Mid Level Gut Playtest

[McLovin]

Intro:

I've been hitting with gut mains / poly crosses for over 5 years now. I've tried many different combinations and tensions over the years, but for the past 6 months have used Pacific Classic @ 54lbs / MSV Co. Focus crosses at 52lbs. Because I am frugal, my gut choices lean towards the cheaper, mid-range brands (i.e. $25 -> $30).

Perusing the TW site, I noticed a few new additions to their Gut offerings:

• KLIP Legend Tour
• KLIP Armour Pro
• Boris Becker Hero

I realize the Becker Hero has been around for a while, but for some reason I've never tried it.

Having a $60 credit at TW, I decided to use it towards a gut/poly playtest. To be clear, this is a playtest of mid-range gut ($25 -> $32), crossed with MSV Co. Focus, not a test of 'which gut/poly combo is the best'. Co. Focus was used because that is my current poly cross, and I only wanted to change one variable: the gut.

All racquets were strung by me at 54lbs for the gut mains, 52lbs for the poly crosses, using my Alpha Revo 4000 + Wise 2086:



The Pacific and both KLIP guts are 17g. The Becker Hero is 16L because that was all they offered. For the record, I omitted the Babolat Tonic + because it only came in 16g. I prefer thinner gauge gut.

Because I only have 3 frames, my first test included KLIP Legend Tour, KLIP Armour Pro, and Pacific Classic as my 'baseline':



For the record, I'm a 44yr old 4.5 rated player who plays predominantly from the baseline (along the lines of a Ferrer or Baghdatis). In case anyone cares, I've hit with a few members here (mikeler, downs_chris, auzzieism) who can vouch for my level.

EDIT: Here are quick links to the reviews:

KLIP Armour Pro:

Part 1
Part 2

KLIP Legend Tour:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Pacific Classic:

Part 1

[McLovin]

KLIP Armour Pro:

Stringing: This was the easiest to string of all the guts. Barely any coil memory, which resulted in almost a 0% chance of kinking it. The poly crosses slid along effortlessly. So much so that during the stringing, I felt as if I was stringing full poly. Tension right off the machine was spot-on:



Initial Hit: My first hit wasn't pleasant. There was a distinctive 'ping' when hitting, and I couldn't get it out of my mind that I was playing full poly. Serves seemed OK, but ground strokes felt like I was lacking serious power. There was practically no feel on the volleys. I only played 1 set of doubles with it, but was not impressed at all. I put it back in the bag, thinking maybe it just needed a while to settle. Tension immediately after 1 hit:



The next day, I took another reading, just to see how it settled:

[julian]

Originally Posted by McLovin

KLIP Armour Pro:

Stringing: This was the easiest to string of all the guts. Barely any coil memory, which resulted in almost a 0% chance of kinking it. The poly crosses slid along effortlessly. So much so that during the stringing, I felt as if I was stringing full poly. Tension right off the machine was spot-on:



Initial Hit: My first hit wasn't pleasant. There was a distinctive 'ping' when hitting, and I couldn't get it out of my mind that I was playing full poly. Serves seemed OK, but ground strokes felt like I was lacking serious power. There was practically no feel on the volleys. I only played 1 set of doubles with it, but was not impressed at all. I put it back in the bag, thinking maybe it just needed a while to settle. Tension immediately after 1 hit:



The next day, I took another reading, just to see how it settled:

How do you know whether 52.5 is a number referring to a gut or
a poly?
A git should loose between 7 and 9 percents
PS I am NOT a stringer,I am a tennis coach

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by julian

How do you know whether 52.5 is a number referring to a gut or
a poly?
A git should loose between 7 and 9 percents
PS I am NOT a stringer,I am a tennis coach

RacquetTune has a 'hybrid' setting, so the tension loss is the overall string bed. Whether it is due to the gut or the poly, I do not know.

BTW, I forgot to mention that the Co. Focus is 17g (1.23mm).

[julian]

Originally Posted by McLovin

RacquetTune has a 'hybrid' setting, so the tension loss is the overall string bed. Whether it is due to the gut or the poly, I do not know.

BTW, I forgot to mention that the Co. Focus is 17g (1.23mm).

Loss of tension should be larger after one hour
Basically poly may loose 10 percents
Gut should loose around 9 percents

[McLovin]

KLIP Armour Pro: (continued)

Second Hit:: My second hit with this string was singles against a hard hitting Del Potro style player. I had hoped the drop in tension would be beneficial to both the feel and the power. Wow, was I wrong. Again, this string plays nothing like gut. If I had to give it a tagline, it would be 'Poly feel, but at the price of Gut'. It was almost impossible to generate any power off the ground, which is hard to believe since my opponent likes to serve ~ 120MPH, followed by a huge forehand. This usually gives me plenty of power to feed off.

