What are the latest Econo-Guts?

[alidisperanza]

Hey all,

Last I was stringing them, it was Gaucho and Mamba Tennis. I still have a set or two of the Mamba but what are the latest econo-guts for those of us who don't want to be paying 30+ a set?

-A

 

[KaiserW]

Hey all,

Last I was stringing them, it was Gaucho and Mamba Tennis. I still have a set or two of the Mamba but what are the latest econo-guts for those of us who don't want to be paying 30+ a set?

-A

Global Gut on the bay.

 

[Booger]

Buyer beware. Don't say you weren't warned.

 

[alidisperanza]

Nah, I can't do the Global. TOOOO jenky for me. I also feel really strange buying strings off fleabay, yaknow? I wasn't expecting to like it but I'm hitting Mamba/BHB7 in one of my pure drives right now and so far so good. I guess I'll have to stretch the sets out that I have.

 

[alidisperanza]

I know Performaxx was on the bay too, but I'd much prefer to buy from a retailer than auction. If anyone has any alternative suggestions, I'd appreciate it!

 

[eelhc]

Hey all,

Last I was stringing them, it was Gaucho and Mamba Tennis. I still have a set or two of the Mamba but what are the latest econo-guts for those of us who don't want to be paying 30+ a set?

-A

How about Klip Legend from TW at $25.95 a set? My favorite...

 

[struggle]

I'm using the "naturalgutwholesale" stuff from the bay, but I buy it direct from the supplier. No bidding.

 

[neverstopplaying]

I just broke my last Pacific Tough gut this afternoon and I will be trying out a new low cost gut that I got from Natural Gut Wholesale (Google it). Price is low and service was fast but I can't comment yet on the playability or longevity.

So far Tough Gut has outperformed Babolat by a wide margin for me in longevity but I've played before with Global gut and it was OK (55 lbs or less).

 

[McLovin]

How about Klip Legend from TW at $25.95 a set? My favorite...

And of you go through TW's Facebook page, you can get another 10% taken off! I'm planning on giving Klip's Uncoated Legend a try this fall when I go back inside. Doubt it would last more than a set on the clay.

 

[eelhc]

And of you go through TW's Facebook page, you can get another 10% taken off! I'm planning on giving Klip's Uncoated Legend a try this fall when I go back inside. Doubt it would last more than a set on the clay.

How about Klip Legend from TW at $25.95 a set? My favorite...

I've been playing poly or poly/multi but have a few frames strung with gut for hitting with the kids/wife or those days I don't feel like working hard.

I've been getting 3 sets of mains out of a set just stringing the center 12 mains with gut on my 16x19 frames. The outside mains and crosses I string with a soft co-poly... As good as full gut on all the mains IMO.

 

[Say Chi Sin Lo]

Pulled from natural gut wholesale's site:

- High Tech Manufacturing Process
- Costs Less than BABOLAT® & KLIP® Brand
- Max Adjusted Tension 16 GAUGE: 54-55lbs
- Max Adjusted Tension 17 GAUGE: 53-54lbs

You know the gut is crap when the maximum tension is 55 and below.

 

[mctennis]

Buyer beware. Don't say you weren't warned.

Ditto this statement. I've tried all the cheap gut. They all are "junk", period. If you've had good luck with them, good for you. For me cheap gut is probably the most expensive string out there . It either breaks while you string it, breaks while you store it in your racquet bag, or breaks as you are warming up to play.
To the OP here, if you have some Mamba gut that is probably the best cheaper gut out there. I could actually get some half sets to stay in longer and it played really well for me. Too bad Mamba stopped selling gut strings. They stated they could not get a decent consistent string from their supplier.
Klip gut does not play or feel very good to me. Sort of a non-feeling gut not great control either. It is okay if you want to hit around with someone and not play in a true match.
I use to use Pacific Tough Gut until I happened to try the Pacific Prime Gut. More expensive, yes, BUT it plays like a dream. I am not a string breaker so it lasts me a long, long time AND plays great the whole time.

