Best natural gut currently

haqq777 · Jul 1, 2018

ohiostate124 said:
How does the lux gut compare to the new babolat gut? I’ve been using a full bed of VS in my ps85s at 45 but I’ve been tempted to try the luxilon. I’m thinking about getting the prince phantom 93p and putting the luxilon gut in it at 50.

Also, what’s the difference between 17 and 16L string if they’re both 1.25mm?

Luxilon Natural Gut plays slightly stiffer and is slightly less powerful than VS. Very high quality, as with all things Luxilon. I have tried them both many times. I have never played with PS85 so unfortunately can't give a good comparison when it comes to that stick. I tried Lux natty mains and RS Lyon crosses in my 93P and really loved the feedback. For me 50lbs mains played great.

I always go by mm in diameter to get a better idea of string thickness. I know that 16L is thinner than 16 but thicker than 17 gauges but keep in mind different brands may mark them differently as well.

mhkeuns · Jul 1, 2018

If I string my mains with natural gut, how should I string the poly crosses? For example, If I string the mains at 58lbs with gut, can I go 53lbs with poly? Or, should I go lower with poly because it will feel too tight? Just wondering what would be recommended.

Dartagnan64 · Jul 1, 2018

mhkeuns said:
If I string my mains with natural gut, how should I string the poly crosses? For example, If I string the mains at 58lbs with gut, can I go 53lbs with poly? Or, should I go lower with poly because it will feel too tight? Just wondering what would be recommended.

I usually did about a 5 lb difference but I could see some people preferring 8-10 differences depending on how lively they want the strings to feel.
Guage will play a role too since I was using Tonic 15 and 4G soft 17.

Sardines · Jul 2, 2018

mhkeuns said:
If I string my mains with natural gut, how should I string the poly crosses? For example, If I string the mains at 58lbs with gut, can I go 53lbs with poly? Or, should I go lower with poly because it will feel too tight? Just wondering what would be recommended.

It really depends on the stiffness of the poly and how long it can maintain that stiffness. I tend to drop tension up to a few lbs less (4-7lbs) for stiffer co-polys like the Yonex Strike or even more for unprestretched ones like Luxilon Alu Pro. String to your preference, not to someone else's spec.

mhkeuns · Jul 2, 2018

Sardines said:
It really depends on the stiffness of the poly and how long it can maintain that stiffness. I tend to drop tension up to a few lbs less (4-7lbs) for stiffer co-polys like the Yonex Strike or even more for unprestretched ones like Luxilon Alu Pro. String to your preference, not to someone else's spec.

Hi. What are some of the best copoly strings for maintaining tension? I’ve heard that natural gut strings last the longest, so I would prefer something that can somewhat match the tension maintenance.

Sardines · Jul 3, 2018

mhkeuns said:
I would prefer something that can somewhat match the tension maintenance.

That's the holy grail! None I've tried have lasted exceptionally long. But I'm not testing all sorts of strings and unfortunately, I break strings pretty quickly so using a 16g gut, having 12 hours is already good, and I notice a degradation in play from new.
I go for bigger brands like Yonex, Volkl etc. The Yonex Poly Tour Pro and strike do a decent job, but feel is a little lacking. Strike is more a hitter's co-poly, and it's not really that slick. YPTP is lower powered. Poly Tour Fire is presently what I like. But it does lose tension and/or playability, like all co-polys. I think the SIF co-poly allows better bite and thus masks some of the loss in tension and also change it elasticity.

IowaGuy · Jul 5, 2018

mhkeuns said:
If I string my mains with natural gut, how should I string the poly crosses? For example, If I string the mains at 58lbs with gut, can I go 53lbs with poly? Or, should I go lower with poly because it will feel too tight? Just wondering what would be recommended.

I use 5 pounds difference. 60/55.

IowaGuy · Jul 5, 2018

tlm said:
Pacific Toughgut.

I also like Toughgut, I use 16L gauge.

Are you playing this full bed or as a hybrid?

dnguyen · Jul 6, 2018

IowaGuy said:
I also like Toughgut, I use 16L gauge.

Are you playing this full bed or as a hybrid?

