PV Audio's Playtest Thread

dadozen said:

Wow PV, how many AG100s do you have?

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Fifteen I think. I'll have to check under my bed though. 5 of them, though, are 4 3/8 grip and 2 are 4 5/8 grip. I use a 4 1/2 which leaves me exactly 8 racquets for playtesting.

And ohhhh, I forgot just how amazing Scorpion is. Scorp/gut is LETHAL at the net. Interestingly, I much prefer the feel of WT over WT Pro. I'm running out of WT so I'm using up all my WT Pro and the coating really does make a heck of a difference.

pvaudio said:

Fifteen I think. I'll have to check under my bed though. 5 of them, though, are 4 3/8 grip and 2 are 4 5/8 grip. I use a 4 1/2 which leaves me exactly 8 racquets for playtesting.

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Only 8 racquets? How do you manage?

People give these things away, let me tell you. I scooped the 4 of the 3/8 grip for 110 bucks last year

Really great thread PV! Just read the whole thing through and I am now up to date Certainly a few strings you have brought to my attention that I will look to try out. What setup is up next?

PV,

Can you compare Scorpion to B5E? I kid, I kid...

LOL I was about to say

Gonna go hit for a few hours tonight, only have one stick worthy right now. It's scorp/WT pro, and the backup is the turbotwist. Anyone think I should string up a Black Magic hybrid?

PV,
I don't want to sound lazy, and I appreciate you taking the time and sharing the info with us,

but can you make a table of contents on your OP and edit it when you add a new review with the link? (similar to mikeler's reviews)

Thanks in advance.

pvaudio said:

Gonna go hit for a few hours tonight, only have one stick worthy right now. It's scorp/WT pro, and the backup is the turbotwist. Anyone think I should string up a Black Magic hybrid?

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Go for it, I am stringing it up this weekend.

I ended up not doing it, and continued to paly with the Scorpion. An interesting thing happened, however. The BHBR, while dead, still hits a heavier ball than any other setup. It was amazing to see the spin on the ball, shots were just dipping in all over the place, and you can still crack it. Side by side, fresh Scorpion and dead BHBR...I don't know. I honestly was hitting better shots with the dead BHBR than I was with the fresh Scorpion. Interestingly, that's exactly how I felt during my initial playtest. While I didn't like the feel as much, the shots were just far more penetrating. I think having worked with my coach a lot this semester (sorry to make some of you guys feel old :lol: ) on being more fluid and getting more body weight into the ball, I am hitting with MUCH more power, but expending a fraction of the effort. Hitting a shot that I used to call a big shot takes no effort simply by using my body weight. On my 1HBH, it's crucial. You cannot hit a 1HBH off your back foot: you NEED to step into the ball. When I do that, I simply hit better with the BHBR. It's a conundrum then:

Feel: Scorpion
Shot quality: BHBR
Power: Scorpion
Heaviness: BHBR
Outright control: Scorpion
Spin: BHBR

The two strings are dead even for me. My serve was pretty on tonight as well, and the BHBR for the same stroke just gives a better shot since the string just puts action on the ball by itself.

Surprise of the night, however, was playing with my hitting partner's racquet. I string for him, and he hits with a Yonex RDiS 93 with full poly. We've done a bunch of combinations of strings: full poly and hybrids. Most recently, however, I did two of his frames with the new Alien Black Diamond. While I'll say straight up that it is a ***** to string in the crosses, he absolutely loves it. He was asking me about my AG100s, so I let him hit with the Scorp and I took the Yonex. That string, and I am not kidding, is the smooth version of B5E. That is EXACTLY what it feels like. It gives great spin, it's super comfortable, and even after playing for two hours plus however long he's been hitting with it, the strings are checkerboard aligned and no tension drop whatsoever. I'd played with it myself in an AG100 and absolutely loved it, but that was some time ago. I wonder if I can get some string from them so I can do a proper playtest of it. In the mean time, yes, it is extremely expensive for a no-name string company that only gives you 38.5 feet of string in a set, but it is chuffing magic, let me tell you. If you like B5E, you owe it to yourself to at least get a free sample.

Pv,
What's a good tension to string scorpion and silverstring if I am enjoying b5e at 48.5 once I have a couple of hours on it?

suggestion...

