Alpha Ghost 2 Stringing Machine

E

Edgewood

Rookie
I just wanted to let everyone know that Alpha received a shipment of Alpha Ghost 2 stringing machines today. They run $3395. I dealt directly through Alpha with Mark Gonzalez but he is only part time now. If interested contact Mark or Greg Gonyea (customer service manager) at info@alphatennis.com
I was torn between the Gamma XLT, Wilson Baiardo Lite and Alpha Ghost 2. Ultimately decided against the Gamma for its crappy six mounting knobs (same as my old X-6 drop weight) and crappy clamp bases. (Shout out to @g4driver lol) The Baiardo Lite seems like a great machine but shipments are delayed until June or later. Probably a blessing for me as the Ghost has better clamps and has awesome gravity release bases which neither the Wilson nor Gamma have. I also feel like Alpha has better customer service than Wilson. Mark said after back orders they have about 15 units left. This is a great machine at a great price.

Scott
 
I know you wanted an WB LIte for the great price you were getting but I have to say Alpha's customer service was great before I bought my Ghost 5.5 years ago. I have had zero problems with it in all those years and it has been great for me as a home stringer. Hope you enjoy your Ghost 2!
 
They really look like great machines. And I have no doubt you’re in good hands with Alpha CS if anything goes wrong (which I have my doubts it will). Good choice! Enjoy!
 
Pics or it didn’t happen!

(But really, Congrats!)
 
Alpha customer service is pretty good. They were kind enough to help me out with an 8+ year old Axis Pro purchased second hand.
 
LOBALOT said:
The setup took a bit of time but was pretty straight forward. I remember rushing home from work and my wife and I putting it together in the basement.
Click to expand...
I saw a YouTube video by Mr. Kenneth Fong. He kept using some kind of spray on all the screws and metal contact points. Does the instructions say to do this and/or did you do this?
Thanks.
And his video is 43 minutes long and he seems to be taking his time, but also obvious not his first install as he has another machine in the background.
 
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Edgewood said:
I saw a YouTube video by Mr. Kenneth Fong. He kept using some kind of spray on all the screws and metal contact points. Does the instructions say to do this and/or did you do this?
Thanks.
And his video is 43 minutes long and he seems to be taking his time, but also obvious not his first install as he has another machine in the background.
Click to expand...

I remember watching that video before I got mine. No they don't plus I am really not that patient so rushed thru assembly like putting together a piece of furniture that came in a box and mine is still going after 4 or 5 years. I am sure you will have a blast with it like I am.
 
LOBALOT said:
I remember watching that video before I got mine. No they don't plus I am really not that patient so rushed thru assembly like putting together a piece of furniture that came in a box and mine is still going after 4 or 5 years. I am sure you will have a blast with it like I am.
Click to expand...
Hahaha. Ok. Thanks brother.
 
Edgewood said:
I saw a YouTube video by Mr. Kenneth Fong. He kept using some kind of spray on all the screws and metal contact points. Does the instructions say to do this and/or did you do this?
Thanks.
And his video is 43 minutes long and he seems to be taking his time, but also obvious not his first install as he has another machine in the background.
Click to expand...
Possibly Loctite?

 
So a few new updates to the Ghost 2. They got rid of the rubber pads at the 6 and 12 o’clock mounting points. Looks nice and you don’t have to worry about them flying off. The string type button is replaced with a mute button. I was concerned after watching Herbs review of the Baiardo Lite how he mentioned calibration issues with the Ghost 2. I used my electric “fishing” scale calibrator and a new Alpha spring calibrator similar to the Gamma one. Both were spot on from 40 pounds to 70 pounds. The electric never bounced around like herb mentioned and was dead on. Perhaps he was using a machine in need of calibration but I had no issues. A super solid machine. Took me less than an hour to install and I have strung 3 racquets so far. Awesome machine. Hope this link works for the pictures. Why you can’t just attach pics is beyond me. I had to open up this Flickr account.

www.flickr.com

Alpha Ghost 2

Explore this photo album by Scott Byer on Flickr!
www.flickr.com www.flickr.com
 
Edgewood said:
Why you can’t just attach pics is beyond me. I had to open up this Flickr account.
Click to expand...
You need to place the URL to the image inside ‘img’ tags (removing the spaces inside the braces):
​
In Flickr, you go to your image, select 'Share', then 'BBCode'. It will allow you to select a size, and will generate a URL. However...that URL will have a bunch of other stuff you don't need (the 'url' tags). Just copy the 'img' tag and paste it here (I normally copy & paste the Flickr url, then remove everything but the IMG tags).

Oh, and you also need to make your photos 'public', or we can't see them :) .

Hope this helps.
 
You could also use Imgur. There you post your picture(s,) select the picture(s) (one at a time) and a copy link button appears in the upper right. After you copy the link go to your post in the forum and paste it.
 