Mine has it at main and ALU Power rough at cross. Both at 55pounds with ps st Vincent 85. It’s very nice feeling.

SeeItHitIt · Jul 6, 2018

On gauge: 1.25 is 1.25. On tension, I use a 16m/17c hybrid and depending on the gut, a 58/54 or 60/55 gets me a couple of weeks of play in my happy range of 55-56#. When I hit an overall tension below 52# i restring the crosses only on the opposite side of the gut mains and back in happy zone for a bit longer.

Jonathan P. · Jul 6, 2018

I tried Luxilon and hate it since the first hit... I didn't like the feeling, they feel really stiff and underpowered for natural gut and also hate the "crackling sound" they have when you hit the ball. For me VS all the way. I have 2 set of Wilson that I will try in my next string job, I hope they feel and play more like the babolat than the luxilon.

Shangri La · Jul 13, 2018

VS looks too tempting at 32 ...

GN-001 · Jul 13, 2018

Shangri La said:
VS looks too tempting at 32 ...

where? I don't see it

Shangri La · Jul 17, 2018

What's the shelf life of natural gut in retail package, 3 to 5 years at least? Thinking about stocking up some in case price goes up again. But dont know how long I can store them for.

Say Chi Sin Lo · Jul 17, 2018

Shangri La said:
VS looks too tempting at 32 ...

Did you get in on the Babolat sale around the holidays? 3 for the price of 2, I think my tonic basically came out to be $22 or $25 a pack.

And I bought 20 packs...

Shangri La · Jul 17, 2018

Say Chi Sin Lo said:
Did you get in on the Babolat sale around the holidays? 3 for the price of 2, I think my tonic basically came out to be $22 or $25 a pack.

And I bought 20 packs...

20.. lol. Nah not sure where/when to get that deal. It sounds really good. I was just looking randomly and saw something...pm

Say Chi Sin Lo · Jul 17, 2018

Shangri La said:
20.. lol. Nah not sure where/when to get that deal. It sounds really good. I was just looking randomly and saw something...pm

It was around the holidays where Babolat had a 3 for 2 strings sale on ALL strings. Then about 2weeks after it started, they realized people were stockpiling the VS strings because.... 3 for the price of 2, so then they excluded natural gut from the sale for the reminder of the holidays.

I got my batch in before they got wise.

*NOTE* I'm not 100% as to when the sale actually took place, I just know it was from the end of 2017 - beginning of 2018, hence... holidays!

Jonathan P. · Jul 17, 2018

ohh I remember that deal...It was really nice. I still have 7 set of VS16, 2 sets of VS17 and 2 sets of wilson gut 16 (Full price on the wilson)

Shangri La · Jul 17, 2018

Say Chi Sin Lo said:
It was around the holidays where Babolat had a 3 for 2 strings sale on ALL strings. Then about 2weeks after it started, they realized people were stockpiling the VS strings because.... 3 for the price of 2, so then they excluded natural gut from the sale for the reminder of the holidays.

I got my batch in before they got wise.

*NOTE* I'm not 100% as to when the sale actually took place, I just know it was from the end of 2017 - beginning of 2018, hence... holidays!

That sounds too good to happen again...

aaron_h27 · Jul 19, 2018

Ok Luxilon 1.25mm Gut is a strange gut...I strung it low at 56 lbs the 1st time because you guys said it was low powered and stiff, and couldn't keep a ball in the court. This 2nd time I tried 64 lbs and its definitely more playable but I'm still having a very big launch angle on a 18x20 95 sq inch, and the string bed seems very erratic. It's a lot softer than Vs Team for sure, more spin friendly, however it seems to be a bit too powerful, and the string bed is very erratic. I've never had to string at 64 lbs with any other string. I would always string around 60-61 with the $55 old wilson gut. I may need to try the 1.30 mm

ohiostate124 · Jul 19, 2018

aaron_h27 said:
Ok Luxilon 1.25mm Gut is a strange gut...I strung it low at 56 lbs the 1st time because you guys said it was low powered and stiff, and couldn't keep a ball in the court. This 2nd time I tried 64 lbs and its definitely more playable but I'm still having a very big launch angle on a 18x20 95 sq inch, and the string bed seems very erratic. It's a lot softer than Vs Team for sure, more spin friendly, however it seems to be a bit too powerful, and the string bed is very erratic. I've never had to string at 64 lbs with any other string. I would always string around 60-61 with the $55 old wilson gut. I may need to try the 1.30 mm

