VS Gut mains and poly crosses

2Hare

Semi-Pro
I've signed up over there but rarely visit. Whether it is objective or not, there is really no way to know for sure.

I know, I just wanted to let Big Kahuna know don't use their data religiously as it is far from anything accurate.
 

jk175d

Semi-Pro
I'd like to have some advise please. Currently playing with Head Youtek IG Prestige Pro, mains pacific classic 1.25 at 52, crosses silverstring at 47. I have strung decidedly low because I have had some arm trouble with my previous racquets (specifically wilson kfactor six one 95).

This string set-up feels fairly good at everything and I have no trouble with my arm at these tensions. The only downside is that the racquet & strings are feeling a little too powerful. Given my past arm troubles I would like to keep silversting cross at 47 - 48 tension. Can I bump up the gut mains tension to 54 - 55, i.e. 6 - 7 pounds tension difference between mains and crosses? Is it safe for the racquet and does it make sense as string set-up?

I string gut mains poly crosses with an 8 lb differential. Hasn't been a problem. I go 53/45 or 54/46
 
I string gut mains poly crosses with an 8 lb differential. Hasn't been a problem. I go 53/45 or 54/46


Same here. I've done 58/50 down to 52/44. It's all about controlling that gut. The thought of lower powered guts, i.e. WhisperTouch does start to make sense. Even the LTEC "premium" gut says its lower powered so that mains and crosses can be more evenly tensioned.
 
I just finished stringing up Wilson Champion choice hybrid with 56lbs on the Wilson gut mains and 48lbs on the Alu Rough cross. Will see how this compares to VS Team/PL2 Evolution setup. This will be my first time using Alu Rough.
 

netguy

Semi-Pro
So then here are Stringforum Top OVERALL Ratings for Poly Strings based on a minimum of 10 PLAY TEST ratings for comparison:

1-Kirschbaum Pro Line No. II 1.30
2-Topspin Cyber Twirl Natural 1.27
3-WeissCANNON Scorpion 1.22
4-Solinco Tour Bite 16L
5-WeissCANNON Silverstring 1.20
6-Luxilon Big Banger Ace 18
7-Prince Beast XP 16
8-WeissCANNON Silverstring 1.25
9-Signum Pro Tornado 1.17
10-Kirschbaum Pro Line No. II 1.15
11-MSV Co-Focus 1.18
12-Pro's Pro Plus Power 1.28
13-MSV Focus - HEX® 1.27
14-Signum Pro Poly Plasma 1.18
15-Signum Pro Tornado 1.23

(as of 2/15/12)

Keep the good work up WeissCannon!
 

tennisinoc

Semi-Pro
Hit for a couple of hours with the CoFocus crosses (12 hrs now) with no I'll effects. Hit an hour with the BHBR crosses yesterday - ache today. Think I've found the issue for me :( .... Love the BHBR - shame.

Anyone having this experience as well with BHBR in the crosses?
Any feedback regarding Co-focus vs. BHBR playability as a cross besides arm issues?

I like do like Co-focus as a cross but am finding them to go dead after 12 hrs or so and then they become uncomfortable and then my arm aches. I don't really want to keep replacing the crosses because i use SS and notching is prevelant by this point.
 

Orion3

Semi-Pro
Anyone having this experience as well with BHBR in the crosses?
Any feedback regarding Co-focus vs. BHBR playability as a cross besides arm issues?

I like do like Co-focus as a cross but am finding them to go dead after 12 hrs or so and then they become uncomfortable and then my arm aches. I don't really want to keep replacing the crosses because i use SS and notching is prevelant by this point.

My first hybrid crosses were BHBR my last were CoFocus. Honestly - CoF was better for spin generation and longevity. As a full bed BHBR wins hands down but as a cross CoF was king

BHBR doesn't last anywhere near 12 hours. In my experience, on its own it goes dead after 6-7 hours. You may extend this a little in a hybrid but not to 10+ hours.

Hope this helps
 
I spent four hours with Wilson Champion choice string setup with natural gut in the mains and alu rough in the crosses. This setup is really good for hitting out on the ball much better than my current setup of VS Mains and PL2 Evolution.

It is a bit stiffer than my current setup but I like how you can swing for the fences and the ball still stays in. I noticed that when you swing hard on the ball, you can actually feel the strings slide across each other and I did noticed increase spin though not as much pop as PL2 Evolution in the crosses.
 
