Tournament String Setup: Mamba Gut/?Poly?

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WilsonWand12

New User
Hey guys! I'm playing in a local charity tournament in a couple of weeks, and I didn't have time to demo anymore string setups, but I wanted to spoil myself a little on strings. I want to hybrid Mamba Natural Gut in the mains with a co-poly in the crosses, but I'm not sure which one to choose. Your opinions would be much appreciated.

Between Premium Natural Gut and Supra Gut, which one is a better investment? Honestly the only thing keeping me from settling on the Supra is the fact that the only gauge available right now is 17. Does anyone know which string is more durable, the 16g PNG or the 17g SG? And does hybriding a poly in the crosses give the 17g more durability? (Dumb question, maybe, but I want to be sure.)

For the poly crosses, I've narrowed it down to Iontec Black, Black Mamba, Poly Premium and Black ION Rough. The latter of the two have textured profiles, and I'm skeptical about them because I do not want them to saw through the mains easily, especially if I were to get the 17g Supra Gut. So which of these provides the best combination of comfort, spin, and durability in a gut/poly setup?

So if anyone has any experience with any of these gut/poly setups, feedback would be awesome! If no personal experience, just general input is more than welcome as well!
 
Sorry, additional info I forgot to mention at first: I'm still using the Pro Staff 90 (16X19) if that will influence any of these setups. It shouldn't, but just in case. And what tension would be best? Thanks again for the input!
 
I used Mamba Premium Natural Gut 16g/MSV Co-Focus 1.18 for a long time:

1) I hope you are stringing yourself, because these strings lack quality control and if you are not careful, they can snap while stringing. Do not string higher than 55lbs, they even say so on the packaging.

2) They play really well once on the racquet though. Nice and soft. But again, because of lack of quality control, they're prone to fray/unravel prematurely, and snap prematurely as well. In my experience, this happened ~30% of the time.

3) The racquet adopts the characteristics of the main strings. So keep the gut in the mains. It's pointless to put gut in the crosses.
 
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
I used Mamba Premium Natural Gut 16g/MSV Co-Focus 1.18 for a long time:

1) I hope you are stringing yourself, because these strings lack quality control and if you are not careful, they can snap while stringing. Do not string higher than 55lbs, they even say so on the packaging.

2) They play really well once on the racquet though. Nice and soft. But again, because of lack of quality control, they're prone to fray/unravel prematurely, and snap prematurely as well. In my experience, this happened ~30% of the time.

3) The racquet adopts the characteristics of the main strings. So keep the gut in the mains. It's pointless to put gut in the crosses.
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So since you had that experience with the PNG, do you think the Supra Gut will handle slightly different in the quality control area?
 
polytheist said:
What kind of player are you?
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I consider myself a 3.5 aggressive all court player with an emphasis on offensive baseline play. My weaknesses are volleys, but I'm in the process of improving them now. My most consistent shot is my one handed backhand, but the forehand is the stronger of the two.
 
Unfortunately Mamba is, and has been for a while, out of stock of their natural gut. So unless you already have some sets, you're out of luck going this route.
 
If you are playing matches with heavy hitters I'd string a few sticks as the mamba gut might break on you.
 
Dang it! Any good alternative string? Like Discho Microfibre maybe? Or maybe I should just say screw it and go ahead and get VS gut. This unfortunate news leaves me many options now.
 
Well if you do the Microfibre setup, please post how you like it. I've only read good things about it, but just from a few people. So it would be nice to have another opinion on the string.
 
My suggestion is to go to the big auction site and try some of the off brand natural gut from India. There are usually a few sellers of it on there at any given time and it is a fraction of the cost of VS.

I've been experimenting with this stuff in the mains with a cheap poly cross and it is fantastic. The bottom line is that, stringing it myself, it costs less than $10 per frame. As noted by many, keep the tension on the lower side. I've been using 55 in the mains with the poly crosses at 60.
 
loosegroove said:
Well if you do the Microfibre setup, please post how you like it. I've only read good things about it, but just from a few people. So it would be nice to have another opinion on the string.
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I have my racquets strung up with them right now. I really like them, comfortable, ample spin production (as long as you use the proper strokes), and decent power. I strung it up at 50 pounds, and even then the power is not overwhelming and the string movement is minimal. I was having a hard time trying to decide on which string was my favorite thus far, the Prince Premiere Attack or Microfibre. I have to say Micro wins, because PPA gets really stiff when it dies, and if you're not aware that it has died, your arm can suffer the consequences.
 