56 lbs is low?

aaron_h27 · Jul 19, 2018

I also tried VS Team at 57 lbs and it was stiff as a board and took a few hours of hitting to loosen up, not the case with Luxilon. Luxilon plays soft right away but I find it to be too powerful for my liking. I did not really care for Vs Team with BT7. So I will have to try the thicker Luxilon gut and if that doesn't work I'll be switching to poly unfortunately.

aaron_h27 · Jul 19, 2018

ohiostate124 said:
56 lbs is low?

Yes because I normally string around 60-61 lbs with the $55 old wilson gut. I lowered my tension 5 lbs to account for how low-powered people said Luxilon was. Very dissapointed in the string so far

It's sad but you guys were right, the natural gut just isn't good anymore. My game hasn't been the same since I ran out of the pre-BT7 stuff.

jim e · Jul 19, 2018

aaron_h27 said:
Yes because I normally string around 60-61 lbs with the $55 old wilson gut. I lowered my tension 5 lbs to account for how low-powered people said Luxilon was. Very dissapointed in the string so far

It's sad but you guys were right, the natural gut just isn't good anymore. My game hasn't been the same since I ran out of the pre-BT7 stuff.

Try the uncoated Klip. and string it the same 60-61 lbs.
I have some of the $55 Wilson gut in my inventory, kept in ideal environment. I can part with some if you are interested.
That string (old Wilson) , is the same as the pre bt7

IowaGuy · Jul 20, 2018

aaron_h27 said:
Yes because I normally string around 60-61 lbs with the $55 old wilson gut. I lowered my tension 5 lbs to account for how low-powered people said Luxilon was. Very dissapointed in the string so far

It's sad but you guys were right, the natural gut just isn't good anymore. My game hasn't been the same since I ran out of the pre-BT7 stuff.

Have you tried Pacific Tough Gut? I've had good luck with the 16 and 16L gauges.

smboogie · Jul 24, 2018

Has anyone tried Natural Gut Wholesale? Some players I know that started having arm issues and made the switch to guy said it's great practice gut to keep costs down. Most said it has a good feel for its price point.

[I have never hit with gut as I'm afraid I'll get addicted to it and there goes my string budget

]

CosmosMpower · Jul 24, 2018

smboogie said:
Has anyone tried Natural Gut Wholesale? Some players I know that started having arm issues and made the switch to guy said it's great practice gut to keep costs down. Most said it has a good feel for its price point.

[I have never hit with gut as I'm afraid I'll get addicted to it and there goes my string budget ]

It’s crap very inconsistent thickness, breaks sometimes on the stringer. I’d go Klip for budget gut

USPTARF97 · Jul 24, 2018

The best natural gut available for me is the least expensive deal I can find on VS Gut.

ewiewp · Jul 24, 2018

Shangri La said:
VS looks too tempting at 32 ...

Looking back time when Babolat introduced BT7 first time( I still don't understand why they did it), People were in 3 groups.

1. VS is still the best gut.
2. VS is now rubbish.
3. VS is bad but still much better than value guts like Klip.

I think the market might find the right price for it.
I would buy VS again only if they are priced similar to Klip (or lower

).

ewiewp · Jul 24, 2018

USPTARF97 said:
The best natural gut available for me is the least expensive deal I can find on VS Gut.

I would agree for original VS thermogut only. Not current VS (of last ~8ish years?)

USPTARF97 · Jul 25, 2018

ewiewp said:
I would agree for original VS thermogut only. Not current VS (of last ~8ish years?)

