The Snauwaert fanclub _/¯

[ericsson]

Originally Posted by Richard Parnell

Hi Guys,

I have a load of old Snauwaert frames, wood and some others ( la Grande and some fiber ones) but there was a sub brand sold and made by Snauwaert which was Bentley. Does anyone have more info on these as at the time they were more expensive than Snauwaert and the wood finish was better (or seemed it).

Thanks

Hi Richard, yes Bentley was their luxury brand and they were a little higher in quality (and price
I had a few of these at home

[Richard Parnell]

Thanks Ericson,

I have a load of Brand new Bentley frames, so one of these days when I am in Belgium we can do a trade.

I will post some pics soon,
Take care
Ric

[Hannah19]

Originally Posted by Richard Parnell

Hi Guys,

I have a load of old Snauwaert frames, wood and some others ( la Grande and some fiber ones) but there was a sub brand sold and made by Snauwaert which was Bentley. Does anyone have more info on these as at the time they were more expensive than Snauwaert and the wood finish was better (or seemed it).

Thanks

Bentley was a trade mark established in Germany in 1967 by Kurt Klemmer.
He was Germany's Snauwaert distributer and they decided to sell Snauwaert made rackets under this brand name. Activities stopped in 1981.
A similar cooperation developed in the Netherlands where a large retailer named Temming en Zonen (Temming & Sons) joint Snauwaert and they marketed the brand name Temzo.

[Richard Parnell]

Thanks for the info

[kthornton]

....and rackets....

[kthornton]

Looking for a few - 4 3/8 or 4 1/2. Any info on the Advantage? I have one, but can't find any info on the 'net.

[Sanglier]

Have any of you spaghetti connoisseurs noticed item 310587215917 on the giant online flea market? It went for a pretty penny in the end, but looks quite different from the other spaghetti jobs I've seen.

At first glance, I thought that someone had found a creative way to put some chopped up grommet strips to interesting use, but when I zoomed in on those strips - I noticed that they are actually asymmetric - flat on one side, wavy on the other, and seem rather too narrow to serve as grommet strips.

Is it possible that we are actually looking at a factory job? Perhaps Snauwaert figured that by replacing the tedious hand-cutting, tying and gluing of those tiny tubes with a single molded strip, they could overcome the most significant drawback of this innovation, and mass produce spaghetti-strung racquets at an affordable price? If so, they must have come up with this idea right as the spaghettis were being banned, nipping the whole enterprise in the bud.

[Adles]

That is quite a price for an old Snauweart!! Is that the one with the slit through the handle (for flexibility) just above the grip? I'll have to look in my parent's basement for my old one.

[Hannah19]

Is it possible that we are actually looking at a factory job? Perhaps Snauwaert figured that by replacing the tedious hand-cutting, tying and gluing of those tiny tubes with a single molded strip, they could overcome the most significant drawback of this innovation, and mass produce spaghetti-strung racquets at an affordable price? If so, they must have come up with this idea right as the spaghettis were being banned, nipping the whole enterprise in the bud.

This could have been a way to avoid patent issues with Werner Fischer but by the time it was ready for mass production it would have been taken of the market because of the ban,(The Jan Kodes Autograph was made between 1976 and 1978 ).
That's probably why it fetched such a high price, it was most likely a proto type.

[retrowagen]

I noticed it, it looked as though there were segments of string grommet strips woven in with the mains.

I can't imagine how that would play... must be quite interesting/frustrating/unpredictible/fascinating (choose one)!

[Sanglier]

The bids spiraled away from the 'Goodwill' range pretty fast on this one right from the start, but I was still surprised by how much interest it drew considering it's a bit of an undocumented alien Or maybe the 'undocumented' aspect of it is what was drawing all that interest in the first place, as Hans is postulating?

I've saved the listing pictures for future reference. I think fair-use allows me to append them here so that my post above won't become orphaned when the original listing is retired a couple of months from now. If the seller is reading this and doesn't agree with my interpretation of fair-use, please let me know.



Note the thicker gauge single-strung cross compared to the double-strung mains (I don't think it's an optical illusion). If there had been an effort to get around the Werner Fischer patent, perhaps this was one aspect of it as well?

Regardless, there is a LOT of plastic on this string bed. If I had to answer Retro's multiple choice question, my choice would have to be "E" - All of the above!

[retrowagen]

I was interested in the frame, independent of the weird/novel/insane stringing, as it was a Jan Kodes autograph! How cool is that?

BTW, if I had a spaghetti-strung frame, I'd feel compelled to hit my groundies with a western grip, with a Morricone soundtrack...

[ericsson]

Originally Posted by retrowagen

I noticed it, it looked as though there were segments of string grommet strips woven in with the mains.

I can't imagine how that would play... must be quite interesting/frustrating/unpredictible/fascinating (choose one)!

At first i would take unpredictible/frustrating but hitting 15+ minutes with it i would go to interesting/fascinating, the amount of spin is HUGE and something unique, you really need to swing under the ball and come over your shoulder, if you dont the ball goes far out...

I would say, nice to experiment with it but not something i would use during a match or competition.

[Hannah19]

I've got plenty of new Rox Pro grommets laying around that I can cut up and experiment with.........
Should be interesting..!!

What does worry me is "What keeps the strips from sliding down over the main strings?"
Is there a bridge in between the "grommet" strips?
Not visible in the pictures, maybe the tension holds them in place.

[Sanglier]

Originally Posted by Hannah19

What does worry me is "What keeps the strips from sliding down over the main strings?"
Is there a bridge in between the "grommet" strips?
Not visible in the pictures, maybe the tension holds them in place.

Lest my eyes are deceiving me, I suspect they are glued in place, Hans. See the small patches of sheen just ahead of the two grommets:




The strips on opposing sides of the string bed are very neatly aligned, but I don't think there is necessarily a physical "bridge" between them (again, perhaps as a means to work around the Fischer patent?). Note the small misalignment between the strips on the second from bottom cross:




The only way to really clear this up is for the winning bidder to come here and do a show-and-tell for our collective enjoyment.

[retrowagen]

Originally Posted by ericsson

I would say, nice to experiment with it but not something i would use during a match or competition.

Indeed, it looks like something I would use when practice hitting with my son, to get the better of him!

[Hannah19]

I just found out that the buyer of this Jan Kodes racket is the same one that just bought 3 (!) Tretorn Speed Gun's from me claiming to be a poor student....yeah, right.

[JW10S]

Wow, I've hit with a couple spaghetti racquets but I cannot imagine that the one pictured above plays well at all with all that plastic in the string bed. I'd cut that out so fast...

[Hannah19]

Originally Posted by JW10S

Wow, I've hit with a couple spaghetti racquets but I cannot imagine that the one pictured above plays well at all with all that plastic in the string bed. I'd cut that out so fast...

If you paid the price this baby went for, you'll think twice about cutting out this string job....

[Hannah19]

Originally Posted by Sanglier

Lest my eyes are deceiving me, I suspect they are glued in place, Hans. See the small patches of sheen just ahead of the two grommets:




The strips on opposing sides of the string bed are very neatly aligned, but I don't think there is necessarily a physical "bridge" between them (again, perhaps as a means to work around the Fischer patent?). Note the small misalignment between the strips on the second from bottom cross:




The only way to really clear this up is for the winning bidder to come here and do a show-and-tell for our collective enjoyment.

Ican ask him, I've got his phone number..