Mamba Premium Natural Gut - Review

[jk175d]

Aprreciate the review, but I think ANY gut review needs to be in comparison to the benchmark gut, VS (or Wilson). If you are comparing power levels and comfort between two lower shelf guts there's still not much for me to learn from that without referencing the "control" string. You owe it to yourself to splurge at least once on the good stuff just so you know for yourself too.

When I switched to gut I started with VS so I'd have that reference point for when I tried others.

[Ramon]

Originally Posted by jk175d

Aprreciate the review, but I think ANY gut review needs to be in comparison to the benchmark gut, VS (or Wilson). If you are comparing power levels and comfort between two lower shelf guts there's still not much for me to learn from that without referencing the "control" string. You owe it to yourself to splurge at least once on the good stuff just so you know for yourself too.

When I switched to gut I started with VS so I'd have that reference point for when I tried others.

I'm sure Babolat and Wilson will agree with you, but I don't. If all varieties of VS gut were taken off the shelves tomorrow, guess what? The world would still be the same, only we'd be playing with other manufacturer's strings. By its very nature even VS gut won't be as consistent as a synthetic string because every cow's DNA is different.

[jk175d]

Originally Posted by Ramon

I'm sure Babolat and Wilson will agree with you, but I don't. If all varieties of VS gut were taken off the shelves tomorrow, guess what? The world would still be the same, only we'd be playing with other manufacturer's strings. By its very nature even VS gut won't be as consistent as a synthetic string because every cow's DNA is different.

I think the vast majority of players will tell you that VS/Wilson is the best gut. Sure if they disappear people will play other brands, but that's not relevant to my point. That string is the established benchmark gut by which all others are measured. I'm not arguing whether it is or isn't actually better than the rest, but when communicating about other brands it is helpful to have a single reference point, and like it or not, VS/wilson is it.

[TennisCJC]

Originally Posted by Ramon

Maybe I need to decrease the tension on the poly for better dwell time and more "give" and increase the tension on the gut for less power? If I do, I'm a little concerned about the difference in tension between mains and crosses after the poly crosses lose tension. I can already tell that the tension loss of the poly is a factor as I test the tension on a daily basis.

.

When hybridding gut with poly, I always string the gut 4-5 lbs higher than the poly. General opinion is a 5 lb differential will not damage the frame. TW will not string higher than a 5 lb differential between crosses and mains. I have done this for years with no discernable harm to my frames. I mostly string moderate tensions 55 lb mains with 50 crosses or a couple of lbs lower on each in the colder months or with stiffer strings.

Gut mains 54 with poly cross at 50 is probably a good place to start. I take the same approach with multi mains and poly crosses and use similar tensions.

[Ramon]

Originally Posted by jk175d

I think the vast majority of players will tell you that VS/Wilson is the best gut. Sure if they disappear people will play other brands, but that's not relevant to my point. That string is the established benchmark gut by which all others are measured. I'm not arguing whether it is or isn't actually better than the rest, but when communicating about other brands it is helpful to have a single reference point, and like it or not, VS/wilson is it.

There may be some truth to that if you are comparing strings that cost over $35. If I was considering Pacific Prime or Tough Gut I might want to compare it to VS. However, when you're talking about $15-22/set the relevance a string that costs over $40 is questionable.

[Ramon]

Originally Posted by TennisCJC

When hybridding gut with poly, I always string the gut 4-5 lbs higher than the poly. General opinion is a 5 lb differential will not damage the frame. TW will not string higher than a 5 lb differential between crosses and mains. I have done this for years with no discernable harm to my frames. I mostly string moderate tensions 55 lb mains with 50 crosses or a couple of lbs lower on each in the colder months or with stiffer strings.

Gut mains 54 with poly cross at 50 is probably a good place to start. I take the same approach with multi mains and poly crosses and use similar tensions.

I'm actually considering something like that, but I want to find a good tension maintaining poly before I do that. If Iontec keeps holding, I might try it again with a tension difference. 4 lbs difference doesn't seem like much to me, either, but by the time gut loses 8-10% and a poly loses 30%, you're now looking at about 50/35, and that scares me. The tension loss won't be a concern to a pro for obvious reasons, but it is relevant for those of us who are going to use the same setup for more than one match.

