Golden Set (Brand) Strings?

Booyah

Semi-Pro
yeah i have never heard or seen them before. have fun trying them out, looking forward to reviews.
 

Nuke

Hall of Fame
The're pretty honest on their website -- they don't pretend to be a string manufacturer, just a reseller. Now we have to guess what familiar strings theirs are the same as.

You may ask how it is that our string could possibly be of the highest quality and yet cost substantially less than the competition? Simply put, the actual cost of most racket string, as seen by the consumer, is many times greater than what is actually paid by the brand name selling it.

There are only a handful of synthetic racket string factories in the world. Brand names buy their product from these factories, as do we. Brand names sell their string to distributors and stores who then sell it to home-based stringers and tennis consumers like you.

Golden Set sells directly to anyone. Eliminating the "middle-man" is one of the ways we ensure that Golden Set prices are always kept as low as possible.
 

BGB.CA

Rookie
The Canadian distributor is based near my home town and one of the head guys for the company in Canada plays at my club, so I see a fair amount of the string come into a shop that I string for part time. Although I have never strung with it or played with it the feedback is generally positive for the most part but I have seen stringers break several sets of the poly on the machine or see it break quite easily off of mishits that usually wouldn't pop a string. It has broken on the machine for my boss who never breaks anything while stringing and has been stringing racquets for 30+ years so I highly doubt it was user error. This was a while ago and the sets that other people in the store have strung more recently have not encountered these problems. All this being said, I'd say feel free give it a shot their prices look pretty good so even if its unsatisfactory your not paying premium prices anyways.

BTW, I've heard that line before about few stringing factories and all of the product comes from only a few sources, but has this really been proven with major brands that they are selling the same string under two different names? From the major brands I've seen/strung with like Babolat, Prince, Wilson, Head, Luxilon etc. I haven't really seen two strings that are the same, I know that some of the more generic brnds like Unique have done that w/strings like big hitter blue (can't remember its other name) but I'd think that the major brands would have factories or at least the exclusive patents/rights to their own string types.
 

KiwiNuker

New User
Yea, I just saw them on craigslist. Their 3bay username is golden-set. (seems canadian) Can't wait for your review. The Hex poly looks interesting. Did you get the sample pack brownbearfalling?
 

brownbearfalling

Hall of Fame
Hey kiwinuker:
Don't bother going through craigslist or ****. Just get them straight from the site.

The shaun:
The sample pack looks like it's really worth it but I'm reluctant because i would hate it if i liked their multifilament string. mainly because it cost about the same as other brands. But the poly string is where the value is.
 

brownbearfalling

Hall of Fame
bgb.ca:
I don't know what to think of strings breaking while stringing. Even the worst quality strings wouldn't do that. But the mixed reviews add to my curiousity.
 

Irvin

Talk Tennis Guru
Wow I need to buy some cheap string on Alibaba and spam eveyone's email with price offers about my great string and how it is just as good as anything else you suckers can buy.

What gets me is you actually read the email.

Irvin
 

Richie Rich

Legend
a guy i play with bought some "velvet" multi because he was having elbow pain. i was skeptical because i never heard of them before. i strung it up for him and the string was ok.

i thought it would break fast though. 3 weeks later it is just starting to fray. this guy plays 4 times a week and hits a pretty flat ball and his racquet is 18x19. i was pleasantly surprised.
 

tennis__dude

New User
I've been playing with Golden Set string for the last year. I am a hard hitting player and have found the Poly blended with Syn Gut to be a great playing and durable combination.
 

Haruimi

New User
polys and syn guts offered by golden set

It's been a few months, I was just wondering whether you ended up trying out the strings or not? any comments?
 
Golden Set strings

I have ordered a few different types of string from Golden Set in recent weeks including their hex poly along with their syn gut and multi-filament strings. I do my own stringing and am familiar with other brands including Gosen, Topspin. Signum Pro and Wilson so it will be interesting to see how their quality compares. Their shipping, costs, and customer service are really quite impressive. So far, I am quite pleased with their products and have had no problems whatsoever.
 
Golden Set

I've used their synthetic gut 16 and hex poly 16, and they've been just fine. I did feel that Luxilon ALU power spin gave me more spin than Golden Set's hex poly, but overall, a decent brand. Run by a nice fellow and his wife up in Calgary.

Worth a try, in my opinion.

- Ben
 

ace0001a

Semi-Pro
I'm about to order one of their sample packs for a try. They could use some improvement on their ordering setup and lack of more shipping options. But I like the concept of OEM generic strings. There are many products that we as consumers use the generic or "store brand" of that are very comparable to the name brand product and I think it's great to have tennis string available in such a manner.
 