It’s sort of interesting. Tried full bed gut as a kid and gut/poly in a few Head frames over the last 10-12 years and didn’t like it. Started playing Gut/poly in the RF97 since it came out whenever that was, 2014 I think. VS has been the most consistent and at $17 a half set it is hard to beat. Can’t find anything wrong with it.

ewiewp · Jul 25, 2018

USPTARF97 said:
It’s sort of interesting. Tried full bed gut as a kid and gut/poly in a few Head frames over the last 10-12 years and didn’t like it. Started playing Gut/poly in the RF97 since it came out whenever that was, 2014 I think. VS has been the most consistent and at $17 a half set it is hard to beat. Can’t find anything wrong with it.

You may not notice it much if used at crosses.

It can not be consistent since they reduced thread bunches from 16(?) to 7(?) when they introduced BT7.
Unless all you used were BT7 or you hardly used original VS.

Shangri La · Jul 25, 2018

I wonder if the pros use the old or the new VS formula.

USPTARF97 · Jul 25, 2018

ewiewp said:
You may not notice it much if used at crosses.

It can not be consistent since they reduced thread bunches from 16(?) to 7(?) when they introduced BT7.
Unless all you used were BT7 or you hardly used original VS.

Play gut in the mains and use Tonic 1.30 and VS Touch 1.30. Don’t notice any difference in terms of my play. It’s all good.

USPTARF97 · Jul 25, 2018

Shangri La said:
I wonder if the pros use the old or the new VS formula.

Saw a picture of Djokovic’s racquets at the stringer using the new gut.

aaron_h27 · Jul 26, 2018

Has anyone had better luck with thicker natural gut gauges? I've been using mostly 17 gauge (1.25) but towards the end it seems to become to powerful even when strung tightly. I'm wondering if this problem will be solved by going to a thicker gut like 16 or 15L.

I'm worried about losing feel and spin potential but I should be able to get a more consistent stringbed and string looser with a thicker gauge correct?

IowaGuy · Jul 26, 2018

aaron_h27 said:
Has anyone had better luck with thicker natural gut gauges? I've been using mostly 17 gauge (1.25) but towards the end it seems to become to powerful even when strung tightly. I'm wondering if this problem will be solved by going to a thicker gut like 16 or 15L.

I'm worried about losing feel and spin potential but I should be able to get a more consistent stringbed and string looser with a thicker gauge correct?

With thicker gut, launch angle and/or spin might change a bit as well. I have tried some larger and smaller gauges but 1.25 gut is my favorite.

USPTARF97 · Jul 26, 2018

IowaGuy said:
With thicker gut, launch angle and/or spin might change a bit as well. I have tried some larger and smaller gauges but 1.25 gut is my favorite.

Been using 1.30 Natural Gut and 1.25 poly crosses and it stays controllable until it breaks. Different feel for sure than 1.25. (VS)

IowaGuy · Jul 26, 2018

USPTARF97 said:
Been using 1.30 Natural Gut and 1.25 poly crosses and it stays controllable until it breaks. Different feel for sure than 1.25. (VS)

How would you describe the difference between 1.30 VS and 1.25 VS, with the same 1.25 poly cross?

i.e. in terms of spin, control, power, tension maint/playability, etc...

In theory little less power and spin with 1.30, no?

USPTARF97 · Jul 26, 2018

IowaGuy said:
How would you describe the difference between 1.30 VS and 1.25 VS, with the same 1.25 poly cross?

i.e. in terms of spin, control, power, tension maint/playability, etc...

In theory little less power and spin with 1.30, no?

1.25 seems to generate more spin and bite the ball a bit better. I seem to be able to control the depth of the ball better with 1.30 and are probably just used to playing with it. Better durability

aaron_h27 · Jul 26, 2018

USPTARF97 said:
1.25 seems to generate more spin and bite the ball a bit better. I seem to be able to control the depth of the ball better with 1.30 and are probably just used to playing with it. Better durability

Makes sense as to why most pros are using 1.30 in hybrid and full beds (when they used full beds) I know Djokovic is using 1.25 but he has an 18x20 racket. I'm going to try 1.35 in my Yonex DR 98 at some point in a full bed and hybrid and see how i like it.

1.25 is not a popular natural gut option amongst pros, and for the most part only Sampras used very thin natural gut and he had to string it super high to gain control. I think with thicker gauges you can string much lower.

