How to pre-stretch gut?

[gstring]

Can someone give me advice on how to pre-strech gut prior to stringing? I just strung a racquet with gut for the first time without pre-stretching, and it seems to have lost 20 lbs. within the first hour of play.

Thanks!

[Jay Cee]

Hi Gstring,

That is very surprising, even prestretching the gut is not going to change more than a couple of pounds at the most. If it is so slack there may well be another reason. Compared to regular nylon strings, the gut should feel harder when strung up at the same tension, not softer. :(

Perhaps you haven't applied the right tension or your clamps are slipping.
Here are a few questions that may help us find the problem :
- What machine are you using (drop weight, crank, electrique) ??
- What tension did you set the machine to?
- What gut did you string (brand and gauge).
- How long have you been stringing?
- Have you had tension problems with other strings?

With these questions answered I will explain to you how to prestretch the gut.
Cheers,
:cool:

[gstring]

I'm using a drop weight machine (Gamma X2) with floating clamps. I set the weight to 61 lbs with BDE Rally Gut 16G. It's only the second racquet I've strung. I had no problems with the first racquet (with Luxilon ALU Power 16). I did notice that the floating clamp would move as I released the drop weight tension. This didn't happen with the Luxilon string. The clamp was tight enough on the string; when it slipped, both strings in the clamp moved together. My guess is that this slippage is the cause of my problem and that a fixed clamp machine would work better. Perhaps I only lost 10 lbs. and not 20. Thanks for your help Jay :)

[Jaypro]

hey G string, welcome to the board. I have no idea how to pre stretch gut but with a name like that i had to at least check it out! haha great name, just wish i had thought of it sooner :(

[Jay Cee]

@ Jaypro,

Yeh man, with a name like that it could have been another "Veri" . . . :confused:

[Jay Cee]

@ Gstring,

Thanks for the infos.

The slipping of both strings in the clamp indicates that the clamp is not tight enough. There is no reason that you can't do a good string job with floating clamps, the only problem is the loss of tension on the last strings before tying off the knot. Increase the tension by 8 lbs on each of the last 3 strings before the knot, this will compensate the loss of tension. :o

The gut will feel softer than the Luxilon at the same tension, you should increase the tension overall by 4 lbs to have a similar feel to the Alu Power, but I would suggest that you string at 60lbs mains, and 64lbs in the crosses. ;)

Give it a go and give me some feedback.

Cheers,
JC :cool:

[David Pavlich]

I'm new here, but I think some of you will recognize me from TW and GSS.

To get to your question about pre-stretching, first don't get too frisky with the stretching. I do it just enough to take out the coil memory. This makes it easier to string and also minimizes the chances of kinking the gut. Gut really hates kinks.

I attach mine to the front door, carefully uncoil the string and take out the twist by reversing the twist with my fingers. I have a piece of 2X2 wood block about 5" long with a 1/4" hole in it. I stick the string through the hole and grab it with a starting clamp and pull. I lean into it for about 15 seconds. Safety tip: turn your head away in case the knot slips or breaks. Also, don't touch the starting clamp, especially the handles. You could release the string...not good as you might fall on your tuckus.

Good luck!

David