Hybrid stringing

jhick

jhick

Hall of Fame
I've got a question for self stringers out there. When doing 2 piece stringing on hybrids where the mains are over 20 feet, you are essentially limited to using them once in the mains (not talking about reels here), so do you use them in the crosses on your next stringing job so you're not having to waste/throw away the rest of the string? I'm thinking of trying some expensive gut as a hybrid in the mains, but since my mains are 21.5 feet, I'm essentially limited to 1 use unless I use them as cross strings in the next racquet. Obviously NG does not come in reels. For trying out different hybrid setups, it'll work out in the short term as I can try NG in the crosses. But I'm thinking more long term if I like NG in the mains, I'm kind of screwed and my only potential option would be to try and sell a less than half of set of NG. Are there any ways around this?

Thanks.
 
S

struggle

Legend
Cut them in half, then string the outer mains with your cross string (if that makes sense).

I've never had to this, but someone will chime in with the best method/pattern.

Perhaps list the frame/pattern you are stringing for more help in that realm.
 
jhick

jhick

Hall of Fame
struggle said:
Cut them in half, then string the outer mains with your cross string (if that makes sense).

I've never had to this, but someone will chime in with the best method/pattern.

Perhaps list the frame/pattern you are stringing for more help in that realm.
Click to expand...
That seems to make sense. I suppose there's probably not much of an issue with having different string on your outer mains since you rarely use those strings anyway (except for mis-hits).
 
C

chic

Hall of Fame
Most sets of '40ft' of string usually have closer to 44ft anyway ime. If you haven't, you might want to check the actual length of the leftover and see if it can be made to work.
 
J

jim e

Legend
String it up with entire set, place one side with about 10' 4" and have a starting clamp handy if bridge is needed. When other side done cut at knot, as this will save a few inches, so you will have enough to string racquet for mains another time. Gut strings do stretch.
 
jhick

jhick

Hall of Fame
jim e said:
String it up with entire set, place one side with about 10' 4" and have a starting clamp handy if bridge is needed. When other side done cut at knot, as this will save a few inches, so you will have enough to string racquet for mains another time. Gut strings do stretch.
Click to expand...
Yeah I'm realizing I probably will need to invest in a starting clamp. Measuring the full length is a good idea from the previous poster. I kind of thought 40 feet as advertised was true, since a many racquets don't require that much string overall anyway. Do most of you prestretch gut? That could give it some extra length as well.
 
Rabbit

Rabbit

G.O.A.T.
@jhick other than a stringing machine, a starting clamp is the single best investment you can make. I have 4 or 5 and use two frequently, a Babolat (new) and the one they used to sell on GSS. The GSS is by far my favorite.
 
am1899

am1899

Legend
chic said:
Most sets of '40ft' of string usually have closer to 44ft anyway ime. If you haven't, you might want to check the actual length of the leftover and see if it can be made to work.
Click to expand...

Respectfully, I don’t know that i agree that most sets are over 40ft. Some brands tend to be more generous than others. Head sets, for example are usually generous with length. Other brands, not necessarily. To further complicate the issue, some mfg’s measure the length by meters, not feet. 12 meters is slightly less than 40ft.

One thing I can say fairly confidently is that sets of gut from the “big dogs” - Babolat, Wilson, Luxilon, Klip, and in the past Pacific...don’t expect any of those to be more than 40ft. Most will be right on, if not shy of 40ft by a few inches.

All of that said, gut stretches a fair bit. OP, you should be able to get by with some conserving tactics - like the technique @jim e proposed.

Worst case, you could string the outer mains with your cross string - as @struggle proposed. One way to do that is you string your crosses normally from top to bottom, but with with one modification - you omit one of the crosses near the top (usually the first or second). Then when you get to the bottom cross, don’t tie off yet. First fill in one outside main (on the same side that your bottom cross just finished), followed by the cross you omitted up top, followed by the other outside main. Then tie off.
 
Last edited:
C

chic

Hall of Fame
am1899 said:
Respectfully, I don’t know that i agree that most sets are over 40ft. Some brands tend to be more generous than others. Head sets, for example are usually generous with length. Other brands, not necessarily. To further complicate the issue, some mfg’s measure the length by meters, not feet. 12 meters is slightly less than 40ft.

One thing I can say fairly confidently is that sets of gut from the “big dogs” - Babolat, Wilson, Luxilon, Klip, and in the past Pacific...don’t expect any of those to be more than 40ft. Most will be right on, if not shy of 40ft by a few inches.

All of that said, gut stretches a fair bit. OP, you should be able to get by with some conserving tactics - like the technique @jim e proposed.

