wedge
New User
I've decided to start getting my hands dirty with refurbishing super cheap, tired old rackets into something playable, just as a hobby. It's basically an excuse to experiment with replacement grips and sourcing replacement grommets and whatnot, and I also get to learn a lot about obscure, older rackets which is satisfying.
I've just picked up a couple that I need some advice with, though. The first is a Prince Classic Graphite Pro LX Oversize that is in absolutely pristine condition, except for one spot on the head (either from digging out thousands of low balls, or else doing the ball pickup thing against your foot like a billion times). But this is a serious scrape! It's worn away the bumper in that area, as well as all the paint, and it's well on the way to sanding down the metal. Here's a pic:
My thought was, maybe just put some nail polish or clear coat over that spot, stick a new bumper on there, and no harm no foul. But when I went to bounce a ball on the string bed, I found that while it feels fantastic on center, anything outside the sweet spot didn't just vibrate the way a normal racket does, but it also buzzed loudly! It doesn't seem normal at all. So my question for this racket is, could a scrape this bad affect the integrity of the frame so severely that it would cause nasty effects like that? Or is it possible that these are old, poop-quality strings that are unreliable, and a fresh set of strings might solve the problem? Of course, if it doesn't, I'm throwing some cash at an unsolvable problem.
The other racket I need advice with is a Prince Synergy Fusion longbody. This is again in really great condition, but the problem with this one is that it originally came from the factory with a "comfort grip", which basically means Prince wrapped a little couch over the pallet, it's this overstuffed spiral cushiony nonsense that had completely disintegrated in this racket's case. The grip size on the buttcap only says "XS", which surely means it's just a sub-4" grip pallet specially made for this ridiculous, thick and wacky grip.
I peeled it all down to the pallet, and yeah it's the thinnest pallet I've ever seen on a racket -- it measures 3.75" around, so I guess that might equate to around a size 1 with a grip? Anyway the goal is to build this back up to a reasonable thickness with a normal grip without it being a round squishy mess of overgrips. I figured I could add a full size heatshrink sleeve, bringing the pallet to a 0, then a nice thick grip bringing it up to a 2 (my goal grip size), but does that math add up? I've never really tallied up the measurement math on any racket grips I've redone before, so I can't be sure.
Other commenters on similar threads have recommended using hockey tape, which seems cleaner and easier than a heat shrink sleeve, but I'd really prefer to have a clearer understanding of how much weight I'm adding, since I'll want to balance it out in the hoop eventually. With a naked pallet, this racket weighs in at 306g, so with a 20g sleeve, a 13g Hydrosorb and an overgrip at 5g-ish, I'm bringing the static weight to 344, and then I'd want to weight the hoop, which means I'm turning this thin, pretty little racket into something quite different. But if there's no getting around that, it's all part of the experiment right?
Anyway if anyone has any input on these two reclamation projects, I'm all here for it. I especially want to know if that Prince is a goner, since that would be such a shame, it's so pretty otherwise!
I've just picked up a couple that I need some advice with, though. The first is a Prince Classic Graphite Pro LX Oversize that is in absolutely pristine condition, except for one spot on the head (either from digging out thousands of low balls, or else doing the ball pickup thing against your foot like a billion times). But this is a serious scrape! It's worn away the bumper in that area, as well as all the paint, and it's well on the way to sanding down the metal. Here's a pic:
My thought was, maybe just put some nail polish or clear coat over that spot, stick a new bumper on there, and no harm no foul. But when I went to bounce a ball on the string bed, I found that while it feels fantastic on center, anything outside the sweet spot didn't just vibrate the way a normal racket does, but it also buzzed loudly! It doesn't seem normal at all. So my question for this racket is, could a scrape this bad affect the integrity of the frame so severely that it would cause nasty effects like that? Or is it possible that these are old, poop-quality strings that are unreliable, and a fresh set of strings might solve the problem? Of course, if it doesn't, I'm throwing some cash at an unsolvable problem.
The other racket I need advice with is a Prince Synergy Fusion longbody. This is again in really great condition, but the problem with this one is that it originally came from the factory with a "comfort grip", which basically means Prince wrapped a little couch over the pallet, it's this overstuffed spiral cushiony nonsense that had completely disintegrated in this racket's case. The grip size on the buttcap only says "XS", which surely means it's just a sub-4" grip pallet specially made for this ridiculous, thick and wacky grip.
I peeled it all down to the pallet, and yeah it's the thinnest pallet I've ever seen on a racket -- it measures 3.75" around, so I guess that might equate to around a size 1 with a grip? Anyway the goal is to build this back up to a reasonable thickness with a normal grip without it being a round squishy mess of overgrips. I figured I could add a full size heatshrink sleeve, bringing the pallet to a 0, then a nice thick grip bringing it up to a 2 (my goal grip size), but does that math add up? I've never really tallied up the measurement math on any racket grips I've redone before, so I can't be sure.
Other commenters on similar threads have recommended using hockey tape, which seems cleaner and easier than a heat shrink sleeve, but I'd really prefer to have a clearer understanding of how much weight I'm adding, since I'll want to balance it out in the hoop eventually. With a naked pallet, this racket weighs in at 306g, so with a 20g sleeve, a 13g Hydrosorb and an overgrip at 5g-ish, I'm bringing the static weight to 344, and then I'd want to weight the hoop, which means I'm turning this thin, pretty little racket into something quite different. But if there's no getting around that, it's all part of the experiment right?
Anyway if anyone has any input on these two reclamation projects, I'm all here for it. I especially want to know if that Prince is a goner, since that would be such a shame, it's so pretty otherwise!