 

[eelhc]

Ditto this statement. I've tried all the cheap gut. They all are "junk", period. If you've had good luck with them, good for you. For me cheap gut is probably the most expensive string out there . It either breaks while you string it, breaks while you store it in your racquet bag, or breaks as you are warming up to play.
To the OP here, if you have some Mamba gut that is probably the best cheaper gut out there. I could actually get some half sets to stay in longer and it played really well for me. Too bad Mamba stopped selling gut strings. They stated they could not get a decent consistent string from their supplier.
Klip gut does not play or feel very good to me. Sort of a non-feeling gut not great control either. It is okay if you want to hit around with someone and not play in a true match.
I use to use Pacific Tough Gut until I happened to try the Pacific Prime Gut. More expensive, yes, BUT it plays like a dream. I am not a string breaker so it lasts me a long, long time AND plays great the whole time.

It's personal preference...

Klip is crisper feeling than Babolat or Pacific guts... Definitely as not plush as VS or Pacific but some folk consider those to be mushy.

 

[alidisperanza]

How about Klip Legend from TW at $25.95 a set? My favorite...

That looks like it might be my next stop. I've never played with Klip and have read mixed reviews but eventually I'll give it a shot.

I'm using the "naturalgutwholesale" stuff from the bay, but I buy it direct from the supplier. No bidding.

What's the price per set and do they give discounts for bulk buys? I'll def look into it. Can you compare it to Gaucho, Mamba, or Tonic?

I just broke my last Pacific Tough gut this afternoon and I will be trying out a new low cost gut that I got from Natural Gut Wholesale (Google it). Price is low and service was fast but I can't comment yet on the playability or longevity.

So far Tough Gut has outperformed Babolat by a wide margin for me in longevity but I've played before with Global gut and it was OK (55 lbs or less).

I have one stick strung with Pacific from a friend and it was a nice play. I'm not too sure where longevity will lie with these new Pure Drives but I'm working on it. Come August I will be on the court waaay more (studying to take the bar on the 28th). A full bed of Poly lasts me 2-4 hours of good hitting but costs me 7.00 a set. Playing with gut mains, I'm getting more out of it. We'll see.

I've been playing poly or poly/multi but have a few frames strung with gut for hitting with the kids/wife or those days I don't feel like working hard.

I've been getting 3 sets of mains out of a set just stringing the center 12 mains with gut on my 16x19 frames. The outside mains and crosses I string with a soft co-poly... As good as full gut on all the mains IMO.

HAHA! I've done this when I was short on string and didn't want to toss the extra. If I can't find anything to my liking and decide to stick with this gut/poly combo, I might just do that. Great post.

Pulled from natural gut wholesale's site:

- High Tech Manufacturing Process
- Costs Less than BABOLAT® & KLIP® Brand
- Max Adjusted Tension 16 GAUGE: 54-55lbs
- Max Adjusted Tension 17 GAUGE: 53-54lbs

You know the gut is crap when the maximum tension is 55 and below.

I mean, it's econo-gut for a reason. VS is fantastic but 1, out of my price range (for now). I also string low tension, so it's not much of a problem for me. 54/54 with the gut/poly combo. Currently 52lbs for straight poly.

Ditto this statement. I've tried all the cheap gut. They all are "junk", period. If you've had good luck with them, good for you. For me cheap gut is probably the most expensive string out there . It either breaks while you string it, breaks while you store it in your racquet bag, or breaks as you are warming up to play.
To the OP here, if you have some Mamba gut that is probably the best cheaper gut out there. I could actually get some half sets to stay in longer and it played really well for me. Too bad Mamba stopped selling gut strings. They stated they could not get a decent consistent string from their supplier.
Klip gut does not play or feel very good to me. Sort of a non-feeling gut not great control either. It is okay if you want to hit around with someone and not play in a true match.
I use to use Pacific Tough Gut until I happened to try the Pacific Prime Gut. More expensive, yes, BUT it plays like a dream. I am not a string breaker so it lasts me a long, long time AND plays great the whole time.