Hi there PVAudio

I enjoy reading your thread. i also enjoy reading MIKELER thread.

i am reading these threads because i am still searching for that 'ideal' string.

Suggestion:
I think it will be very helpful to readers like me if you include a sort of 'Table of Contents' for the strings you tested similar to this one:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=352048&highlight=mikeler+multi

thank you in advance...

have PV/ any of you lot tested these strings:
prince premier LT
dunlop max comfort
Yonex ATG 850 Pro
Yonex Poly Tour Pro 125
Ashaway MonoGut 17

PV,

I'll help you with a TOC. Maybe we can each take on half the posts.

Sorry I haven't gotten around to the table of contents yet, i'm trying to graduate from school first

pvaudio said:

Sorry I haven't gotten around to the table of contents yet, i'm trying to graduate from school first

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Your priorities are SO messed up. Good luck with finals. It's a great feeling getting that diploma in hand.

Heheh, I'll get on it

Also finally got in my new string. It's the rarest one I have since they don't even sell it in the US. I'll post pics of it later. Very highly rated on string forum

Got my 2 Bab Aero 112's in yesterday.
One strung with Scorpion 1.22 53lbs M and VS 17 56.5lbs X
Second strung with VS 58lbs full.
I played the hybrid and all I can say is WOW!!

I don't know what happened: either the 4 day layoff or inspiriation from watching the Tallahassee Challenge or the new strings but my game was off the charts for me. I just love this set-up. Even out of the box with no break-in time it was incredible. The spin was crazy.

I was an invitee to a doubles foursome, and after the first set ended at 6-0 I had to lay off because everything was working...serves were jumping off the clay, crushing forehands, topspin...wow.

The power, control, feel, touch was almost perfect. I say almost because I would still like to dial the power back about 15%. It will be interesting to see what happens when I get another 5-10 hours logged.

I played just one game with the full gut racket and did not like how it felt compared to this one. I will log a little more time and see how it feels but may pull the plug and string with the BHBR/Gut but increase tension a few pounds.

Scorpion/gut gets another thumbs up

I don't know about scorp/gut, but I just switched to scorp/addiction and it's awesome.

Hey PV, great thread BTW. Have you ever tried Signum Pro Poly Plasma, what are your thoughts on this?

How are you 2 favorites holding up re: wear and tear?

PV
How many hours have you now logged on each setup with:
Scorpion?
BHBR?

Is the gut still holding up well at this stage of use?

Do you have any experience/comments on using the Luxilon Big Banger Rough M and Gut X?

PV I know you are busy but when you get a chance I'm still interested in above feedback.

I'm a little hesitant to write about this but....this morning- after about 5 hours of matches over the last few days and about 1 week after getting racket back from TW- the performance of the Scorpion hybrid went AWOL on me. The power was remarkably stronger, touch, feel, control all off. Spin was still good but I was very disappointed in the performance. Some of this could be because of an 8am match and maybe I was just off.....BUT when I picked up my other racket with full gut I wasn't off. Lost first 2 sets with Scorpion 2-6, 2-6 and won last set with gut 6-0. Again maybe I just warmed up or awake enough. Will report more this weekend.

pvaudio said:

String update: BHBR has followed in the steps of BHB. It's gone dead already. Still, I was hitting some great shots with it tonight, but it's dead. So nope, Scorpion is still the king since it lasts so much longer.

I just got so fed up with the feel of the Hyperion that I cut it out on court even though it was so close to breaking. The Turbotwist isn't dead, but it's still way too launchy without enough feel. So yep, final verdict:

1. WeissCANNON Scorpion 1.22
2. WeissCANNON B5E
3. Tourna Poly Big Hitter Blue Rough

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Where did WeissCannon Mosquito Bite fall in your list? I've read nothing but good things about this string, saw your comments WAY back, and was interested in your perspective now that you've used more string.

Hey all,

This is for anyone with experience with the weisscannon strings (specifically Silversting 1.20 and Scorpion 1.22). Im going to be stringing a full bed in my YTPP and I want to get some recommendations for what tension to string at. I usually string polys (like PHT, PLII, tornado, Black Magic) at mid 50's and that has seemed to work fine most of the time. I understand though that a lot of you have been experimenting with lower tensions with some of these wiesscannon strings, so i just wanted to get some opinions before i string my sticks up.

