Gaucho Natural Gut String Review (photos included)

mrmo1115

Hall of Fame
If you do full gut job, NOTHING IS LIKE VS.
But if you hybrid, especially if you put gut on crosses(total waste of gut IMO), then it will work for you. If you put gut on mains, you will feel difference between Gaucho and VS. A noticeable difference.

I will give gaucho a shot in the crosses of my hybrid with pro line 2 in the main. Hopefully it can replace vs because vs is really getting pricey.
 

Bud

Bionic Poster
If you do full gut job, NOTHING IS LIKE VS.
But if you hybrid, especially if you put gut on crosses(total waste of gut IMO), then it will work for you. If you put gut on mains, you will feel difference between Gaucho and VS. A noticeable difference.

Hi Kot... where ya been lately? :confused:

What string are you now using on a regular basis?
 

SoCal10s

Hall of Fame
I hybrided vs in the cross with my old poly pht. So you suggest that gaucho would be a good replacement with my new pro line 2 in the main? Or do you suggest another replacement for vs in the crosses of a hybrid ?

I used the GG gut for hybrid with a soft poly for some nat'l rank players and they love the feel of the hybrid... GG in the mains and big ace on the cross.. 58lbs and 64lbs(M)/60lbs(X) with string savers at every other intersections at the sweetspot ..
 

mrmo1115

Hall of Fame
I used the GG gut for hybrid with a soft poly for some nat'l rank players and they love the feel of the hybrid... GG in the mains and big ace on the cross.. 58lbs and 64lbs(M)/60lbs(X) with string savers at every other intersections at the sweetspot ..

How about the soft poly in the main, the Gaucho / GG gut in the cross?

I'm not even sure about hybriding any more, I feel that I am getting alot more pop from the serve and groundies with the full Pro Line II rather the PL II / VS setup I have in one of my racquets.

I only got to use the hybrid of PL II / VS very little, maybe 10- 15 minutes at most.

I will continue to monitor which of the 2 I like more and then decide... if I don't like the mix of PLII and VS , then there is no point that I do a PLII and GG/Gauch Gut hybrid.
 

Kot_Bigemot

Professional
Hi Kot... where ya been lately? :confused:

What string are you now using on a regular basis?
Bud!
How are you buddy?
I have been working a lot, my season started - time to create :), so i can get my Xmas bonus.
I bought some VS really cheap so, i am just enjoying it. It really IS the best gut out there imo. Nothing plays like VS.
How about you man? What are you up to?
 

v205

Semi-Pro
I've had my 3rd session with my full gaucho@60. Clocking up about 9 hours. String bed is just starting to show some very minor fraying in general. I did notice that 2-3 of the gut spiral wrap is showing some minor seperation. Feel wise is still pretty firm as when first strung showing minimal tension lost.
 

PaulMan

Rookie
My impressions so far on my Kneissl Tom's Reach Machine with Gaucho full job after approximately 5.5 hours on it is that the tension holding and durability is really impressive. I previously used Klip Legend and that seemed to soften up a lot more quickly and started to fray almost right into the first hour of hitting. On the Gaucho, there's really very little fraying right now, so it seems to really hold up well compared to the Legend, which is actually a pretty durable gut, too.

I've also noticed, like the Legend, the Gaucho is extremely crisp to me probably even more so than Legend. On the flexy Kneissl, this full Gaucho job almost seems too crisp and possibly even hard feeling. Most people already think Legend is crisp and gives a pretty tight firm stringbed, but IMO Gaucho takes both this feel up another notch or so. I think my next hybrid string with Gaucho may warrant a less crisp string so that there will be more of a plush feel to go with the crispness, if that makes sense.

I've strung a Babolat Pure Control Team with Gaucho mains and WeissCannon MatchPower crosses at 60/62 and that also felt very crisp as well. I suppose that's to be expected as the MatchPower is quite a crisp string too.
 

PaulMan

Rookie
If I don't like the hybrid I have right now with VS in the cross, I shouldn't go for Gaucho/ GG at all right?

First of all, what is missing in your PLII full job? What are you trying to enhance? Power? Spin? Crisper? Softer? What kind of game do you have? Are you a baseline banger, all courter, or serve and volleyer? Strictly power game or more finesse? Some of these things make certain strings better suited for your game.
 

mrmo1115

Hall of Fame
First of all, what is missing in your PLII full job? What are you trying to enhance? Power? Spin? Crisper? Softer? What kind of game do you have? Are you a baseline banger, all courter, or serve and volleyer? Strictly power game or more finesse? Some of these things make certain strings better suited for your game.