Yeah, I had a couple issues with Gaucho and some other brands early on but I was stringing in a Prestige Mid. Those stupid grommets alone murder the econo-gut, forget about weaving 20 crosses in tight pattern at 58lbs. Mamba definitely was the best of the lot and I was more than happy playing with it for the price. I'm going to see how long this stick lasts me since the mains are a little less than half-way notched and I have about 3ish hours of hitting then maybe try something new. For now, it's been great but I'm just getting back into the swing of things. We'll see





Thanks for all the great responses!

 

[neverstopplaying]

I just finished stringing my 1st NGW 16ga string with Alu crosses (55-51). No bad surprises or problems while stringing. As with others, some thicker parts had to be pulled through the grommets. I will report back on playability and longevity.

 

[tnguy133]

I have strung 10 gut poly hybrids using Global Gut and have had no problems and it play fairly well. My go to gut poly hybrid is Global Gut 16ga mains with Cyberflash 17ga cross and for me it plays amazing. I get effortless topspin and a crisp response with a fair bit of power. I have not had any problems with the gut snapping during stringing or premature snapping in my bag. It does have some fairly noticeable gauge variations when stringing, but it was not cause any stringing problems.

 

[volusiano]

I know Performaxx was on the bay too, but I'd much prefer to buy from a retailer than auction. If anyone has any alternative suggestions, I'd appreciate it!

The operative here is "WAS". When Performaxx was still available on the bay, I bought a whole bunch in package quantities, maybe about 16 sets, at a pretty good price (down to around $16/full set for 2nd quality). Normally 1st quality single set ran for $26. Anyway, they seem to play just as nice as the Babolat gut in my opinion. Their 2nd quality stuff is similar to Babolat Tonic.

I still have maybe 3 or 4 sets left, and I wouldn't hesitate to buy them on the bay again because it's really only the same seller for those string (Fred). There's no retailer for Performaxx. But of course it's no longer available for sale, even on the bay.

I always wonder where/how Fred got his hands on those strings, since he's only an individual seller and not a manufacturer or anything. I suspect maybe he has a back door source from a major natural gut manufacturer or something.

 

[Power Player]

The cheapest gut is babolat tonic 1.35 because the stuff lasts forever and you will have gone through 2-3 sets of cheap stuff before the babolat breaks.

 

[eelhc]

The cheapest gut is babolat tonic 1.35 because the stuff lasts forever and you will have gone through 2-3 sets of cheap stuff before the babolat breaks.

I strung 5 racquets for 3 people last August with Klip Legend and they are still playing with the same strings. All of them play 3~5 times per week. Klip is inexpensive, not cheap. A lot of players prefer it over the Babolat guts.

 

[TheRed]

The cheapest gut is babolat tonic 1.35 because the stuff lasts forever and you will have gone through 2-3 sets of cheap stuff before the babolat breaks.

I don't really agree. Tough gut costs a bit more but lasts about 2x longer for me but yes, tonic does last longer than the cheap stuff. Overall, the quality guts are better choices because cheap gut isn't even that cheap relative to syn gut and comes with lots of headaches in stringing and performance. Klip is the cheapest of the quality gut but doesn't have the traditional buttery smooth gut feel.

 

[mctennis]

I don't really agree. Tough gut costs a bit more but lasts about 2x longer for me but yes, tonic does last longer than the cheap stuff. Overall, the quality guts are better choices because cheap gut isn't even that cheap relative to syn gut and comes with lots of headaches in stringing and performance. Klip is the cheapest of the quality gut but doesn't have the traditional buttery smooth gut feel.

I agree with you about Klip. It does not have the buttery feel I like. Tough Gut does last me longer as well. Stringing cheap gut is a lot of trouble, well said.

 

[alidisperanza]

The cheapest gut is babolat tonic 1.35 because the stuff lasts forever and you will have gone through 2-3 sets of cheap stuff before the babolat breaks.

I really wasn't a fan of Tonic in the past. I can't, for the life of me tell you why but I've strung it and just...meh. Yet, I like the cheap stuff and the super expensive stuff. It makes no sense.

I'm starting to get some fray on my gut now after 4 hours of hitting (although today wasn't anything impressive) but the poly is physically wearing through as well. Well see which goes first. I suspect that if I started using more resilliant gut, I'll be popping the crosses and wasting a good half set. This setup plays super soft though so I might have to consider switching to a stiffer x.