Edgewood said:
So a few new updates to the Ghost 2. They got rid of the rubber pads at the 6 and 12 o’clock mounting points. Looks nice and you don’t have to worry about them flying off. The string type button is replaced with a mute button. I was concerned after watching Herbs review of the Baiardo Lite how he mentioned calibration issues with the Ghost 2. I used my electric “fishing” scale calibrator and a new Alpha spring calibrator similar to the Gamma one. Both were spot on from 40 pounds to 70 pounds. The electric never bounced around like herb mentioned and was dead on. Perhaps he was using a machine in need of calibration but I had no issues. A super solid machine. Took me less than an hour to install and I have strung 3 racquets so far. Awesome machine. Hope this link works for the pictures. Why you can’t just attach pics is beyond me. I had to open up this Flickr account.

www.flickr.com

Alpha Ghost 2

Explore this photo album by Scott Byer on Flickr!
www.flickr.com www.flickr.com
Click to expand...
Nice! The non-rubber pads look eerily similar to another non Alpha machine... ;)
IMG_9900.md.jpg
 
I have a question for you guys.... Have any of you guys used your Ghost 2 as a tabletop on the road?

Looking at those pictures with the little feet on the bottom of the machine reminded me that it can be done.
 
LOBALOT said:
I have a question for you guys.... Have any of you guys used your Ghost 2 as a tabletop on the road?

Looking at those pictures with the little feet on the bottom of the machine reminded me that it can be done.
Click to expand...
I have only had it for two days so no lol. Definitely has the feet and looks like it wouldn’t be a problem. If I had to travel with it I think I would just pack the stand though.
 
Wes said:
Out of curiosity... without the stand, how much does the Ghost 2 weigh?
If you took it to a tournament (and planned to use it as a tabletop), how much would you actually be lifting/moving?
Click to expand...
Sorry. I didn’t think to weigh it and I’m not going to disassemble it now lol.
You could email Greg or Mark at info@alphatennis.com
I’m sure they would know.
 
Some machines come in 3 sections. The turntable, tension module, and stand. If you wanted a travel machine just take the sections you want and go. For a table top machine all you need is the turn table and tension module.
 
Question about the base clamp on the Ghost 2. Does it gradually tighten as you twist the lever or does it just click all at once into the lock position?
 
the tennis oracle said:
Congrats! That's a sweet machine. Do you plan on using the turntable auto-lock feature?...

Click to expand...

Actually, it automatically locks with each pull which is great especially for ported racquets. I am not aware that one can turn the auto lock feature off.

I do lock the table every once in a while when I am dealing with a blocked grommet.
 
LOBALOT said:
I remember that it was fairly heavy. I would think someone would need a pretty good reason to want to drag it out on the road for a weekend.
Click to expand...
Ehhh... I'm moving my Baiardo 6 miles to my club for a junior tourney this weekend. It is a two-person job separating the base from the electronics, but the 45 minutes of hassle to break down and reattach (twice) will more than be offset by the convenience of having the machine onsite for 2.5 days.
 
LOBALOT said:
Thank you. I didn't know that but I guess it goes to show that I haven't had a need to do it in the past 3 years+
Click to expand...

I wonder how different the stringbed is if you auto lock it with each pull versus no auto lock with each pull?
 
Addxyz said:
I wonder how different the stringbed is if you auto lock it with each pull versus no auto lock with each pull?
Click to expand...

I have read elsewhere here the thinking is that you end up with higher DT than machines without this but have no personal evidence for this as I have never not used the auto lock.
 
LOBALOT said:
I have read elsewhere here the thinking is that you end up with higher DT than machines without this but have no personal evidence for this as I have never not used the auto lock.
Click to expand...
1 Don't believe everything you hear

2 DT just like tension is a number

3 I've never seen any machine come out with as high a DT as I get on my Star 5. I've read (and measured) that the Star 5 has overpull and that extra instant of overpull will result in higher tensions. The turntable on the Star 5 (and my low budget Gamma X-Stringer) has built in turntable damping that allows the string to line up straight without any rocking back and forth. I had a 6004 and my new Tourna 700-ES has a turntable that spins much more freely. When you pull tension on those machines the turntable will rock back and forth. That rocking will be sensed by the load cell as a tension increase or drop as the string lengthens or shortens so I doubt the tension will be as accurate. Now for the Ghost (2) auto break. The greater the angle off perfectly straight the higher the friction and the lower the tension in the string bed. If the break on the Ghost machines is a friction break sooner or later it will wear out. If it is a gear locking system the angle it locks off center is going to be different all the time resulting in inconsistent tension.
 
Irvin said:
Now for the Ghost (2) auto break. The greater the angle off perfectly straight the higher the friction and the lower the tension in the string bed. If the break on the Ghost machines is a friction break sooner or later it will wear out. If it is a gear locking system the angle it locks off center is going to be different all the time resulting in inconsistent tension.
Click to expand...

That would all depend on when the lock engages. Therefore, you cannot claim the Ghost 2 produces inconsistent tension based on your speculation. As to the brake wearing out, your Star 5 tension assembly wore out didn't it? Everything wears out eventually.

The way you consistently denigrate other people's gear is really shameful.
 
Rabbit said:
you cannot claim the Ghost 2 produces inconsistent tension based on your speculation.
Click to expand...
I CAN claim anything I want. Maybe it was a false claim and I SHOULD NOT have BUT it is a fact that I CAN.

EDIT: As a matter of fact I not only CAN, I DID (well kind of.)
Rabbit said:
The way you consistently denigrate other people's gear is really shameful.
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with a Ghost (2) machine, either one of them. I just don’t like using a brake to string rackets. I was considering the Ghost 2 just recently but I would not have left the auto brake on. I don’t like using gravity release bases either but I have a machine with gravity release bases I can guarantee you I won’t be using that feature.

EDIT: I don’t think whether someone uses the auto-brake or not would make any difference in the final DT of the string bed.
 
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