Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Yeah, I should probably get it restrung with neon strings too! What colour is the Light Ace?
Best items you found at thrift stores (Goodwill)?
- Thread starter flashfire276
- Start date
Yeah, I should probably get it restrung with neon strings too! What colour is the Light Ace?
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
I’m at about 160. I keep a note in my phone of every model racket I have, it’s strung weight, grip size, and swing weight, if I’ve measured it.
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
Sounds like a lot of work for a cheap frame. Maybe the beam is just thicker walled. Tapping on my TX6000, it gives off a somewhat hollow sound, making me realize it’s not solid, like I believed the T2000 to be.
optic yellow
Legend
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
I have a terrible system of about six 12-racket bags, four more 6-8 racket bags, one 32-racket roller case, and the last handful get piled in the closet. It’s embarrassing I know.
I was asking also about the physical situation though.
optic yellow
Legend
I would not say embarrassing unless you don't put thought into the pairings of each dodecatet.
5sets
Hall of Fame
I have the Light Ace which is generic aluminum with black plastic throat and a Bronze Ace black with black but nice gold accents.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Yeah, those steels are definitely thin-walled to get to a playable weight. Perhaps the T2000 is foam filled.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
I think that's a good system, if you can get each bag brand to match the contents.
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
They somewhat do lol. I have a head bag, Wilson bag, Yamaha bag, but others with just odds and ends. The Head 32 racket case holds all my wood frames and other random frames I don’t plan on using often.
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
Can’t find a pic on google of it. Any help?
Bisquick
Rookie
Hey - they still have it listed on their website- here you go.
Prince Tennis Racquet Caddy / Stand | RacquetGuys.ca
The Prince Tennis Racquet Caddy is the perfect stand to hold or organize your tennis racquets. Great for displaying racquets or storing them with easy access. The metal frame construction makes it very durable to provide many years of use. The top...
racquetguys.ca
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
Surprisingly my Wright and Ditson survived its first day on the court smacking balls in anger for what is likely the first time in 40 years. Unsurprisingly, it was heavy and the original nylons felt tight as a board. Swinging it was certainly a workout but I hit a few good balls with it.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
What are we talking about weight wise, 400g+?
It seems like most woods before the 1970s end up going yellow, which make me wonder if oiling the racket was a thing? Just like you add linseed oil to cricket bats, perhaps people 'protected' their woods from the elements with whatever natural oil they had lying around. Perhaps @Henry Hub may have come across an advert for 'Slazenger Oil' or similar?
Henry Hub
Hall of Fame
Oil was certainly used as a preservative on the strings but I haven’t come across any mention of oiling the frame other than on initial production (when the frames were oiled before being varnished).
There’s no “frame oil” that I’ve seen advertised or advice to players at the end of the season to oil their rackets before putting them away for the winter.
I suppose one explanation would be that in cricket you’re supposed to hit the ball with the bat so the frame would need to be oiled and varnished for its protection. In tennis, that’s not the objective although, in my case, depressingly often the result.
There’s no “frame oil” that I’ve seen advertised or advice to players at the end of the season to oil their rackets before putting them away for the winter.
I suppose one explanation would be that in cricket you’re supposed to hit the ball with the bat so the frame would need to be oiled and varnished for its protection. In tennis, that’s not the objective although, in my case, depressingly often the result.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Linseed oil on bats is to stop them drying out and cracking (you put it on the back too), rather than contact related, so it wouldn't surprise me if some people experimentally oiled their rackets to protect against the weather and other natural decay back in the 'make do and mend' era. But yeah, I guess it's mostly the original varnish just mellowing.
Henry Hub
Hall of Fame
Ah, that makes sense - my level of cricket knowledge is so abject it’s almost treasonous
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Heading back to a thrift-store is this simple no name 'Mustang' racket. Hits fine, quite acceptable power/control levels. The feel is a bit girder-esque, but not too stiff. A Standard size with i-beam design from the late 1970s would be my guess, but could be up to mid 80s. Fairly confident it's not related to the Wilson or Snauwaert wooden Mustangs. Comes in at the usual 360g strung with a leather grip, and 32.5cm balance. A generic Taiwan production, presumably; it needs to be set free to roam again!