I can't remember what it is but there was a blue string with lux-like diamonds in it. And no, it's not alu power ice blue. Great spin potential but stiff as wire. Thoughts?

 

[struggle]

Pulled from natural gut wholesale's site:

- High Tech Manufacturing Process
- Costs Less than BABOLAT® & KLIP® Brand
- Max Adjusted Tension 16 GAUGE: 54-55lbs
- Max Adjusted Tension 17 GAUGE: 53-54lbs

You know the gut is crap when the maximum tension is 55 and below.

I've strung the 16g at 60 with no issues. 10% prestretch too. I realize it's risky,
but so far has been worth it to a hard hitting friend who wants it tight.

 

[zapvor]

I've been playing poly or poly/multi but have a few frames strung with gut for hitting with the kids/wife or those days I don't feel like working hard.

I've been getting 3 sets of mains out of a set just stringing the center 12 mains with gut on my 16x19 frames. The outside mains and crosses I string with a soft co-poly... As good as full gut on all the mains IMO.

how do you do 2 strings on the mains????

 

[eelhc]

how do you do 2 strings on the mains????

In the interest of full disclosure, I "stole" this from another TT poster...

I get 3 sets of mains from a single package of gut... 40ft/3 = 13'4" which is plenty for 12 mains. On the 16x19 frames I string, the tie off for the mains is on the 6th grommet. So I weave 4th main, then weave the 6th, then the 5th and tie off. The 7th and 8th mains and the crosses I use a inexpensive, soft co-poly. It works out to like ~$10 for a natural gut/poly hybrid string job. The outside 2 mains really do not seem to affect the feel of the stringbed all that much.

For the outside mains and crosses, Start with ~3 feet more string than normally needed for crosses, pull the 7th main from head to throat, back up to the head with the 8th main, weave the 1st cross to the other side, pull the 7th and 8th mains on that side, then weave the 2nd cross... business as usual after that.

 

[alidisperanza]

If I keep playing with Gut, I might just start doing this. It looks awesome too.

 

[zapvor]

In the interest of full disclosure, I "stole" this from another TT poster...

I get 3 sets of mains from a single package of gut... 40ft/3 = 13'4" which is plenty for 12 mains. On the 16x19 frames I string, the tie off for the mains is on the 6th grommet. So I weave 4th main, then weave the 6th, then the 5th and tie off. The 7th and 8th mains and the crosses I use a inexpensive, soft co-poly. It works out to like ~$10 for a natural gut/poly hybrid string job. The outside 2 mains really do not seem to affect the feel of the stringbed all that much.

For the outside mains and crosses, Start with ~3 feet more string than normally needed for crosses, pull the 7th main from head to throat, back up to the head with the 8th main, weave the 1st cross to the other side, pull the 7th and 8th mains on that side, then weave the 2nd cross... business as usual after that.

interesting. wont you have too many tie offs though?

 

[Booger]

The cheapest gut is babolat tonic 1.35 because the stuff lasts forever and you will have gone through 2-3 sets of cheap stuff before the babolat breaks.

Too bad all Babolat natural gut sucks now. After the bait and switch BT7 borderline scam, I'm not ever buying their strings again.

 

[eelhc]

interesting. wont you have too many tie offs though?

It's a 2 piece, 4 knot string job.. Same as any other except for the pattern.

 

[0d1n]

I am with Power Player on this one. Tonic + Longevity lasted 16 to 18 hours for me. Tough Gut 15L lasted 12 to 14 hours. Considering the fact I can also get the tonic for roughly 3 euros less per set than Tough Gut would cost me....it's a no brainer...
I am currently testing 15G natural gut wholesale from the bay. It is less powerful and needs some breaking in when compared to both Tonic and Tough...but I have not experienced early breakage yet. The gauge is inconsistent and I had to pull quite hard to get some sections through certain grommets but other than that no worries.

 

[SloppyStringJobs]

I bought 2 sets of 17g from naturalgutwholesale on the popular auction site.

