Common pre-poly string setups?

McLovin said:
I used Thin Blend for a bit. Actually I bought a reel of the mains, which is a Kevlar composite, and used gut crosses.

Then I found Gamma Extreme Spin 19, and used it until it was discontinued ~ 2005 (actually used it for a few more years as I bought up all the remaining packs on the web).
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So, that was YOU !!!! :)
 
coachrick said:
So, that was YOU !!!! :)
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Yep. I actually called Gamma and bought out their remaining stock (around 40 or 50 packs). Just ask @Irvin as I sent him all my 'Frequent Stringer' points from the empty packages a year or two ago...

EDIT: Here's what I sent to him:

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McLovin said:
Yep. I actually called Gamma and bought out their remaining stock (around 40 or 50 packs). Just ask @Irvin as I sent him all my 'Frequent Stringer' points from the empty packages a year or two ago...
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Yes @McLovin did send me his FF credits. BTW if you have any FF credits you should be thinking about what you want to get with them. As of next year the FF program is going away and the credits are just cardboard.
 
Irvin said:
Yes @McLovin did send me his FF credits. BTW if you have any FF credits you should be thinking about what you want to get with them. As of next year the FF program is going away and the credits are just cardboard.
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Thanks for the heads up!!! I haven't purchased anything in years; but I have quite a few card/points "somewhere". Think they would let me switch to Pickleball ?
They have some very good paddles!! :) Dang...I probably have 2-3 dozen sets of unopened Gamma strings with the cards. I need a plan!
 
Ronaldo said:
1st racquet was a Maxply Fort with Victor Imperial NG. All strings were 1/2 price with a new racquet. Switched to Africord till the mid 80s
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Your road sounds familiar. I used Victor Imperial most of the time, but I switched to Africord (red) when Imperial got too hard to get. Great strings.
 
Most everybody I was playing against in leagues or tourneys was using Syn Gut 16g , and a lot of folks liked Gosen OG. This was late 80's thru mid 90's. Some hybrid experimenters, but most went Syn gut, or if one could afford it, Natural gut
 
Autodidactic player said:
Found a few more, including some Leoina Horn "with super stainless steel wire" to keep your fingers tingling! :eek:

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Interestingly, I used to live a few miles away from Zebest's "distribution headquarters" as well as Unique(Tourna) and would make a trip to each from time to time.
NOW, I live just six miles from the Alpha folks(1000 miles away from my former home).
 
Know a player who strung the mains on his Profile 2.7 110 with vinyl-coated stainless steel braided wire. He would break the crosses and just re-string those. Profile was hefty enough but with those mains, forgetaboutit. Anyone use/string Polystar back in the 70s or 80s?
 
Ronaldo said:
Btw, was Polystar really sold in the late 70s?
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Are you sure you're not thinking of Blue Star? The 1st poly I remember was Leoina Poly X, then Poly 7. If you lived in Europe, you may have come across a few more, as many European players were using it for durability reasons as they played on clay.
 
Steve Huff said:
Are you sure you're not thinking of Blue Star? The 1st poly I remember was Leoina Poly X, then Poly 7. If you lived in Europe, you may have come across a few more, as many European players were using it for durability reasons as they played on clay.
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Polystar was supposedly sold by the same company as Bluestar
 
Ronaldo said:
Btw, was Polystar really sold in the late 70s?
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Apparently, Poly Star string came to market in 1981.

"POLY STAR tennis string was made to integrate the elastic properties of natural gut. Research objective of the former HOECHST AG was to develop a tennis string combining the advantages of synthetic and natural gut in one product. The result was the world first POLY STAR tennis string entering the market in 1981."

Tennis Strings|Story|POLY STAR SPORT
 
I still have a set of Gamma Extreme Spin 19. Also, have a set of Victor Superb 16, Leoina 77, Pro Kennex Eclipse, Super Leoina UFO, and a set of Gorilla Gut (aramid hybrid). Brings back good memories.
 
Steve Huff said:
I still have a set of Gamma Extreme Spin 19. Also, have a set of Victor Superb 16, Leoina 77, Pro Kennex Eclipse, Super Leoina UFO, and a set of Gorilla Gut (aramid hybrid). Brings back good memories.
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Funny how the Victor Superb wasn't so superb! I remember some 15L that had sections that almost wouldn't go through the holes in a wood racket!! I strung WAY too many sets of pink UFO...especially in the Prince Pro and Kennex Silver Ace!! I don't recall GO-rilla Gut, however!
 
Blue Star with String-a-lings, I ran tension fairly high in my Graphite Directors 62lbs mid-October/March, then 68lbs the rest of the year.
 
