Natural Gut/Poly Stringing

[Cobra Tennis]

I used to carry Pacific racquets and strings in my shop about 8-10 years ago. Was always a Fischer fan, and thought some of the Pacific lineup was really solid. The X Fast Pro, and the new molds of Pro 1 were buttery and still Fischer quality. However, Pacific had major supply issues. I was told over and over again "the racquets are on a boat in the Miami import port" just waiting to pass customs and then they would have them to me. Months go by and still nothing. Strings were the same way. The polys were fair but nothing to write home about. The gut, Tough Gut, Bull Gut, Classic, etc were great but also had the same supply issues.

After not being able to get frames people wanted or the strings, I finally just stopped trying. It really stinks when you WANT to spend money with a company and through their own faults, can't.

 

[LOBALOT]

Sometimes it's not the brand! I had that happen for 3 sets of Luxilon 1.25mm gut, which I purchased from TW. They'd break in the same spot (5T) spontaneously, and twice without even hitting, busted in the bag. I changed out the grommets after it happened twice and it continued to bust in the same spot. The spontaneous snapping happened after the grommet change. My stringer has strung gut for me for years with Wilson, Pacific, Luxilon and Babolat, with great results, so it blew both our minds. Kept snapping around 5T, even when we flipped the space (I always insist on the YY facing up on the stringer). Since I was supplying the gut, he even offered to charge me less cos he was embarrassed.
It just so happened that I'd just bought a Pro Stringer around the same time for my kid. She insisted on trying and we followed the cross to cross tie off pattern on the residual set of Luxilon, and it played for 7 hrs before snapping at the sweet spot. I was pleasantly surprised and even told my stringer. I had her repeat it on a new set from the same batch and I got my usual 7-8 hrs from them. So yeah, could be the machine, stringer, or string! haha
I always have the stringer do a manual hand pull to get rid of coil memory, then use a 5% prestretch on the machine for gut. The pro-stringer doesn't have a prestretch function.


It could also be just old stock they are trying to get rid of at full retail to maximize profit? NZ has gone to diary in the last 10-15 years, so it could be a serosa supply issue for Pacific?

Sure, I have it happen before when restringing a buddies racquet that had brand new grommets.

However, in my case these are not new grommets and I was swapping out gut/poly for gut/poly. In other words the previous racquet had VS/poly in it without issue.

Also, I have since restrung the racquet with VS/poly and am not having an issue.

 

[am1899]

I wish they would communicate what’s going on.

THIS.

 

[Rabbit]

Pen in one more for a 'meh' response to Luxilon. I bought a ton of it on sale and string it for one person who doesn't care. I much prefer Babolat/Pacific or even Klip to it especially at the price point for Luxilon. I have to say that going forward, Klip is feeling better and better.

I don't buy the New Zealand labor cost argument as Australia has comparable labor costs don't they?

@kkm @am1899 @LOBALOT Pacific has a history of being flaky. They had a presence in the States back in the 80s. And, they had a fantastic product, that gold gut that McEnroe used was just plain great. IIRC, they had one line, the gold gut. I bought the crap out of it and played it in my ProStaff. Then...they had a big sale.....Gold Gut $10/set. Then crickets for 20+ years and they come back. Now they're gone.

Corporate decisions are often not good ones. Sears, K Mart, JC Penny, Woolworth's, and too many others to name are testaments to that. Pacific, like any other corporation, is subject to the whims of those who run it. And people make mistakes.

I sure hope they come back, but I wouldn't count on it (or the company).

 

[struggle]

Glad i opened a can of worms.

Klip it is.

 

[LOBALOT]

Pen in one more for a 'meh' response to Luxilon. I bought a ton of it on sale and string it for one person who doesn't care. I much prefer Babolat/Pacific or even Klip to it especially at the price point for Luxilon. I have to say that going forward, Klip is feeling better and better.

I don't buy the New Zealand labor cost argument as Australia has comparable labor costs don't they?

