Best Natural Gut String
- Thread starter milanov7
- Start date
ringwraith
Rookie
Hi Basil, which poly do you use as crosses?
Timbo's hopeless slice
Hall of Fame
So I have taken advantage of a TW special to add another 400T to my bag, and since it was so cheap I thought I would get it with Wilson Natural Gut.
Hmmmmnn
So, plenty of power, lovely feel and touch, but there is no spin!!
Is this stuff always like this?
Hmmmmnn
So, plenty of power, lovely feel and touch, but there is no spin!!
Is this stuff always like this?
Rabbit
G.O.A.T.
Tough is softer than Classic and pockets better once you get it broken in. Tough has more feel and a touch more power.
Sorry, I've never used Wilson gut. I can tell you that between Tough and Babolat natural gut I much prefer Tough. While both have excellent playing properties, Tough lasted roughly twice as long as Babolat.
try a soft poly cross.
Timbo's hopeless slice
Hall of Fame
updatre, doubles this morning, 5.0 + level, liked teh strings very much
Crisp
Professional
Sorry I meant can't find it for sale on the bay, and there contact page doesn't seem to work on the above link
MixedMaster
Semi-Pro
It looks to me as if these are the same strings that are selling for $12.99 out of Calif. that come from India.
Crisp
Professional
Ok I will have a look. Thanks for your help
Also looks the same as Global Gut then. And the seller out of Florida too.
Performaxx is definetly not cheap gut from India. It's high quality gut.
UCSF2012
Hall of Fame
It's discontinued.
Rabbit
G.O.A.T.
It's not discontinued. The system at TW will drop entries if they are out of stock and don't have a restock date.
Thanks for your input. I'll try one myself and write some feedback here.
Hello: Yesterday I was able to order Pacific Tough 15l as the local tennis shops in NYC did not carry it nor was distributor selling it.
One the stingers for my JKA wooden racquets told me that he lo0oked for it at eh tennis warehouse store and they did not carry it in 15l and another on major dealer only carried Pacific Classic.
Does any know if the company is stopping manufacture of this particular line and gauge?
I was recommended this ng string from members on this forum as an alternative to my first choice of babolat vs touch. It seems the new bl7 coating makes babolat ng the stiffest of the gut strings and apparently Wilson has followed the same path. The Pacific Prime or Tough was suggested as a more forgiving, and endurable gut to babolat. This is what I am looking for due to my tendonitis.
One the stingers for my JKA wooden racquets told me that he lo0oked for it at eh tennis warehouse store and they did not carry it in 15l and another on major dealer only carried Pacific Classic.
Does any know if the company is stopping manufacture of this particular line and gauge?
I was recommended this ng string from members on this forum as an alternative to my first choice of babolat vs touch. It seems the new bl7 coating makes babolat ng the stiffest of the gut strings and apparently Wilson has followed the same path. The Pacific Prime or Tough was suggested as a more forgiving, and endurable gut to babolat. This is what I am looking for due to my tendonitis.
Timbo's hopeless slice
Hall of Fame
Update
I've now used the Wilson Natural Gut 17 for about 6 hours of varied play.
So, what's it like? Apart from being a bit hard to tame with more power and less spin than I'm used to, it's otherwise pretty terrific.
Great feel, great comfort, no discernible change in performance after the first half hour or while it settled.
I could get used to this stuff
I've now used the Wilson Natural Gut 17 for about 6 hours of varied play.
So, what's it like? Apart from being a bit hard to tame with more power and less spin than I'm used to, it's otherwise pretty terrific.
Great feel, great comfort, no discernible change in performance after the first half hour or while it settled.
I could get used to this stuff
Update
I've now used the Wilson Natural Gut 17 for about 6 hours of varied play.
So, what's it like? Apart from being a bit hard to tame with more power and less spin than I'm used to, it's otherwise pretty terrific.
Great feel, great comfort, no discernible change in performance after the first half hour or while it settled.
I could get used to this stuff
You could crank up tension.
Timbo's hopeless slice
Hall of Fame
won't give me any more spin though, which is the main issue.
I've already got it 5 lbs tighter than all my other racquets
I'm used to shaped poly, remember!
I've already got it 5 lbs tighter than all my other racquets
I'm used to shaped poly, remember!
QuadCam
Professional
I've recently been playing with Bab VS Gut Black in a hybrid. I'm really impressed with the durability of this stuff. Previously, I only played Bab Tonic. I don't know if it is the black coating, but this is far more durable than the Tonic.
I play with the gut in the mains and poly in the crosses. Usually, the poly digs into the mains and causes fraying and unwinding of the gut. this gut isn't doing that at all. it is showing notching (like a poly) but that's it. I've had it in for about 2 weeks, and have been playing about 3 times per week (3 sets at a time) on Har-Tru courts.
I have been wiping the string bed down after each playing session with coconut oil (as was suggested in another thread here.)
I play with the gut in the mains and poly in the crosses. Usually, the poly digs into the mains and causes fraying and unwinding of the gut. this gut isn't doing that at all. it is showing notching (like a poly) but that's it. I've had it in for about 2 weeks, and have been playing about 3 times per week (3 sets at a time) on Har-Tru courts.