DavaiMarat

Professional
Hex Poly 17 & 18

I have no complaints. What I like most about these strings are the tension retention I get. Unlike blackcode and luxilon, that seem to drop to mush in a matter of a few hits, these strings seem to hold that poppiness for much longer. The hex poly is a real felt grabber too. Not as comfortable as blackcode but still pretty good. Spin is awesome.

I love it and the price.

Cheers,

Mike
 

brownbearfalling

Hall of Fame
Thanks for trying out the strings your guys. I'm and I feel that others are still leaning toward passing on this brand of strings. But Maybe a few more good reviews will get me to try them. I have to say goldenset's website has gotten MUCH better so check it out everyone.
 

ace0001a

Semi-Pro
Thanks for trying out the strings your guys. I'm and I feel that others are still leaning toward passing on this brand of strings. But Maybe a few more good reviews will get me to try them. I have to say goldenset's website has gotten MUCH better so check it out everyone.

Honestly though, it's really worth giving it a try yourself also. The owner is really nice and if you called their number and told them you want to give one or two sets a try, he'll set you up with a minimal shipping charge...he'll even throw in a sample overgrip too. I tried to tell them that their ordering system with a flat $6.95 shipping charge may prohibit people from giving their strings a try if they only want to try one or two sets. So yeah, he'll accomodate you on your first order to give their strings a try to see if you like it. So far I haven't read anything really negative about their strings lately.
 

meowmix

Hall of Fame
Whoa, 56 bucks for a reel of hex poly? Darn that's cheap! And their multis are pretty cheap too in reel form... Seems to be a pretty good buy.

Now, anybody feel like ordering a few reels to try out?
 

ace0001a

Semi-Pro
Whoa, 56 bucks for a reel of hex poly? Darn that's cheap! And their multis are pretty cheap too in reel form... Seems to be a pretty good buy.

Now, anybody feel like ordering a few reels to try out?

I don't want to come off like I work for them or get any benefit...but I just think it's funny how people here rely on someone else's trial. A set of these strings are so damn cheap, I can't understand what would be the problem for more to try it on their own. Like I said, just call their toll free number and tell them you would like to try one or two sets out first...most likely you'll only spend anywhere from $6 to $12 shipped depending on what you order. To me, that's cheap enough to try and if you don't like it you can cut it out.

Seriously I think the more that are willing to try, the more feedback others have to work with. If everyone just waits for somebody else to try something like this, it will take a long time to get any knowledge about it. I felt it was cheap enough to try and so that's why I called them. The owner is a really nice guy and he'll work with you if just want to buy a couple sets to try out.
 

ace0001a

Semi-Pro
As reviewed from another forum by a user named wy2sl0

GS Hex Poly 1.23

This is my first post after reading for a few weeks, deciding on what strings to try. Since I live in Canada, it is difficult to get some of the strings that are foudn across the world, I.E Technifibre's new Black Code, the Kirschbaum strings, etc. I searched for a Canadian tennis dealer and voila, found Golden Set. Most of us know they are just resellers so the strings aren't manufactured by them. Regardless I had been playing with Alu Power 1.23's, and I thought it was time to change it up. The previous strings just started to move on me after 4 months ( I play about an hour 2-3x a week ). Stringer actually said they were fine and I didn't need to change them but I feel once they move thats enough for me.
Anyways so here is what I found;
Alu's were at 58 lbs x/m and I got the Hex Poly ( since it is a co-poly I thought I could do a but tighter ) at 60 lbs.
Ive only played once with them during doubles last night in a damp court so the ball was pretty heavy.
First off, SW forehand, 2hbh, 5'8" 124 lbs or so, and use a full swing on forehand, more of a punch like Roddick on backhand - Speedport Red 4 3/8
I noticed almost instantly my forehand which before was about 1/2 foot at most out sometimes, is now in. I can rip it as hard as I can and it will arc and drop with great net clearance. This tells me the spin is obviously a bit better, more from the slight texture and hex shape than anything else. They were a little harder on the arm, but I am young and tennis elbow ( knock on wood ) doesn't effect me even with a poly at 60 lbs. The strings give a pop which my Alu's didnt before, but there is more control for sure, and my serve percentage was up big time even on flat.

