first hit with all gut...thoughts and questions

I finally strung up the Pacific Imperial "Blue Spiral" 16g I've had for awhile in one of my Youtek Prestige MP at 57 lbs.

Now I know why all you gut junkies love it so much Like all of you say, the feel is truly second to none... I guess I would describe it as "plush". Is it for everybody? No, but I certainly liked it.

Next time I string I'll likely go up 2-3 lbs on the tension. At 57 I was hitting fairly deep without much effort, and when I really went after my shots they were either VERY close to the baseline or a little long. That being said, I thought the overall control was fantastic.

On to my questions...
1. Is natural gut a "heavy" string? My racquets are not matched in spec but they are extremely close and I couldn't help but notice that the stick with gut felt more HH than usual (I'll do a direct comparison when I get home this afernoon). It kinda threw me off on my serve, especially during the first set.
2. If I wanted to try a gut that is a little more "crisp", or not as soft as the Imperial what would you recommend?

i suck at tennis said:

I finally strung up the Pacific Imperial "Blue Spiral" 16g I've had for awhile in one of my Youtek Prestige MP at 57 lbs.

Now I know why all you gut junkies love it so much Like all of you say, the feel is truly second to none... I guess I would describe it as "plush". Is it for everybody? No, but I certainly liked it.

Next time I string I'll likely go up 2-3 lbs on the tension. At 57 I was hitting fairly deep without much effort, and when I really went after my shots they were either VERY close to the baseline or a little long. That being said, I thought the overall control was fantastic.

On to my questions...
1. Is natural gut a "heavy" string? My racquets are not matched in spec but they are extremely close and I couldn't help but notice that the stick with gut felt more HH than usual (I'll do a direct comparison when I get home this afernoon). It kinda threw me off on my serve, especially during the first set.
2. If I wanted to try a gut that is a little more "crisp", or not as soft as the Imperial what would you recommend?

Click to expand...

Gut is 'plush' for me too. it is the heaviest string actually, at the same gauge a multi would be lightest, poly in the middle and gut heaviest. Not by too much though, 2-3 grams. For a more 'crisp' gut, go for KLIP, Legend or Armour Pro.

i suck at tennis said:

I finally strung up the Pacific Imperial "Blue Spiral" 16g I've had for awhile in one of my Youtek Prestige MP at 57 lbs.

Now I know why all you gut junkies love it so much Like all of you say, the feel is truly second to none... I guess I would describe it as "plush". Is it for everybody? No, but I certainly liked it.

Next time I string I'll likely go up 2-3 lbs on the tension. At 57 I was hitting fairly deep without much effort, and when I really went after my shots they were either VERY close to the baseline or a little long. That being said, I thought the overall control was fantastic.

On to my questions...
1. Is natural gut a "heavy" string? My racquets are not matched in spec but they are extremely close and I couldn't help but notice that the stick with gut felt more HH than usual (I'll do a direct comparison when I get home this afernoon). It kinda threw me off on my serve, especially during the first set.
2. If I wanted to try a gut that is a little more "crisp", or not as soft as the Imperial what would you recommend?

Click to expand...

Gut is a great string but with a great price tag. Love it none the less though

Never tried it. Not ready to spend that kind of money on tennis string. Is it worth giving a whirl?

Have actually used gut most of my life and now am transitioning to full setup of 3rd generation soft poly at low to medium tension and liking it.

i suck at tennis said:

2. If I wanted to try a gut that is a little more "crisp", or not as soft as the Imperial what would you recommend?

Click to expand...

Klip gut is more on the "crisp" side.

Vs gut 17g, at 60-62 lbs, with alu power cross so the gut lasts for two jobs.

i suck at tennis said:

On to my questions...
1. Is natural gut a "heavy" string? My racquets are not matched in spec but they are extremely close and I couldn't help but notice that the stick with gut felt more HH than usual (I'll do a direct comparison when I get home this afernoon). It kinda threw me off on my serve, especially during the first set.
2. If I wanted to try a gut that is a little more "crisp", or not as soft as the Imperial what would you recommend?

Click to expand...