Out of the 4 half sets I received, 1 set was somewhat 17g, 2 sets were 15g, and 1 set was closer to 13g-14g.

The 17g plays okay, but the coating is pretty much gone after a 30 mins of hitting and then it starts to fray. I doubt it will last half as long as pacific classic 17 or tough gut 17. I have yet to try the 15g sets, and if anybody wants them please let me know. The 13-14g set I received I had to ream every hole with the awl to get it to fit through. I hit 4 serves with it and cut them right out as it felt harsh and boardy.

As frugal as I am,I wouldn't buy again and I chalk it up to lesson learned.

 

[zapvor]

It's a 2 piece, 4 knot string job.. Same as any other except for the pattern.

oh i am not reading it right then haha

 

[volusiano]

This is a great idea about using gut on the 12 mains only. I have a full bed of gut strung in 1 piece that broke prematurely near a grommet (probably bad/sharp grommet or something) and I salvaged it into a 15 ft and an 18 ft section because it hasn't frayed much at all. I wasn't thinking out of the box and have been wondering how I could reuse them again, especially the 15 ft section. Now you guys have shown me that I can easily reuse them again for a hybrid of gut/something else cheaper combo.

And I guess if you don't want to waste another whole set of the non-gut string in your hybrid setup, you can use them from a reel and eliminate the waste (if you'd had to use from a set).

 

[shamaho]

I've been getting 3 sets of mains out of a set just stringing the center 12 mains with gut on my 16x19 frames. The outside mains and crosses I string with a soft co-poly... As good as full gut on all the mains IMO.

Wait! what ?! Whoa... That is mighty interesting!!! does this stringing technique have a name? how does one go about it ? links for this technique ?

Many thanks in advance!

 

[shamaho]

In the interest of full disclosure, I "stole" this from another TT poster...

I get 3 sets of mains from a single package of gut... 40ft/3 = 13'4" which is plenty for 12 mains. On the 16x19 frames I string, the tie off for the mains is on the 6th grommet. So I weave 4th main, then weave the 6th, then the 5th and tie off. The 7th and 8th mains and the crosses I use a inexpensive, soft co-poly. It works out to like ~$10 for a natural gut/poly hybrid string job. The outside 2 mains really do not seem to affect the feel of the stringbed all that much.

For the outside mains and crosses, Start with ~3 feet more string than normally needed for crosses, pull the 7th main from head to throat, back up to the head with the 8th main, weave the 1st cross to the other side, pull the 7th and 8th mains on that side, then weave the 2nd cross... business as usual after that.

So, if I read that right, you pulled 7th and 8th mains on one side and started doing the crosses... what about the OTHER side for the two remaining mains ?

 

[eelhc]

So, if I read that right, you pulled 7th and 8th mains on one side and started doing the crosses... what about the OTHER side for the two remaining mains ?

1. Place a starting clamp outside the frame for the 7th main
2. 7th main head to throat
3. 8th main throat to head
4. 1st cross
5. 7th main head to throat
6. 8th main throat to head
7. 2nd cross
8. 3rd cross
9. etc...

Tie off the 7th main when convenient...

Study your frame carefully and think through all the weaves and tie-offs before you start... the pattern could change from change from frame to frame but generally one can do this pretty easily.

 

[volusiano]

Some frame like the Babolat APD has the tie off grommet on the 7th main, not the 6th. So the procedure above to string the 6th main before the 5th then tie off the 5th to the 6th's tie-off grommet won't work, unless you're willing to flare out the 6th's grommet. If you have enough starting clamps you can wait and tie off to the 7th grommet like normal afterward. But not too many people have 2 or 3 starting clamps. Usually people only have 1 starting clamp.

 

[eelhc]

Some frame like the Babolat APD has the tie off grommet on the 7th main, not the 6th. So the procedure above to string the 6th main before the 5th then tie off the 5th to the 6th's tie-off grommet won't work, unless you're willing to flare out the 6th's grommet. If you have enough starting clamps you can wait and tie off to the 7th grommet like normal afterward. But not too many people have 2 or 3 starting clamps. Usually people only have 1 starting clamp.

Not according to this...