Worst case, you could string the outer mains with your cross string - as @struggle proposed. One way to do that is you string your crosses normally from top to bottom, but with with one modification - you omit one of the crosses near the top (usually the first or second). Then when you get to the bottom cross, don’t tie off yet. First fill in one outside main (on the same side that your bottom cross just finished), followed by the cross you omitted up top, followed by the other outside main. Then tie off.
Click to expand...
Fair, that's why I threw in the ime.

Most string I've strung is poly or sun gut, and I often go in for reels, so when I say ime I'm talking like maybe 20 different strings.

Still, worth checking
 
E

esm

Legend
NG stretches, so should be okay with 20' for mains?

on my 18x20s (both 97 & 98 sq inch racquets) - i can comfortable get away with 20' for mains and 17' for the cross without using a starting clamp with either syn gut or multi on an eCP, however, i needed 21' for mains and 18' for crosses for (stiffer) co-poly comfortably, without using starting clamp to bridge the last mains/cross.

@OP - which racquet were you referring to (just wondering)?
 
S

struggle

Legend
Another option is to go with something X-One Biphase (instead of NG) whjch DOES come in reels
and will give you very close to gut-like feel and performance.
 
jhick

jhick

Hall of Fame
esm said:
NG stretches, so should be okay with 20' for mains?

on my 18x20s (both 97 & 98 sq inch racquets) - i can comfortable get away with 20' for mains and 17' for the cross without using a starting clamp with either syn gut or multi on an eCP, however, i needed 21' for mains and 18' for crosses for (stiffer) co-poly comfortably, without using starting clamp to bridge the last mains/cross.

@OP - which racquet were you referring to (just wondering)?
Click to expand...
Head 2021 Radical MP

Would prestretching up front help with lengthening the string?
 
S

struggle

Legend
1/2 set should be fine on a radical MP, i think. 21.5 seems way too much.

I think you're good to go, cut it in half.
 
Last edited:
jhick

jhick

Hall of Fame
struggle said:
1/2 set should be fine on a radical MP, i think. 21.5 seems way too much.
Click to expand...
Yeah I feel like this too. Especially since my current OS radical uses only 21' in the mains. But that is what the specs say on Head's website.
 
jhick

jhick

Hall of Fame
struggle said:
Another option is to go with something X-One Biphase (instead of NG) whjch DOES come in reels
and will give you very close to gut-like feel and performance.
Click to expand...
Good suggestion. Maybe I'll start by experimenting with this string since it's more budget friendly than gut and I could buy a reel if I fall in love with it.
 
Folsom_Stringer_Musa

Folsom_Stringer_Musa

Professional
struggle said:
No way 16 mains needs 21.5 feet. Must be a typo.

Cut in half and go.
Click to expand...
Way to go unless OS with 18 mains.
Regarding 44' for 44' - why would Solinco or Luxilon give 4' of string (premium or under) for free? That 4' will be wasted in ~99% string jobs.
I am talking about set.
 
LOBALOT

LOBALOT

Hall of Fame
Actually, I like the suggestion earlier in this thread to find a multi that you feel is close and dial in the tension using that setup before jumping into shrining with the gut only to find out you don't have the tension close to what you like.
 
S

Steve Huff

G.O.A.T.
A 16x19 MP racket will use less than 20' of string for your mains. Just did a Wilson PS 97 with 19' for the mains, and that was with poly.
 
uk_skippy

uk_skippy

Hall of Fame
Agree with others in that just cut the string in half. There are very few (normal) racquets where half a set won't work. Some are a bit more of that will push your experience; and need a starting clamp to help you out. One of these is the Blade 104. I've dealt with Serena & Venus's racquets with NG in the mains, and to get 2 mains out of a set, we have to cut the set in half; and then use a starting clamp.

A racquet with 16x19 pattern will easily use 1/2 of gut. You'll notice this when you string the 1st one with the 1/2 set
 
Irvin

Irvin

Talk Tennis Guru
jhick said:
That seems to make sense. I suppose there's probably not much of an issue with having different string on your outer mains since you rarely use those strings anyway (except for mis-hits).
Click to expand...
Assuming you have a Head Radical MP 2021, your mains normally end at the head. If you string all but the outer mains your mains will end at the throat and the only tie off hole is 11T which is a cross string hole. So you going to have to expand 2 grommet holes (5T or 6T) to tie off the outer mains. Due to the small inside diameter of the grommets and the length of those grommets it is going to be difficult. Then you will need to start weaving from the 2nd cross down to the 19th. Then you will have 3 difficult weaves (2 outer mains and top cross) for the cross string you will be using. Another issue is you will end up with 4 short transition from mains to crosses. I also don’t like omitting the outer mains while stringing crosses when it is unnecessary. if someone string my racket in that fashion and tried to tell me it made sense I would be upset to say the least.