Thanks

I just tried Scorpian today for the first time and strung it 54/53 in my Prestige MP. That was a perfect tension for me. Good control, pocketing, and volleys were crisp and accurate.
I play full bed polys but can't do that 40s stuff because I lose to much control on volleys.

I'm really liking these Weiss Cannon strings. Like the Black5Edge too..

slice it said:

Hey all,

This is for anyone with experience with the weisscannon strings (specifically Silversting 1.20 and Scorpion 1.22). Im going to be stringing a full bed in my YTPP and I want to get some recommendations for what tension to string at. I usually string polys (like PHT, PLII, tornado, Black Magic) at mid 50's and that has seemed to work fine most of the time. I understand though that a lot of you have been experimenting with lower tensions with some of these wiesscannon strings, so i just wanted to get some opinions before i string my sticks up.

Thanks

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SS used to be my go-to, and now Scorpion is, so I'm pretty well qualified here

I'd string both SS and Silverstring at your normal tension, say 55. I'm stringing my poly at 53 crossed with gut. Outstanding setup.

Going to play a 3 setter tonight, strung up B5E/WT Pro. Going to compare head to head with Scorp/WT Pro. Need to have two racquets that I'm familiar with if I'm going to play a match.

Oh, I never said what my newest offering is:





Topspin Cyber Twirl Black

I tested the orange or "clay" color in my very first playtest. This, though, is apparently one of the best spin strings you can buy. Unfortuantely, it's not sold in the US, so I bought it from England instead. I think I'll string this up as my test racquet.

PV,

Can you compare BHSR and BHBR? Interested to hear your thoughts when they are compared side by side.

Can I also request a play test of Black Venom and Twisted Razor?

Hey PV,

Just a couple more questions before I make my string purchases.


Did you ever try a full set of B5E? -If so, what did you think of it compared to the hybrid.

Did you ever hybrid B5E with MCS?

Do you think the Whisper touch can be substituted with anything else?

Thanks so much

PV, I tested out those two sets of blue strings and e-mailed you, but I fear it may have been tagged as spam.

No sir, I replied. I'll make a thread right now.

following up on earlier Scorpion experience

OK I want to be fair about earlier disappointment with my Scorpion/VS hybrid.
After working with my local pro on a lesson, then 1.5 hours on serves and 1.5 hours on ball machine I realized that a lot of my problem was in my stroke.

So, there was a noticable dropoff in control after about 4 hours...I almost couldnt screw up a shot.

After that early honeymoon the tension fell off enough that it required different handling.....However it still generates ton of spin, tons of kick on my topspin serves (its actually ridiculous). I have just had to use a little more care on the power....with proper topspin- which I wasn't executing as effectively as I should- the balls cooperate

So bottom line, tension falls off after first 4-5 hours but settles in and is still very lively. I think I am going to restring soon with the BHBR and I will go up on the tensions about 4 pounds and see if it will settle in a little sweeter performance spot for me.

By the way there is a little bit of noticable wear but I think they will last a long time yet

hey pvaudio, i was wondering if you have ever done a hybrid with scorpion in the mains and nrg in the crosses, seems like a promising set up

No sir, I have not used NRG as a cross since my earlier posts in this thread.

is it possible to try it out for me? seems like a promising set up!

PV back on 4-6-11, in your review of the BHBR hybrid (53/55) you said I will string lower next time around and see if it wants a lower tension than what I originally gave it. Rarely am I ever surprised at the shots that I hit, but with this, I honestly have to say that I was smiling. This blue goodness made me look better than I am.



Did you try this yet and if so did you find that it worked better? If you didnt try it, what is your current thought?

Look what came in today!
Im very exited. Will be doing a full bed @52 lbs. Ill post results here.

How about trying a set of Alien strings? You can get a set from them just for the cost of shipping. I know TW carries it but directly from them it's only about $5. One time and a one set offer only.

hey pvaudio, have you tried weisscannon scorpion and babolat pro hurricane and can give me a direct comparison? ive decided to choose between these two for my new string

niketennispro said:

hey pvaudio, have you tried weisscannon scorpion and babolat pro hurricane and can give me a direct comparison? ive decided to choose between these two for my new string

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You can't ask me to do that! PH18 and Scorpion 1.22 are two of my top 4 favorite strings ever. The list, as reposted from an earlier post and expanded to include more than just poly:

1. WC Scorpion 1.22
2. Performaxx WhisperTouch natural gut
3. WC Black5Edge
5. Babolat Pro Hurricane 18
Technifibre NRG2 1.18

The original PH is still really the yardstick for all-around poly strings while ALU is the yardstick for powerful polys. It's been around forever, and I still love it.

mctennis said:

How about trying a set of Alien strings? You can get a set from them just for the cost of shipping. I know TW carries it but directly from them it's only about $5. One time and a one set offer only.

