My string oddessy

[moosryan]

Hello everybody. Now that I'm very comfortable stringing for myself, I'm going to begin a long string testing process with my liquidmetal Radical midplus. I'm going to use this thread to fill you guys in every time I try a new string or hybrid. Here's what I'll be trying in the first batch:

Duraflex 16 (my usual string)
Tecnifibre E matrix 16 mains/Duraflex 16 crosses
Tecnifibre X-1 Biphase 16 mains/Duraflex 16 crosses
Pro Hurricane 17 Mains/ Forten Sweet 17 Crosses
Prince Synthetic Gut 16 (no duraflex)
Duraflex 16 Mains/ Tournament Nylon 15L crosses
Klip Kicker 17

Anyhow, I figured this might interest you guys, so if anyone has interest in hearing thoughts on anything, just gimme a shout.

moos.

[Hawkeye2]

Hi,

maybe you can post your results here from time to time ?!

Bye

[Jens]

Hey Hawkeye2, that's what moosryan just wrote:

I'm going to use this thread to fill you guys in every time I try a new string or hybrid.

@moosryan
Pro Hurricane / Forten Sweet 17 sounds like a good combination, but why would you want to combine a string like X-One Biphase or E-Matrix with Synthetic Gut DF crosses? You should try these strings pure. Also, Duraflex mains and Tournament Nylon crosses does not make much sense to me.

[moosryan]

Joe, I'm going with hybrids on multis simply because
a) it cuts price
b) a full multi job is a bit soft for me...maybe i'll try a full one sometime, but for now I think duraflex will add a nice bit of crispiness.

The duraflex/tournament nylon is simply because i have half sets of both lying around, i may or may not do it...might soften the duraflex up a bit though.

this is only the first order, glad to help some fellow string enthusiasts out.

[moosryan]

hit with the duraflex, the ematrix and the x one today. can't comment on the x one, the stringing was way to loose (i ordered it strung...little did i know they have a crank, i have a laserfibre!). the ematrix was pretty good though...at this price, i may switch to it if it lasts me a while. the soft feel was a nice contrast to the duraflex, while the duraflex crosses give it a bit of cripsness. i really enjoyed it!

[Mike Danger]

id like to see you try a hybrid of ,Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power, with either a gamma tnt pro, or livewire pro or babolat VS team, Wilson NXT tour, or similar strings or any natural gut all in 17g

Im using a radical too, but both of mine are over size

[moosryan]

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OK just finished up the first round of strings tests in my LM Radical MP:
1) TF E Matrix 16 mains/Prince Duraflex 16 xs (59/59)
2) Bab. Hurricane 17 Ms/Forten Sweet xs (57/59)
3) Prince Duraflex 16 (59)

1) Played kick arse at the start. Nice soft stringbed. Good touch, great power. the next time or two out it was fine too, but things went from bad to worse, and it lost so much tension, that I was tempted to cut it out (I never cut out strings). Eventually, with a bit of prodding (whacking a few times on a bench, then hitting as hard as a could for a few rallies and serves) it finally broke. Good riddance. Lost too much tension to be a keeper. The multi/mono hybrid seems promising though. Next time I'll use a better multi

2) The first time out, I thought I was hitting with a 2x4. then again, it was my first time with poly. However, the spin and control were awsome. I actually thought I might have found my strings. However, things got bad again. The next time out, I wasn't sure I was hitting with the same strings, as the stringbed softened so much, but it still was decent. Oh yeah, then my elbow started to hurt. I was planning on cutting this stuff out too, but I was waiting for a time to restring it, so when I broke my other strings, I had to play with it again today for a few minutes. Thankfully, a forten cross broke, and I was done with poly for quite some time. It didn't even last me very long, before the hurricane cut right thru the crosses.

3) Sometimes I wonder why I even try other strings, when I just come back to duraflex time and time again (but hey, stringtesting is fun). Why?
1) Nice blend of power and control, spin is nothing to write home about, but its fine. Spin comes from the player.
2) Super feel! Unbeatable crisp feeling, which I can't get enough of.
3) Consistent. Holds tension quite well, actually according to the usrsa, outside of gut and some premium multis, its one of the best.
4) Its cheap!!!

Unfortunately, this was the fastest I've ever broken it (probably around 4-5 hours), which dashes my hopes to try the 17. Am I satisfied enough that I'm done testing? Of course not! I really enjoy trying new equipment.
Next up on the list:

1) More Duraflex! (its my control for the experiments now)
2) Gosen JC 16
3) TF X-1 Biphase 16 ms/duraflex 16 xs
4) I'm going to order from tw soon, I think I'm definitely gonna get a few other strings, including rip control 17, possibly lighting xx, some more psg original (i had to use the other set i bought for a customer), and some other possible strings. keep an eye out for my next review.

Moos.

[Jens]

@moosryan
Thanks a lot for your report!
BTW, what's a "2x4"? Heard this quite a few times now but since I'm not a native English speaker, I've got no clue what it means when you say it felt like hitting with a 2x4...

[Jay Cee]

Hi Joe,
It's a standard piece of wood 4 inches wide 2 inches thick generally sold in lengths of 6 to 9 feet. Used to make amost everything by a carpenter.
It would be the most common wooden stick you could use hit a ball (or anything else).
By the way, americans frequently call racquets a "stick", a 2x4 would be about as basic as a stick could be, but you would need to play a 2 handed backhand and forehand (like Santoro)
JC

[Jens]

Ah thanks, now it's clear, in German we just say "feels like hitting with a board".