@#1: Nat gut is a heavy string - quality weighs, I guess

@#2: If you want a little bit more control on your deep shots, but still want the feel of nat gut and you want to minimize string movement at the same time try a hybrid of VS NAT GUT mains and a smooth non edged copoly in the crosses.
I use this setup and it's heaven on earth.
Your choice of CoPoly for the crosses could be:

Luxilon Alu Power (very crisp and powerful), WeissCannon Silverstring (pretty crisp and pretty soft) or Signum Pro Hyperion (very soft and muted)

i suck at tennis said:

1. Is natural gut a "heavy" string? My racquets are not matched in spec but they are extremely close and I couldn't help but notice that the stick with gut felt more HH than usual (I'll do a direct comparison when I get home this afernoon). It kinda threw me off on my serve, especially during the first set.

Click to expand...

The only thing heavier than gut is kevlar. 16g gut will weight about 17 grams; 17g copoly around 16; 17g syngut around 14; 17g multi around 13.

One gram difference in your stringbed equates to 2 swingweight units and .5mm balance. So depending on what you have in your other stick, the gut may have upped your swingweight considerably and altered the balance a tad.

skyzoo said:

Never tried it. Not ready to spend that kind of money on tennis string. Is it worth giving a whirl?

Click to expand...

Definitely... especially if you arent a big string breaker

corners said:

The only thing heavier than gut is kevlar. 16g gut will weight about 17 grams; 17g copoly around 16; 17g syngut around 14; 17g multi around 13.

One gram difference in your stringbed equates to 2 swingweight units and .5mm balance. So depending on what you have in your other stick, the gut may have upped your swingweight considerably and altered the balance a tad.

Click to expand...

Excellent info... I had previously been using various syn guts and multis, so this definitely explains the more HH feeling I got when using the gut racquet. Good to know I'm not going crazy.

ClubHoUno said:

@#2: If you want a little bit more control on your deep shots, but still want the feel of nat gut and you want to minimize string movement at the same time try a hybrid of VS NAT GUT mains and a smooth non edged copoly in the crosses.
I use this setup and it's heaven on earth.
Your choice of CoPoly for the crosses could be:

Luxilon Alu Power (very crisp and powerful), WeissCannon Silverstring (pretty crisp and pretty soft) or Signum Pro Hyperion (very soft and muted)

Click to expand...

Club how long do you find these combos playable?? Being that the poly dies MUCH quicker than the gut do you just cut it out after a few hours or play til it breaks?

i suck at tennis said:

Club how long do you find these combos playable?? Being that the poly dies MUCH quicker than the gut do you just cut it out after a few hours or play til it breaks?

Click to expand...

I play until the poly or gut breaks OR the tension level is too far (low) from what I originally had it set to be.

I don't feel Luxilon Alu Power die within hours, when only used as a cross string - not even close.
Either that, or I just like dead CoPoly in the crosses with VS nat gut in the mains

But I don't feel that much of a differencen from the first 1-4 hours to the next 5-8 hours and I often play with the hybrid up until the 12-14 hour mark, where the poly or nat gut either breaks or becomes so frayed that I cut it up and deliver the racquet to my stringer for a new string job.

I don't use string savers for the first 4-6 hours, after that I install a few around the sweetspot and at intersection points, where fraying has begun.

Try the nat gut mains and CoPoly crosses hybrid - be sure to string the nat gut mains 3-5 lbs higher than the CoPoly crosses and use a smooth CoPoly. An edged twisted poly in the crosses doesn't contribute to much extra spin anyway and the odd shape of it will cut through the nat gut mains much faster than if you use a smooth round CoPoly in the crosses !

1. Yes natural gut is heavier than multis and synthetic gut. Not sure about poly.
2. For a more crisp feeling I'd up the tension a little or try a firmer gut like Pacific Classic. If you like the plush feel of gut I would not hybrid it with poly, IMO it takes alot of that feel away.

I've played with natural gut for the past 5-6 years. Easier on the arm. My favorite has been Klip Legend 17.

However, like many people who have played with gut, I kept looking for a way to not hit so many balls long when I really rip a forehand. Polys like Luxilon Big Banger Power Rough have felt too stiff and potentially harmful at standard tensions.

But...I've just in the last 2 weeks tried the above string at 40# in my Vantage 95 and the non-textured Power version at 40# in a PT 280. It's pretty nice. At that tension it feels somewhat like gut but with more bite and spin to bring the ball down into the court on big groundstrokes. Doesn't have the nice feel of gut (nothing does) but it's pretty comfortable with a nice combination of flex and bite at this lower tension.

Have my favorite small cap PT 630 at the stringer getting Power Rough at 37#. Hope to try it tomorrow.

It's been really interesting. May never go back to gut. We'll see. Gut is wonderful. If you can tame the tendency to fly balls long. Enjoy!