Replacing just poly in a gutMpolyX setup

[MoxMonkey]

I have heard this is possible, haven't tried it yet. Lately I've been playing with a pro staff 85 with lux gut 1.3 and alu rough 1.25. at 60/57

I got several weeks before the strings wouldnt snap back into place.

I cut out just the poly and thought of just replacing it, but then decided to redo the whole racquet.

My thought was to weave opposite, that way the friction points would all be more or less new.

To anyone has done this before, how effective was it, and is it worth the trouble?

 

[Trip]

Opinions on this will vary, as you're about to see.

My personal take is, as long as you have a machine with a 6-point mount and it's your own racquet, sure, you can probably do it and pull it off with decent-enough success. Enough people here can vouch for it.

That said, unless it was an extenuating circumstance, and the recipient was a buddy who would absolve me of any outcome, I probably would avoid offering to do so on a client's racquet. But again, I'm sure you'll find others here who would think nothing of doing so in that case, too.

 

[SinneGOAT]

I’ve done it before, it does work as long as you REALLY MAKE SURE you have it locked down well in a 6 point machine. It drops the tension of the gut of what feels 3-5 pounds about when you cut the strings. It does work and allows you to use fresh poly in a hybrid but I wouldn’t do it more than once a string job, after the poly dies a 2nd time cut the whole thing or just let the gut break. It is a little scary though when you cut it in the machine, and cutting the starting knot sucks.

 

[MoxMonkey]

Thanks for the information. I'll give it a go when the gut stops snapping back.

Do you all string in reverse the second time, say starting under instead of over, or flipping the racquet over, to have the cross main contact points be on the opposite side of the gut for the 2nd cross installation?

 

[SinneGOAT]

Yes only string in the reverse. Otherwise it basically makes no difference.

 

[forzamr_b]

I tried this a couple of times but gave up because:

• I don’t string myself and it was difficult finding a stringer willing to change only the crosses. I had stringers who initially agreed then declined further jobs citing that it wasn’t worth their time.
• Changing the crosses didn’t extend the playability period long enough. At most a further 10 hrs before the gut eventually snapped. This was not economical for me since I had to pay to restring crosses.

 

[stapletonj]

There is plenty f info on this issue over in the stringing subsection, btw...... (I have done this for myself successfully once or twice)

 

[HeavyHitter]

I had to do this a few months ago because I hated the poly cross I was testing. Only hit for 30mins, cut and restrung with my usual poly but the tension dropped significantly already and eventually had to cut everything out. Don't do it.

 

[Fighting phoenix]

I did this and it worked great - on my Ektelon two point mounted crank stringing machine (recently upgraded to a 6 pt mounted constant pull), which maybe wasn't the wisest thing to do. And yes I did a reverse weave.