Angell TC95 question

Alexjc1 · Apr 20, 2013

For people who have hit with Angell or Vantage racquets, can you tell me what you think a TC95 with a 16x19 string pattern, 70RA stiffness, 320 grams (11.4oz) , 315-310 mm balance (9-10 pts headlight), and a 27" (or maybe possible 27.25") racquet would play like?
I do not have any experience with either company's custom racquets, so I would like to have an idea of how this racquet would play before I would buy one.

Thank you!

Dave M · Apr 20, 2013

There is a good thread on the 95 somewhere on here but in simple terms they are a really nice solid frame. Personally I prefer the open pattern (I have both that and an 18 by 20) but of the vantage and angell frames I've had personally I prefer the lower ra racquets. The 70 Is nice and has a decent amount of power on tap as it were with not a huge amount of effort. Personally 27 or 27.25 never made any difference to me I prefer 27 when playing doubles so it depends really how you find them.Stiffness aside those specs are similar to mine, hefty enough to trade groundies but still with a decent HL balance so net play in dubs is comfortable and (to me) quick.
Paul (founder of angell and vantage racquetdesign on here) is really knowledgeable just give him a shout.

jason586 · Apr 20, 2013

I play this exact frame specs in the Vantage (black), although I tweaked it a bit recently. I had enjoyed playing various 6.1 95s (16x18 ) and Prestige MPs (18x20) with the NCode 6.1 and i.prestige being my favorites. They were both a bit heavier than I wanted especially while serving in 3rd sets. I was looking for a players racquet with power similar to the 6.1s and the great feel/control of the Prestiges in a lighter package which is a tough bill to fit. The Vantage 95 was the answer for me.

I recently lightened my 95s in the handle making it more HH which has been a surprising big plus for my game. I do not think many are aware that you can further customize your Vantage racquet with a little extra work - if it is not to your exact liking. If you take off the butt and pallet, you will see that there are square lead weights and spaces to adjust them. There are 6 spaces (3 on each side) at the butt, and 2 spaces (1 on each side) about 6" up from the butt. I had 3 x 10 gram weights in each of mine. I recently adjusted one racquet to only 2 weights at the butt, and one to 1 weight at the butt + 1 at the 6" position. The one with the 2 weights in the butt is the winner for me. I did not take pics when I did it, but there was a thread with pics about a year ago.

scotus · Apr 20, 2013

jason586 said:
I play this exact frame specs in the Vantage (black), although I tweaked it a bit recently. I had enjoyed playing various 6.1 95s (16x18 ) and Prestige MPs (18x20) with the NCode 6.1 and i.prestige being my favorites. They were both a bit heavier than I wanted especially while serving in 3rd sets. I was looking for a players racquet with power similar to the 6.1s and the great feel/control of the Prestiges in a lighter package which is a tough bill to fit. The Vantage 95 was the answer for me.

I recently lightened my 95s in the handle making it more HH which has been a surprising big plus for my game. I do not think many are aware that you can further customize your Vantage racquet with a little extra work - if it is not to your exact liking. If you take off the butt and pallet, you will see that there are square lead weights and spaces to adjust them. There are 6 spaces (3 on each side) at the butt, and 2 spaces (1 on each side) about 6" up from the butt. I had 3 x 10 gram weights in each of mine. I recently adjusted one racquet to only 2 weights at the butt, and one to 1 weight at the butt + 1 at the 6" position. The one with the 2 weights in the butt is the winner for me. I did not take pics when I did it, but there was a thread with pics about a year ago.

Jason,

How did you pull off the staples on the pallets? Those are embedded deep into the pallets.

One poster here took a razor blade and cut around it. Is that what you did, or did you come up with a better solution?

jason586 · Apr 20, 2013

I got my Vantages second hand, and the staples were already removed. Nails were used in place of the staples. I used a small flat head screw driver to get the nails started and then used pliers to pull them the rest of the way out. The screw driver did put minor notches in the pallet as the pallet is somewhat soft, but nothing that is noticeable with a grip on.

I also sanded my pallets as I wanted a smaller and slightly more extreme rectangular grip (even more than rectangular than head grips), and I rounded the edges a bit on both the pallets and the butt with sandpaper. Sandpaper worked very well and the grips came out exactly how I wanted. I'm now using Gamma High Tech Cord/Ribbed Grip.

scotus said:
Jason,

How did you pull off the staples on the pallets? Those are embedded deep into the pallets.

One poster here took a razor blade and cut around it. Is that what you did, or did you come up with a better solution?

scotus · Apr 20, 2013

Thank you, Jason.

Alexjc1 · Apr 21, 2013

Thanks guys.

