in Japan. It's 1.0mm thick and felt stiffer than the Japanese version.
For some strange reasons, the flying clamps kept slipping and literally flew off the strings today. So I used two together with a starting clamp on the outside of the frame during alternate tension pulls.
Playtest:
- Actually, this setup played not too bad compared to the poly cross.
- I felt the sliding of the fishing mains was not significantly reduced. Just slightly.
- Comfort and power levels were better than with poly in the cross.
- With this different fishing line, softer impacts felt a little too quiet and dampened. My partner M felt it was a little "dead", but to me, it was not that bad.
- No harsh vibrations were felt at any point, even off-centre contacts.
- Harder hits felt soft, good and very controlled.
- The most surprising thing I discovered was that there was almost no notching even after about 90 minutes. I'm pinning some hopes for durability on this line.
- Take a look at the before (above pic) and after close-up view of the strings. The darker patches on the black syn gut were abraded by the fishing mains, evidence of free sliding and snap-back of the mains. The black round syn gut now looked like a shaped-poly!
- String movement was very minimal. No adjustments were made to the pic below after play.
- I would award this higher marks than the fishing/poly/multi (link) tri-brid.
09May2014 update:
- The string snapped in the bag overnight. Total playtime probably added up to 3 to 4 hours.
- I tried to re-do only the mains with yet another fishing line, but that line snapped while tensioning, whipped across my arm and left a cut. Got to wear long sleeves next time!
Since there was a "sponsor" (link) for me to hunt for a local equivalent of the premium Japanese fishing line, I would be accelerating the search and test for fishing lines.
Many combinations would fail right off the stringing machine. Some may not even survive the stringing process. Neither would there be enough time for me to write and post every single attempt, so only selected ones may be posted.
This would be yet another brand of fishing line with poly in the Black Ace 98. (link1)(link2)(link3)
Playtest:
- Huge vibrations were sensed during ball contacts. Even just from bouncing a ball on the ground.
- The stringbed felt very comfortable and soft, but it was too powerful. Strangely, not in the trampoline sense as control was still very much intact. Just too much power for us to take full unhindered swings at the ball.
- Spin was very good. Much better than any full poly I have tried in any racket.
- M, who was testing this with me, enjoyed the spin, power and comfort. If the power could be tamed slightly, he thought this carried great potential in his preferred Yonex RD-7. The vibrations did not bother him at all, probably since he never liked strings with dampeners in the first place. (link)
- To speed up the string search, three ProKennex Black Ace 98s were used together with one strung very traditionally using syn gut as a reference racket for comparision.
- So far, the bottom racket (link) is leading the race in all aspects.
When I mentioned to some folks about how two of my ProStaff Classics (RA72 stiffness) distorted after stringing, few believed me. They thought it was impossible and that I was crazy and just being picky! It was a pity I did not take pics then.
One racket lengthened by 9mm and the sweetspot totally disappeared. When I brought it back, the stringer simply dismissed it as "manufacturing tolerances". That was one of the first few brushes that drove me to buy my own stringing machine.
History keeps repeating. Names withheld, two matched ProKennex Black Ace 98s suffered the same fate as my ProStaff Classic.
The chap (named DL) met up with me and asked why was one of his racket totally unplayable.
Let the pics below speak...
The top racket had yellow mains, bottom one had blue mains.
Both DL and myself tested the rackets. The hoop length of the racket with blue mains was compressed 12mm shorter. Take a look at the last pic above, near the words "Precision".
That's why I usually measure and check the hoop length and width before and after stringing (link1)(link2). If the difference exceeds 5mm, I usually cut and re-do everything from scratch.
I've been wanting to test this combination for quite a while.
The thin 0.90mm fishing line plays very soft. From what I know, soft strings pair up best with stiff ones. That's how hybrids like gut/poly or poly/syn gut became so popular.
Here's some pics...
This very thin fishing line is extremely difficult to string. So far, most occasions when I used it were troublesome. Rarely straightforward.
Right after the completed racket was dismounted, the fish mains snapped! Not the first time it happened, so I clamped near the snapped portion immediately and re-mounted the racket.
As there wasn't any fishing line already heavily pre-stretched, I used some leftover fishing line and patched the stringjob. The other alternative was to ditch everything, but since it was my own racket, I could accept a patch. (You can see two extra knots in the pic below at RM3 & RM4.)
In case you're unaware, string patch jobs were extremely common during wood rackets' heydays. Then, only natural gut was available, and whenever a string snapped, it was usually patched and re-used! (link) So much so, that it was common to see multiple knots in one racket, and even multi-toned natural guts from different batches!
Playtest:
- Played with a fit and fast lefty named BL.
- As usual, most of the younger folks I met were using the Babolat AeroPro Drive strung with RPM Blast in the mid-50s.
- BL tested this setup and liked the soft cushioning and string bite.
- At my receiving end, there was a lot more spin coming across with this setup. Most of his previously hip high topspin shots started kicking aggressively and offensively upwards to my ear height. My timing went haywire immediately and I frame-hit many shots, recovering only after I took two steps back.
- When I tested it, the patched area was soft but not uncontrollable. It was powerful, comfortable and very spinny.
- It played quite similar to another previous fishing line/poly setup (link) but this had much more "bite".
- Some notching was observed after just one session and only the patched strings moved.
01May2014 update:
- A friend borrowed this racket and snapped the mains! Couldn't blame him entirely since the strings were already notched from my first session.
- He managed to hit with it for about 90 minutes. So in total, the thin fishing line lasted only about 2.5 hours. (Both my friend and I are not hard-hitters anymore)
- The comfort impressed him the most, followed by spin and then the controllable power.
- This chap is quite well-to-do. He liked the string enough to "sponsor" my hunt for a more easily available fishing line instead of from Japan.
- Despite the hassle of pre-stretching and re-stringing with the very delicate (and temperamental) fishing line, I couldn't shake it off my mind. It played too nice to ignore. I'll have to live with this very short playing life of the string!