What is missing is the ability to finish off the front court shots and a little feel overall that I got from my previous string job (PHT/VS), which gave me a ton of control, but missed the pop that PL II is giving me.. I don't know if its me not 100 % used to the full job or what , but thats it.

I am also noticing my forehand to be more spinny than usual on the baseline, and I am not used to flattening it out yet...


About my game:

I am a baseliner, lefty, consistent from the baseline, like to work the righty's backhand with spin hooks crosscourt with my forehand, will flatten out when I want to , 2 hand back hand , will come forward to finish off points....
 

PaulMan

Rookie
What is missing is the ability to finish off the front court shots and a little feel overall that I got from my previous string job (PHT/VS), which gave me a ton of control, but missed the pop that PL II is giving me.. I don't know if its me not 100 % used to the full job or what , but thats it.

I am also noticing my forehand to be more spinny than usual on the baseline, and I am not used to flattening it out yet...
QUOTE]

It seems strange to me that with more pop on your current PL II job, you're having a harder time finishing the short balls...UNLESS it's too much pop and you're struggling to get enough spin to keep it in going all out on your finishing stroke on the short ball? Possibly the same reason your shots are more spinny than before as well? Maybe you're not confident hitting all out like you normally do without having to impart more spin otherwise you'd feel the ball would go out?
 

mrmo1115

Hall of Fame
I think the lack of feel I got with the vs gut in the hybrid of my previous string setup is affecting my frontcourt shots and net play (finesse). And your right before with my pht/gut I just comfortable hitting short balls but never got the power I am getting now with the full bed of Pl2. I also have a hybrid strung and will test it myself but this is just what's on my mind

but I am getting more power from the baseline. It's almost like a trade off..

Do you think it's me with the lack of getting used to the full bed since I've been using hybrid for a while now? Or do you think I need to go the hybrid route again?
 

PaulMan

Rookie
About my game:

I am a baseliner, lefty, consistent from the baseline, like to work the righty's backhand with spin hooks crosscourt with my forehand, will flatten out when I want to , 2 hand back hand , will come forward to finish off points....

Sounds to me you're closer to a power baseline game than a finesse game. Typically, the harder you hit in a power game, the better your control is with poly strings and they favor baseliners too. Finesse players require more feel on their touch shots which really favor gut. The main strings take a majority of how a stringbed feels and plays.

So, since you are a baseliner with some power in your game, the poly is best on the mains. As for crosses, IMHO, you're wasting your money putting gut especially VS Gut there as you're not getting that much feel out of them. I don't have any experience with PL II, but I understand it's quite soft for a poly and not that crisp. VS Gut is also not that crisp a natural gut, compared to Legend nor Global and/or Gaucho.

So I would say your stringbed is probably not that crisp unless your racquet really enhances the crisp feel like some do. For most of their models, because of the Woofer tech, Babolats don't tend to be that crisp compared to some other racquets.

Then again, if you don't really like an especially crisp stringbed, it's not that big a deal and you can just continue the full stringjob of PL II with the tension bumped up a couple of pounds for possibly more control if that's what's holding you back from finishing the point off.

Now if you're looking to make it more crisp, your best bet is to stay with PL II for mains since you like the pop but maybe bump up the tension 2-3 lbs. Then for the cross, just try something like Gosen OG Sheep Micro 16 or Prince DF 16 at the same tension as your mains. These two cheap syn guts are good and crisp but will still soften up the stringbed a little more than a full PL II job. If you find you really like how the OG Sheep Micro 16 makes your hybrid string job feel, you really should check out the OG Sheep Micro Jim Courier (JC) version. It plays similar to the cheap Micro but is more crisp, more durable, holds tension better, and has more feel too.

Sorry for the really long post, hope some of this helps you out. :)
 
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PaulMan

Rookie
I think the lack of feel I got with the vs gut in the hybrid of my previous string setup is affecting my frontcourt shots and net play (finesse). And your right before with my pht/gut I just comfortable hitting short balls but never got the power I am getting now with the full bed of Pl2. I also have a hybrid strung and will test it myself but this is just what's on my mind

but I am getting more power from the baseline. It's almost like a trade off..

Do you think it's me with the lack of getting used to the full bed since I've been using hybrid for a while now? Or do you think I need to go the hybrid route again?

As almost all things in life, there's usually a trade off. The key is to find and enhance the characteristics that you like and need while the disadvantages in a certain setup are pretty much ignored cause you either don't use it much or don't need it. That's the beauty of trying to find a hybrid to suit your taste/game/equipment.