I have read through some other Angell threads, but there did not seem to be many that used 70RA stiffness. I like the stable feel and easy power that stiffer racquets provide, but I also want a comfortable and easy on the arm racquet to use.
Also, how open is the 16x19 string pattern on the TC95 compared to most other 16x19 string patterns?

scotus · Apr 21, 2013

Alexjc1 said:
Thanks guys.

I have read through some other Angell threads, but there did not seem to be many that used 70RA stiffness. I like the stable feel and easy power that stiffer racquets provide, but I also want a comfortable and easy on the arm racquet to use.
Also, how open is the 16x19 string pattern on the TC95 compared to most other 16x19 string patterns?

It is fairly open, as the string spacing does not get denser in the sweet spot.

One thing I don't like about about the string pattern is that it is sort of old style, where the crosses are designed to be strung from the bottom up. When you do 2 pieces, sure, you can go from the top to bottom, but you will have to prepare for some blocked holes.

jason586 · Apr 21, 2013

I played with both the 63 ad 70 stiffness for awhile and settled on the 70 as I was used to playing stiffer racquets. Remember that the 70 and 63 are unstrung specs which is more like 67 and 60 strung. When comparing, TW and and other online retailers usually state the strung specs - so be sure to compare correctly. The 70 is comfortable as the entire racquet is solid with less vibration than most sticks due to being foam filled - not hollow or tinny at all. If you are coming from stiffer racquets, you should have no issues with the 70 (67 strung) flex.

Alexjc1 · Apr 23, 2013

Thank you Scotus and Jason!
I think I had decided I was going to get the 70RA stiffness, however, I now have the opportunity to get the 63RA. Would the 63 still have some easy power (I can supply plenty, I am young and I am playing college tennis next season at a good school). I have never really used a softer flex racquet, as I am coming from a VO2 Max Tecnfibre 325.
Will it be a huge adjustment, or can the 63RA flex still pack a punch?
Mainly concerned about my serve at the moment. I have a big one (about 120mph of flat serves), but I don't want to lose any of that.

Thank you for any comments guys!

jason586 · Apr 23, 2013

I came from a similar stiffness frame as the 325 you are playing.
I had both the 63 and 70, and played with them both for months. The 70 was the winner for me as I never got comfortable with the flexiness of the 63 (which is about 60 strung). Everyone is different though. As I already mentioned, for me the 70 in no way feels stiff or hard on the arm due to being foam filled. I did get more pop out of the 70 even with the smaller 95" head (my 63s were in a 100" head size). The 95"/70 is a beast to serve with - especially with a little extra lead at 12 o'clock.

Alexjc1 said:
Thank you Scotus and Jason!
I think I had decided I was going to get the 70RA stiffness, however, I now have the opportunity to get the 63RA. Would the 63 still have some easy power (I can supply plenty, I am young and I am playing college tennis next season at a good school). I have never really used a softer flex racquet, as I am coming from a VO2 Max Tecnfibre 325.
Will it be a huge adjustment, or can the 63RA flex still pack a punch?
Mainly concerned about my serve at the moment. I have a big one (about 120mph of flat serves), but I don't want to lose any of that.

Thank you for any comments guys!

Stringers · Apr 23, 2013

My frame is the exact specs as you asked about in your OP. I can just say that the frame is perfect. Seriously, I'm a similar player to you. Big serve, ground strokes and I absolutely love this frame. The 70 is not harsh in any way and offers insane control. Also I don't have to worry about my frame anymore, I know what I've got, it just fits me and my game. So now I can just go out and play, and the only thing I have to worry about changing are the strings.

If anything, I may see about reducing the weight just a smidge while keeping the same HL balance to try and get a little more head speed on my serve.

Besides that the frame is tremendous. Guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Alexjc1 · Apr 24, 2013

Thanks again guys for all the information!

What do you guys think about this.. For between $650-$700, I am being offered 4 custom racquets, 2 reels of string, 2 hats, 12 overgrips, and a 9 racquet bag with my name embroidered on it.
This is Vantage stuff by the way.
The strings could be any of the ones they have, but I use poly, so I have two options. A black 5 sided poly and a silver rough poly.
Do you guys think this is a good deal?
I had an offer with Tecnifibre that was for $400 (plus $20 shipping) for 4 racquets, 12 racquet bag, 4 sets of string, a hat, a shirt, 10 grips, and a wristband.
So what do you guys think?

High street sw19 · Apr 25, 2013

Alexjc1 said:
Thanks again guys for all the information!