Obviously durability and tension maintenance is big here so after a few more I will post up, but just wanted to say for $5 cdn or so this string seems to be a great option to the sometimes $30 Alu Power sets up north
 

brownbearfalling

Hall of Fame
Update:
I still have yet to try the strings. It is because I still own a few packs of string that I have yet to try. And there are many strings I want to try before these strings (pro supex). But I keep going back to goldenset and their website has improved a lot. Less sketchy. But I believe the prices increased a little also.
 

Haruimi

New User
A lot of people here were wondering about string comparison betwen GS and other brands, but (even though you can't always trust the retailer themselves) they do have a comparison of what they believe their strings compare too:

http://www.goldensettennis.com/compare.html

I finally got up the courage to buy a reel of 660'ft Reel of Torque 16G and after I give it a go I'll write up a review since such few people have tried them out. (if the string turns out to be alright I might get a poly set of Hex Poly and see how they fair)
 

ace0001a

Semi-Pro
As I said before and I can't say it's 100% verified, but I'm fairly sure Golden Set is basically OEM or rebadged or "store brand" Zons strings. Zons is a string company out of Taiwan and does sell strings in other parts of the world, but has no North American distributors or dealers. I came to this conclusion based off of talking with a tennis/badminton/squash dealer in Taiwan and getting my hands on a dealer sheet of strings that can be ordered from Zons, which they also sell to dealers who want their company name on it. I compared the product descriptions that Golden Set has as well as the packages saying "Made In Taiwan" on them. Golden Set Poly is Zons Polymo Tour and Golden Set Hex is Zons Polymo Hexplosion. Their other strings have Zons names too, but I didn't pay much attention beyond their Polys. I've tried the Golden Set Poly and thought it was pretty good, especially for the price.
 

MattPrevidi

New User
Golden Set

I am a teaching pro here in San Diego. I also manage a company that runs the stringing room at the Easter Bowl every year. I have had extensive contact with the people at Golden Set. Below is my take:

-The company itself is much smaller than Wilson/Prince/Babolat and it shows in their customer service. Like other posters have said, they are easy to get a hold of on the phone, and very friendly.
-Their number one goal is not make tons of money. As seen by their pricing, they are trying to sell a lesser known product at a perfect price. While some of their strings may not win "string of the year" they offer some great strings at AMAZING prices. They are more than willing to throw in a set or two on big orders to ensure you feel taken care of and that you have had a chance to evaluate their entire product line.

And now, on to the string:
-The hex poly is great. If you didn't know what brand it was, you would think it was priced much higher than it actually is.
-The torque is awesome! Name another synthetic/multi with that kind of texture! Plus it comes in 15L for all you hybrid guys who break strings a lot.
The hydrex grips are awesome as well. They have a little less of a cloth feel compared to tourna grips. They are really inexpensive, and flat out great.


All in all, this is a great brand that offers quality string at KILLER prices. Great if you:
-Break lots of strings
-Like cutting strings out that don;t feel good to you
-Need string to practice stringing with
-Are sick of taking out another mortgage on nyour home to buy a new reel of Big Banger ALU...
-Are a budding young stringer looking to earn money stringing, without investing in expensive stuff. You can offer a poly and multi to your customers while investing around $100!!

Any questions, send them an email and ask for Leif. He is a super nice guy and really knows his stuff.
 

ace0001a

Semi-Pro
I am a teaching pro here in San Diego. I also manage a company that runs the stringing room at the Easter Bowl every year. I have had extensive contact with the people at Golden Set. Below is my take:

-The company itself is much smaller than Wilson/Prince/Babolat and it shows in their customer service. Like other posters have said, they are easy to get a hold of on the phone, and very friendly.
-Their number one goal is not make tons of money. As seen by their pricing, they are trying to sell a lesser known product at a perfect price. While some of their strings may not win "string of the year" they offer some great strings at AMAZING prices. They are more than willing to throw in a set or two on big orders to ensure you feel taken care of and that you have had a chance to evaluate their entire product line.

And now, on to the string:
-The hex poly is great. If you didn't know what brand it was, you would think it was priced much higher than it actually is.
-The torque is awesome! Name another synthetic/multi with that kind of texture! Plus it comes in 15L for all you hybrid guys who break strings a lot.
The hydrex grips are awesome as well. They have a little less of a cloth feel compared to tourna grips. They are really inexpensive, and flat out great.


All in all, this is a great brand that offers quality string at KILLER prices. Great if you:
-Break lots of strings
-Like cutting strings out that don;t feel good to you
-Need string to practice stringing with
-Are sick of taking out another mortgage on nyour home to buy a new reel of Big Banger ALU...
-Are a budding young stringer looking to earn money stringing, without investing in expensive stuff. You can offer a poly and multi to your customers while investing around $100!!