I was able to get some good pop on my serve, but I quickly realized it was because I was swinging about as hard as I could. This seriously affected my arm/shoulder strength after just 4 games. Spin was OK, but feel was almost non existent. My arm & shoulder began to hurt after just 1 set, something that has never happened with any gut/poly combination in the past. Here's the tension after the 2nd hit:



Durability: I'm sure this string will last a long time, but I won't know because it is about to be cut out of my frame as I type this. The coating rubs off after just two sets, as you can see from this photo:



Conclusion: IMO, not worth the money, even at half the price. It strings like poly, feels like poly, plays like poly, and probably has the durability of poly. So why spend $32 for it? Not sure where KLIP was going with this, but I don't like it.

[McLovin]

KLIP Legend Tour:

Stringing: The coating on this made it easier to string that normal KLIP Legend. Like Armour Pro, it had barely any coil memory and the poly crosses slid along effortlessly. Not as smooth as the Armour Pro, but more so than Pacific Classic. Again, tension right off the machine was spot-on:



Initial Hit: The first hit with this was more promising that the Armour Pro. There was still a distinctive 'ping' when hitting, but it went away after the first 30 seconds. Serves were real nice: plenty of power and spin, and I had no problem holding during the doubles match. I don't serve huge (I'm only 5ft 9in), but like to move it around the box, and the string responded nicely. Volleys were also solid: good feel & control. My returns were solid, dipping when I needed it, and driving deep when I needed it. Tension immediately after 1 hit:



The next day, I took another reading, just to see how it settled:

[Fintft]

Originally Posted by McLovin

KLIP Legend Tour:

Stringing: The first hit with this was more promising that the Armour Pro. There was still a distinctive 'ping' when hitting, but it went away after the first 30 seconds.

Did you pre-stretch the gut?

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by Fintft

Did you pre-stretch the gut?

I used to, but I bought a new machine last fall with a Wise 2086 electronic tensioner. It has a 'pre-stretch' option, where it goes past the setting by ~ 5%, then comes back to the desired tension. I use that setting for the gut, but not the poly.

[Lambsscroll]

Originally Posted by McLovin

I used to, but I bought a new machine last fall with a Wise 2086 electronic tensioner. It has a 'pre-stretch' option, where it goes past the setting by ~ 5%, then comes back to the desired tension. I use that setting for the gut, but not the poly.

Interesting. So if the desired tension is 60 pounds the machine will pull at 63 pounds then pull at 60 and so on. 63 60, 63 60. Just clamp at the right time. lol

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by Lambsscroll

Interesting. So if the desired tension is 60 pounds the machine will pull at 63 pounds then pull at 60 and so on. 63 60, 63 60. Just clamp at the right time. lol

Wouldn't it be easier if you just pull the string until there aren't any coil memory left?

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by Lambsscroll

Interesting. So if the desired tension is 60 pounds the machine will pull at 63 pounds then pull at 60 and so on. 63 60, 63 60. Just clamp at the right time. lol

Kinda. Its a 'constant pull' tensioner, so it pulls to ~63, then backs off to 60, but it is constantly adjusting (e.g., 59.6, 60.2, 59.8, 60.3, etc.) until I clamp & release the tensioner.

[McLovin]

KLIP Legend Tour: (continued)

Second Hit:: My second hit with this string was singles against the same player I hit against with the Armour Pro. In fact, it was the 2nd set of our match after I had pretty much shredded my shoulder with the Armour Pro.

I was looking forward to hitting with this string after my doubles match. It was very promising, especially since I've used regular KLIP Legend in the past and found it so-so. Even with my shoulder as tired as it was, I noticed an increase in power & spin right away. Serves popped off just they had in the doubles match. Ground strokes had more depth, spin and power. But the most significant change was the feel. It felt like I was hitting with gut again. Here's the tension after the 2nd hit:



Durability: This one I will play with a few more times in the coming weeks & will keep updating as I go. I likely won't get the full idea of durability as I normally don't play until the string breaks (unless its clay), but can at least compare the notching to my Pacific Classic setup. Like the Armour Pro, the coating rubs off after just two sets, as you can see from this photo:



Conclusion: This is a viable alternative to Pacific Classic, which on occasion has been on backorder. It costs the same as Classic ($29.95), plus, you get a cool color in black. I will likely hold on to the 2nd half of the set until spring and try it on clay to see what its true durability is.

