How Do I find some matching Donnay X-dual Gold 99.

[Readers]

How do I find some matching Donnay X-dual Gold 99.(Customization question)

So, after spending almost a year with gold 99 and blue 99, I feel that while I like the feel of blue more, I play better with the gold, but here is a pretty big problem.

My current Donnay X-dual Gold 99 weight about 325g unstrung, but that's after I strap away all the lead came with the stick directly from Donnay(about 23-25g) added

10g cap +10g

change from stock rice paper grip to Wilson shock shield, +14g

8g lead on hoop, +8g

OG +6g

So I add total of 38g on it, which means the stock frame is only 287g.

I don't have the unstrung balance but when strung, it's 338g, 7pt HL with a SW of 332.

So should I try to get some light gold 99(unlikely to happen) or start with silver or even silver lite, try to match the ones I have? But even if I can match weight balance and swing weight with silver, I doubt it will play like gold.

Or Should I get as light a gold as I can find and not try to replicated the exact spec but make it as close as possible?

 

[ian2]

TW published specs for Gold 99 are 326g, 6 HL, 316 SW. Your target specs are 338g, 7 HL, 332 SW. Not sure about the swingweight (the way you measured it is likely different from the way TW did), but otherwise you should have enough room to match exactly if you get a "random" Gold from TW or elsewhere. Unless it's way, way out of spec.

BTW I'm surprised that Gold you bought directly from Donnay had lead on it. Not my experience at all. Donnay includes the exact weight, balance point, and stiffness on the serial number sticker on each frame. The two Donnay Whites I bought a while ago measured exactly as the sticker numbers (weight and balance), and were identical to each other (well, with 1g and 1pt stiffness difference). No lead on either of them anywhere. Not using them anymore but in terms of manufacturing quality control they were top-notch.

 

[Readers]

TW published specs for Gold 99 are 326g, 6 HL, 316 SW. Your target specs are 338g, 7 HL, 332 SW. Not sure about the swingweight (the way you measured it is likely different from the way TW did), but otherwise you should have enough room to match exactly if you get a "random" Gold from TW or elsewhere. Unless it's way, way out of spec.

BTW I'm surprised that Gold you bought directly from Donnay had lead on it. Not my experience at all. Donnay includes the exact weight, balance point, and stiffness on the serial number sticker on each frame. The two Donnay Whites I bought a while ago measured exactly as the sticker numbers (weight and balance), and were identical to each other (well, with 1g and 1pt stiffness difference). No lead on either of them anywhere. Not using them anymore but in terms of manufacturing quality control they were top-notch.

The problem there will not be enough room for a gold is I need to use Wilson shock shield, I can't stand the donnay rice paper grip, and SW need to match, which is extremely important. Also, the swing weight is measured on a prince machine that's made to do weight balance SW etc, which should be just as accurate as RDC TW uses, so I have no doubt on it.

The ones I got are the same, they match the sticker except A LOT of lead was under the grip.

The blue I got match the sticker and has no lead. But is a lot more headlight and has a much lower SW than TW's spec.

 

[ian2]

I see... basically your Gold is much lighter than spec (after lead was removed), and all (most?) of the "missing" weight is in the handle area. Yeah, tough... the one you have might be one of a kind and indeed tough to match, given your tolerances.

You have access to an RDC machine... nice. I'm using the rackettech online calculator for swingwieght and consistently come up with 10-15 pts higher SW than TW publishes, for all my frames.

 

[Muppet]

Can you take your X-dual Blue and modify it to perform more like the Gold?

 

[Readers]

Can you take your X-dual Blue and modify it to perform more like the Gold?

I just tried that, didn't work.

My blue was 315 SW(measured on the machine in local pro shop), with static weight of 346g.(with 2 OG) 9.5 pt HL.

After the mode, It was 331.5 SW(using TW calculator) 7.5pt HL, which is nice, but... it ended up 352g, played it for the first time today, too much a stick for me.

 

[tball]

The gold that I have is 337g / 8 pt HL. It is all stock, just has an overgrip and a Donnay dampener. Do not know the swingweight. That's pretty close to what you have. Chances are any donnay you buy will be close.

Alternatively, you may call TW, and ask them to find something close to the sticker specs on the one you already have.

Donnay Silver Lite is different from gold, it plays differently even if leaded up to the same weight. You will be better off with another gold.

How sensitive you are you to 1-2 point differences on Weight or SwingWeight?

 

[Readers]

The gold that I have is 337g / 8 pt HL. It is all stock, just has an overgrip and a Donnay dampener. Do not know the swingweight. That's pretty close to what you have. Chances are any donnay you buy will be close.

Alternatively, you may call TW, and ask them to find something close to the sticker specs on the one you already have.

Donnay Silver Lite is different from gold, it plays differently even if leaded up to the same weight. You will be better off with another gold.

How sensitive you are you to 1-2 point differences on Weight or SwingWeight?

1-2 pts are not big deal, the problem is SW could be much lower and static weight could be too high for me to change to Shock Shield.