Mikeler's Multis

[Relinquis]

mikeler,

thanks for taking the time to share your views on these strings with us. it's a great resource.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Relinquis

mikeler,

thanks for taking the time to share your views on these strings with us. it's a great resource.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm playing singles tonight and hoping to break the Dunlop DNA and write up a review.

[mikeler]

Broke 3 strings on the DNA tonight. It looked severely damaged after it broke! Review tomorrow.

I played almost a set with Gamma Pro. Wow, very nice string. It may tempt me to try Gamma Pro spin or some of the mid level Gammas.

[sstchur]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Broke 3 strings on the DNA tonight. It looked severely damaged after it broke! Review tomorrow.

I played almost a set with Gamma Pro. Wow, very nice string. It may tempt me to try Gamma Pro spin or some of the mid level Gammas.

I will tell you something about Gamma Pro spin, but you have to ask me.

[sstchur]

Originally Posted by mikeler

Broke 3 strings on the DNA tonight. It looked severely damaged after it broke! Review tomorrow.

I played almost a set with Gamma Pro. Wow, very nice string. It may tempt me to try Gamma Pro spin or some of the mid level Gammas.

I tried two experiments to see if I could find something that felt equally nice as GPro but without the cost. Both failed.

1. Gamma Syn Gut at M:33,X:30. This was crazy. It was impossible to control unless I REALLY forced myself to keep a FIRM and FULL western grip. And even then it felt like a crap shoot.

2. Pro Supex Maxim Touch in the Mains at 61, Forten Nylon in the crosses at 58. This was MUCH better than number. Felt soft enough and comfy, but it lacked the feel and feedback that GPro gives me.

I have a lot of GPro but I hate to burn though it since I could be selling it to customers. There's just nothing else quite like it for me. It's soft, but not mushy. Comfortable, but not "spongy."

I would say the only knock against it is that it does lose some tension. But I'm also experiment with prestretching it, and I think that might resolve the tension loss issue. Although, for me, it doesn't matter that much, since I break it in about 6 hours anyway.

Maybe I'll try GPro mains and Gamma Syn Gut crosses next.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by sstchur

I will tell you something about Gamma Pro spin, but you have to ask me.

I'll shoot you an e-mail.

Originally Posted by sstchur

I tried two experiments to see if I could find something that felt equally nice as GPro but without the cost. Both failed.

1. Gamma Syn Gut at M:33,X:30. This was crazy. It was impossible to control unless I REALLY forced myself to keep a FIRM and FULL western grip. And even then it felt like a crap shoot.

2. Pro Supex Maxim Touch in the Mains at 61, Forten Nylon in the crosses at 58. This was MUCH better than number. Felt soft enough and comfy, but it lacked the feel and feedback that GPro gives me.

I have a lot of GPro but I hate to burn though it since I could be selling it to customers. There's just nothing else quite like it for me. It's soft, but not mushy. Comfortable, but not "spongy."

I would say the only knock against it is that it does lose some tension. But I'm also experiment with prestretching it, and I think that might resolve the tension loss issue. Although, for me, it doesn't matter that much, since I break it in about 6 hours anyway.

Maybe I'll try GPro mains and Gamma Syn Gut crosses next.

The GPro looks pretty beat up after a set. I don't expect it to last very long.

[mikeler]

I forgot to mention I strung up Volkl Power Fiber last night. It definitely has a firmer feel than all the other multis I've tried. Seems like it has good spin potential just bouncing balls off it. One of the balls I was bouncing hit the ceiling so it does have some power!

[mikeler]

OK, here is my review in the TW format of the Dunlop DNA 16. I liked the cheaper Hexy Fiber multi previously but the Dunlop Silk which is more expensive felt terrible to me after a few minutes hitting with it. So I was leery about trying the similarly priced DNA. Luckily I caught a 30% off sale and picked it up because boy this is a good string.

There is some minor ghosting associated with it while stringing. Nothing else stands out from a stringing standpoint.

Tension it is strung: 50 pounds on a lockout machine full bed
Your regular string set up: Discho Microfibre 16 @ 50 pounds
Racket: Prince Exo3 Tour
String pattern of your racquet: 16 x 18
Power (or lack there of): Medium powered multi
Feel: Maybe the best of any multi I've used
Tension maintenance: Final tension loss reading was 13.5% on RacquetTune
Price: $12.95/set, $210.00/reel.
Overall comments and feedback: See below

General: My first outing with this I knew it was love at first site.