[mikeler]

Interesting stuff. LIke you, I was not very impressed with regular Klip Legend.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

I'm curious if you will be including Pacific Classic and Klip Legend (non-tour version) in future reviews?

I'm interested in those two strings. I've gathered some information scattered around the forum, so feel free to correct and contribute if you can!

Klip Legend and Pacific Classic are both on the crisp side:

Klip Legend - Crispest of all gut, plus for Klip Legend is that, it comes in 15L.
Pacific Classic - Not as crisp, but still crisp, and there is a break-in period? (Not a fan of that...)

If you've played with the non-Tour Klip Legend, how do you think it compares to the Tour version? Thanks!

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

I'm curious if you will be including Pacific Classic and Klip Legend (non-tour version) in future reviews?

I'm interested in those two strings. I've gathered some information scattered around the forum, so feel free to correct and contribute if you can!

Klip Legend and Pacific Classic are both on the crisp side:

Klip Legend - Crispest of all gut, plus for Klip Legend is that, it comes in 15L.
Pacific Classic - Not as crisp, but still crisp, and there is a break-in period? (Not a fan of that...)

If you've played with the non-Tour Klip Legend, how do you think it compares to the Tour version? Thanks!

Once I'm finished w/ the Legend Tour, I'll revisit regular Legend, alongside the Becker Hero. The Pacific Classic review should be written sometime next week.

I have a USTA Sectionals tournament next weekend, so I don't want to tinker too much before then.

Legend Tour is much less 'crisp' IMO than normal Legend. I don't know if it is the same gut w/ a coating, or if it is a different gut altogether, but after the first minute of hitting, after the 'ping' subsided, it settled in nicely. It reminded me of Pacific Classic. I have no idea why a coating would make it play better, but then again, it may be that I was coming from the Armour Pro.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

If you've played with the non-Tour Klip Legend, how do you think it compares to the Tour version? Thanks!

So far the KLIP Legend Tour is playing like Pacific Classic. Crisp, but not as crisp as the regular Legend.

I haven't found Classic to require a break-in period, but that is just me. Also, I only use the 17g version, and maybe the 16L or 16 require it?

One thing I forgot to mention was gauge consistency. Both Armour Pro and Legend Tour seemed very consistent throughout. The Classic, on occasion, will vary in thickness, sometimes looking like a 16Lg or an 18g.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by McLovin

So far the KLIP Legend Tour is playing like Pacific Classic. Crisp, but not as crisp as the regular Legend.

I haven't found Classic to require a break-in period, but that is just me. Also, I only use the 17g version, and maybe the 16L or 16 require it?

One thing I forgot to mention was gauge consistency. Both Armour Pro and Legend Tour seemed very consistent throughout. The Classic, on occasion, will vary in thickness, sometimes looking like a 16Lg or an 18g.

Thanks, I'm currently playing with Mamba Premium Natural Gut. IF it stays on the frame, then there's nothing wrong with the gut. However, it is prone to premature unraveling and early breakage.

I'm interested in moving away from the econo-gut and considering the sub-$30 range. The hit-or-miss quality of econo-gut can be frustrating, stringing it can be nerve wrecking.

You definitely get what you pay for with econo-gut. But like I said, in the case of Mamba, if it stays on the frame, it's a great alternative to those who want to try natural gut.

[tennisnut09]

Originally Posted by McLovin

So far the KLIP Legend Tour is playing like Pacific Classic. Crisp, but not as crisp as the regular Legend.

I haven't found Classic to require a break-in period, but that is just me. Also, I only use the 17g version, and maybe the 16L or 16 require it?

One thing I forgot to mention was gauge consistency. Both Armour Pro and Legend Tour seemed very consistent throughout. The Classic, on occasion, will vary in thickness, sometimes looking like a 16Lg or an 18g.

Mclovin, any update on this. Please post.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by tennisnut09

Mclovin, any update on this. Please post.

I played with the Legend Tour the other night. I forgot to take a Racquet Tune reading, but the string is still going strong. Barely any string movement, still nice pop & spin, as well as good feel. In fact, after playing my normal setup (Pacific Classic) all weekend, I'm not sure I could tell any difference between the two.

However, that was doubles, so its hard for me to get an idea of how it really plays from the ground. I'm playing singles Friday, so hopefully there will be more long rallies where I have to hit 6-8 shots per point, and can get a better feel for it.