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I'm going to start stocking it since I have indeed hit with it before and it is GLORIOUS. Unfortunately, it's a ***** and a half to string. Way too stiff. Can't wait to see if they make a 1.25 or 1.20 instead of the 1.30mm.

pvaudio said:

The original PH is still really the yardstick for all-around poly strings while ALU is the yardstick for powerful polys. It's been around forever, and I still love it.

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I agree that Pro Hurricane 18 is a great string, although for me the playability lasts for only one hitting session.

Topspin CyberTwirl Black 1.27 / Babolat VS Team 17

Topspin CyberTwirl Black 1.27 / Babolat VS Team 17





As promised, a review of the CT black. I don't know how relevant this will be to most people here since the string isn't available in the US. Nonetheless, it's apparently one of the best spin strings on the market. So, I decided that I'd be the only supplier of it in the state

A note about my choice of cross string: I had started the crosses with a set of WhisperTouch, and on the second pull, SNAP! To be fair, the set felt very gummy in the hand and it normally feels like your fingernails to the touch. Still, I thought that I'd try it, and unfortunately it strung like I feared. This was, however, received when there was a manufacturing error (same batch as the WT Pro that broke in my bag), so I guess that just shows that that batch was garbage. I've used older sets and the newest sets and they're fine, so it's just that batch. The VS Team, however, is the original stuff. It's about a year or so old when I was using gut mains, and was floundering around in my string chest in a ziploc. I forgot I had it in there, so I figured it was time to use it

Stringing: The CTB is a very limp poly string, very reminiscent of WC Silverstring. No tangly nonsense like BHBR or Bab PH. It wasn't stiff in the slightest, and withstood clamping just fine. Looking at it now, I can't see any marks on it from stringing.

To those looking for an introduction to stringing gut, don't start with VS Team (at least not the original, as I can't speak for the new variety not having tried it) if you deal with holes blocked by more than one string. This frame does indeed deal that out at the head. I did actually weave the WhisperTouch before tying off, but since it snapped, I had to feed the VS through a grommet blocked by two layers of highly textured 1.27mm string. I refuse to use awls and pathfinders as I rarely find them necessary. I will admit, however, that on my own racquets I'll take a thick awl coated with some akempucky and enlarge the blocked holes to make this process smoother.

As I do believe that VS Team is the best gut on the market (albeit I personally do prefer the feel of WhisperTouch, and at almost 2x the price, I wouldn't even consider using it unless someone gave it to me), I am excited to see that I had some in my stash (I do have a few other sets of the original, but I'll only use those for customers). As the best gut on the market, it is one of the most nightmarish to string in the mains since it's very elastic and can cause enormous clamp slingback on the first four mains. In the crosses, however, it's as easy to string as the easiest multi. It's so floppy and soft that it's like stringing a thin version of Mantis Comfort Synthetic. Interesting that the very quality that makes it great to play with makes it the worst to string in the mains, but a dream in the crosses.

Oh and unrelated: the BHBR is still going, and still going fairly strong (even though it's super dead haha). I can guarantee that it's going to break tonight; the gut is simply a thread haha.

Broke the gut on the BHBR, and played a few hours with the CTB. However, I played against some garbage players, so I will hold off on a proper consensus until I can hit against someone who can generate actual strokes that yield rallies longer than 3 balls (canadian doubles, and I was returning balls in the alley....when I'm playing on the singles side). Such a waste of time.

PV,

I strung up Black Widow 17 mains with Mantis Comfort Synthetic 16 crosses today. The feel is just a tad softer than B5E/MCS. I know you like softer string beds, so just wanted to mention that. My reviews will come to an end soon, so I'll have to live vicariously through your thread after that. Have a good weekend.

hit with a full bed of BHBR. groundstrokes decent enough but my elbow didn't like the bomb serves with that string...passing on this one.