WilsonWand12 said:
So since you had that experience with the PNG, do you think the Supra Gut will handle slightly different in the quality control area?
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I haven't tried Supra Gut, and in my opinion, it's not worth it.

Because at $15, Mamba Premium Natural Gut is significantly cheaper than those with quality control. But at $22, Supra Gut is $4 away from Klip Legend Gut, so... no thanks.
 
More than likely the 17g mamba gut will be more like 16g. Good stuff actually but like others have said keep the tension under 55 pounds. I like the Black ION Rough. It allows the gut to slide nice and easy just like ALU Rough. We basically have the same racket so I suggest 50/48.
 
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WilsonWand12 said:
I have my racquets strung up with them right now. I really like them, comfortable, ample spin production (as long as you use the proper strokes), and decent power. I strung it up at 50 pounds, and even then the power is not overwhelming and the string movement is minimal. I was having a hard time trying to decide on which string was my favorite thus far, the Prince Premiere Attack or Microfibre. I have to say Micro wins, because PPA gets really stiff when it dies, and if you're not aware that it has died, your arm can suffer the consequences.
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Both are good strings but the PPA does firm up at the end for whatever reason.
 
I've used both. Supra isn't really any better quality but does seem to be able to handle a bit higher tension. I tried 17g supra and it kept snapping on me. Not worth it. The premium ng is worth it. I bought a bunch 3-4 months ago and the quality seems much better than when the strings first came out. I have 6 sets of Premium gut but I don't play much anymore. let me know if you want to buy some off me. I don't break them stringing but I'm a fairly experienced stringer.
 
TheRed said:
I've used both. Supra isn't really any better quality but does seem to be able to handle a bit higher tension. I tried 17g supra and it kept snapping on me. Not worth it. The premium ng is worth it. I bought a bunch 3-4 months ago and the quality seems much better than when the strings first came out. I have 6 sets of Premium gut but I don't play much anymore. let me know if you want to buy some off me. I don't break them stringing but I'm a fairly experienced stringer.
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That, just be really careful and it'll be fine. HOWEVER, once it's on your racquet and it snaps pre-maturely, there's pretty nothing you can do about it unfortunately. :(

Good thing is, it doesn't happen often, but it does happen.
 
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
I haven't tried Supra Gut, and in my opinion, it's not worth it.

Because at $15, Mamba Premium Natural Gut is significantly cheaper than those with quality control. But at $22, Supra Gut is $4 away from Klip Legend Gut, so... no thanks.
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You have a good point here.

I've set my sights on Babolat Tonic+ 16g. Slightly cheaper than VS, but I'm sure it gets the job done all the same.
 
Lambsscroll said:
More than likely the 17g mamba gut will be more like 16g. Good stuff actually but like others have said keep the tension under 55 pounds. I like the Black ION Rough. It allows the gut to slide nice and easy just like ALU Rough. We basically have the same racket so I suggest 50/48.
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Good to know info! Would you still suggest stringing low if my racquet is "depolarized"? I added two strips of lead tape to 3 and 9 on the racquet, and the plow through is perfect, but of course that means power on the groundstrokes is all too easy. So could I get away with stringing it a little higher? And if I go with the Tonic+ 16g/Black ION Rough hybrid, would the poly eat through the gut in two days because of it's texture coating? If yes, what do you think about using Iontec Black instead? I really need the gut to last at least two days, one for practicing and the other for the actual tournament.
 
I actually tried VS BT7 ( not tonic) 16g mains with ION Rough cross and it played really well I mean REALLY well. I was amazed on how well the gut slid along the poly. ION Rough didn't eat through the gut at all. In-fact there was minimal notching after 6 hours or so. Your racket being depolarized is similar to mine so low tension of 50/48 shouldn't be an issue. Its a matter of how fast your swing speed is. I consider mine as being really fast which takes advantage of low friction hybrids.
 
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This is extremely helpful! Thank you for the feedback! Assuming all things are equal between Tonic+ and VS minus the few minor quality details, I cannot wait for this setup!
 
One last question, though, before I make my "final answer"; does anyone know how Pacific Classic Gut 16g, Klip Legends, and Klip Armour Pro stack up against Tonic+?
 
