Difference in feel between 15L and 16 gauge Gut?

[ashridge]

I've been experimenting with Babolat Tonic Longevity strings in several set-ups since last Fall and have never felt it was particularly all that amazing as Gut has a reputation for being. I will say that I have never tried it in a full bed, always in a hybrid of some sort, always with the Gut in the mains. One racquet I demo'd this Spring had a full bed of VS Touch 16 Gut in it, and it felt very soft and comfortable, definitely moreso than the Tonic 15L has felt in any of the hybrid set-ups I've tried it in. Is there a noticeable difference in feel between Tonic 15L and VS Touch 16, or was I simply feeling the difference between a FULL bed of Gut versus a hybrid with Gut in the mains *only*? Asking because I'm getting ready to order a few more packs, and was thinking of getting the Tonic Ball Feel sets instead of Longevity. Thoughts?

 

[esgee48]

Tonic is more muted than Touch in a full bed, same frame, same tension. I think that what you were feeling was the cross. NG has string stiffness in the 90-120 lb/in stiffness. Anything else normally used as a cross will be up in the 160's or higher. [With exception of ZX]. If you want to experience NG, you have to try it in full bed at least once. Just tell yourself it is an experiment and that you will not use it all the time.

This does not help your decision whether to order Touch vs Tonic. Basically, you have to take the cross out of the test before deciding which NG is suitable for you.

 

[dominikk1985]

I'm not really qualified to answer because I have only tried hybrid but I agree that the cross string is probably overriding the gut feeling so much that you can't really compare.

I think for the first gut job any gut will work. Just get a gut, string it a couple pounds more and see if gut is for you. This creates a baseline to adjust from.

 

[ashridge]

Thanks for the input. I went ahead and ordered a few sets of Tonic Ball Feel yesterday. Will try out a few different hybrid set-ups to see how it might be different than Tonic Longevity and also will try it in full bed to see how it feels in my racquet.