couple o' natural gut questions

I am not a string breaker, I play 17g poly mains and 17g syn gut crosses and always cut them out before they look like they're even close to breaking.
I defintaely prefer 17g to 16g.

If I go to natural gut mains, can I expect similar durability to the other two types with 17g?

2nd question, I'm a firm believer that polys perform much better at around 50lbs or a little lower, rather than up even just a couple of pounds. What about nat gut? If I like poly mains at 49 or 50, is that a good starting place for gut?

you'll have to go higher with nat gut in the mains for it not to feel like a trampoline compared to poly. if you cut poly out when think its going dead then a full bed of nat gut will probably last longer, not as long as most syn gut. it probably won't last as long as either in a hybrid.

I would go at least mid 50s on the gut mains. I'm at 54 now and that's perfect for my frame and game, with poly (Lux Supersense) at 52.

Plenty of people will recommend the gut even higher than that. But I'd start in the mid 50s range and see what you like.

anyone have any comment on 17g vs 16g in gut? If I'm not breaking 17g polys and syn-guts will 17g gut likely last as well for me?

17 Gauge gut is a little less durable than 16 gauge gut but both are less durable than polys which tend to die before most people can actually break them. If you are not a string breaker, I would not worry too much about it especially if you using it in a hybrid setup.

I find that if you use a smooth poly cross, there is lower amount of friction thus they don't saw into each other and maintain durability just fine. If you use a textured or sharper poly cross, then your natural gut will not last very long.

I agree with one of the poster to up the natural gut to a higher tension say 58lbs and keep the poly cross around 52lbs and that should be a good setup to start with.

I've used both 16 and 17g for gut mains. 16 gave me more touch but the 17 gave me lots more spin with smooth 18g poly crosses, so now I go with 17g gut mains.

As for tension I string no higher than 55 for gut mains with poly crosses 3 or 4 pounds lower. Too tight and you lose the spin benefits of a mid tension gut/poly hybrid and lock up the string bed. Too loose (gut in the low 40s in a big head and open pattern) and you have control problems.

I've used 52 to 54 for gut mains with 16 mains and 18 main from 93" to 100" with no problems. In fact, as the gut "mellows" it plays better and better with each passing session.

That being said, my frames tend to be low powered and soft. Doing this in a super stiff, wide open string bed might cause excessive power problems. I know my limit is denser string patterns and smaller heads in soft frames if possible.

this is from someone with 10 years of gut experience.

string the mains at 55-56 to start.... for the cross, do NOT use polys... they will die long before the mains break.... get a durable syngut like Stamina or Prince Syngut Duraflex or OGSM.

you should get a couple of months out of it, far better experience than cutting polys out every 3 days.

For reference, I'm using a Dunlop AG100 which is 90sq", 16x19 and flexy.

With that said, I play poly/gut at 47/50 and it feels great. Next time around I'll be going to 45/48 to see how that plays, but I'm not expecting much change. This is coming from stringing religiously at 60 or 62.

dozu said:

this is from someone with 10 years of gut experience.

string the mains at 55-56 to start.... for the cross, do NOT use polys... they will die long before the mains break.... get a durable syngut like Stamina or Prince Syngut Duraflex or OGSM.

you should get a couple of months out of it, far better experience than cutting polys out every 3 days.

Click to expand...

Dozu, what tension do you recommend for the crosses?

dozu said:

this is from someone with 10 years of gut experience.

string the mains at 55-56 to start.... for the cross, do NOT use polys... they will die long before the mains break.... get a durable syngut like Stamina or Prince Syngut Duraflex or OGSM.

you should get a couple of months out of it, far better experience than cutting polys out every 3 days.

Click to expand...

If I string OGMS at 65 in my OS, what tension would you recommend for a gut/OGSM X hybrid? (for both mains and crosses)

Thanks

smirker said:

Dozu, what tension do you recommend for the crosses?

Click to expand...

the same tension as the mains should be fine.... I usually drop 3 pounds on the top 3 crosses to make the upper hoop more lively, but that's just personal preference.

a0f6459 said:

If I string OGMS at 65 in my OS, what tension would you recommend for a gut/OGSM X hybrid? (for both mains and crosses)

Thanks

Click to expand...

in theory gut should be 5% tighter than syngut, so that would put you in the 68lbs range..... but I have never played OS and neither tension that high, so I am not sure.... I think you can try 66 and see what happens.

dozu said:

the same tension as the mains should be fine.... I usually drop 3 pounds on the top 3 crosses to make the upper hoop more lively, but that's just personal preference.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Never tried that approach (dropping tension on the top 3 crosses) sounds interesting especially as I hit in the upper half of the strings mainly.