I had been using Babolat Tonic+ with Black5Edge as crosses but which played great but could sting my wrist still. When I came back from Achilles tendonitis I strung up my racquets with full poly because I didn't want to waste my natural gut if I had to go back to tennis hibernation. I strung two with RPM Blast and two with B5E at 47 lbs and the RPM was hands down easier on my wrist and the B5E was basically unplayable for me it was so stiff.

After seeing RPM Team is supposed to be softer and seeing positive reviews from a fellow TT'er I bought a reel and strung up all four with Tonic at 54 and RPM Team 17 at 52 and played it for the first time last night. It was night and day better than my previous hybrid in terms of comfort. MUCH, MUCH easier on my wrist and the spin seemed better as well. I know the knock against RPM is the tension maintenance so I'll see how long it is before I deem the strings unplayable and report back but at least freshly strung they felt great.

Now I wish I hadn't given away my reel of Focus Hex as I never tried it as a cross and it seems to be pretty popular round these parts.
 
After a few hours hitting with a new string setup, here is my top 3 string combos.

1. VS Team mains and Kirschbaum PL2 Evolution - This is the still my go to setup until I find something that offers the perfect blend of power, control, and feel.

2. VS Team mains and Ltec 0S - I just spent four hours hitting with this and loving it so far. Has all the traits of my #1 setup but need more time hitting with it to see if it will replace my #1 setup.

3. Wilson natural gut mains and Luxilon Alu Rough - I am surprised I would enjoy hitting with this setup since a full bed of the Luxilon stuff I wasn't impressed with Alu Rough in a full bed setup.
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
I'm breaking the gut mains setup in now in under 10 hours so cofocus is perfect for me. Nothing beats it. I also much prefer pacific classic right now over Babolat strings and their BT7 tech.
 

GlenK

Professional
CoFocus for me too but I went with Wilson Nat Gut when VS screwed up their offering. Wilson and Prince nat gut play the closest to the old VS for me.

I'm doing better with CoFocus this summer too. It seems to help off set some of the issues I have with gut and heat and humidity. Tension maintenence seems better with it than Lux Supersense I was using last summer..
 

Power Player

Bionic Poster
The humidity is killing my gut/poly setup as of late. I also changed a few things and I think I am hitting harder because I am breaking strings like crazy. Some of it is also one of my hitting partners is a beast.

Anyway, messing with some alternative mains just to have something else in the bag.
 

kiteboard

Banned
After a few hours hitting with a new string setup, here is my top 3 string combos.

1. VS Team mains and Kirschbaum PL2 Evolution - This is the still my go to setup until I find something that offers the perfect blend of power, control, and feel.

2. VS Team mains and Ltec 0S - I just spent four hours hitting with this and loving it so far. Has all the traits of my #1 setup but need more time hitting with it to see if it will replace my #1 setup.

3. Wilson natural gut mains and Luxilon Alu Rough - I am surprised I would enjoy hitting with this setup since a full bed of the Luxilon stuff I wasn't impressed with Alu Rough in a full bed setup.
have you tried vs/l-tec 4s? More pop and pocketing.
 
have you tried vs/l-tec 4s? More pop and pocketing.

I had plans to but TW shipped me the wrong string last week. Instead of 4S, they shipped me 5S :( so I will have to send it back and have them shipped me 4S.

What tension do you suggest I string VS mains and 4S at when I get a set? I strung VS at 57lbs and 0S at 51lbs and it feels good.
 

edwincen

Rookie
vs gut main and alu power 16L in cross felt perfect ,but one wasted due to injury, i have to stop playing for 2 months.
Is it posibble if i only change the dead poly?
 
vs gut main and alu power 16L in cross felt perfect ,but one wasted due to injury, i have to stop playing for 2 months.
Is it posibble if i only change the dead poly?

That's what I do if you don't break the gut in the first 10 hours. It doesn't play as nice as the first time you string it up mainly due to tension loss but otherwise it's still a nice setup.
 
I had been using Babolat Tonic+ with Black5Edge as crosses but which played great but could sting my wrist still. When I came back from Achilles tendonitis I strung up my racquets with full poly because I didn't want to waste my natural gut if I had to go back to tennis hibernation. I strung two with RPM Blast and two with B5E at 47 lbs and the RPM was hands down easier on my wrist and the B5E was basically unplayable for me it was so stiff.

After seeing RPM Team is supposed to be softer and seeing positive reviews from a fellow TT'er I bought a reel and strung up all four with Tonic at 54 and RPM Team 17 at 52 and played it for the first time last night. It was night and day better than my previous hybrid in terms of comfort. MUCH, MUCH easier on my wrist and the spin seemed better as well. I know the knock against RPM is the tension maintenance so I'll see how long it is before I deem the strings unplayable and report back but at least freshly strung they felt great.

