Gamma Accura 23 (pictures inside): Anyone with any info, specs, memories?

Hello everyone,

I picked up this racquet a while ago. I hit with it for about 3 minutes before the old strings broke. I do not really want to spend the $20 or so to get it restrung because I have no information on this racquet and have no idea if it is something I might even like. It felt fairly lively during my short play test. Make sure to check out the interesting stringing system below as well.

Does anyone have specs or any memories playing with this racquet?
These boards only have a few mentions of this racquet in passing, and that is about it.

The pics:

The area right about the handle faintly reminds me of the thick portion on the KPS 88.




Slightly blurry, but interesting grommets.


Redemption string system: The strings are spread out on the edge of the frame instead of in a straight line. Weird. Is it hard to string? Are the strings actually less likely to break?


Thanks!
Cheers!

You might want to try posting this in the "Classic Racquets" subforum here...might get more response?

I remember those rackets and Prince had a similar one too. Lively stringbed with good ball bite, but sawed through strings pretty fast. I believe they were ruled illegal for competitive play which is why that technology went away. Stringing isn't any more or less difficult than any other racket.

goran_ace said:

I remember those rackets and Prince had a similar one too. Lively stringbed with good ball bite, but sawed through strings pretty fast. I believe they were ruled illegal for competitive play which is why that technology went away. Stringing isn't any more or less difficult than any other racket.

Click to expand...

Ruled illegal? Really? I had no idea. :???:

Cheers!

Fun. I've seen this pattern on badminton racquets (Tactic racquets). But never on a tennis racquet. Never tried it though.

Bump

Anyone with info?

Also, how would I move this post to the classic racquet section. I have never had to move anything before. :-?

Thanks!

Cheers!

Bump.......

Anything at all? Someone should have some specs, right?
Or, at least, how do I move this post to the classic racquet section?

Cheers!

oh my gosh !!!!!!!! >>

I remember this frame a guy I played with and still do used it and WOW the moonball he could hit with it. looked like he fired it into the woods, but it came down at the baseline and it made a "whiffle-ball" like sound as it traveled thru the air. the shape of the head had a lot to do with insane like spin he achieved with it.

Played it for years

I played this racquet for years. Loved it, Like a fool I got rid of it and have regretted it ever since. I bought 4 of them for $50.00 a piece new when they were discontinued. What a bargain!

If you still have it I would be interested in buying from you.

Gamma Accura expericences

I bought a Gamma under $30 incl. shipping, on **** a few months ago, It's a Accura 25 strung with Prince synthetic softex 16.It has TONS of power, with the way the string's grommets are staggered that also allows some movement when struck, for more trampoline effect. The staggered string mounting is why it was probably deemed illegal, because when you hit a shot near the frame, that would have been a useless miss-hit, on any other raqcuet, actually returns something like what you had planned on, a halfway decent hit.
The finish is realy beautiful, from an age that had pretty bland looking finishs, this has a scale-like pateren that fades from a dark burgandy color to a silver-blue in places and really looks great in bright sunlight!
It's a little on the heavy side, compared to my other ones, which are a 2010 Wilson K-factor Bold and a new Baolat Y-15, that started out at 9.8 oz, but I have added 20 grams and 25 grams, to make them more head light.

The Gamma pays off smooth swings and I have let a buddy use itso much now, that I'm letting him have it. It's his first non-aluminum el-cheapo racquet and he's quiet happy with it.
They ARE pretty rare and I considered just hanging onto it, but after seeing how well he hits with it, I knew it was meant for him.
I had fallen in love With the Wilson K-Bold, but now my affections are for the Babolat. It's MY 1st racquet strung with my own spec.'s and with the new Luxilon Big Banger @47m, 45x,(on sale at Tennis-Warehouse, only $10 when buying a new racquet!)and after my minor mod of adding weight, 25 grams in this case, to the butt cap, is simply AMAZING!

Enjoy your Gamma and you may not see another one come by, so you might want to hold onto it. That is, unless you have a buddy who needs a racquet and falls in love with it!

My Gamma Accura 25

Soon to be given to a friend, I would have kept it to collect, as they have become quiet rare.
Maybe I will give him http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=525201274175107&l=90f1f3a2efmy Wilson K-factor Bold, instead...

goran_ace said:

I remember those rackets and Prince had a similar one too. Lively stringbed with good ball bite, but sawed through strings pretty fast. I believe they were ruled illegal for competitive play which is why that technology went away. Stringing isn't any more or less difficult than any other racket.

Click to expand...

I checked with Gamma and was told by VP of research and development that this racquet was NOT ruled illegal.

Here are the specs for the Accura 23

Weight (unstrung): 11.3 oz (320 gms)

Balance (Unstrung): 8 pts Headlight (31.5 CM)

Stiffness (Unstrung): 65RA

Headsize: 100 sqin

String Pattern: 16M x 18X (M’s Skip 8T and 8H)

Recommended Tension Range: 40-60 lbs

I played with this racquet in highschool back in the early 90's and still keep it as a back up just because it is so fun to hit with.
The larger head size staggered grommets make it very forgiving. A thick beam with some added weight esp. gives it tons of plow through and with string tension in the mid to low 50s you get plenty of power and spin without having too much trampoline effect. This is a great over-sized racquet for younger/smaller players. Imagine my dismay when my wife got mad and smashed mine when she got mad during a match...after the racquet had been discontinued. Fortunately I found an exact replica on ****. They are getting harder to find though. Glad to see the actual specs posted above here.

Maybe this thread belong is classic racquet talk?