Natural gut string

njhmusicman

Semi-Pro
I'm wanting to try to string in my blade 104 and my gamma rzr bubba 137 1.40mm klip natural gut. I'm not sure though what tension I should put it at. I usually string my blade 104 at about 54 lbs full poly and my gamma RZR Bubba at 65 lb with full poly but I'm new to gut so any help with tension would be appreciated. Also it usually takes about 22 ft of poly or a little bit less to string the crosses of my gamma rzr bubba 137 So would the natural gut stretch and only take maybe about 20 feet? Also the poly I use is gamma iO soft 1.40mm and Diadem flash 1.35mm. Thanks in advance for the help!
 

esgee48

G.O.A.T.
Are you using only one pack of Klip 1.40 mm NG? And you want to use NG as cross in both? I am not sure what you are asking. The Blade 104 needs 18' or 19' for crosses. The RZR 137 needs 21'. Definitely recommend using starting knot on both. I would not pre cut the NG. I would pre string the crosses w/o any mains and see what it takes to get to the gripper on both sides. You may decide to bridge one end. For the test, you can use SG and see what lengths are need if you do not want to touch the NG. Only after this would I think about cutting. Cutting too early and you could waste the NG. FWIW, ploy stretches about 1%. Everything else, asssume 3-7% though I would not assume the 7% number to be reliable.
 
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Steve Huff

G.O.A.T.
Are you wanting to do all natural gut, or just half gut/half poly? With the Gamma, you're going to have to get creative. I'd string 1-piece to make it go further. If all gut, here's what I would do: I'd string 1-piece, put 12 feet on the short side. Then, string all the mains as you normally would. With the short side, I'd string as many of the top crosses as you could. That may be 1, 2 or 3 (probably won't make 3 though). With the long string, I'd pre-string the 8th and 9th main before you start the top crosses. After you string the 8th main (long side) clamp at the bottom using a starting clamp or floating clamp, whichever you have. Then, string the top crosses with the short side. String the 9th main with the long side and start your crosses from top to bottom. Go as far as you can and tie off. Great if you are able to get them all done, but I doubt it. Get however much of a left over string, preferably a multi, and find or create a tie off hole and string the rest of the crosses with it. You may need to use a synthetic gut as the 1.40 natural gut is pretty thick, and you may have trouble getting a multi through the hole. A 17g synthetic gut should do just fine. Use a starting knot and finish with that string. Go tight. I think 65# is the tightest they recommend. You 'll get more power than the poly at 65, but you don't want to stretch the limits of your racket or your gut, so I'd start there.
 

njhmusicman

Semi-Pro
Thanks everyone for your help. I cut the natural gut straight in half to try it on both of my blade 104s, one with the flash string and the other with the gamma IO soft. From the experiment the blade at 54 lb only needs a little bit less than 18 ft of the natural gut to be strung. For the gamma RZR bubba, It takes about 21 ft for the crosses at 65 lb. So I strung both blades with the poly in the mains at 49 lb and the natural gut at 54 lb and with the gamma racket I strung the poly and the natural gut at 65 lb. I'll let you know how they play as I'm hitting for 3 hours later today.
 

njhmusicman

Semi-Pro
So I hit with both rackets strung up with the poly natural gut hybrid and they played great. I now understand why people love natural gut, the feel and comfort was outstanding but I could still get good control and good spin. I just strung up my Babolat aero 112 with Gamma iO soft 15l in the mains @57lbs. with the 15L natural gut in the crosses @62lbs. I'll be testing that racket out soon and comparing it to the racket I'm about to string with the same poly at the same tension but with dynam evolution to compare how they feel.
 
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