So to answer your question: I think you're definitely not going to be totally used to the full poly job. Some are, some aren't - you sound like you are in the latter group. Full poly jobs just tend to have less feel. That's one of the penalties you get with poly - they tend to have the least feel as a string group but they are the best for control when hitting hard. That trade off again.

The hybrid you have with PL II and VS Gut is also probably too loose for you to comfortably hit out on those short balls. A bump in tension is needed, but again, use syn gut instead of VS Gut. By using one of those syn guts, you'll get 80% of what the VS Gut contributed to the stringbed but only pay 10% or less for it - that's why I called it a waste to use VS Gut as a cross.

Damn, another long post! :oops:
 
i just received this 40mins ago. comes in a plastic cover instead of the shiny material as before
20090923151006.jpg
 
Gaucho Strings provide a good alternative to the premium guts that i have used but what is the point if we can't get supply when we need it for tournaments etc LIFT YOUR GAME GAUCHO.
 
the gaucho 15L feels like a polyester string, does'nt have good spin. i'm lloking to order sets of 17 but am worried for it after stringing. It may break
 

Pwned

Hall of Fame
I don't see how it can be that significant.^

Played 15 or so minutes in fairly heavy rain with no ill effects. Tension maintenance is pretty good. The string doesn't fray a ton but the spirals do come undone. Strung the last set at #64 in the crosses and it's been playing great. Hopefully can get a few sets of 17 soon. Have two sets of 15 here in case no 17 comes in soon. Really happy with the Gaucho gut so far.
 

markwillplay

Hall of Fame
yikes...goucho 15l feels like poly? Uuuggghhh, I just bought 4 sets of it for longevity. I suppose I should string it less tight? Damn, I need a soft string and I was hoping that this would be one that would last. If I usually string my becker mids at 60 would you say I should string the 15L at 55?
 

Bud

Bionic Poster
the gaucho 15L feels like a polyester string, does'nt have good spin. i'm lloking to order sets of 17 but am worried for it after stringing. It may break

yikes...goucho 15l feels like poly? Uuuggghhh, I just bought 4 sets of it for longevity. I suppose I should string it less tight? Damn, I need a soft string and I was hoping that this would be one that would last. If I usually string my becker mids at 60 would you say I should string the 15L at 55?

I'd find that very hard to believe. I've used 15L Global Gut which is basically the same string and it's not even close to poly.
 

fluffy Beaver

Professional

PaulMan

Rookie
the gaucho 15L feels like a polyester string, does'nt have good spin. i'm lloking to order sets of 17 but am worried for it after stringing. It may break

I don't understand this either. How does it feel like a polyester string? In stiffness? Hardly, as even a stiff natural gut is still much softer than any synthetic including the softest like Zyex and IsoSpeed. Poly is way harder than either of those as well. And if you say it feels like a polyester since it doesn't have much spin, that's definitely not true as gut and poly are one of the best for spin.

Please clarify... :confused:
 

v205

Semi-Pro
Got about 15 hours now. Last few hours is strange, felt like everything (serve... volley.. returns... groundstrokes) is uncontrollable (trampoline effect), very frustrating. I left the racket in the car overnight in about 10 degree celsius which shouldn't have this effect right? Went back to my old X1/Multifeel and the control came back instantly. On the good side.. the Gaucho is still looking pretty good in general with a bit of thin 5mm gut coming off .
 

bsandy

Hall of Fame
Got about 15 hours now. Last few hours is strange, felt like everything (serve... volley.. returns... groundstrokes) is uncontrollable (trampoline effect), very frustrating. I left the racket in the car overnight in about 10 degree celsius which shouldn't have this effect right? Went back to my old X1/Multifeel and the control came back instantly. On the good side.. the Gaucho is still looking pretty good in general with a bit of thin 5mm gut coming off .

Cars can be a very humid environment, when the temperature drops.
 

schenkelini

Semi-Pro
It is dying because Gaucho has nothing to sell right now. I know I have been waiting for their new shipment that is coming in 2 weeks for a month and a half. I am sure that when it does finally arrive that the thread will take off again.
 

xFullCourtTenniSx

Hall of Fame
Sadly, today the strings popped at about the 12 hour mark of hitting for the 5 days. This is comparable to my experience with Babolat vs, or Global. However, if I would have used string savers as I usually do when the strings first showed signs of "sawing", I would have gotten a few more hours.

Good news is they played really well until breakage with minimal tension loss. Additionally, there was no "unwinding" of the string all over the string bed as you could see in the photo.

Here is a photo of where the string snapped:

CIMG9774.jpg



This next photo is for, DanCraig. As one could see, there is one strand of the Gaucho that is painted blue. It appears they paint this one strand before coupling it and winding it with the rest of the strands before finally coating the entire string.