Serve/Return of Serve: First serve has some great pop on it with this. It seemed like I was averaging a few aces every match. Kick serves were really jumping off the court, I never felt under too much pressure on 2nd serves. Returns were pretty good too.

Strokes: Very good spin on both wings. Probably a top 10 in spin potential. My slice backhand did great with it too.

Volleys: Pretty good.

Touch shots: I was tempted to hit touch shots because I was having a lot of success with it. Sometimes that is bad though since it takes me out of a more aggressive mindset (no comments ssgator80).

Softness: The string feels pretty soft to me, no arm issues

Tension: Perfect for my game.

Durability: Another area where the string shines. I played 9 sets of singles with it (5 were against a pusher though) and 4 sets of doubles along with 45 minutes of drilling. That is terrific durability in the Exo Tour. The strings were pretty severely notched for the last few sets. When the setup finally broke, it went out with a bang with 3 mains busting. Interestingly enough, they were not 3 consecutive mains, there was one unbroken string between the three.

Movement: String movement was not overly excessive until the last set I played where they started moving all over the place.

Conclusion: This is definitely one to try out.

[sstchur]

Originally Posted by mikeler

I'll shoot you an e-mail.




The GPro looks pretty beat up after a set. I don't expect it to last very long.

This is surpsising to me. You're using Gamma Professional right? Not LiveWire XP? Pro never shows any signs of wear for me. It always looks about the same right up until the moment it breaks.

LiveWire XP on the other hand, definitely frays and it starts to get very obvious when it is close to breaking.

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by sstchur

This is surpsising to me. You're using Gamma Professional right? Not LiveWire XP? Pro never shows any signs of wear for me. It always looks about the same right up until the moment it breaks.

LiveWire XP on the other hand, definitely frays and it starts to get very obvious when it is close to breaking.

It is not fraying but there is already some discoloration of the string.

[sstchur]

Originally Posted by mikeler

It is not fraying but there is already some discoloration of the string.

Ok, yeah, I guess that is normal. If you can, try to keep track of how many hours you get. It's fairly consistent for me (the 16g) that I get about 6 to 8. I string up in the high 50s low 60s (cp) though, so not sure if the tension tension you use will contribute more to movement and notching (and therefore breaking). Will be interesting to see.

[Francis27]

Do you think its better to use a multi than an eco priced gut like Klip legend and pacific classic in a hybrid?

[sstchur]

Originally Posted by Francis27

Do you think its better to use a multi than an eco priced gut like Klip legend and pacific classic in a hybrid?

Klip Legend is a really good string! I like it a lot. For the price, it's definitely a good option. I like GPro (personally) even a little better than gut, but I'm weird like that.

I think gut mains and synth crosses could be a good option, but I've never actually tried it.

Maybe Mikeler has...

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by sstchur

Ok, yeah, I guess that is normal. If you can, try to keep track of how many hours you get. It's fairly consistent for me (the 16g) that I get about 6 to 8. I string up in the high 50s low 60s (cp) though, so not sure if the tension tension you use will contribute more to movement and notching (and therefore breaking). Will be interesting to see.

I forget what racket you are using but not many multi strings make it more than 8 hours in the Exo3 Tour.

Originally Posted by Francis27

Do you think its better to use a multi than an eco priced gut like Klip legend and pacific classic in a hybrid?

Gut mains are certainly going to offer some more pop and spin versus multi mains. If you are a control guy, then multi mains could be a better option. I don't use soft strings in the mains with hard crosses. I never get more than 2 or 3 hours out of those setups.

Gut crosses versus multi crosses is easier to answer for me. Gut in the crosses is just a little bit better but not worth the extra expense and stringing hassle.

Originally Posted by sstchur

Klip Legend is a really good string! I like it a lot. For the price, it's definitely a good option. I like GPro (personally) even a little better than gut, but I'm weird like that.

I think gut mains and synth crosses could be a good option, but I've never actually tried it.

Maybe Mikeler has...

Klip Legend was not very exciting to me. I liked the Wilson gut much better. That is pretty much my full gut experience except for an unknown red natural gut I used in high school for 2 sets until it broke.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by mikeler

I forgot to mention I strung up Volkl Power Fiber last night. It definitely has a firmer feel than all the other multis I've tried. Seems like it has good spin potential just bouncing balls off it. One of the balls I was bouncing hit the ceiling so it does have some power!

