My Thankness:
I have been a recreational racquetball player for 3 years, and would like to do string job myself now. I learned a lot of string skills from posts you guys contributed, especially youtube videos by Irvin and YULitle. As a brand new stringer, I really appreciate all contribution you guys made in TW talk tennis board. Now, I am glad to make my contribution to this board.
Reasons for Choosing Gamma 6900 ELS:
While doing my research for my first string machine, I found out from this board that TW’s gift card was on sale with 20% off from Nov. 14-17. I decided to take advantage of gift card sale and bought maximum allowed $1200 gift cards and wondered which machine to buy. I had 4 candidates to think about while waiting for my gift cards: NEOS1500, Gamma 6004, Gamma 6900 ELS, and Gamma Progression II ELS. The idea to buy 1500 or 6400 and add Wise 2086 tensioner was considered at first. The cost of this kind of combination would be about the same to buy 6900 ELS. But I decided against it mainly for the reason that this kind of combination will cause turntable to lose 360 degree rotation based on information from this board. In addition, 6900 ELS provides a very nice operation of string length meter. So, I made my mind to go with Gamma 6900 ELS. But why did I choose 2 point mount system? It might be a big mistake (see my experience of string job).
Order and Delivery:
I called in to place my order on Nov 21 and 3 boxes were delivered on Nov 29. It was quicker than I expected considering Thanksgiving holiday in between. However, UPS never bothered to update its tracking information so far.
Unpacking and Assembly:
Unpacking was easy, but I made a mistake during assembly. The owner’s manual was updated in August 2010, so it has been over 1 year and might be out of dated. The first few steps of assembly instructions are fine, but in the step of “stand upper post installation”, I used 4 screws for turntable to secure upper column and machine base. So I could not find any suitable screws for turntable. It took me awhile to figure out what was wrong with my assembly. Other than this mistake, my assembly was pretty straightforward. However, remember to tight up height adjustment locking knob as the instruction won’t remind you to do so.
Tools and Free String Sets:
In addition to starting clamp, awls, pliers, et al, there are 2 Gamma flying clamps. I found flying clam is stronger to hold both strings if bridge is necessary. Following free string sets are in sale package: TNT2 16g, Revelation 16g, Challenger 16g, Synthetic Gut w/WearGuard 16g. However, there are no DuraSpin strings with yellow and white colors. Instead, they are replaced by 1 set of Gamma Zo Pro Spin 16g, and 1 set of Challenger 16g in white plastic packages.
My Experience of First String Job:
It took me about 4 hours last night to finish my first string job for my Ektelon Smash racquetball racquet which is an entry level one. I made a lot of mistakes and had to redo it a few times. At very first, string clamps were very loose and could not hold string at all. I was worried that they might be malfunctioned until I checked Irvin’s video to make it clear. Then, I checked manual again and figured they needed to be adjusted (tight up). Here is the major issue I have with 2 point mount system. The hold-down piece on mount stand to hold throat end of racquetball racquet causes difficulties to string bottom holes of either mains or crosses for any kind of racquetball racquet. I had to take it out to string bottom holes. It should not be a problem for tennis racquet, but it is definitely a problem for racquetball racquet. It looks like 6 point mount system might be better, but I am stuck with this machine and not very happy with this problem. Hopefully Gamma Tech can provide me some advice to resolve this issue.
I learned a lot from my first string job although I am not satisfied with it. I am going to cut it out and string it again today.
Thanks for your patience to read my story.
Xiaobo.
I have been a recreational racquetball player for 3 years, and would like to do string job myself now. I learned a lot of string skills from posts you guys contributed, especially youtube videos by Irvin and YULitle. As a brand new stringer, I really appreciate all contribution you guys made in TW talk tennis board. Now, I am glad to make my contribution to this board.
Reasons for Choosing Gamma 6900 ELS:
While doing my research for my first string machine, I found out from this board that TW’s gift card was on sale with 20% off from Nov. 14-17. I decided to take advantage of gift card sale and bought maximum allowed $1200 gift cards and wondered which machine to buy. I had 4 candidates to think about while waiting for my gift cards: NEOS1500, Gamma 6004, Gamma 6900 ELS, and Gamma Progression II ELS. The idea to buy 1500 or 6400 and add Wise 2086 tensioner was considered at first. The cost of this kind of combination would be about the same to buy 6900 ELS. But I decided against it mainly for the reason that this kind of combination will cause turntable to lose 360 degree rotation based on information from this board. In addition, 6900 ELS provides a very nice operation of string length meter. So, I made my mind to go with Gamma 6900 ELS. But why did I choose 2 point mount system? It might be a big mistake (see my experience of string job).
Order and Delivery:
I called in to place my order on Nov 21 and 3 boxes were delivered on Nov 29. It was quicker than I expected considering Thanksgiving holiday in between. However, UPS never bothered to update its tracking information so far.
Unpacking and Assembly:
Unpacking was easy, but I made a mistake during assembly. The owner’s manual was updated in August 2010, so it has been over 1 year and might be out of dated. The first few steps of assembly instructions are fine, but in the step of “stand upper post installation”, I used 4 screws for turntable to secure upper column and machine base. So I could not find any suitable screws for turntable. It took me awhile to figure out what was wrong with my assembly. Other than this mistake, my assembly was pretty straightforward. However, remember to tight up height adjustment locking knob as the instruction won’t remind you to do so.
Tools and Free String Sets:
In addition to starting clamp, awls, pliers, et al, there are 2 Gamma flying clamps. I found flying clam is stronger to hold both strings if bridge is necessary. Following free string sets are in sale package: TNT2 16g, Revelation 16g, Challenger 16g, Synthetic Gut w/WearGuard 16g. However, there are no DuraSpin strings with yellow and white colors. Instead, they are replaced by 1 set of Gamma Zo Pro Spin 16g, and 1 set of Challenger 16g in white plastic packages.
My Experience of First String Job:
It took me about 4 hours last night to finish my first string job for my Ektelon Smash racquetball racquet which is an entry level one. I made a lot of mistakes and had to redo it a few times. At very first, string clamps were very loose and could not hold string at all. I was worried that they might be malfunctioned until I checked Irvin’s video to make it clear. Then, I checked manual again and figured they needed to be adjusted (tight up). Here is the major issue I have with 2 point mount system. The hold-down piece on mount stand to hold throat end of racquetball racquet causes difficulties to string bottom holes of either mains or crosses for any kind of racquetball racquet. I had to take it out to string bottom holes. It should not be a problem for tennis racquet, but it is definitely a problem for racquetball racquet. It looks like 6 point mount system might be better, but I am stuck with this machine and not very happy with this problem. Hopefully Gamma Tech can provide me some advice to resolve this issue.
I learned a lot from my first string job although I am not satisfied with it. I am going to cut it out and string it again today.
Thanks for your patience to read my story.
Xiaobo.