WilsonWand12 said:
One last question, though, before I make my "final answer"; does anyone know how Pacific Classic Gut 16g, Klip Legends, and Klip Armour Pro stack up against Tonic+?
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I haven't hit with the current Tonic+, or any Babolat gut. But from what I've heard, the BT7 versions are garbage. Look around the board, and you'll see that many old-faithfuls refuse to buy current Babolat gut. All because of the BT7 process, it's supposedly much stiffer and nothing like what it was before.

I'm using Pacific Classic and I am in heaven. :) I'm looking forward to try Klip Legend once they're available again (in May I heard).
 
WilsonWand12 said:
One last question, though, before I make my "final answer"; does anyone know how Pacific Classic Gut 16g, Klip Legends, and Klip Armour Pro stack up against Tonic+?
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I've tried the black vs bt7, tonic+ (bt7) and pacific classic. Frankly, the tonic played the best. Good tension maintenance, consistent feel from beginning to end, smooth with good pop. VS bt7 has retained all the properties of old VS but doesn't feel like it. It just doesn't feel like gut. It almost feels like a soft poly but with more pop. That's why the old guys don't like it. Gut and poly are on opposite sides of the spectrum. I'm not an old guy but I like the old VS much more. Pacific classic needs to break in, but once it does, it's not any different than the old VS. Just a bit less power.
 
So I decided to go Pacific Natural Gut since I'd save a few bucks and I read somewhere that it is consistent along the string, and Tonic+ not so much.

I already placed the order for them and Black ION Rough! They should be here tomorrow! Can't wait to give it a play test and give a review!

Thanks again for all your input on helping me make a decision!
 
Pacific Classic Gut and ION Rough has arrived! I'm just waiting (and waiting, and waiting, and waiting) for my Microfibre to pop so I can put them in, but at this rate I'll just have to restring the racquets before that even happens. I can say this, Microfibre is more durable than I could have ever given it credit for.

I'll update my playtest with this setup to let you guys know how it plays! Expecting the best, I want to do well in the tourney!
 
I wanted to replicate the Wilson Champion's Choice setup as best as possible in two racquets without having to pay the hefty price. I figured the poly would eventually cut into the gut a bit, but I just need it to last one light-hitting practice session and all tournament, and I've got two racquets, so I'm confident that I can make it last at least that long. But for next tournament, I'm going to try PCG with Iontec Black instead. I've heard so many great reviews of that one, a playtest with it is inevitable.
 
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
Why rough again? It'll cut into the gut life?
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Dude, It doesn't. Rough just means texture. Cant a texture poly compliment natural gut? Federer found this out back in 2003. ION Rough and ALU Rough don't saw through gut on the contrary they both allow gut to slide willingly.
 
Lambsscroll said:
Dude, It doesn't. Rough just means texture. Cant a texture poly compliment natural gut? Federer found this out back in 2003. ION Rough and ALU Rough don't saw through gut on the contrary they both allow gut to slide willingly.
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And I'm pretty sure durability isn't a purchasing factor for Mr. Federer, while playability and the feel of the stringbed are the two all consuming factor. For he has enough financial means to last a few lifetimes.

I never said anything about rough/textured/shaped strings not allowing gut to slide about. But I do believe that same property will exaggerate the wear on the gut.
 
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
And I'm pretty sure durability isn't a purchasing factor for Mr. Federer, while playability and the feel of the stringbed are the two all consuming factor. For he has enough financial means to last a few lifetimes.

I never said anything about rough/textured/shaped strings not allowing gut to slide about. But I do believe that same property will exaggerate the wear on the gut.
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I see what your saying and to many it makes sense. Kind of like someone using a handsaw to saw a piece of wood, right?

Well the difference here is that ALU Rough allows more air between the natural gut and the poly. This in-turn reduces friction and reduces heat so there is less melting. Not all textured polys do this and thats what makes ALU Rough and ION Rough unique.
 
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I tried Mamba Premium NG with Iontec Salmon crosses. It was on the powerful side and played well for about 3 hours. Then I noticed less spin and my arm getting numb, so I cut it.

I also tried a few mid-priced natural gut strings. Babolat Tonic 16 was the easiest to string because of its quality and consistency, but it was overpowered and mine lasted only 5 hours because it had one weak spot that frayed early while the rest of the string bed looked fresh. My experience with Pacific Classic was much better. Classic was softer, had better feel, and wasn't so overpowered. Klip Legend lasted the longest but it wasn't as soft as Pacific Classic.
 
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