CIMG9782.jpg


I plan on stringing my next frame at 65. Am hoping I get as much play time out of it.

thanks, and enjoy!

GOOD LORD! 12 HOURS?! :shock::shock:

I'm happy to get 6 with my NXT 16 including match time! And it costs $16 now! At this durability and prices, I should switch to Gaucho! O.O

And if the quality is really as great as you say it is, I should at least try out a set!

A few questions though, I use Alu Power Rough. I noticed you used the gut in the mains. Stringing Luxilon in the crosses is a pain in the ass as it is, but would it do significant extra damage to the gut if I do Alu Power Rough in the crosses (using the same technique you did and being extremely careful)?

I was also wondering if just having the gut in the crosses would still incur the damage from the textured Alu Power Rough.

Seems like an unbelievable deal though! I have to try it at least once!

Aside from the ordering process to be a little annoying (and fishy? haha), the whole thing seems to be fine and there are many positive reviews from you all. So I think I'll give it a try. (Hopefully before their prices go up.)

Would prefer the above questions answered though because I have 0 experience stringing natural gut. I usually string NXT. I once strung a string softer than that, but I'm sure I should be much more careful with natural gut.
 

Il Mostro

Banned
After going through a ton of co-poly play tests over the past couple of months I have finally gotten around to stringing my Gaucho...

The natural looks to have a more consistent gauge and coating than the early Global in the plastic bags versus the sealed foil packs. However, it strings pretty much the same. The main difference is that is does not snap at mid-tension. It is also thicker than the stated 16g. Still low quality IMO.

The red spiral feels a bit thinner to the eye and touch. I cannot verify this since I have lent my uber-cool digital micrometer to a friend. Even without measuring I see this is thinner. It also strings a little easier and is more coherent/consistent looking on the racquet. It has a higher quality feel than the "old"Global, but is clearly not close to my usual VS Team.

The natural is going to a customer. I'll hit with the red spiral this week. The red spiral looks pretty good on the racquet, but not quite as nice as the macro shots posted here. It is not nearly as nice as the vivid colors available in co-poly strings.
 

ipitythefool

Semi-Pro
In comparison of Global Gut vs. Gaucho: I would like to find out the following, if possible
1- With Global gut, I read posts about some people mentioning that, they find the new string jobs popped (out of the blue) with no play time!
2- Global gut appears to be thicker than what it is supposed to be

Do these also apply to Gaucho strings??
 
After going through a ton of co-poly play tests over the past couple of months I have finally gotten around to stringing my Gaucho...

The natural looks to have a more consistent gauge and coating than the early Global in the plastic bags versus the sealed foil packs. However, it strings pretty much the same. The main difference is that is does not snap at mid-tension. It is also thicker than the stated 16g. Still low quality IMO.

The red spiral feels a bit thinner to the eye and touch. I cannot verify this since I have lent my uber-cool digital micrometer to a friend. Even without measuring I see this is thinner. It also strings a little easier and is more coherent/consistent looking on the racquet. It has a higher quality feel than the "old"Global, but is clearly not close to my usual VS Team.

The natural is going to a customer. I'll hit with the red spiral this week. The red spiral looks pretty good on the racquet, but not quite as nice as the macro shots posted here. It is not nearly as nice as the vivid colors available in co-poly strings.

gaucho said that the gauging range for 16G is 1.26-1.33 while 17G: 1.20-1.24
could it be that you got a set that has one of the thiner gauges?
 

PaulMan

Rookie
Anybody want to get to my questions about how the strings hold up against Alu Power Rough during stringing? :(

FullCourt, I'll give it a go. Stringing the gut on the mains will not be hard at all, just make sure you DO NOT kink the gut. Following Drak's string pulling technique PLUS using a little bit of wax on the gut mains before starting on the crosses will help protect the gut from excessive burn. Typical cross string fanning is recommended, as always. Pull your gut knots tight (with a starting clamp if you have one) but do not over pull them.

Looking at your sig, I would string the Gaucho Gut at about 50 lbs. and the Lux at 52 or so as the gut mains will provide extra pop. The stringbed will feel softer and livelier compared to your usual Lux in the mains. You should feel a big increase in spin potential as the gut has very good bite compared to the NXT. Textured crosses like the Lux Rough will cut into the gut mains as the gut slides back and forth.

With that being said, you should get more than 6 hours using gut as opposed to NXT and lower tensions like yours typically last longer than, say 60-65 lbs.

Hope I answered your questions and that this helped a little.
 
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