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
That I beam shape and channel depth of the red painted line screams of whatever factory churned out the Tenex 750 I was using on previous pages. know I’m just guessing it from analyzing pictures, but I like to think I have a pretty good eye for that sort of detail by now.Heading back to a thrift-store is this simple no name 'Mustang' racket. Hits fine, quite acceptable power/control levels. The feel is a bit girder-esque, but not too stiff. A Standard size with i-beam design from the late 1970s would be my guess, but could be up to mid 80s. Fairly confident it's not related to the Wilson or Snauwaert wooden Mustangs. Comes in at the usual 360g strung with a leather grip, and 32.5cm balance. A generic Taiwan production, presumably; it needs to be set free to roam again!
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Yep, good spot. That channel was probably a big selling point in the late 70s! No sign of a Tenex label on mine though.
5sets
Hall of Fame
I passed on a Kneissl white star today, I know but hear me out. It wasn’t the graphite white star that is highly sought after. I combed the action site while in the thrift store to see if it was worth picking up. The racquet said “white star” and then “magnesium composite” at the top. It appeared to be a metal 26” Junior frame that was doctored and extended to 27”. Anyways way too much out of the ordinary for me to pick up for $7.50. I didn’t even know they made Junior racquets in the early eighties.
Bisquick
Rookie
I want one of those as well, either the regular white or the Lendl version. Have a Red Star Twin in Boron, great from the baseline n for serving. A bit of a dog mobility wise at the net.
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
Found another Donnay, by chance another in the surprisingly large family of the WST line. It's in great shape, though somehow, the previous owner splashed what I'm convinced is glue of some kind on a section of this frame... seriously. would not come off with anything I had. This frame features another jaw-droppingly pretty fade paint jobs, a pearlescent blue and purple. I didn't know any other brand other than Yonex used the short lived size designation of 'super midsize' which has been absorbed under the mid-plus banner these days. has a very long pallet as if Borg himself was going to swing it. Nice of Donnay to include a metric and imperial string tension range for us in 'Merica land. At first I thought my scale was broken when I weighed it, coming in at only 305g strung when I was sure it felt like 330g. Putting it on a SW machine, it came in at 328g so that might explain something. Doesn't have the fragile and weird bulbous buttcap featured on other Donnay's of the era, which is kind of a good thing IMO. We'll see how it hits.
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
And while I'm at it, here's something that caught my eye, but I left it. Trying to resist buying more standard woodies that I'll rarely use. I'm used to seeing Chemold Roy Emerson frames popping up, but this brand is a new one. Grantsport? Who on earth are they? And was this before or after Chemold? A quick search on the bay shows there's also Laver branded Grantsport frames! I know Laver only used his metal Chemold in a few matches in North America but I don't know of any time he used a Grantsport, I can't find any info at all about the company. This one looked ok, some chips and damage but was likely playable. had an individual serial # which always tries to imply a sense of quality.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
I've not heard of Grantsport. Interesting that they make a big deal about the number of laminations, when it looks like just 4, unless there are some really thin fibre layers between. Look at that reverse density stringbed! I think that became popular in the late 70s, as I noticed Maxplys changed to that from evenly spread stringbeds previously.
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
I was pondering the purpose of such a string bed. Obviously the more open parts are in the middle for better spin generation, but woodies generate such poor power at the edges anyways, what’s the point of such a dense pattern there when there’s no power to work with?
Bisquick
Rookie
Prob for hoop stability?
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Yeah, no clue why they decided to open up the 18x20 string-bed on a standard. You can see it on the final Maxply and the Maxply McEnroe. I guess for launch / spin, but I find evenly distributed string-beds on woods are fine for spin anyway. I think the outer 4 strings are there mainly for the overall frame / string-bed strength, you won't get anything hitting there, tight or spread out.
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
I just found one of those at the Goodwill just now. Of course the grommets are yellowed and cracking. You have any leads on a good replacement method?
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Youngheart
Rookie
Uhhh,... I do understand. How are you going to find a Goodwill Shop, when you live in Beverly Hills⁉️I wanted to do this but I realized there was no Goodwill near my house.