@kkm @am1899 @LOBALOT Pacific has a history of being flaky. They had a presence in the States back in the 80s. And, they had a fantastic product, that gold gut that McEnroe used was just plain great. IIRC, they had one line, the gold gut. I bought the crap out of it and played it in my ProStaff. Then...they had a big sale.....Gold Gut $10/set. Then crickets for 20+ years and they come back. Now they're gone.

Corporate decisions are often not good ones. Sears, K Mart, JC Penny, Woolworth's, and too many others to name are testaments to that. Pacific, like any other corporation, is subject to the whims of those who run it. And people make mistakes.

I sure hope they come back, but I wouldn't count on it (or the company).

Thank you Rabbit for the background. I remember Pacific gut but did not play it in the 80s as it was out of my price range. I think I have seen threads here on how everything seemed expensive back in the 70s and 80s. Tennis balls we would use over and over (tennis ball savers), gas, string, etc, all seemed steep back then.

Your analogy is a good one. In my mind Sears was the first online retailer from the standpoint they had the catalog and experience with shipping to customers form day 1. All they needed to do was digitize their catalog when the technology changed. How they blew that amazes me.

 

[struggle]

Interestingly, tennis balls have barely changed in price since the mid 80's. $2/can back then, barely more now
unless you upgrade a bit.

 

[jim e]

Interestingly, tennis balls have barely changed in price since the mid 80's. $2/can back then, barely more now
unless you upgrade a bit.

Balls back then at least Wilson's, were made in USA.
Now Wilson balls are made in Thailand.

 

[struggle]

Balls back then at least Wilson's, were made in USA.
Now Wilson balls are made in Thailand.

True. And I was a youth. I’m sure quality was better. I now play higher end “plusher” balls but still, the price is relatively low it seems. Then again racquets were roughly the same $ maybe more. But better built, IMO.

 

[kkm]

Balls back then at least Wilson's, were made in USA.
Now Wilson balls are made in Thailand.

and Penn tennis balls were made in Phoenix until 2009

 

[Sardines]

It is. I just wish it wasn’t so muted and dead feeling. Blech!

Well I guess I'll have to be the contrarian and show some love for the Luxgut. I used to do 10% prestretch for Babolat/Pacific but found Lux isn't as elastic. The coating is better than Babolat, Volkl/Klip, and others, and for me is the longest lasting gut, especially the 1.25mm/17g category. It still have the feel of gut, just more muted like it's older gut. Much better than most other strings, and you get at least a 10% increase in durability, especially if you use a coated cross.

 

[FIRETennis]

I couldn't stand Luxilon gut. Does not even feel like gut. I might try a thinner gauge next time if I find it for an amazing price but I doubt it. I'll stick with VS or Wilson.

 

[kkm]

I couldn't stand Luxilon gut. Does not even feel like gut. I might try a thinner gauge next time if I find it for an amazing price but I doubt it. I'll stick with VS or Wilson.

Wilson natural gut used to be made by Babolat, but AFAIK it’s now made in the same factory as Luxilon natural gut.

 

[bobleenov1963]

I couldn't stand Luxilon gut. Does not even feel like gut. I might try a thinner gauge next time if I find it for an amazing price but I doubt it. I'll stick with VS or Wilson.

Not everyone likes the same thing. Some people like Audi R7 while others like Porsche Carrera 4. I like Luxilon NG a lot better than Wilson or Babolat NG, but that's me.

 

[FIRETennis]

Wilson natural gut used to be made by Babolat, but AFAIK it’s now made in the same factory as Luxilon natural gut.

Yes, but it's not the same gut as Luxilon gut at all. Some packs are made in Belgium, some in Ireland. Completely different strings even though they look similar. Could be the coating, could be something else. Price (in EU) is very different too.

 

[FIRETennis]

Not everyone likes the same thing. Some people like Audi R7 while others like Porsche Carrera 4. I like Luxilon NG a lot better than Wilson or Babolat NG, but that's me.

And this is a forum to share those impressions, personal feelings and experiences.
What do you like about Luxilon NG compared to Wilson and Babolat. Did you try all 3 side by side?
If I had some Luxilon NG packs left over I would send some your way. Feels like transparent 4G to me.

 

[kkm]

Yes, but it's not the same gut as Luxilon gut at all. Some packs are made in Belgium, some in Ireland. Completely different strings even though they look similar. Could be the coating, could be something else. Price (in EU) is very different too.