Jonathan P. · Jul 27, 2018

aaron_h27 said:
I also tried VS Team at 57 lbs and it was stiff as a board and took a few hours of hitting to loosen up, not the case with Luxilon. Luxilon plays soft right away but I find it to be too powerful for my liking. I did not really care for Vs Team with BT7. So I will have to try the thicker Luxilon gut and if that doesn't work I'll be switching to poly unfortunately.

I had the same experience but for me babolat vs team play like a dream and the luxilon was stiff, underpowered and with an annoying noise.

aaron_h27 · Aug 21, 2018

After 3 tests with 1.25 Luxilon Gut I have concluded that it is too powerful for my liking. Switching over to Babolat Touch 15L or 16.

Also where i buy strings from Tonic is only $26 and Vs Touch is $30. Luxilon is $37.

kenyee · Aug 22, 2018

aaron_h27 said:
Also where i buy strings from Tonic is only $26 and Vs Touch is $30. Luxilon is $37.

Where is said place? That's more reasonable for prices

emn8 · Aug 22, 2018

Has anyone tried OEHMS Pro Touch Natural Gut? Just picked some up in 17g to test. Price wise it's slightly more than klip but less than VS. Feels softer than the klip I typically use. Will be stringing it up in a 93P with KMPR 1.20 in the crosses. Any tension recommendations from the TT experts?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

aaron_h27 · Aug 23, 2018

Ok I'm sorry guys! I tried the Luxilon 1.30 mm instead of 1.25 and I actually really like the string now. Everything is the same except lower launch angle and more control which means I can swing out more and get more spin. I even strung it 2 pounds looser than the 1.25 (60 lbs in a DR 98) I was always under the impression thinner = better. Maybe not the case for natural gut.

Crazy how much of a difference gauge makes. I just switched from an 18x20 to 16x19 recently and I tried the 1.25 in my previous 18x20 racket and still did not like it in that racket either. 1.30 mm version trumps the 1.25 in all areas.

For whatever reason 1.25 natural gut has too much trampoline effect. Even in an 18x20 I could not control my shots. I do remember when I first tried natural gut I did use 1.30 mm and enjoyed it, however the last few string jobs of natural gut I've been using 1.25 again because I was under the impression thinner = better playability.

Anyways I'm extremely excited to see how the luxilon 1.30 string job will hold up over time and now im even curious about how a 15L gut would play in my DR 98.

I'm just mad at myself I didn't realize sooner that 1.25 gauge does not work for my game.

aaron_h27 · Aug 24, 2018

Played with Luxilon Gut 1.30 again for 2 hours today. Again much better than the 1.25 version. I beat a guy I normally lose to 6-1. Nothing bad to say about this string, never felt like I couldn't control my groundstrokes. Also the 1.30 version seems softer than the 1.25 because the strings take more impact and plus you can string a bit looser. Again im really shocked that by simply changing gauge the string would perform this differently.

aaron_h27 · Sep 19, 2018

I found some old wilson gut (PRE BT7, White packaging) for $40 while on vacation!

stephenclown · Sep 19, 2018

Have my VS on the way shortly, still seems like the best natural gut for the money at the moment for me. 1.25 in my 18x20 93P will work great and going to try revolve in the cross this time.

On another note I tried the origin poly hybrid because of some elbow tenderness and really enjoy it. Got it for 10AUD a set so was worth a shot at a bargain price. Has a great feel and much softer than poly. Probably the best alternative but its weird to string. Feels like a plasticky nylon with bad recoil memory. Very plush off the bed. Strung 50/45 with max power rough in the cross, a lot of friction on the mains with this one...

dnguyen · Sep 19, 2018

emn8 said:
Has anyone tried OEHMS Pro Touch Natural Gut? Just picked some up in 17g to test. Price wise it's slightly more than klip but less than VS. Feels softer than the klip I typically use. Will be stringing it up in a 93P with KMPR 1.20 in the crosses. Any tension recommendations from the TT experts?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

How did it go? Better power?

Best natural gut currently

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