Pass the Ritz crackers please. I love to lay them on top of my Champagne ice cubes!! Sooo tasty!!
optic yellow
Legend
Ritz Crackers do go super well with basically every white wine I've ever tried them with...
Found this one at a thrifty shop last Saturday morning, for less than AUD$2.00. lol.
Abit tattered for now but in a decent condition. The top “Graphite Composite” logos are gone and some scratches on the green butt cap.
Will clean it up for now. The (apparently) RA of 45 is pretty cool. It is pretty heavy by today’s standard, even with the dodgy black electrical tape on the handle (done think there is a base grip underneath…) lol
Abit tattered for now but in a decent condition. The top “Graphite Composite” logos are gone and some scratches on the green butt cap.
Will clean it up for now. The (apparently) RA of 45 is pretty cool. It is pretty heavy by today’s standard, even with the dodgy black electrical tape on the handle (done think there is a base grip underneath…) lol
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
If it's the usual Pro model with 18x20, it should take the full cap grommet strip TK237. You can cut off the CAPs before installing, to leave just the channel pieces.
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
hmm, well a quick The Bay search comes up empty so far.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
R!acquet D!pot in the UK have them in stock, and show them at £9.95 plus around £8 shipping to St Louis.
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
Here's the pics, I know there's 2 paint jobs of the Head Club Pro. If I had to guess based just on aesthetics, I'd speculate this is the later version?
I'm allowed to use such sticks, as I was a Club Pro myself. Nice blue fade, looks very sharp, and the previous owner definitely had an eye for style, getting red and white strings to go with the accents on the frame. I can dig it. I'm not sure if its the Austrian or USA made variant, someone peeled the sticker off the buttcap, leaving only a stamped '315' code on the blank cap. It's a shame about the grommets, as far as frames of this vintage go, they're in pretty good shape. I've certainly seen far worse, heck I own far worse lol. But since the frame overall is in such good shape I'd love to get some replacement grommets so I'll look into snagging them, maybe even from you @Crozzer95.
I'm allowed to use such sticks, as I was a Club Pro myself. Nice blue fade, looks very sharp, and the previous owner definitely had an eye for style, getting red and white strings to go with the accents on the frame. I can dig it. I'm not sure if its the Austrian or USA made variant, someone peeled the sticker off the buttcap, leaving only a stamped '315' code on the blank cap. It's a shame about the grommets, as far as frames of this vintage go, they're in pretty good shape. I've certainly seen far worse, heck I own far worse lol. But since the frame overall is in such good shape I'd love to get some replacement grommets so I'll look into snagging them, maybe even from you @Crozzer95.
Let me know, I can get the Full Cap Grommets and I guess you could cut them if you wanted.Here's the pics, I know there's 2 paint jobs of the Head Club Pro. If I had to guess based just on aesthetics, I'd speculate this is the later version?
I'm allowed to use such sticks, as I was a Club Pro myself. Nice blue fade, looks very sharp, and the previous owner definitely had an eye for style, getting red and white strings to go with the accents on the frame. I can dig it. I'm not sure if its the Austrian or USA made variant, someone peeled the sticker off the buttcap, leaving only a stamped '315' code on the blank cap. It's a shame about the grommets, as far as frames of this vintage go, they're in pretty good shape. I've certainly seen far worse, heck I own far worse lol. But since the frame overall is in such good shape I'd love to get some replacement grommets so I'll look into snagging them, maybe even from you @Crozzer95.
Grafil Injection
Hall of Fame
Here's the pics, I know there's 2 paint jobs of the Head Club Pro. If I had to guess based just on aesthetics, I'd speculate this is the later version?
I'm allowed to use such sticks, as I was a Club Pro myself. Nice blue fade, looks very sharp, and the previous owner definitely had an eye for style, getting red and white strings to go with the accents on the frame. I can dig it. I'm not sure if its the Austrian or USA made variant, someone peeled the sticker off the buttcap, leaving only a stamped '315' code on the blank cap. It's a shame about the grommets, as far as frames of this vintage go, they're in pretty good shape. I've certainly seen far worse, heck I own far worse lol. But since the frame overall is in such good shape I'd love to get some replacement grommets so I'll look into snagging them, maybe even from you @Crozzer95.
