Best synthetic guts currently available?

Irvin

Talk Tennis Guru
I have heard everything other than natural gut referred to as synthetic gut. If you are just talking about basic nylon strings I like Tecnifibre S.Gut, Gamma Synthetic gut (with and without Wearguard,) and Gosen OG Micro.
 

Rabbit

G.O.A.T.
I like:
1. Babolat Synthetic 17
2. Gamma Synthetic 17 (non-wear guard)
3. Prince Synthetic 17 (non-duracrap)

will try:
1. Forten
2. TF (again)
 
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Ramon

Legend
Depends on how you are playing it (full bed or hybrid) and in what racquet.

That's right, and I think you left out personal preference.

Honestly, asking about the best string or the best racquet is futile. Everyone will give you their favorites.
 

logrock

Rookie
My favs.

1. Forten Sweet 16ga White
2. Gosen OG 16ga Natural
3. Prince OSG 16ga White

For whatever reason the color affects the feel of syn gut, (INMO).
 

Autodidactic player

Professional
My 2¢

As a main with poly cross: Forten Sweet or Babolat N.VY
As a cross with poly main: Prince Original Synthetic gut
As a full bed: Gosen OG Sheep or Gamma TNT
 

Chotobaka

Hall of Fame
Okay, tell me your opinion on your favorite nylon gut in your racquet for your game.

Why the big mystery about your racquet and style of play?

With value/money being no object, a full bed of Pacific Premium Power X would be my choice for my Fisher Pro No 1. But this is not the syn gut that I use regularly, since I mostly hybrid.
 

Muppet

Legend
I have a second hand racquet that vibrates with most strings. Pro's Pro Synthetic Power (Sweet 16 clone) quiets it down nicely.
 

fuzz nation

G.O.A.T.
I love thinner 17 ga. syn. gut in my hefty Volkls as well as the Six.One 95's I'm noodling with right now. Prince SG w/Duraflex is acceptable for me in the 17 ga. version, but the thicker 16 ga. option is just too clunky and harsh for my taste. I'm going to get a few sets of their Original Syn. Gut, both 16 and 17 ga., to see how much feel and performance I get with them now. I've liked this string in the past and it's still going strong for a good reason.

I was in love with Tecnifibre's syn. gut for a while, but it's not available at TW anymore. Even the 16 ga. version of that string had wonderful crisp feel along with enough softness to keep me happy. Gosen OGSM is fine for general purpose work, given its combo of performance and decent durability, but I mostly use it in poly hybrids I do for "clients".

Another string I enjoy is 16 ga. Ashaway Liberty, probably because it's insanely cheap and it performs rather well in my Volkl O10's. I recommend this string for new hobby stringers who need inexpensive stock to help get them going and since I've started using it here and there, it's treated me rather well. Unfortunately Ashaway doesn't put this stuff out in reels of 17 ga. (or TW just doesn't carry it).

Need a soft syn. gut? Forten Sweet should fit that bill just fine. The Sweet 16 (16 ga.) is plenty cozy, but the Sweet 17 gave me very short service life. I'd only consider that string for a racquet with a dense pattern.
 

mtommer

Hall of Fame
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that my guess is that Prince SG w/ Duraflex 16 and Gamma SG w/Wearguard 16 outsell all other syn guts combined. I've just always seen one or both of those strings just about everywhere and often little else (in terms of brands save Ekelon (sp?)). IME, syn guts stopped making any marked improvements years ago.
 

DonDiego

Hall of Fame
IMO Head syn gut PPS 16 is the best - most pocketing and control I've seen in a syn gut -, but for some reason nobody ever talks about that string.
 

Matchball

Semi-Pro
I like Tecnifibre's synthetic gut and I've lately used Gosen AK pro CX with great success, given that it is low powered and resists to notching (but too expensive ad TW does not carry it in reels).
 

Robert F

Hall of Fame
My reel of syn gut ran out finally. For friends that like Synthetic gut over poly, what is the best synthetic gut string out their now?
Still GOSEN OG?
My last reel wast Gamma TNT2.
 

bd33

New User
As someone else said, the kirschbaum is soft. It's a good syn gut. Both the black and natural colors say they're 16 gauge, but the black is noticeably thinner and (initially) slicker. I haven't measured them, but no way is the black thick enough to be 16 gauge. Reels are super cheap (around $33 if I remember) on amazon.
 

Trip

Legend
@Robert F - The answer to your question is going to be a bit subjective (like most things).

Value – Hard to beat Kirschbaum. I mean, an entire reel off Amazon for ~$30? Not much can touch that. But what gives it its value is how well it plays, irrespective of cost. Also, I would only buy the Natural color, for despite the higher level of initial slickness with the Black, the Natural plays more gut-like (and doesn't mark the balls with black pigment, either). I will also confirm @bd33's observation that Black is definitely thinner per unit gauge than Natural, which makes me think they are sourcing them from separate OEMs altogether, and may, in fact, ultimately not be the same string. So I would stick with Natural.

Performance – Prince Lightning Pro is very tough to beat. Especially if prolonged snapback and an unlocked string bed is of any interest. As such, it's also excellent as a main or cross in a hybrid. A very universal playing syn-gut, which, while still soft, is slightly more crisp in feel than Kirschbaum, which is a good thing for delivering a bit more feedback in the unfortunate number of way-too-muted retail frames floating around these days.