Any questions, send them an email and ask for Leif. He is a super nice guy and really knows his stuff.

Yeah I would agree with that. I've read a few reviews here and there of their Hex Poly and I don't doubt it's pretty good string. Like I said, I thought their standard Poly is quite good too, especially if you consider the price. I got a sample of their overgrip and it does remind me very much of Tournagrip. And I'm pretty sure the guy's name is Jeff when I told him my name is Jeff, he said that his name is Jeff too...but yeah, nice guy to deal with.
 

Haruimi

New User
ahhh! okay! My reel arrived today and I'm going to string up 2 frames tonight, one with a full set of torque 16G and another with a half set of it and im not sure what else yet (we'll see what springs to mind) so I'll write up a short review up by Monday and let you guys know how this string fares (in my book anyways)
 

Lefty5

Hall of Fame
The Canadian distributor is based near my home town and one of the head guys for the company in Canada plays at my club, so I see a fair amount of the string come into a shop that I string for part time. Although I have never strung with it or played with it the feedback is generally positive for the most part but I have seen stringers break several sets of the poly on the machine or see it break quite easily off of mishits that usually wouldn't pop a string. It has broken on the machine for my boss who never breaks anything while stringing and has been stringing racquets for 30+ years so I highly doubt it was user error. This was a while ago and the sets that other people in the store have strung more recently have not encountered these problems. All this being said, I'd say feel free give it a shot their prices look pretty good so even if its unsatisfactory your not paying premium prices anyways.

BTW, I've heard that line before about few stringing factories and all of the product comes from only a few sources, but has this really been proven with major brands that they are selling the same string under two different names? From the major brands I've seen/strung with like Babolat, Prince, Wilson, Head, Luxilon etc. I haven't really seen two strings that are the same, I know that some of the more generic brnds like Unique have done that w/strings like big hitter blue (can't remember its other name) but I'd think that the major brands would have factories or at least the exclusive patents/rights to their own string types.

Yes, its been proven. Unique is no different than the other brands you mention. The only thing you pay for with Wilson, Bab, and Prince is double the price for their full color ads in every magazine. There are defintely only a few manufacturers. Yes you might find an exclusive in one country but really never for the entire world...
 

Haruimi

New User
Golden Set's Torque 16G

Alright haven't had too many opportunities to play this week but thus far this is how I feel "Golden Set's Torque 16G" Stacks up:

Comfort: 7
Power: 7
Spin: 7.5
Feel: 5
Durability: 6 (the first set lasted me 5hrs, full set no hybrid)
Tension Retention: Good (Don't last long enough to really lose too much tension)
Ease of Stringing: 8 (Easy to string, I hate it when string feels like wire prior to stringing, this wasn't the case, but because it's textured you have to watch out that you don't fray the string when stringing)

Compared to the other synthetics I currently own:

Infinitely better then Gosen OG Sheep Micro 16 & 17G's (in every category)

Noticeably better then Prince Synthetic Gut w/ Duraflex 16 & 17G's (in most categories)

Much better then Wilson Extreme Spin (this wilson string costs more, is more stiff, provides equal or less spin and doesn't quite have as much bite on the ball)

Better then Tecnifibre E-Matrix 17G

About as good as Wilson Sensation or Wilson Supreme 16/17G (these two wilson strings have better feel and comfort but are about the same in the other categories except they produce less spin, and for the price, GS Torque beats them)

This is one of if not the first synthetic/multi textured string I've tried and I've got to say I liked it.

These strings had good power, better then good spin, decent durability (im sure in a hybrid set up with a co-poly they'll be great), decent/good comfort and feel and will not disappoint. For the price which is about 4.50 or so a set they are definitely better then the other strings that sell for the same price, and in a little bit I think I'm going to get a reel of Hex Poly to try them out since the bargain with Golden Set string supposedly comes in the polys anyways :p

(I hope this review was somewhat helpful)
 

coolblue123

Hall of Fame
Just ordered me some Maximal Strings. I hope they play like K-Gut. Planning to do Maximal (mains 16g) and FT Ruff (crosses 17g) Hope they play well.
 

coolblue123

Hall of Fame
I want to order some Mantis Comfort Syn Gut as well and compare to the Maximal and Velvet. Should be coming today. I am going to do a hybrid Maximal (16g)/ Forten Sweet or Gosen Sheep Mirco (17g).
Going to cost me $5/set. Hopefully if it last around 5 hours of play, I'll be happy! Always prefer new inexpensive strings over good expensive old strings.
 
has anyone tried snake bite or poly hex? i am especially interested in snake bite but want to know how any of their polyester strings play. Thanks in advance.
 
has anyone tried snake bite or poly hex? i am especially interested in snake bite but want to know how any of their polyester strings play. Thanks in advance.