Have you got the weight and balance specs? All my Pro mould sticks are close to 360g, 33cm balance, but I'd like to think a 32cm balance version is out there somewhere.
vsbabolat
G.O.A.T.
Should be Austrian made because it has the Austrian Quality Kontrolle sticker on it.Here's the pics, I know there's 2 paint jobs of the Head Club Pro. If I had to guess based just on aesthetics, I'd speculate this is the later version?
I'm allowed to use such sticks, as I was a Club Pro myself. Nice blue fade, looks very sharp, and the previous owner definitely had an eye for style, getting red and white strings to go with the accents on the frame. I can dig it. I'm not sure if its the Austrian or USA made variant, someone peeled the sticker off the buttcap, leaving only a stamped '315' code on the blank cap. It's a shame about the grommets, as far as frames of this vintage go, they're in pretty good shape. I've certainly seen far worse, heck I own far worse lol. But since the frame overall is in such good shape I'd love to get some replacement grommets so I'll look into snagging them, maybe even from you @Crozzer95.
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
I will say my Malaysian made Epic 660 has the same sticker on it, but you're probably right. I can't think of any American made sticks that had it.
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davced1
Hall of Fame
Used my pro staff 90 k factor for the first time in a competitive match and it's a thing of beauty. Kept the Wilson NXT strings it came with no idea what the tension is just feels right. Control and power when I need it. Backhand slice is my best shot but with this stick it was out of this world I hit it with so much confidence stayed low good depth seriously I could win matches from the slice alone with this one. Also loved it for redirecting pace on the rise thanks to it being so stable. Federer would be proud of that grip job but forgive me for using Yonex!
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kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
Play with everything.
Bisquick
Rookie
They are a meaty L5 plus and overgrip - will peel that off and see what the base grip is like and give them a go
mixtape
Professional
Saw a Prince Ace Face 90 racquet cover, but no racquet. The blue/orange just screamed late 80's early 90's style. Loved it!
I also saw a Wilson wood racquet with Jimmy Connors name on it and the iconic T-2000. I might go back and pick up the wood one because Connors is one of my favorite players.
I also saw a Wilson wood racquet with Jimmy Connors name on it and the iconic T-2000. I might go back and pick up the wood one because Connors is one of my favorite players.
optic yellow
Legend
che bruto
kevin qmto
Hall of Fame
Today's Goodwill pull was the sequel to the Silver Ace, the 90 version, containing some ceramic fibers and of course a spiffy white paint job that's hard to photograph as per usual. The blue accents look very nice I do say. The paragraph on the side is more superlative filled than most PK frames of the era, they seem especially proud of this stick, calling it the most versatile racket they ever made. Does anyone know what they're talking about with the APW system? What on earth is supposed to be adjustable here? I'll have to take it out and compare with the original, which I can say by comparing them, does not use the same mould. The Silver Ace 90 is a slightly thicker beam, more rounded head, and lacks the flat hoop bottom of the original. I don't know what year the Silver Ace 90 came out but I suppose its likely 86-88. This mould also differs from my other PK mid 80s sticks in tha the throat bridge thins out somewhat.
In other news I hit for 30 mins each with the Head TXD and Composite director, if you need a refresher the TXD was pretty haggard and the Comp Director is in great shape. I was shocked to find I preferred the TXD, despite its obliterated grommets and beat up nature, it just felt more solid and controllable. The Comp Director wasn't bad per say, just not as good feeling to me. Maybe that price difference was justified lol.
Anyways, onto the PK pics.
In other news I hit for 30 mins each with the Head TXD and Composite director, if you need a refresher the TXD was pretty haggard and the Comp Director is in great shape. I was shocked to find I preferred the TXD, despite its obliterated grommets and beat up nature, it just felt more solid and controllable. The Comp Director wasn't bad per say, just not as good feeling to me. Maybe that price difference was justified lol.
Anyways, onto the PK pics.
