Just Bought A Few Vintage Racquets

J

justinyyang

Rookie
So earlier today I was poking around (E)bay (no advertising intended) and found a seller selling what he calls five "vintage" racquets. I'm not sure if they are but I recognized one of the racquets (Wilson T2000). I haven't received them yet but can any of you give me information on any of these frames. I'm just going to list these by what he said they were. There was a picture of course but I don't wish to post it.

Wilson T2000 - Used by Jimmy Connors right if I'm not mistaken?

Chemold Rod Laver - I know who Rod Laver is so I thought that this racquet should be special in some way. It appeared aluminum.

Imperial Wooden Racquet - No brand was mentioned

Wooden Wilson Billie Jean King Racquet - No model was mentioned

Prince Classic 110

I'll take pictures of the racquets and provide links to them when I receive them, which will probably be around next week or hopefully earlier. These racquets will hopefully be a great addition to my early collection. I only have one "old" racquet so far which is the Ken Rosewall Seamco racquet (bought it for $2.00 at a thrift store).

Oh yeah, I got these for $22.00 with shipping. The seller stated that he had no knowledge of restoring the racquets so he just wanted to get rid of them.
 
Last edited:
I think Laver wanted to quit the Chemold Aluminum about 20 minutes after he signed the contract :) . Absolutely horrible racket...rattled, twisted, buzzed...and that was without hitting a ball! Interesting gold color and certainly a conversation piece.

If the Imperial is the Davis(Victor) model, it was a mainstay 'country club' racket until the mid-70s. Very pretty racket but not stout enough for hard hitters.

The Billie Jean King model really depends on which one.

Prince Classic would need to be an early model to be of much interest to a collector. Not rare by any means; but, it heralded a sea change in the 'attitude' of racket design.

All in all, you did fine for $22. Well played! You're starting a good selection of '70s (+-) hardware.
 
justinyyang said:
So earlier today I was poking around (E)bay (no advertising intended) and found a seller selling what he calls five "vintage" racquets. I'm not sure if they are but I recognized one of the racquets (Wilson T2000). I haven't received them yet but can any of you give me information on any of these frames. I'm just going to list these by what he said they were. There was a picture of course but I don't wish to post it.

Wilson T2000 - Used by Jimmy Connors right if I'm not mistaken?

Chemold Rod Laver - I know who Rod Laver is so I thought that this racquet should be special in some way. It appeared aluminum.

Imperial Wooden Racquet - No brand was mentioned

Wooden Wilson Billie Jean King Racquet - No model was mentioned

Prince Classic 110

I'll take pictures of the racquets and provide links to them when I receive them, which will probably be around next week or hopefully earlier. These racquets will hopefully be a great addition to my early collection. I only have one "old" racquet so far which is the Ken Rosewall Seamco racquet (bought it for $2.00 at a thrift store).

Oh yeah, I got these for $22.00 with shipping. The seller stated that he had no knowledge of restoring the racquets so he just wanted to get rid of them.
Click to expand...
The 'Imperial' racquet is probably a T.A. Davis. Davis made beautiful, high quality racquets.
 
MAXXply said:
What BJK models of note were there within Wilson? Or do you also mean some of the Yonexes she played with late in her career?
Click to expand...

I think the 'Autograph' model from Wilson would be the only one of interest to me. It was darned near identical to the Chris Evert Autograph. Wilson had lower-end models with various player names attached...'Capri', 'Court Star' are a couple that come to mind. Bancroft did the same with BJK's name on various models...the 'Personal' being the higher end model that she appeared to play with. There were plenty of lower-end models from Bancroft using the BJK name.

Speaking of BJK, she was an 'owner' of the Atlanta Thunder of World Team Tennis in the early '90s. As the team stringer, I had the pleasure of stringing a Fox oversize racket for her personal use. I questioned the extremely high tension she requested, suggesting that any ball hit off-center would feel like a brick. She was hitting with Ilana Kloss(we were both latish 30s at the time, BJK was pushing FIFTY !) Billie didn't need to worry about off-center hits...I've never seen such pure strokes! I saw BJK play a little in the '70s, but her strokes twenty years later were laser-like! What a pleasure to watch!
 
coachrick said:
I think the 'Autograph' model from Wilson would be the only one of interest to me. It was darned near identical to the Chris Evert Autograph. Wilson had lower-end models with various player names attached...'Capri', 'Court Star' are a couple that come to mind. Bancroft did the same with BJK's name on various models...the 'Personal' being the higher end model that she appeared to play with. There were plenty of lower-end models from Bancroft using the BJK name.

Speaking of BJK, she was an 'owner' of the Atlanta Thunder of World Team Tennis in the early '90s. As the team stringer, I had the pleasure of stringing a Fox oversize racket for her personal use. I questioned the extremely high tension she requested, suggesting that any ball hit off-center would feel like a brick. She was hitting with Ilana Kloss(we were both latish 30s at the time, BJK was pushing FIFTY !) Billie didn't need to worry about off-center hits...I've never seen such pure strokes! I saw BJK play a little in the '70s, but her strokes twenty years later were laser-like! What a pleasure to watch!
Click to expand...

I will second your assessment of BJK--I had the pleasure of playing with her in a pro-am exhibition in Atlanta at about that time--one of the best pure ball strikers I have ever seen, man or woman. She would do just fine in today's game with those skills.

To the the OP--nice find. Actually, I am interested in what sort of shape the Chemold is in--it is such a crappy frame that all of the ones I see are in poor shape--I find Laver's engagment with them one of the more interesting footnotes in player sponsorship.
 