I have been wiping the string bed down after each playing session with coconut oil (as was suggested in another thread here.)
Try the poly hybrid. Gut mains.
eelhc
Hall of Fame
So true...
I strung a frame for a woman who had elbow issues with Klip Legend.
While she was overall happy with the performance of Klip. She had lingering doubts that she was getting less than ideal performance because the Klip is less costly than Babolat VS. After all... why would anyone pay more for the VS gut if it wasn't better?
So she had me string an identical frame with the Babolat gut. Knowing the Babolat is more powerful, I strung at ~5lb higher tension.
Fast forward a month and she's playing with the Klip and not the Babolat racquet. She did not like the Babolat... too mushy, too powerful (even though the tension was higher), can't feel a thing, etc...
Neither cause any arm issues/problems for her. Guess she'll be saving some $$$s in the future...
MixedMaster
Semi-Pro
I'm not able to comment on the more expensive NG strings having only used Klip Legend 15l after not using any gut for over 20 years. From reading most of the comments on the various NG brands, I don't know that I want to since I seem to get a tremendous amount of spin and power from having Klip in the mains and Gamma Io in the crosses. I'm not sure I'd want to go to more power and less spin for more money! The longevity of the Klip has been fantastic so far. I play about 3 time a week and am on the court teaching 3 to 4 days a week and I'm just now getting a stick that's starting to fray a little after over two months. Plus the fact that I was starting to get some shoulder problems prior to stringing with the Klip and now they've gone.
^^^^^^^^^
Edberg used Bow Brand Gut
I wish Bow brand was not so expensive. Bow brand was my all time favorite gut. Played THE best of all the guts I had used before. At one time Bow brand was $10 less than any other gut so it was a double ++ for me. Since Bow was out of the tennis string business for a while I am not sure if their strings would be as good as before. Seems like some of these gut companies ( Babolat) like to constantly tinker with their gut recipe. I found Bow somewhere on the internet but I think it was from UK. Shipping was a bear for a package of it. Maybe I'll look and see if it is available here in the USA.
I tried the Cali strings. Out of four packs three broke during stringing. The fourth pack and the other broken packs I sent back to them with only getting the one pack price refunded to me. I took them to a professional stringer to get them strung so it wasn't a "home stringer" doing the breaking. The strings were very dry and brittle. Just my experience with them.
Now I just buy the main name gut sets. The cheap ones are more expensive in the long run.
Performaxx supply can usually be found on the bay, but it is not very steady. You should just keep checking on the bay and eventually you'll find some available. If you don't snap them up, they'll eventually be snapped up soon and there may be a while before some more are posted for sale on the bay again. That's why if I'm low on supply I keep an eye out for them and when I see them, I'd snap up enough supply to last me a while.
Performaxx strings are definitely not low quality type gut. I have them strung currently on 5 of my rackets now (and probably have strung up and used nearly a dozen sets by now) and they perform very well and last a long time for me. None of them ever broke while stringing (although I usually string them at around 55 lbs only and not higher, and always string a full bed of gut), and they have a clear coating on them that helps make stringing a little easier. That's the other thing about them, all the coating is clear so any imperfection is not visually hidden from you.
A set of 40' runs around $26, but if you buy a pack of 3, each set is around $23. Sometimes there are "2nd quality" sets available in pack of 3 for around $18/set. They may have a little bit of visual imperfection on them, but functionality they seem to play just the same to me. I think these "2nd quality" sets gives you the best value at that price.
I've only used Performaxx and Boris Becker Hero guts before so I can't compare these with Babolat or Wilson or Klip. But I prefer the Performaxx string over the Becker Hero string. The Becker Hero string felt crisper to me while the Performaxx feels softer. Also, the coating on the Becker Hero is not clear so I can't see what the gut looks like inside.
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The Cali gut has worked flawlessly so far for this home stringer.
I like it better than the Global Gut. Never tried the performaxx, but it looks to be about the same as the India stuff to me.
MixedMaster
Semi-Pro
There doesn't seem to be much difference in price then Klip Legend.
Well, at ten bucks a set I disagree. (buy in bulk)
It's less than half the cost.
Edit: oh, you mean the performaxx. Yes, I'd just buy Klip or Pacific instead.
Chotobaka
Hall of Fame
Bow has a single authorized distributor in the USA who sells through their own site as well as e-b-a-y. I have had no issues with supply, but we are probably looking at a pretty small universe with this string.
The Championship is still my favorite and quality is top-notch, as always. Bow has historically been one of the most durable guts, even at extremely thin gauges (18g Championship), and this is still the case. Yes, it is comparatively expensive.
Rabbit
G.O.A.T.
Yes, I remember the day. I never tried Bow Brand, mainly I think because BDE was also a "value" priced alternative and I used it quite a bit in lieu of Bow.
gplracer
Hall of Fame
I had the same experience stringing on a Prince mp-100 hydraulic stringer.