Now I wish I hadn't given away my reel of Focus Hex as I never tried it as a cross and it seems to be pretty popular round these parts.

So I've been using this set-up for about 2-3 times a week for about 2 hours each session and finally just last night I noticed the strings weren't snapping back fully into place (just slightly) but still seem very playable. Spin and comfort are still great and I know this means little to nothing but when I ping the string bed it still has that higher pitch twang. The strings still had great control as flyers were nonexistent when hitting out. I'm gonna call this little experiment a success.
 
Kiteboard - I finally got a set of Ltec 4S and this time, TW sent me the correct string so hopefully I will be able to string it up this weekend and provide feedback on the setup.

The VS Team mains and Ltec 0S is like Jekyll and Hyde. When the temperature is in the high 70s and up, it plays really nice. Initially, I though it was durability since I only got like 8 hours of wonderful play before I felt them pinging but I didn't realize at the time, temperature played a part. This past weekend, I played when it was over 80 degrees and it played great. Tonight was in the high 50s or low 60s and I started to not like the string much feeling the pinging effect.
 

Hotrocks

Rookie
I really want to try vs/co-focus out

Save yourself some money, try Pacific-Classis 17g. VS...once was the best, no longer thanks to BT7 formula. I have tried both original VS team(great) and the new BT7 VS(sucks). I would go with Pacific and either mosquito bite, scorpion, or tornado in the crosses. Recently tried Signum Pro-Thunderstorm in the crosses, pretty powerful, may need to up the tension. Good luck......PS- This board is very knowledgeable, that's mainly how I ended up with the hybirds that I currently use.
 
D

Deleted member 120290

Guest
Though I am not a fan of it, there are a few users here who rave about the setup.

+1. Not a fan of CoF cross either. Ltec 4s and Thunderstrings Qu4ttro (probably the same string) were better in performance and esp. feel. Trying out gut/sppp 1.23 today.
 

JT_2eighty

Hall of Fame
One of my hitting partners is looking to try the gut/poly.

He usually goes with a 16 gauge Gut/synthetic at 63 lbs in his 16x18 BLX 95.

I'm either going to give him WC Silverstring crosses or MSV co-focus. What would be a good tension coming from 63 lbs gut/syn gut?
 

Borrelli

Semi-Pro
Just bought some co-focus "evo" because my regular co-focus was out of stock. Awful stuff! Not nearly as soft and playable as the regular co-focus. Played really stiff and hard. Ball was flying on me and I couldn't keep my slices low to save my butt. Weird thing is that when stringing it I noticed it didn't feel as plasticky as regular co-focus feels so I assumed it'd play just as soft but for whatever reason it plays much stiffer. Didn't notice much difference in spin and didn't really care. BTW, Using Klip Gut in the mains.
 
D

Deleted member 120290

Guest
Played 30 mins of singles and 3 hrs of doubles tonight. TonicBF/sppp is very stable and solid. The stringbed is consistent and feels good. TonicBF/4s gives me more spin, comfort and better touch. Once TonicBF/sppp snaps, I will go with 2 rackets strung with TonicBF/4s at 52/47 and 50/45. It's the best gut/poly combo I've used.
 
One of my hitting partners is looking to try the gut/poly.

He usually goes with a 16 gauge Gut/synthetic at 63 lbs in his 16x18 BLX 95.

I'm either going to give him WC Silverstring crosses or MSV co-focus. What would be a good tension coming from 63 lbs gut/syn gut?

I prefer Silverstring over Co-focus as it is more consistent string overall. You want at least 5lbs in my opinion between the gut mains and co-poly crosses so I would string 63lbs gut and 58lbs poly.

+1. Not a fan of CoF cross either. Ltec 4s and Thunderstrings Qu4ttro (probably the same string) were better in performance and esp. feel. Trying out gut/sppp 1.23 today.

Great to hear I am not the only one. Do you really think Qu4ttro is the same string since I assume it would be cheaper to get that then the Ltec one? You will like SPPP, it was my second favorite string before I stumbled upon PL2 Evo which is now my top string until I get a chance to string up Ltec 4s string. SPPP has good tension maintenance but is not as powerful as PL2 Evolution which I prefer.

Save yourself some money, try Pacific-Classis 17g. VS...once was the best, no longer thanks to BT7 formula. I have tried both original VS team(great) and the new BT7 VS(sucks). I would go with Pacific and either mosquito bite, scorpion, or tornado in the crosses. Recently tried Signum Pro-Thunderstorm in the crosses, pretty powerful, may need to up the tension. Good luck......PS- This board is very knowledgeable, that's mainly how I ended up with the hybirds that I currently use.