DTA Dropshots said:
Blue Star with String-a-lings, I ran tension fairly high in my Graphite Directors 62lbs mid-October/March, then 68lbs the rest of the year.
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Ah yes, String-a-lings were a great thing, or at least they seemed to be at the time. With all the focus on factory swing weights and balance point today, I have to laugh at my setup in high school. I played with the POG (no grommets) with spaghetti tubing in most of the holes, power pads, String-a-lings, and all coated in a nice thick coat of Gut-X plus either tape on the hoop or some other headguard gizmo since the frames had no bumper strip. All this to try and milk just a little extra life out of the strings.
 
If I knew how to post pictures, I'd post one of the Gorilla Gut. I still have a set. Plainsman83--really brought back some memories--tubing, power pads, String-a-Lings, head tape, and Gut-X. I was a toe-dragger serving. I used a lot of Shoo-Goo also. Not only that, but Adidas made some shoes that had a leather compound mixed in the rubber of the toes. I figured it must be more durable, so I Shoo-Gooed leather (cut up from old grips) strips onto the toe of my right shoe to help with durability.
 
I also went through tubes of Shoo-Goo every year. I'm sure if I had done a better job of surface prep it might have stuck better instead of often coming off in big chunks. I would drag my left foot on slice backhands, and once a hole appeared in the shoe it would get covered in tape and then the Shoo-Goo. These days I replace my shoes due to the footbed padding breaking down well before the sole wears out. It can't have anything to do with me not moving like I did 40 years ago...
 
Plainsman83 said:
I also went through tubes of Shoo-Goo every year. I'm sure if I had done a better job of surface prep it might have stuck better instead of often coming off in big chunks. I would drag my left foot on slice backhands, and once a hole appeared in the shoe it would get covered in tape and then the Shoo-Goo. These days I replace my shoes due to the footbed padding breaking down well before the sole wears out. It can't have anything to do with me not moving like I did 40 years ago...
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I've traded hard-surfaced tennis courts for INdoor Pickleball courts(hardwood). I have shoes that are three years old and they look GREAT!!!
I hear you about the innards breaking down, though. I have swapped out SO MANY pairs of insoles over the years!!!
 
serveandvolE said:
I remember, at least for the late 80s I was using Head Tournament 20 (T-20) synthetic. About the same time my buddies were using Pro Blend and Gutex.
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Late response; but I used the TXM(aster) for a couple of years and we really pushed the T-20 at that time. Good playability, neutral color, good price. The rep came through a few years later with some OEM reels(that I believed to be T-20 or OG Micro), completely unmarked(actually not even on a spool...just wound in a ~ 15-inch loop inside a plastic bag). I was excited to find such a bargain for my "personal" stringing business!!! Ha! I still have a 'reel' in my stash!
 
coachrick said:
I've traded hard-surfaced tennis courts for INdoor Pickleball courts(hardwood). I have shoes that are three years old and they look GREAT!!!
I hear you about the innards breaking down, though. I have swapped out SO MANY pairs of insoles over the years!!!
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Do your pickleball shoes have the gum soles? I've thought about getting that type for playing on clay. What do you think?
 
Steve Huff said:
Do your pickleball shoes have the gum soles? I've thought about getting that type for playing on clay. What do you think?
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As I wear a size 15, my options are a little limited. NO gum rubber YET. Lots of folks wearing (former) volleyball and badminton shoes somewhat re-branded for Pickleball...especially those folks coming from those other indoor sports. I think the gum rubber would be fine on clay. The pattern might make a difference. Some have gum rubber only on specific traction areas. I do have a pair of hemp sneaks with gum rubber soles...but surely a "lifestyle" shoe vs a true court shoe.
 
coachrick said:
I was more a Gosen guy(after being a rep in the mid-80s);
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Seem like I used a Gosen string called Biogut. Do you remember this string? What was your opinion of it? I think I used it back in the early 80's or so. I forgot about it until I saw you used to being a Gosen rep.
 
mctennis said:
Seem like I used a Gosen string called Biogut. Do you remember this string? What was your opinion of it? I think I used it back in the early 80's or so. I forgot about it until I saw you used to being a Gosen rep.
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I remember it; but, it was barely a blip on the radar in my area. I honestly don't remember stringing any on request(maybe only in 'for sale' or giveaway frames).
My Gosen repping was for a distributor called Century Sports and it's likely we didn't carry every model of string.
 
mctennis said:
Seem like I used a Gosen string called Biogut. Do you remember this string? What was your opinion of it? I think I used it back in the early 80's or so. I forgot about it until I saw you used to being a Gosen rep.
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As I've thought about it some more, I think BioGut referred to a line of strings that had "biodegradeable" components or some such...so not one single model of string, but a few slightly different ones.
 
coachrick said:
As I've thought about it some more, I think BioGut referred to a line of strings that had "biodegradeable" components or some such...so not one single model of string, but a few slightly different ones.
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Now that you mention this fact you are right. It was a line of strings with the " Biogut" label on them. I remember using the Biogut Multi for a few years. I liked it but then, like all the strings I end up liking, Gosen discontinued it.
 
