stician
Semi-Pro
My stringing experience began 18 years ago with a drop weight from Klipper Mate for $150. For two years in high school I worked at a shop that had two Neos 1000 and a Babolat Star 3. Babolat was the smoothest fastest machine I've ever used and when I went to college the Kipper Mate rusted in my parent’s basement and I tossed it. Fast forward 11 years I decided it was time to DIY again and on a limited budget pulled the trigger on the EAG-300 machine because it looked like the Neos 1000. I figured the value was too good to be true and boy was I wrong! I sucked it up and used it on probably 60 string jobs personally and did a few friends’ frames selectively as I really didn't enjoy using it. My gripe was how rough the glide bars and clamp moved. The tension head wasn’t smooth either especially the lockout release took a good amount of pressure to press back. It has some side to side slack, wobble if you will. Working on two frames back to back was about as much as I can muster before feeling mentally fatigued. I was hoping over time the machine would break in and become smoother. It’s just as rough as day one.
These past few weeks I’ve been researching endlessly for a better replacement and set a budget about $1200 starting with serious look at Silent Partner’s DG machine. Much to my dismay it is out of stock for at least 6 to 8 months; a supplier issue that the owner couldn't elaborate and it must be awful for his business. Deep down I am not 100% convinced that a rotating tension head is the best long term option since my Klipper Mate days taught me that strings crimp after a while and it was a pain to thread, wrap and secure over and over. EAG-300 has the basic upright and linear feel but the devil was in all the details. It does not rotate 360 degrees and stringing initial mains meant an awkward angle. Well actually it does rotate 360 degrees but there wasn't enough track for the crank to tension. The mounting system is crude and table lock cumbersome to use. All in it would take 35 minutes if I hustled but more like 40 minutes on most days.
I remember the Neos 1000 from 1993 was smooth and simple to use. It took about 30 minutes IIRC and 1/3 of the price of a Babolat machine it's good enough. I'm hoping a new Neos 1500 will be the last machine I buy for the next 10+ years. Since it isn’t the cheapest one when compared to Alpha and Gamma. The Neos 1500 seems like a good upgrade from the 1000 so my question is to those that have experience with both… what’s it like to use? Is it good value when compared to the Neos 1000?
TIA to this informed community!
These past few weeks I’ve been researching endlessly for a better replacement and set a budget about $1200 starting with serious look at Silent Partner’s DG machine. Much to my dismay it is out of stock for at least 6 to 8 months; a supplier issue that the owner couldn't elaborate and it must be awful for his business. Deep down I am not 100% convinced that a rotating tension head is the best long term option since my Klipper Mate days taught me that strings crimp after a while and it was a pain to thread, wrap and secure over and over. EAG-300 has the basic upright and linear feel but the devil was in all the details. It does not rotate 360 degrees and stringing initial mains meant an awkward angle. Well actually it does rotate 360 degrees but there wasn't enough track for the crank to tension. The mounting system is crude and table lock cumbersome to use. All in it would take 35 minutes if I hustled but more like 40 minutes on most days.
I remember the Neos 1000 from 1993 was smooth and simple to use. It took about 30 minutes IIRC and 1/3 of the price of a Babolat machine it's good enough. I'm hoping a new Neos 1500 will be the last machine I buy for the next 10+ years. Since it isn’t the cheapest one when compared to Alpha and Gamma. The Neos 1500 seems like a good upgrade from the 1000 so my question is to those that have experience with both… what’s it like to use? Is it good value when compared to the Neos 1000?
TIA to this informed community!