Yes, we are a crazy and addicted lot when it comes to strings :twisted:. Just when I thought I was done, you had to tease us with Thunderstorm. Does that mean I have to try out Firestorm and Thunderstorm?
 
D

Deleted member 120290

Guest
Great to hear I am not the only one. Do you really think Qu4ttro is the same string since I assume it would be cheaper to get that then the Ltec one? You will like SPPP, it was my second favorite string before I stumbled upon PL2 Evo which is now my top string until I get a chance to string up Ltec 4s string. SPPP has good tension maintenance but is not as powerful as PL2 Evolution which I prefer.

MadDog1 and I have both played with 4s and Qu4ttro. If they are different we couldn't tell the difference. But the price difference is only $4. I like sppp as a poly cross but it doesn't have as much pop, spin and comfort as 4s and Qu4.
 
MadDog1 and I have both played with 4s and Qu4ttro. If they are different we couldn't tell the difference. But the price difference is only $4. I like sppp as a poly cross but it doesn't have as much pop, spin and comfort as 4s and Qu4.

SPPP doesn't have much power compared to Ltec or PL2 Evolution. If they are similar, I would rather save that $4 towards the cost of gut.
 

Mig1NC

Professional
parasailing, have you tried Beast XP as a cross? Very consistent, good power, excellent tension maintenance.
 
parasailing, have you tried Beast XP as a cross? Very consistent, good power, excellent tension maintenance.

I have not had a chance to try it out. I had a few sets of it and was planing to try it but someone offered to trade me the sets for VS Team which I gladly accepted :).
 

JT_2eighty

Hall of Fame
Currently I'm testing the MSV Hex crosses to ToughGut mains... very nice initially: crisp with excellent control on both flat and spin shots. Melds well in my flexible 18x20 frame. According to some, 'Focus-Hex' isn't the same material as 'Co-focus', so of course I'm going to have to compare for myself, lol, more strings... co-focus up next...

Third racquet will try the silverstring crosses. Setup to beat for me right now is ToughGut/MosquitoBite. ToughGut/Focus-Hex so far is better control and less feel than MB x's. I can really swing out with the Hex x's.
 
Last edited:

cmendez79

Semi-Pro
Currently I'm testing the MSV Hex crosses to ToughGut mains... very nice initially: crisp with excellent control on both flat and spin shots. Melds well in my flexible 18x20 frame. According to some, 'Focus-Hex' isn't the same material as 'Co-focus', so of course I'm going to have to compare for myself, lol, more strings... co-focus up next...

Third racquet will try the silverstring crosses. Setup to beat for me right now is ToughGut/MosquitoBite. ToughGut/Focus-Hex so far is better control and less feel than MB x's. I can really swing out with the Hex x's.

I´m currently using in my Yonex Vcore 89 Tour klip legend 16 mains at 50 and Silverstring crosses at 48.

My previous set up was Legend /Lux Alu power, but I got tired of alu power going dead after a day or two of hitting sessions.

So I had a reel of silverstring that I did not use for a long time, so I try it with my legend.

Well its great, it has great power, not that much as luxilon, but has the necesary power that I need, it has around 50% crispiness, it has a lot of comfort, because I have elbow problems so with luxilon going dead it starting to hurt my elbow, but with silvertring I have already 3 sessions and its going great.
 
Silverstring is pretty good but doesn't have as much pop as Kirschbaum PL2 Evolution which I prefer. I still haven't had a chance to string up the Ltec 4S but Ltec 0S performs pretty good.
 

cmendez79

Semi-Pro
Silverstring is pretty good but doesn't have as much pop as Kirschbaum PL2 Evolution which I prefer. I still haven't had a chance to string up the Ltec 4S but Ltec 0S performs pretty good.

I have a set of Evolution that I want it to try, but like you say Silverstring does not have a lot of pop, but the one thing I like of it is has control.

I have Evolution, Prince Beast and Co.Focus to try, lets see which was has a better performance overall.
 

TimothyO

Hall of Fame
Today I hit with VS Touch / Black Ice 17 @ 56/54.

Control and spin were outstanding. Power was low. Comfort seemed fine.

Only hit for an hour before rain chased us from courts. Durability TBD.
 

RF_fan

Semi-Pro
Silverstring is pretty good but doesn't have as much pop as Kirschbaum PL2 Evolution which I prefer. I still haven't had a chance to string up the Ltec 4S but Ltec 0S performs pretty good.