What do you guys think about this.. For between $650-$700, I am being offered 4 custom racquets, 2 reels of string, 2 hats, 12 overgrips, and a 9 racquet bag with my name embroidered on it.
This is Vantage stuff by the way.
The strings could be any of the ones they have, but I use poly, so I have two options. A black 5 sided poly and a silver rough poly.
Do you guys think this is a good deal?
I had an offer with Tecnifibre that was for $400 (plus $20 shipping) for 4 racquets, 12 racquet bag, 4 sets of string, a hat, a shirt, 10 grips, and a wristband.
So what do you guys think?

Sounds like a "Getting out of business sale" to me ;-|

Alexjc1 · Apr 25, 2013

Not yet!
No, it is because I am playing college tennis next season, and so I am to sort of market Vantage a little bit.
So they are not getting out of business. At least not right now anyways.

Dave M · Apr 25, 2013

^^Technifibre are offering one wristband?
If the money difference isn't an issue upfront the angell/ vantage frames are really nice.
Is that package price from Sven in the US? I haven't heard he is going out of business but I think getting frames when his stock has sold may be an issue for him (and therefore customers) so more will then be only available as Angell ones from (at the moment) the UK.

Alexjc1 · Apr 25, 2013

Dave M, it would be one package of wristbands from Tecnifibre. haha so one for each wrist.
I do not know all of the specifics between Angell and Vantage (really I do not know anything, I just know that they split for whatever reason), but I do not believe Vantage is going out of business though.

High street sw19 · Apr 26, 2013

Alexjc1 said:
Not yet!
No, it is because I am playing college tennis next season, and so I am to sort of market Vantage a little bit.
So they are not getting out of business. At least not right now anyways.

But isn't it common knowledge that the guy in Florida is just selling old stock and has no factory agreements or knowledge of producing anything, that was the Angell part.......? That's their USP.

Dave M · Apr 26, 2013

High street sw19 said:
But isn't it common knowledge that the guy in Florida is just selling old stock and has no factory agreements or knowledge of producing anything, that was the Angell part.......? That's their USP.

Yes,(I was trying not to point fingers!) very true it sounds like he made sure he had a big delivery before launching his cloned website, so it would appear he's selling NOS vantage frames but when they are gone what comes next is anybody's guess

High street sw19 · Apr 26, 2013

Dave M said:
Yes,(I was trying not to point fingers!) very true it sounds like he made sure he had a big delivery before launching his cloned website, so it would appear he's selling NOS vantage frames but when they are gone what comes next is anybody's guess

Probably not that many in reality.......no cash ;-)

Alexjc1 · Apr 26, 2013

They did make some new strings that are not on the site currently.
So to me, if they are still making some new products, then I do not see them completely shutting it down. I have no idea what he will do about the racquet part if you guys are right that he is only using old stock racquets.
I just know that he has told me that the strings he is offering are brand new and not on the site yet.

Dave M · Apr 26, 2013

Alexjc1 said:
They did make some new strings that are not on the site currently.
So to me, if they are still making some new products, then I do not see them completely shutting it down. I have no idea what he will do about the racquet part if you guys are right that he is only using old stock racquets.
I just know that he has told me that the strings he is offering are brand new and not on the site yet.

He'll only be buying them in from somewhere, what I meant re the racquets is that Paul Angells' design and spec quality are lovely frames, some of the best I have tried out. WHat the US guys using the vantage name buy as their next frames is where the questions will occur.

High street sw19 · Apr 27, 2013

Dave M said:
He'll only be buying them in from somewhere, what I meant re the racquets is that Paul Angells' design and spec quality are lovely frames, some of the best I have tried out. WHat the US guys using the vantage name buy as their next frames is where the questions will occur.

Correct anyone can go on to Alibaba and source anything now day's, he is not from the Industry from what I was told by my racquet guru so does not have the knowledge or contacts (or cash) to take it forward. How did he steal the brand anyway?

Dave M · Apr 27, 2013

High street sw19 said:
Correct anyone can go on to Alibaba and source anything now day's, he is not from the Industry from what I was told by my racquet guru so does not have the knowledge or contacts (or cash) to take it forward. How did he steal the brand anyway?

Very long story, however, he cloned the website then started using it with a new (almost identical address) and stopped having contact with the owner. The problem with the name though is that the cost of taking someone to court in another country would take so much money (and time) it wouldn't be worth it so Angell tennis was started so he could continue working.

High street sw19 · Apr 27, 2013

Dave M said:
Very long story, however, he cloned the website then started using it with a new (almost identical address) and stopped having contact with the owner. The problem with the name though is that the cost of taking someone to court in another country would take so much money (and time) it wouldn't be worth it so Angell tennis was started so he could continue working.

He (the guy in Florida) sounds like a total T--ser !

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