Customizing An Old Graphite

[basmpu]

I'm currently shopping around for a new racquet but got to playing around with one of my graphites from the 1980's, a Donnay CGX25.

Before: the racquet was 85 sq. in., 12.2 oz, 8 pts HL with a 17mm straight beam. I had been playing with this racquet for a couple weeks after the demise of my old Prince Vortex and had decided to add some lead. Before, the Donnay had a 'pickup' that made it feel like a 2 pounder. After a 2 hour non-stop rally session, my arm was quite tired. On hard, fast impacts with the ball, the racquet was a bit unstable and the vibes from off-center hits could wake the dead.

My modifications: 1.6 ounces of lead inside the handle (under the butt cap) and a custom baseball bat style grip. I started by removing the butt cap and gradually increasing the amount of lead until things "felt" right. Then I replaced the butt cap and built a baseball bat style 'knob' This gives me a few more degrees of flexibility and gives a secure feeling on two and three finger grips (when choked down). I used one 5mm and one 10mm strip of 1/16" vinyl flooring and wrapped them around the outer edge of the butt. The 10mm strip is notched to allow it to conform to the taper of the butt cap. A few turns of finishing tape and then the original leather grip finished her off.

The result: 17mm flat beam, 14.2 ounces and 19 points HL! You may think it should be a non-performance racquet but I can whip this baby around like the granny-stick guys! I played with this stick for three hours today and my arm was a bit tired, but not bad (I'm used to 13+ ouncers). A friend tried it out thought it handles as well as his 6.1 Prostaff and considerably more solid on groundies. Who can tell me what a common range of string tension is for this racquet? I want to try out some VS Nat!

Does anybody else get into customizing these ancient sticks? I was pleasantly surprised with this one!

 

[Kirko]

Deuce is a real connoisseur of oldetr rackets.

 

[PrestigeClassic]

Wow. You put vinyl flooring under the leather grip? I've seen athletic tape wrapped on top of a leather grip, but I would've thought a leather grip too stiff to try it under, making it harder to wrap. I've been looking for a nice Donnay Graphite Borg or one of those Donnay rackets that say that they have graphite all around a wood core, in at least 4 5/8.

Does that incredible head-light balance make the racket less stable? Does it feel like the added mass moved the sweet spot way down? What kind of grip do you use on your shots? I wouldn't think that it would be a good idea for eastern grips where you shouldn't whip the racket as much as with western grips.

I think the racket would be perfect with gut at 55 pounds, more or less depending on what kind of feel you like. A solid all-graphite frame should withstand very high tensions, like Sampras' 70+ pounds. As Nate Ferguson stated, there's nothing sweeter than a heavy racket strung tight with thin gut.

 

[basmpu]

The vinyl flooring works quite well. It's fairly flexible when you're working with thin strips and is nice and firm. I washed the leather grip and let it dry partially before wrapping. This makes it very pliable and you can pull wet leather into strange shapes. As you wrap, the grip forms wrinkles over the contour of the new butt. Take an Xacto knife and mitre the leather over the tapered part of the butt. Odd shaped wrinkles can be fixed as such: Slit each wrinkle lengthwise. Fold the halves of the wrinkle so they overlap and then cut down the middle to form a seam. Remove the excess slivers of leather and put the seam together (heh - similar to vinyl flooring seams!). You can probably guess what my spring project was this year.
Today I was hitting around with a friend and was able to consistently 'whip' forehands with a two finger/thumb grip.
My excess of tailweight and head-lightness are playing quite well but it's really too soon to know if I 'really' like it. Surely the sweetspot is now in the throat of the racquet. But, the harmonic node of the racquet seems to have dropped closer to the center of the stringbed and gives a very similar feeling to a sweetspot. The sheer mass of the racquet lets me drive right through anything my partner can muster up.
The greatest weak spot that I've found: I can't generate enough leverage to return the ball when I'm on a dead run at full extension. The ball may be pushing the racquet over because of the head-lightness, OR I need to work on anticipation/footwork drills and get setup faster! Yep - S/W grip.

My new HPS 6.1 arrived today so it's time to build a new grip!

 

[Deuce]

Ah, yes, the CGX...

Frankly, all I remember about them is that I liked them enough to buy two about 20 years ago. If I bought them, they must have had good feel and flexibility (but then, most racquets possessed these qualities back then). I think I kept them for two years or so. I believe this may have been my very first Midsized frame.

My former math teacher has them now - he's had them for about 18 years. Haven't seen him around the courts for a couple of years, though. If he's no longer using them, perhaps I'll buy them back.

Seems that you know what you're doing with the customization. I like the creativity.

Enjoy the past.

 

[basmpu]

Seems that you know what you're doing with the customization.

Well, that can be debated!
I have a lot of experience in cabinetmaking/woodworking. The basic tool skills and thought processes in this field are the foundation for a lot of other fields. The next thing I'm going to try is painting my CGX with a high quality car paint. Perhaps a white pearl with pink reflective "highlights".

Since I received my HPS6.1, I've been comparing it with this CGX. From my viewpoint, the CGX is a better racquet than the HPS!
The first day I went out with a hopper and fed myself some groundstrokes and had no problem equaling what the HPS could do. Next I tried some relaxed, slow serves to start getting used to the HPS. No joke - I could feel the strain on my shoulder after 5-10 moderate serves. I went straight home and will try to resist playing this weekend. I can feel a very, very slight pain in my clavicle/shoulder area - yikes! I'm not even going to try using the HPS with my hitting partner because I would surely acquire a real injury.

 

[Deuce]

There's no question in my mind that the older a racquet is, the better it is in terms of quality of construction, as well as better for the health of the player. Of course, racquets from the 80s had far more feel than today's fragile, light, stiff pieces of junk.

I've been playing exclusively with racquets from the 80s for the past 2 years. I got fed up with the current crop of frames - even the best among them (Prestige, Pro Tour 280) weren't as good as 20 year old frames. So I went out and got some 20 year old frames - and now I'm set for life with those. Couldn't be happier.

 

[basmpu]

Before taking her in for stringing I decided to freshen her up a bit. I sprayed her using only Duplicolor rattle cans from an auto store (Porsche Red and Neon Yellow). I used white primer to brighten the yellow and used lots of 1000 grit sanding between color coats for an ultra-smooth finish. Followed up with 10 coats of Truck, Van, SUV clear coat over the top. After the last coat of clear I sanded with 1500 grit and brought the paint to a mirror polish with 3M One-Step Cleaner Wax. I let the paint harden for the last few days so the stringing machine doesn't accidentally damage the paint. After stringing I can have some fun with the guys at the courts when they try to identify my mystery racquet. Maybe I should scrape the Donnay logo off the cap!
I guess NOW I'm ready for stringing. ;-)