[jk175d]

Originally Posted by Ramon

There may be some truth to that if you are comparing strings that cost over $35. If I was considering Pacific Prime or Tough Gut I might want to compare it to VS. However, when you're talking about $15-22/set the relevance a string that costs over $40 is questionable.

except that in describing the characteristics of a string it still provides a known reference. Case in point, the OP says "wow Mamba is maybe TOO powerful, compared to Goucho." Well, I have no experience with either one of those strings so I still have absolutely no idea of the power level of Mamba.

[tennisinoc]

Originally Posted by Ramon

I'm actually considering something like that, but I want to find a good tension maintaining poly before I do that. If Iontec keeps holding, I might try it again with a tension difference. 4 lbs difference doesn't seem like much to me, either, but by the time gut loses 8-10% and a poly loses 30%, you're now looking at about 50/35, and that scares me. The tension loss won't be a concern to a pro for obvious reasons, but it is relevant for those of us who are going to use the same setup for more than one match.

This is also my concern as per our other Mamba Tennis thread.

[Power Player]

If you hybrid with supra gut and a softer poly like Cofocus, just string at 56#s for both. Your tension will drop to around 51#s and it will play great.

[filphil]

That could be why mamba recommends 54/52 with gut/iontec hybrid

[TenFanLA]

Originally Posted by filphil

That could be why mamba recommends 54/52 with gut/iontec hybrid

Where did you find that?

[UCSF2012]

Originally Posted by jk175d

Aprreciate the review, but I think ANY gut review needs to be in comparison to the benchmark gut, VS (or Wilson). If you are comparing power levels and comfort between two lower shelf guts there's still not much for me to learn from that without referencing the "control" string. You owe it to yourself to splurge at least once on the good stuff just so you know for yourself too.

When I switched to gut I started with VS so I'd have that reference point for when I tried others.

How narcissistic is this post? The world of natural gut revolves around your experiences?

[UCSF2012]

Anyone know if Mamba Premium Nat Gut can be strung at 60 without snapping?

[jk175d]

Originally Posted by UCSF2012

How narcissistic is this post? The world of natural gut revolves around your experiences?

First question: it's not. Second question: it doesn't. Continue reading and you will see my reasoning in my replies to Ramon.

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by jk175d

Aprreciate the review, but I think ANY gut review needs to be in comparison to the benchmark gut, VS (or Wilson). If you are comparing power levels and comfort between two lower shelf guts there's still not much for me to learn from that without referencing the "control" string. You owe it to yourself to splurge at least once on the good stuff just so you know for yourself too.

When I switched to gut I started with VS so I'd have that reference point for when I tried others.

Oh I'm sure that the big boys gut are of finer quality. But I think all of that only applies to the stringing part. For me, once they're on the frame, cow collagen is cow collagen no matter how you brand it.

And for $15, it plays perfectly for me.

[jk175d]

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

Oh I'm sure that the big boys gut are of finer quality. But I think all of that only applies to the stringing part. For me, once they're on the frame, cow collagen is cow collagen no matter how you brand it.

And for $15, it plays perfectly for me.

but wait, you started this topic saying "these strings are stupid powerful to me. Way more powerful than the Gaucho stuff". So you have already acknowledged a major difference between two differnt gut strings!

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Originally Posted by jk175d

but wait, you started this topic saying "these strings are stupid powerful to me. Way more powerful than the Gaucho stuff". So you have already acknowledged a major difference between two differnt gut strings!

Haha, you got me there.

All I'm saying is, cow collagen are more or less the same. I'm not at the point in my life where I don't want to spend the extra $20-30 on quality processing.

To me, if cheap gut survives the stringing process, then it's going to play like gut.

EDITED FOR typo

[TheRed]

Originally Posted by UCSF2012

Anyone know if Mamba Premium Nat Gut can be strung at 60 without snapping?

I strung at 58 and it was fine.

[polytheist]

Originally Posted by Say Chi Sin Lo

Haha, you got me there.

All I'm saying is, cow collagen are more or less the same. I'm not at the point in my life where I can spend the extra $20-30 on quality processing.

To me, if cheap gut survives the stringing process, then it's going to play like gut.

Where's Torres?

[arche3]

Originally Posted by polytheist

Where's Torres?

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?p=6551695