Musters painted head sticks to kneissl?

Tennis.com said:

Sure, some pros probably have disguised their old racquets with their new endorsers’ cosmetics in the past, and some probably still do today. But it would be a real deal-breaker to tell us, don’t you think? The only exception I know of came from a first-hand encounter I had once with Thomas Muster (right). He was in the middle of posting an amazing 111-5 record on clay when, sometime in 1995 or 1996, he suddenly switched racquets from a Head to a Kneissl. When I asked him why he was messing with success, he just smiled and held up his new namesake, the Kneissl “Tom’s Machine,” and said with amazing candor: “Old racquet, new paint job.”

Click to expand...

moon shot said:

Was there a capped Kneissl? There are a fair number of sharp photos here: getty

possibly this one.

Click to expand...

wilson fan said:

http://photozou.jp/photo/show/3001446/250353592?lang=en

Click to expand...

teachingprotx said:

Aw man Wilson fan !
I can't open your file to see the pic . Can you tell me the site you found the pic at? I would love to see this . Dangit!
Your photo zou - is coming up " un accessible "for me

Click to expand...

teachingprotx said:

Thanks mckkovin Yeah I saw that one too. But the head looks very kneissl esque. Not head pt 630 . To me that frame is a real kneissl . From my eyes.. I'm counting 21 cross strings which is kneissl all the way . No pt 630 I am aware of ??? had 21 cross strings . Unless muster had a special version of the 630?

Click to expand...

brinkeguthrie said:

Muster was Nadal before Nadal was Nadal. Assaulted every point.

Click to expand...

teachingprotx said:

Aw man Wilson fan !
I can't open your file to see the pic . Can you tell me the site you found the pic at? I would love to see this . Dangit!
Your photo zou - is coming up " un accessible "for me

Click to expand...

I Heart Thomas Muster said:

If I recall correctly the paint job was limited to the first generation Toms Machine. The white reach models were actual Kneissl frames which he played well with on hard courts but claimed to struggle with them on clay.

Click to expand...

teachingprotx said:

ive read on one than more occasion that Thomas muster had his head rackets painted to look like his sponsored kneissl? Does anybody know if that really is true ? And if so does anybody have any pics of that painted racket ? I've looked everywhere to confirm the legend of his PJ head to kneissl but I've never seen it. All the frames I've seen him play with are actually the racket that he was signed up to play / sponsor . I did however think that he did see a reverse stencil of the kneissl star. Which supposedly he did or his stringer ...Not very well done mind you
but still a cool attempt
. He painted his ISO speed string black from its Cream color and left out the outline of the kneissl star .. that must have been a pain in the ass to do .. I read that he did that on tt boards which I assume is true , as far as I know ISO speed never made professional or control classic strings in black color way .. or......did ... they ?????! Hmmmmmmm

Click to expand...

I Heart Thomas Muster said:

I did own three Toms Reach Machines and played them for about a year or so at their stock length of 28". They felt great and had excellent directional control but they were difficult to get around on faster shots that relied more reaction than practiced technique. They were a once piece racquet and you really had a sense of being connected to the racquet. The string pattern was very dense so it needed a thin string (at the time I was using Gamma TNT 17). After about a year or so and moving away from clay courts to hard and I needed a faster racquet so I chopped an inch off all three and added weight so they were 12.2 oz with a headlight balance and then they were a much better frame IMHO. Played very similar to my Pro Tour 280 racquets. Unfortunately grommets were difficult to score at that time so I gave them to my brother and went with the Fischer Pro No. 1 which is another fantastic frame.

I've never played the Satellite Tour but for me the best frames ever made are (starting with the best) the Head Pro Tour 280, the twin tube Radicals, Kneissl Toms Machine series and Fischer Pro No. 1.

I've been a huge fan of Muster since the early nineties and always appreciated his warrior attitude though I can understand how it rubbed others the wrong way. I felt like he squeezed out a helluva career with less talent than a lot of his peers. I wish he could have improved his passing shots and his overall game against attacking players. I always felt Ronnie Leitgeb should have addressed those issues when it became apparent he could be easily beaten by an attacking player. Muster should have a couple more French Opens.

Click to expand...

michael valek said:

Anyone used the sportastic supreme?

Click to expand...

michael valek said:

Talking of the red volkl, where I am, there's an ex slovak Davis cup player, branislav stankovic. He uses these red volkl frames. Still. Aged 55 and he still plays awesomely, as you might expect for a former world number 80 or something. The frames just say volkl on them nothing else.

Click to expand...

I Heart Thomas Muster said:

I did own three Toms Reach Machines and played them for about a year or so at their stock length of 28". They felt great and had excellent directional control but they were difficult to get around on faster shots that relied more reaction than practiced technique. They were a once piece racquet and you really had a sense of being connected to the racquet. The string pattern was very dense so it needed a thin string (at the time I was using Gamma TNT 17). After about a year or so and moving away from clay courts to hard and I needed a faster racquet so I chopped an inch off all three and added weight so they were 12.2 oz with a headlight balance and then they were a much better frame IMHO. Played very similar to my Pro Tour 280 racquets. Unfortunately grommets were difficult to score at that time so I gave them to my brother and went with the Fischer Pro No. 1 which is another fantastic frame.

I've never played the Satellite Tour but for me the best frames ever made are (starting with the best) the Head Pro Tour 280, the twin tube Radicals, Kneissl Toms Machine series and Fischer Pro No. 1.

I've been a huge fan of Muster since the early nineties and always appreciated his warrior attitude though I can understand how it rubbed others the wrong way. I felt like he squeezed out a helluva career with less talent than a lot of his peers. I wish he could have improved his passing shots and his overall game against attacking players. I always felt Ronnie Leitgeb should have addressed those issues when it became apparent he could be easily beaten by an attacking player. Muster should have a couple more French Opens.

Click to expand...