Last edited:
Coachrick is right about those Chemolds. The throat piece was riveted in, and loosened up quickly. Laver even had some of his wood rackets painted to look like metal (1st paintjob???). The Chemolds came in gold and silver. The Imperial is probably a Davis Imperial. T 3000--I used that one for a while in HS. I might have been one of the few that liked it. I kept wearing off the wire that wrapped around the frame. They made plastic guards for it, but they made a slapping sound on about every hit. Prince Classic--if you string it, remember to "stretch" it first. If you don't, you'll have one that looks almost round in the head. Try them all out. Have fun.
 
Steve Huff said:
I kept wearing off the wire that wrapped around the frame. They made plastic guards for it, but they made a slapping sound on about every hit. .
Click to expand...

Boy, do I remember those plastic guards! Had a little 'hook' on either end to engage one of the wire loops for security. The plastic guards also saved a few shins back then...seemed like folks hit their legs a lot more in the '70s! :)

We sent a few T2000s back for 're-wiring'...cheaper than a new racket. Reminds me of the old Tred2 shoe re-soling company back then! Ah, the good old days!
 
Talk about hitting your shins. I still have a big purple spot the size of a quarter where I hit my leg with an Ashe Comp back in 75. I heard you moved to Austin. I told Mark that you and I could work there when we retired. He just laughed.
 
Lakers4Life said:
Two MAXX Plys in the same thread. Two accounts?
Click to expand...

MAX PLY said:
Just coincidence--I think MAXX is from down under--I am in the US.
Click to expand...

I've dreaded this confusing moment ever since I discovered there was already a MAX PLY on this forum. Yes, I'm the one from Oz.
To the original MAX PLY - if I had known your username existed here before I signed up I would have chosen something else to avoid any confusion. My apologies. :)
 
MAXXply said:
I've dreaded this confusing moment ever since I discovered there was already a MAX PLY on this forum. Yes, I'm the one from Oz.
To the original MAX PLY - if I had known your username existed here before I signed up I would have chosen something else to avoid any confusion. My apologies. :)
Click to expand...

No worries--hardly a copyright by me on the name. I should have gone further back in time and named myself, "Dreadnought Driver" (let's see if some posters know that one!).:)
 
I think I have a Dreadnought Driver somewhere in my collection! I'm not sure who 'coined' the term to describe a tennis racket. If it means heavily armored, I suppose that could be an appropriate term in regards to the racket construction. Seems like the term was used in the 1930s or thereabouts and I saw a current racket in the mid-seventies with that name. Don't know how that applies to guitar design. :)

Perhaps I could use that term to explain the extra pounds I'm carrying!
 
coachrick said:
I think I have a Dreadnought Driver somewhere in my collection! I'm not sure who 'coined' the term to describe a tennis racket. If it means heavily armored, I suppose that could be an appropriate term in regards to the racket construction. Seems like the term was used in the 1930s or thereabouts and I saw a current racket in the mid-seventies with that name. Don't know how that applies to guitar design. :)

Perhaps I could use that term to explain the extra pounds I'm carrying!
Click to expand...

Cigar goes to you. Actually the name was coined (at least) in the 1920s for some racquets sold by the Lee Company, I believe. I think thereafter, a number of companies used a similar name making the name Drednought Driver a popular name for a number of frames by different manufacturers (I think). I only know this because it came up in conversation with my dad when I was a kid because Garcia marketed a racquet in the 1970s with that name--I don't think it was a player's frame (I think Harold Solomon played with their only player's frame, which I think then became the Rossingol Strato).

Anyway, I picked up a Lee DD a couple of years ago in pretty good condition.

Can't speak to the guitar reference either.
 
MAX PLY said:
Cigar goes to you. Actually the name was coined (at least) in the 1920s for some racquets sold by the Lee Company, I believe. I think thereafter, a number of companies used a similar name making the name Drednought Driver a popular name for a number of frames by different manufacturers (I think). I only know this because it came up in conversation with my dad when I was a kid because Garcia marketed a racquet in the 1970s with that name--I don't think it was a player's frame (I think Harold Solomon played with their only player's frame, which I think then became the Rossingol Strato).

Anyway, I picked up a Lee DD a couple of years ago in pretty good condition.

Can't speak to the guitar reference either.
Click to expand...

Interesting how the battleship shape of the 1920s-'30s became a marketing term for items from tennis rackets to guitars. I suppose it could also refer to the formidable construction of these instruments but it seems to describe the 'extra' size resulting from enlarging the shape of the item.

I never saw the Garcia DD(until I looked it up today) and frankly the current listing on el-bayo doesn't have the characteristic 'beefy' construction that I associate with the DD moniker.

The Garcia racket used by Harold Solomon was the 240...you are correct that it became the Strato by Rossignol. The Garcia 360 was similar to the Spalding World Open, a more flexible 'players' racket from the '70s.

Interestingly, the DD reference was also used to market golf clubs. I guess battleship terms die hard! :)
 
coachrick said:
Perhaps I could use that term to explain the extra pounds I'm carrying!
Click to expand...

it's a sad man that won't build a shed over his tools.

not sure where the term came into use in guitars but a dreadnaught is the standard acoustic shape/style used in folk/bluegrass/americana for years and years and years. maybe i'll google it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
My Current Collection
Replies
2
Views
2K
justinyyang
J
J
My Raquets Just Arrived
Replies
5
Views
1K
VGP
VGP
B
Who can identify these vintage Snauwaert racquets (Mc Enroe)?
Replies
19
Views
2K
Dino Lagaffe
Dino Lagaffe
C
Wooden Racquets Information
Replies
2
Views
1K
chrispaschal
C
J
Rod Laver Chemold
Replies
4
Views
2K
Achilles2010
A
Back
Top