Poly/Syn Gut that Feels/Plays like Full Bed Syn Gut

[EggSalad]

I’m curious if any synthetic gut aficionados have a rec for a poly/syn gut hybrid that plays like a full bed of syn gut.

As a 90s player, i love synthetic gut. Absolutely love it. But not being able to play for 4 hours with that set up isn’t realistic.

I’d be curious if there are poly/SynGut hybrids rec that play similar.

 

[Grieeegoorr]

SynGut is cheap, by a stringing machine, pick up multiple reels when they are on special and avoid a rabbit hole you may never get out of.

 

[10S-Junkie]

You could try the Weisscannon Dual Reality hybrid set.
Or you could try Tourna Black Zone poly with Tourna synthetic gut armor.

 

[Humbi_HTX]

I have strung many frames with poly/s.gut hybrid, I find it to prolong the playability of the string bed and works very well with lower gages. A very thin and soft 1.20~1.10 poly crossed with 18g OGSM feels softer than full bed of 16g OGSM, and also allows you to take bigger cuts at the ball with much more spin.

The times I have seen thin poly hybrid break is because of mis-hits and shanked balls on the top of the hoop. With frames that have 16 crosses, there is little support up there and they snap. With frames that have 20 crosses there is much less chances of it happening.

2 thin poly that are very soft and I have liked as a hyrbid have been Proline II 1.15 and Ghostwire 1.10

 

[makey98]

But not being able to play for 4 hours with that set up isn’t realistic.

Can you clarify? I was confused on the problem... are you saying that you can’t play for 4 hours with Syn gut? Maybe others understood but I am new to this poly world as well. Thanks!

 

[EggSalad]

Can you clarify? I was confused on the problem... are you saying that you can’t play for 4 hours with Syn gut? Maybe others understood but I am new to this poly world as well. Thanks!

I love full beds of Synthetic Gut but they don’t last me more than 4 hours (string break), so it’s not a viable option.

Although buying a stringer might be the answer.

 

[makey98]

I love full beds of Synthetic Gut but they don’t last me more than 4 hours (string break), so it’s not a viable option.

Although buying a stringer might be the answer.

Ahh okay that makes sense. Interestingly enough it seems that a lot of the poly also doesn’t last much more than 4 hours!! At least that is what I am discovering in my experience and reading through this board.

 

[EggSalad]

Ahh okay that makes sense. Interestingly enough it seems that a lot of the poly also doesn’t last much more than 4 hours!! At least that is what I am discovering in my experience and reading through this board.

My main issue with full bed Poly (other than beating up my arm) is that it changes so much over a short period of time. I like how SynGut plays consistently until it breaks.

 

[Humbi_HTX]

My main issue with full bed Poly (other than beating up my arm) is that it changes so much over a short period of time. I like how SynGut plays consistently until it breaks.

Give it a try, string setups are very particular to each player and tension preference as well, but imhe the s.gut cross helps to keep the stringbed play fairly consistent during the lifespam of it.

It prevents the notching that happens with 2 same strings rub/slide, and happens in random spots which locks up the stringbed. Instead the mains poly barely notch at all and the crosses do not notch at all but wear down thin and flat (due to the solid core common on s.gut) as the main slides over it.

Buy a pack of Gosen OGSM 18g and 2 packs of 1.20~1.10 soft poly and consider maybe 2 or 3lbs lower than what you use in full bed of s.gut

What frame and tension are you currently using?

 

[EggSalad]

Give it a try, string setups are very particular to each player and tension preference as well, but imhe the s.gut cross helps to keep the stringbed play fairly consistent during the lifespam of it.

It prevents the notching that happens with 2 same strings rub/slide, and happens in random spots which locks up the stringbed. Instead the mains poly barely notch at all and the crosses do not notch at all but wear down thin and flat (due to the solid core common on s.gut) as the main slides over it.

Buy a pack of Gosen OGSM 18g and 2 packs of 1.20~1.10 soft poly and consider maybe 2 or 3lbs lower than what you use in full bed of s.gut

What frame and tension are you currently using?

Thank you for the advice. I’m pretty sure I’m headed in that direction except most likely with a 1.30mm SG cross.

I currently play with a Speed MP 360+ which is a 16x19 pattern.

For full Syn Gut I like the 51-53 range
For Full Poly I like ~40lbs
I’m thinking 48 for a poly/SG set up.

 

[Humbi_HTX]

Go thinner on the cross, try it yourself with a pack of 16g and 18g, you will notice much more comfort and feel. Dont be concerned about durability, you will be surprised, my younger brother plays 4.5 and he gets a few weeks out of it.

I would say start at 50lbs, if you go thin on the cross, or under 50 if you use 16g.

 

[AceyMan]

Well,

Nothing plays like a fresh bed of syngut. So I have to put that out there.

That being the case, I'm starting to play this kind of setup myself (I'm a for-hire stringer type person, if you don't know me ).

I don't have any magic spells, but I will say this is a good idea. I hit quite flat, so I'm not a string breaker, but you'll get more life if you stick with a round poly.

That being said, I recently cut out a bed of Lynx Tour 1.25 mains / Velocity 1.30 noir crosses that was still playing pretty dang good. It'd been in rotation since late March so I didn't feel too bad cutting it out.

I replaced it with Iso-speed Grey Fire 1.25 & the new HEAD Syngut (white) 1.30. The stick is a Babolat VS Pure Strike (16x20 / 98in sq.), my tensions were 21.5/22.5 kg.

Oh, and I have a 5.0 customer who bought my Pure Strike 18x20 (2nd gen) frames, and after a series of trials, we've settled on TOURNA Grit 1.30 mains & Prince og Syngut 1.30 crosses and he likes it plenty.

That combo would also play well down a gauge (1.25/1.25) but I run the 16g stuff for him to buy him more lifespan; he's not super picky about feel, so for him the durability gains make for a worthwhile trade-off.

Good luck experimenting.

HTH

p.s. I agree with @Humbi_HTX that the more elastic syngut helps buttress the poly and extend the lifespan. It also serves as a fuse, and when the syngut breaks (it will go first) the poly is almost certainly getting bagged out anyway, so you don't end up playing a dead af stringbed (to your detriment).

 

[hadoken]

So I'm 48 and played for 30 years with Synthetic Gut...Prince Lightning 17g was my goto string since ~2008. I made the jump successfully to hybrid as follows

-Reverse hybrid setup. Synthetic Mains (same Prince lightning 17g)
-17L Poly....I use gosen g-tour 3 cause it's not too expensive
-Drop the tension ~5-8 lbs.

The main knock against this is durability...doesn't matter to me because I have a stringer and the combo I use is relatively cheap. I was really anti-poly because I thought it was stiff and pointless but now that I switched I appreciate the spin. It's not as lively as pure synthetic but the tradeoff is reasonable.