I love Power Fiber. Are you trying the black or the natural?

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by sstchur

I tried two experiments to see if I could find something that felt equally nice as GPro but without the cost. Both failed.

1. Gamma Syn Gut at M:33,X:30. This was crazy. It was impossible to control unless I REALLY forced myself to keep a FIRM and FULL western grip. And even then it felt like a crap shoot.

2. Pro Supex Maxim Touch in the Mains at 61, Forten Nylon in the crosses at 58. This was MUCH better than number. Felt soft enough and comfy, but it lacked the feel and feedback that GPro gives me.

I have a lot of GPro but I hate to burn though it since I could be selling it to customers. There's just nothing else quite like it for me. It's soft, but not mushy. Comfortable, but not "spongy."

I would say the only knock against it is that it does lose some tension. But I'm also experiment with prestretching it, and I think that might resolve the tension loss issue. Although, for me, it doesn't matter that much, since I break it in about 6 hours anyway.

Maybe I'll try GPro mains and Gamma Syn Gut crosses next.

Maybe try Gamma Pro Mains w/ Maxim Touch crosses? I agree about Gamm Pro being one of the best and also one of the most "gut like" multi's. Maxim Touch is also one my all time fav multi's.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by mikeler

OK, here is my review in the TW format of the Dunlop DNA 16. I liked the cheaper Hexy Fiber multi previously but the Dunlop Silk which is more expensive felt terrible to me after a few minutes hitting with it. So I was leery about trying the similarly priced DNA. Luckily I caught a 30% off sale and picked it up because boy this is a good string.

There is some minor ghosting associated with it while stringing. Nothing else stands out from a stringing standpoint.

Tension it is strung: 50 pounds on a lockout machine full bed
Your regular string set up: Discho Microfibre 16 @ 50 pounds
Racket: Prince Exo3 Tour
String pattern of your racquet: 16 x 18
Power (or lack there of): Medium powered multi
Feel: Maybe the best of any multi I've used
Tension maintenance: Final tension loss reading was 13.5% on RacquetTune
Price: $12.95/set, $210.00/reel.
Overall comments and feedback: See below

General: My first outing with this I knew it was love at first site.

Serve/Return of Serve: First serve has some great pop on it with this. It seemed like I was averaging a few aces every match. Kick serves were really jumping off the court, I never felt under too much pressure on 2nd serves. Returns were pretty good too.

Strokes: Very good spin on both wings. Probably a top 10 in spin potential. My slice backhand did great with it too.

Volleys: Pretty good.

Touch shots: I was tempted to hit touch shots because I was having a lot of success with it. Sometimes that is bad though since it takes me out of a more aggressive mindset (no comments ssgator80).

Softness: The string feels pretty soft to me, no arm issues

Tension: Perfect for my game.

Durability: Another area where the string shines. I played 9 sets of singles with it (5 were against a pusher though) and 4 sets of doubles. That is terrific durability in the Exo Tour. The strings were pretty severely notched for the last few sets.

Movement: String movement was not overly excessive until the last set I played where they started moving all over the place.

Conclusion: This is definitely one to try out.

The common knock on DNA is it's lack of durability. Interested to hear how long yours holds up. It looks "wirey"...it it hard to string? Does it feel like other multi's, to the touch?

[mikeler]

Jack,

I'm using the natural color Power Fiber II. As for mixing multis in hybrids, I've only done that with RIP Control and MCS and one time (by accident) with Prince Recoil. My "gut" feeling is that Gamma Pro is not going to meet my durability needs but I could be wrong.

As for durability, I updated the review since it was unclear that I had broken the strings. Read the durability section over again and you'll see I got pretty good mileage out of it. It looks wirey but it just has one strand like Klip Venom and Discho Acura running along the length of the string. It was easy to string and actually pretty soft.

[Francis27]

Thanks mikeler how about in terms of durability? Because i dont really have the time to keep restringing

[mikeler]

Originally Posted by Francis27

Thanks mikeler how about in terms of durability? Because i dont really have the time to keep restringing

For me, gut lasts as long as the few multis I've tested that have exceptional durability. I'm not really the gut expert here on the boards. Poly/gut lasted quite a long time for me as do poly/multi hybrids.