Now they might be the same, or about the same. I saw early packs of Luxilon natural gut marked as made in Belgium, and the Wilson natural gut I saw at about the same time was also marked as made in Belgium, but since then I've seen sets of Luxilon and Wilson natural gut marked as made in Ireland. Luxilon's people were saying that the serosa was being sourced from Ireland, but I don't believe that they ever made the natural gut string in Belgium using serosa from Ireland. My bet is that they used a loophole to mark the early natural gut as made in Belgium - maybe they just did the packaging in Belgium - but decided that maybe it was better to just mark it as made in Ireland.

 

[FIRETennis]

Now they might be the same, or about the same. I saw early packs of Luxilon natural gut marked as made in Belgium, and the Wilson natural gut I saw at about the same time was also marked as made in Belgium, but since then I've seen sets of Luxilon and Wilson natural gut marked as made in Ireland. Luxilon's people were saying that the serosa was being sourced from Ireland, but I don't believe that they ever made the natural gut string in Belgium using serosa from Ireland. My bet is that they used a loophole to mark the early natural gut as made in Belgium - maybe they just did the packaging in Belgium - but decided that maybe it was better to just mark it as made in Ireland.

Definitely not the same string with diff packaging. I played with them side by side, same frames, tension, cross string. Absolutely different feeling/response. Luxilon is much thicker and stiffer like a poly, without much touch. Wilson is softer and has a unique sound. It sits somewhere in between Lux and VS.

 

[Sardines]

Not everyone likes the same thing. Some people like Audi R7 while others like Porsche Carrera 4. I like Luxilon NG a lot better than Wilson or Babolat NG, but that's me.

Yes. Each gut plays differently. Lux has control because of the more predictable elasticity, which is also more consistent tension loss, and the durability from the coating. The feel isn't that far from Babolat/Pacific for me.

 

[bobleenov1963]

And this is a forum to share those impressions, personal feelings and experiences.
What do you like about Luxilon NG compared to Wilson and Babolat. Did you try all 3 side by side?
If I had some Luxilon NG packs left over I would send some your way. Feels like transparent 4G to me.

The reason I said that is because I still have about 40 Luxilon NG single packet that I purchased in 2018 that even though the front side stated Luxilon NG but the back of the packet said Wilson.

Yes, I tried all 3 side by side and they look the same to me. The one that I don't like is Klip NG, too stiff, IMHO

 

[Folsom_Stringer_Musa]

The one that I don't like is Klip NG, too stiff, IMHO

Klip laso has uncoated NG. But less durable.
Most powerful NG (from my experience) would be GG but lasts the least and has poor quality.

 

[Rabbit]

The most powerful natural gut in my experience is Pacific Prime 17. Soft, supple and powerful it was the pinnacle of natural gut.

 

[Jster]

@struggle @am1899 to go a bit further, Pacific has pretty much withdrawn from all markets. They don't appear on any websites. You can purchase the gut from them, but it's EXPENSIVE to do so. I liked Tough gut very much and still have some.

I have shot them(mail at pacific dot com) a email in sept 2020. They have yet to reply. Whats wrong with them?

 

[Rabbit]

@Jster - are you in the States? I suspect since they no longer have a retail presence in the US they don't care any more. I would further add that manufacturers generally are unresponsive to emails IME.

 

[Jster]

@Jster - are you in the States? I suspect since they no longer have a retail presence in the US they don't care any more. I would further add that manufacturers generally are unresponsive to emails IME.

Asia.
And i am still waiting for a reply from germany. I think. Haha. Hopefully i am able to get a 2012 model for racquet. Maybe...

 

[kkm]

I have shot them(mail at pacific dot com) a email in sept 2020. They have yet to reply. Whats wrong with them?

Send them a letter.

Pacific-Entermark GmbH
Porschestrasse 4-6
73269 Hochdorf
Germany

 

[matt33]

I don't buy the New Zealand labor cost argument as Australia has comparable labor costs don't they?

Labour cost is much higher in Aus than NZ

Thanks
Matty