Overall – Babolat syn gut may be the best of both worlds between KBaum and PLP. Formerly Syn Gut SpiralTek, similar to PLP, it's still fairly soft, but does have a slight element of crispness to it, which I enjoy. Unlike PLP, though, it's way more widely available in markets where Prince is as good as dead to most shops (ie. most of the USA).

Hope that helps give some relevant options!
 
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esm

Legend
I like Angell Halo 3/Multi.
Prefer it in blue, then red, then yellow, then black. Although Paul only have them in yellow and black atm.
 

Trip

Legend
Gosen AK Pro CX is my favorite.
AKPCX is solid, especially if you're going for crisp feel. Only issue is it gets grindy and snapback comes to a halt once the silicone oil coating wears off and the CX fibers get exposed. If that's a factor for you, then IMHO Lightning Pro is the better call (I'm 90% sure it's actually just a variant of regular Gosen AK Pro (non-CX), made for Prince, as it's also made in Japan, so it's coming from either Gosen or Toalson most likely, and it's almost identical in costruction — same central tri-core, same 20 mini tri-core filaments around the outside — too many similarities for it not to be, I think).
 

maksp

Semi-Pro
Gosen ogsm in black for cross is goat if your wanting lower powered syn gut with crisp feel in your crosses
 

Rubiks

New User
@Robert F - The answer to your question is going to be a bit subjective (like most things).

Value – Hard to beat Kirschbaum. I mean, an entire reel off Amazon for ~$30? Not much can touch that. But what gives it its value is how well it plays, irrespective of cost. Also, I would only buy the Natural color, for despite the higher level of initial slickness with the Black, the Natural plays more gut-like (and doesn't mark the balls with black pigment, either). I will also confirm @bd33's observation that Black is definitely thinner per unit gauge than Natural, which makes me think they are sourcing them from separate OEMs altogether, and may, in fact, ultimately not be the same string. So I would stick with Natural.

Performance – Prince Lightning Pro is very tough to beat. Especially if prolonged snapback and an unlocked string bed is of any interest. As such, it's also excellent as a main or cross in a hybrid. A very universal playing syn-gut, which, while still soft, is slightly more crisp in feel than Kirschbaum, which is a good thing for delivering a bit more feedback in the unfortunate number of way-too-muted retail frames floating around these days.

Overall – Babolat syn gut may be the best of both worlds between KBaum and PLP. Formerly Syn Gut SpiralTek, similar to PLP, it's still fairly soft, but does have a slight element of crispness to it, which I enjoy. Unlike PLP, though, it's way more widely available in markets where Prince is as good as dead to most shops (ie. most of the USA).

Hope that helps give some relevant options!
Thanks for the notes on Kirschbaum, I will stick with the natural. I was thinking of getting black if I were to switch the cross from tec MF black to co-focus white.

Is there any colour differential/preference for the babolat SG?
 

Trip

Legend
@Rubiks - Very welcome. As for playability differences across the various colors of Bab syn gut, I will defer to @Rabbit and/or @fuzz nation, both of whom I believe have more experience with the various colors than I do (I've predominantly stuck to black and white, and to me, playability is more or less identical).
 

maksp

Semi-Pro
@Rubiks - Very welcome. As for playability differences across the various colors of Bab syn gut, I will defer to @Rabbit and/or @fuzz nation, both of whom I believe have more experience with the various colors than I do (I've predominantly stuck to black and white, and to me, playability is more or less identical).
Black SG are slick n dead feeling...natural are lively but gummy...whites are somewhere in the middle
 

maksp

Semi-Pro
@maksp - How many hours do you typically find that black OGSM holds its slickness for, as a hybrid cross?


I use the 1.30mm ogsm and with ptp mains it lasts 3 matches and couple practices...the slickness goes away but the inner filaments is slick enough that the mains still snap back...ptp dies before ogsm so I cut it out
 

Rabbit

G.O.A.T.
How is kirschbaum black compared to ogsm black?
OGSM black is firmer than Kirschbaum by a good margin. Gamma Syn gut is nice, I failed to mention.

When talking about synthetic gut, the differences are most profound between regular and those strings with a durability additive; i. e. Duraflex or Wearguard. Otherwise regular synthetic gut is really consistent in feel across brands with only minimal variations. I typical purchase Babolat because I can get a really good deal on it.

I should note that the 2 softest synguts are Kirschbaum and Prince Original. IMO they are so soft that upping tension 2-5 pounds is necessary.
 

maksp

Semi-Pro
OGSM black is firmer than Kirschbaum by a good margin. Gamma Syn gut is nice, I failed to mention.

When talking about synthetic gut, the differences are most profound between regular and those strings with a durability additive; i. e. Duraflex or Wearguard. Otherwise regular synthetic gut is really consistent in feel across brands with only minimal variations. I typical purchase Babolat because I can get a really good deal on it.

I should note that the 2 softest synguts are Kirschbaum and Prince Original. IMO they are so soft that upping tension 2-5 pounds is necessary.
Which colors of babolat have you tried? Black was slick but didn't like it as cross cause to soft
 
I have a reel of Babolat in black and find it quite good, but my favorite synthetic gut is definitely Lightning Pro. FWIW, I never string syngut full bed, but always in hybrid with a smooth poly like Kirschbaum Proline X or Evolution.
 

topspin2000

New User
I like the Tourna Synth Gut Armour for its crisp feel. It's personal, but I don't like overly soft or mushy synth guts like Forten. Tourna SGA feels great, as does Gosen OGSM.
 
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