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Io2Exa6ym2LVIf7VA&sig2=d1MSU5_R6BoamBEMyAQqDw

But you are correct, on some frames one needs multiple starting or extra floating clamps.

 

[volusiano]

Not according to this...

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Io2Exa6ym2LVIf7VA&sig2=d1MSU5_R6BoamBEMyAQqDw

But you are correct, on some frames one needs multiple starting or extra floating clamps.

Oops, I was thinking about the tie-off at the head which is on the 7th on the APD. But you're right, specific to the APD 16x19 pattern, you'd use the tie off at the throat instead, which is on the 6th at the throat.

However, only specific to the APD, the 4th and 5th wraps around a "woofer" at the throat. So if you go down on the 4th and back up on the 6th, you'll not be able to utilize that woofer at the throat. You'll also miss the woofer between the 6th and 7th at the throat, and you'll be wrapping the 8th around to the 7th at the throat without a woofer. So all in all, you'll miss a total of 4 woofers at the throat in this configuration, with 2 of those 4 woofers being part of your main gut's setup. But I think it's still a fair trade-off and should be OK.

 

[rodrigoamaral]

Hopefully, you dont try, Gaucho or whatever the latest brand of gut that is coming out of India.. it's just crap and mostly sold on the bay until some clowns decides to OEM it and fails miserably.

 

[Booger]

Study your frame carefully and think through all the weaves and tie-offs before you start... the pattern could change from change from frame to frame but generally one can do this pretty easily.

Do you always use a reel or is 20 feet of string enough for 19 crosses + the shortest 4 mains? I think I would come up just short on my RF97, but maybe I can use a starting clamp bridge to reach the tension head on the last cross.

 

[volusiano]

Do you always use a reel or is 20 feet of string enough for 19 crosses + the shortest 4 mains? I think I would come up just short on my RF97, but maybe I can use a starting clamp bridge to reach the tension head on the last cross.

Well, you wouldn't want to apply this practice on a hybrid set of 20 ft gut and 20 ft something else because that won't work on getting 3 sets of guts out of 20 ft in the first place, right? You'd only do this on a full 40 ft set of gut or else it doesn't make sense.

So that means that you'd be using a full set (40 ft) or a reel of the other non-gut string, right? And if that's the case, your worrying about 20 ft of the other string being enough or not is a moot point, right?

 

[Booger]

So that means that you'd be using a full set (40 ft) or a reel of the other non-gut string, right? And if that's the case, your worrying about 20 ft of the other string being enough or not is a moot point, right?

My questions is about the non-gut portion of the string job. I'm asking if I can still squeeze 2 sets of crosses out of a single pack of string if I only use a 1/3 set of gut for the mains.

 

[volusiano]

My questions is about the non-gut portion of the string job. I'm asking if I can still squeeze 2 sets of crosses out of a single pack of string if I only use a 1/3 set of gut for the mains.

I see. If you give each cross and outside main about 10" in length for a 16x19 pattern, then you probably will need about 19 ft worth of string for 23 lengths and have about a foot left for knots which should be plenty. So you probably can squeeze 2 sets of crosses out of a single pack. You probably won't need to use the starting clamp to bridge the first set of crosses but you may need to use it to bridge the last cross pull on your second set. I guess you'll get your answer for sure easily enough after you use up the first set of crosses.

 

[eelhc]

Do you always use a reel or is 20 feet of string enough for 19 crosses + the shortest 4 mains? I think I would come up just short on my RF97, but maybe I can use a starting clamp bridge to reach the tension head on the last cross.

Depends on the frame, string and tension but you could do it with 20ft. It is close though and I almost always use a reel for the crosses/outside mains.

For stretchy multi strings at higher tensions it'll work well. In fact, its a great, low cost alternative to a full bed of Natural Gut.

Didn't mean to hijack this thread... I will start another one in the stringing section so folks can follow up with their observation when stringing this pattern.

Edit... Thread created in the Stringing Techniques / Stringing Machines forum.

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/inde...-natural-gut-on-the-center-mains-only.539673/

 

[alidisperanza]

No worries eelhc, you gave a great alternative solution to a common problem.