I've tried both. In my opinion, snake bite plays better. Hex poly still plays pretty well, but with the twisted hexagonal shape snake bite gets you the spin/control. Also snake bite is softer as well.
 

Don't Let It Bounce

Hall of Fame
Is there a Golden Set equivalent of the really low-stiffness co-polys? Something like the thinnest Black Widow, CyberFlash, or TCS 18 (i.e., with stiffness ~150 at TW's 51 lb tension/fast swing standard)?
 

pudelko

Rookie
This is the only brand of string I buy since its cheap and local (Canada) Ive bought a few of their sample packs and came out liking the Torque one the best and have since then bought a few reels of it over the last few years.

I cant really compare it to much else, but it has great spin potential and is a lot easier on the arm then the polys from this brand. Durability is ok, Its hard for me to give an exact time because I switch racquets a lot but Id say I get about 5-6 hours out of a single string job before it snaps.
 

ethebull

Rookie
On a customer service note, I bought 4 packs of syn gut to check out thru 3bay. I think they are just getting started there, as the shipping details weren't quite nailed down acurately. I brought this up to Jeff at GS and he handled the adjustment in a way that SHOUTS customer service is their #1 priority. I'll post back on how the strings are. I'll be evaluating Optimum in 16 and 17, Standard syn gut in 16, and Dura-Meld 17
 

tennisjon

Professional
I currently have a hybrid of Snakebite and Babolat N.Vy in my racquet. I found it to be a little stiffer but even more crisp than Technifibre Black Code but less stiff than Luxilon ALU Rough. Its a spun heptagon shape string, which generates a lot of spin and power. It has been in my racquet for about 3 weeks with better than average tension retention. Next time, I will string it a little looser than Black Code (1-2 lbs). As of now, with 4 racquets, I will hybrid everything with N.Vy due to its softness, pocketing ability, and durability, but will have 1 racquet with Black Code, 1 with RPM, 1 with Snakebite, and 1 racquet to experiment with. I currently have 1 racquet with Dunlop Black Widow, which is probably my favorite, (very slightly stiffer and a little more spin than Black Code) but since I can get Black Code for less in reel form, there isn't enough of a difference to warrant a switch. The RPM is great for volleys and is much softer, but tension retention is weak, so I string that 2 lbs tighter than Black Code.
 

Hotrocks

Rookie
I currently have a hybrid of Snakebite and Babolat N.Vy in my racquet. I found it to be a little stiffer but even more crisp than Technifibre Black Code but less stiff than Luxilon ALU Rough. Its a spun heptagon shape string, which generates a lot of spin and power. It has been in my racquet for about 3 weeks with better than average tension retention. Next time, I will string it a little looser than Black Code (1-2 lbs). As of now, with 4 racquets, I will hybrid everything with N.Vy due to its softness, pocketing ability, and durability, but will have 1 racquet with Black Code, 1 with RPM, 1 with Snakebite, and 1 racquet to experiment with. I currently have 1 racquet with Dunlop Black Widow, which is probably my favorite, (very slightly stiffer and a little more spin than Black Code) but since I can get Black Code for less in reel form, there isn't enough of a difference to warrant a switch. The RPM is great for volleys and is much softer, but tension retention is weak, so I string that 2 lbs tighter than Black Code.
Thanks for your reply. Have you ever tried Mantis-Power Synthetic as a cross? Since I have tried the Mantis, it's the only cross string I use @ a great price. I was just wondering how good Snake Bite perfomed @ such a inexpensive price.
 
I just bought a reel of the golden set poly hex 18 guage, and it works really well, it's a little stiffer compared with msv hex 18 guage. It was worth the money.
 

tennisjon

Professional
I haven't used Mantis synthetics as a cross string. I have used one of their polys and thought it was a little dull. More thud than pop.

As for cross strings, the best I have seen is Babolat N.Vy. It pockets the ball well, its soft, durable, and it helps accentuate the main strings.

So far, the Snakebite has maintained tension. It has great pop. Its a lot like Signum Pro Tornado in its look and feel. Overall, I would say excellent value, unless something changes soon such as breaking early and/or tension loss.
 
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