I just looked on TW, and I see Pro Line Evolution, and Pro Line II. Did you find yours somewhere else?
 
i would go with vs team/alu power. i used it once on my friend's pure drive, felt like a rocket coming out of my shoulder

That's a good combination only if you have the money to spend as Alu Power doesn't last very long. You might get up to 5 hours of great playability before it becomes a dud.
 

Torres

Banned
Alu is only good when fresh. I had a gut/Alu racquet strung up with about 2 hours play on it.

Went away for a long weekend and when I got back the Alu had lost a ton of tension. During another 2 hours of play, the gut felt overpowered with the Alu not really doing it's job of bringing control to the stringbed.

After that the all the crispness has gone and the Alu feels like dead heavy stiff rubber.

Can't see how anyone other than pros with free reels and constant restringing can realistically use this stuff.
 

RF_fan

Semi-Pro
Sorry I keep calling it PL2 Evolution but it is just called Pro Line Evolution.
Thanks for clarifying. I see a good deal on 3x Pro Line Evolution 17 and will order it this week. The only cross I have tried was PHT 16 with VS 16. How do you think PLE is different from PHT? I read it holds tension better, but how would you rate it in terms of power and spin?
 
Thanks for clarifying. I see a good deal on 3x Pro Line Evolution 17 and will order it this week. The only cross I have tried was PHT 16 with VS 16. How do you think PLE is different from PHT? I read it holds tension better, but how would you rate it in terms of power and spin?

I am not a fan of PHT. It is stiffer than PLE and doesn't hold tension as well plus the current TW offer of PLE package, it's a great value.

PLE has more power than PHT and the only benefit of PHT is a slight edge in spin production but since you putting it as a hybrid with gut, it's not that noticeable.
 

RF_fan

Semi-Pro
I am not a fan of PHT. It is stiffer than PLE and doesn't hold tension as well plus the current TW offer of PLE package, it's a great value.

PLE has more power than PHT and the only benefit of PHT is a slight edge in spin production but since you putting it as a hybrid with gut, it's not that noticeable.

Yes I saw 3x deal on PLE and will order it this week. But meanwhile I'm gonna restring leftover PHT with the old VS. I'm really surprised how durable VS is. I had it strung last september and usually played 2hrs a week. Now since I bought a stringing machine I plan to restring more often.
 

schap02

Semi-Pro
About to string up some VS and was going to use co-focus as a cross but I think I will try it with Pro Line Evolution, will report back to my findings
 

seb23

Rookie
Hi guys, I've never tried gut before but want to get some vs touch 16 and cross it with a poly cross. As this will be a lot more powerful than my current setup (bhbr mains and OGSM cross) i want a poly that will be low powered while also providing lots of spin and control.

Which poly would be the best option, I read WC silverstring is really good for this, are there any other strings i should consider?
 

SlapShot

Hall of Fame
Strung up one of my sticks with Pacific Classic/PL Evolution last night - had a lesson scheduled today, but my coach had to cancel due to a family emergency, so I may not get to hit with it until this weekend.

I will certainly say that it strung up nicely for a poly - it felt stiff coming out of the package but weaved quite well. I think it seems soft on the stringing side than PL2, but maybe I'm just crazy.
 
Hi guys, I've never tried gut before but want to get some vs touch 16 and cross it with a poly cross. As this will be a lot more powerful than my current setup (bhbr mains and OGSM cross) i want a poly that will be low powered while also providing lots of spin and control.

Which poly would be the best option, I read WC silverstring is really good for this, are there any other strings i should consider?

Silverstring is a good lower powered poly to use compared to the other ones I mentioned. It's one of the most consistent overall string with good tension maintenance.

Strung up one of my sticks with Pacific Classic/PL Evolution last night - had a lesson scheduled today, but my coach had to cancel due to a family emergency, so I may not get to hit with it until this weekend.

I will certainly say that it strung up nicely for a poly - it felt stiff coming out of the package but weaved quite well. I think it seems soft on the stringing side than PL2, but maybe I'm just crazy.

I didn't think it was that stiff out of the package and is one of the easier poly to weave. I am glad people are giving PLE a shot. It has great power, decent tension maintenance, and feels soft on the arm compared to Alu.

Since I broke my VS/0S string setup, I am finally going to be able to test VS/4S and provide feedback.
 

mrtrinh

Professional
So since pacific classic is slightly stiffer than VS, do you guys still pre-stretch? With klip legend i always did a slight pre-stretch since it is more on the crisp side. This will be my first time playing with classic. I plan on using classic gut mains/hyperion crosses
 
Top