If you ever have a racket strung that way and you end up with a defective racket, I would cut the strings out before sending it back for replacement. You may even consider replacing the grommets to cover up the shoddy stringing.

I use VS gut and the length of a set is less than 40’. It is actually closer to 12 meters. 40’ is an approximation. But I always cut a set of gut in half to string 16 main 98 si rackets and always have more than enough. I store the unused half in an empty Babolat plastic container and place it in a zip lock bag.
 
Last edited:
C

chic

Hall of Fame
jhick said:
Received my new Radicals this weekend. Cut my mains in half and had plenty of string. Not sure why the specs say 21.5 feet. Maybe 19.5 feet in total.
Click to expand...
This is common.

I think most companies would rather over than underestimate to account for new stringers, different lengths to the gripper across machines, and different amounts of stretch for different strings/tensions.
 
L

LocNetMonster

Professional
jhick said:
Received my new Radicals this weekend. Cut my mains in half and had plenty of string. Not sure why the specs say 21.5 feet. Maybe 19.5 feet in total.
Click to expand...

Are you stringing on a drop weight or crank out? I have two MPs and 19 feet is enough to get the job done with most poly strings.
 
S

struggle

Legend
LocNetMonster said:
Are you stringing on a drop weight or crank out? I have two MPs and 19 feet is enough to get the job done with most poly strings.
Click to expand...

The machine doesn't matter. There is either enough string or there isn't.

If you don't have a starting clamp/bridge......that could be an issue, but the machine is not.
 
W

Wes

Hall of Fame
struggle said:
The machine doesn't matter. There is either enough string or there isn't.

If you don't have a starting clamp/bridge......that could be an issue, but the machine is not.
Click to expand...

Respectfully... if one does not have a starting clamp for bridging, then the type of machine certainly is a factor.

Some machines (especially those with rotational grippers) will need roughly 18" of string protruding from the frame - in order to reach the back of the gripper.
Many machines only require about 12" protruding from the frame to get to the back of the gripper.
Some crank machines are able to reach just 4" of string protruding out of the frame.

Example: stringing mains on an oversize Head Radical with only 20' of string and you don't have a starting clamp.
Gamma X-2 = problems
Neos 1000 = no problem

See my comments here...
 
S

struggle

Legend
Wes said:
Respectfully... if one does not have a starting clamp for bridging, then the type of machine certainly is a factor.

Some machines (especially those with rotational grippers) will need roughly 18" of string protruding from the frame - in order to reach the back of the gripper.
Many machines only require about 12" protruding from the frame to get to the back of the gripper.
Some crank machines are able to reach just 4" of string protruding out of the frame.

Example: stringing mains on an oversize Head Radical with only 20' of string and you don't have a starting clamp.
Gamma X-2 = problems
Neos 1000 = no problem

See my comments here...
Click to expand...

The "problem" is then NOT having a starting clamp. If a person's machine will "not" accommodate a 1/2 set but the racquet will
and it is the person's regular racquet of choice (which IS the case here) then the simple answer still remains. Get a starting clamp.
The dude is talking about using VS gut. Totally makes sense to cut in half, get a starting clamp and get it done. The machine will
pull tension as designed, it is not the limiting factor in this case.

No need to overthink this. The clamp is about the same price as a set of VS (of which several will be used at some point...)


Cheers.
 
Irvin

Irvin

Talk Tennis Guru
jhick said:
Klippermate drop weight.
Click to expand...
Not sure about the KM but on the Gamma X-2 it only takes about 12” of string to reach the back of the gripper after going around the drum. I can’t imagine the KM taking any more than that.
 
jhick

jhick

Hall of Fame
Irvin said:
Not sure about the KM but on the Gamma X-2 it only takes about 12” of string to reach the back of the gripper after going around the drum. I can’t imagine the KM taking any more than that.
Click to expand...
12" sounds about right
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

eelhc
Hybrid Stringing: Natural Gut on the center mains only
Replies
13
Views
2K
Wes
W
K
Tight full bed of NG vs hybrid
Replies
4
Views
411
socallefty
socallefty
S
Rookie Stringer Hybrid Question
Replies
7
Views
322
stapletonj
S
S
Pro Tip (maybe?): Silicone lube on NG at grommets.
Replies
9
Views
416
jim e
J
RoughOG
Novice stringer
Replies
4
Views
791
RoughOG
RoughOG
Top