Still a fan of synthetic gut. Favorite is Prince Synthetic Gut Soft. . . later renamed Ektelon Power Play. I bought all I could about a year ago. Only about 10 packs left.
 
McLovin said:
I used Thin Blend for a bit. Actually I bought a reel of the mains, which is a Kevlar composite, and used gut crosses.

Then I found Gamma Extreme Spin 19, and used it until it was discontinued ~ 2005 (actually used it for a few more years as I bought up all the remaining packs on the web).
Click to expand...
Loved the Gamma Extreme Spin! I also used the Hammerlast 19 when I was sponsored by Wilson, but it didn't have as good of feel in my opinion. I used the prepackaged hybrids, so IDK if it was the Aramid mains or the synthetic crosses that made the difference in feel. The Gamma lasted my a little longer by a few games normally.
 
I didn't start playing until the early 90's but I strung hundreds of racquets between 95-2004. The most popular string was Prince Synthetic Gut with Duraflex or competing companies' copy of that string, I would dare say that made up 60% of what I strung. I worked at a country club and honestly didn't see that much natural gut going out (couple Senior men and women that only restrung once a year), but the Tecnifibre Multis, Gamma TNT line, Sensation NXT (actually made by TF in the beginning), Babolat premium synthetics were quite popular among the 3.0-4.0 range. Stringbreakers were using Kevlar/Syn Gut, or other Aramid Mains with syn gut or 15G "Spin" synthetic guts (Wilson and Prince made some with Ridges). When I played Junior college tennis, almost every small school we played in our conference, except for the sponsored players, used Forten or Prince Nylon 15L! The Fancier schools would have Prince w/ Duraflex, they were high rollers. We would prestretch the Forten Nylon and string it 67-74 for the biggest hitters on the team in there Wilson 6.1 Classics (which everyone used). Nylon has tons of control, but feels like a board at high tension, you were lucky for the Forten to last a set of singles. Most of the players had 4-6 racquets simple because the strings broke so fast. I was the team stringer and had to travel to the tournaments (I was 7-8 on the ladder) because the top guys were break the strings in all 6, sometimes more, racquets after day of play. Also, those racquets would crack in the middle of the season from such high tensions. When I retired from college tennis after 2 years and went back to the country club in 2000, there were a few high level adults (4.5-5.5) starting to use fullbed polyesters like Luxilon Big Banger original and Polystar, while I started seeing a shift from prepackaged Kevlar/SG hybrids to polyester/synthetic hybrids. Most of the Country Club folk at the turn of the century in my town were still using a majority of full bed Synthetic Gut from whichever Brands we were carrying in the shop. Since the Premium synthetics and Multis started getting so good by then, I never really saw nylon after college, unless someone brought it in. Of course, I still used Forten Nylon until I quit teaching in 2004 because it was only $0.40/set when I bought it through my alma mater. If it was match day in 2003, I was using 17g Babolat FiberAce or TF 515 at 66lb in my Wilson PS 6.1 Classic. To this day, I still love 17 multi strung tight, but that stuff just doesn't last and I don't carry 6 of the same stick anymore....I'm lucky to have 2 of the same racquet in my bag at any given time! Nowadays, TF Black Code 17 or 18 around 50lbs is my go to all around string in most racquets. Now that I'm thinking back to my heavy stringing days, anyone remember the original Gamma Ruff??!!! Yuck that stuff took a layer of skin from my finger tips every time I strung it. I had one guy on my high school team that would get 2-3 sticks done at a time with that stuff. It gave great spin, especially for synthetic....for about 2 hours, then the texture wore off.
 
Prince Synthetic Gut when I started out in tennis but moved on to Prince Pro Blend as my level went up. Natural gut when I was able to coax my parents to pay for the string job.
 
I really wish I could remember some of the older strings I had in my racquets many, many years ago. I had a stringer than had me trying a lot of strings he would get in. All he ever charged me for was the actual stringing ( $10). Those were the days.
 
Prince Synthetic gut at 62# was my go to string as a junior back in the late 90's early 00's. I would be lucky if it lasted a week
 
I had Davis strung with vantage then college had 4 Spalding strun16 Klip gut and 2 with vantage After college played with Dulop maxpl1ys 2 with Klip 2 vantage till around late 70s went to Yamahas then to Wilson Graphite with Vantage 2. At times after early 80s had contrcts with Spalding Prince Wilson and finally Head. played P
rince Dur nylon and hbrid pol1y nxt. Now play hybrid poly syn gut








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I was a junior then and used synthetic gut at 49lbs in a Dunlop Black Max. I’m not sure what string gauge or maker (most likely 16g Prince or Gamma) because I just gave my racquet to a Friend on my team who strung and he’d bring it back to me the next day.

I also remember the rainbow color Prince synthetic gut being pretty popular. And everyone now and then, someone would have a full bed of natural gut.
 
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