What did people used back in the 80s?

THESEXPISTOL

THESEXPISTOL

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Now we got all this poly rave, but in the 80s polys were bad and unpopular. What did those who could not afford natural gut used back then?

Synthetic gut and kevlar/syngut hybrid for stringbreakers?
 
I think poly arrived in the mid to late 90s.
Nylon strings were used back then, if gut wasn't available...
 
From the early 80's I remember seeing mostly stuff like the Leona 66 mentioned earlier and Victor Imperial (the one that had the blue spiral) being used the most often - both were widely distributed and inexpensive compared to VS or Victor's natural gut. By the mid 80's, Prince's original synthetic gut and "topspin" were very popular, along with (a little later) their "pro blend" that featured the kevlar mains. Was stringing for a shop by then and sold a lot of Gamma, too - mostly the new-at-the-time TNT - but also the different versions of "gamma gut" which were all good performers. Can't remember some of the specific brand/model names right now, but there were also a number of heavily textured sets by the late 80's that were popular with the kids and a pain (literally) to string. One had this extra single strand of material wrapped around it - for enhanced "bite" - that would just tear your fingertips up doing crosses!
 
Gamma TNT was the hot string when I was in my teens. I used Prince DNA Helix when it came out after years of Prince Syn Gut.

Never hit big enough as a kid to justify ProBlend.

J
 
Mainly PSG for me since they were like $4 or $5 per pack. I also used Gamma Gut of all flavors (including spaghetti strings) back then.
 
gameboy said:
Mainly PSG for me since they were like $4 or $5 per pack. I also used Gamma Gut of all flavors (including spaghetti strings) back then.
Click to expand...

Not quite the 80's, but I used Prince Synthetic Gut Soft until the day it became "Elekton" string.

Loved the string. Being a teenager at the time, loved how it came in all kinds of colors, and it was dirt cheap so my part-time job could sustain it.

"Elekton" just didn't play like it, or maybe I stopped using it because I couldn't get it in purple/blue/green anymore. :)
 
mctennis said:
They still make the Leonia 66. Plus when you read the reviews they still say great things about it. I may try some for the heck of it.
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Mike.. I used it for years. The 77 is the 16G and the 66 is a 15G. All I really used in the 80s. Still a nice hit.. but I bet with my newer strokes I would break it in under 5 hours. I also used to play a much smaller head.. and 18 x 20 pattern. The 66 used to last for weeks and weeks..

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Toalson_Leoina_66_15L_String/descpageACGAMMA-LEO.html

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/feedback-LEO.html

If you hit with heavy topspin you are going to rip thru these. If you have an older type/flat game... these are really a nice hit.
 
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It's actually "Leoina" not "Leonia". And the 66 used to be what most of my friends played with because we were young and our parents didn't want to pay for restringing all the time!

Another popular string was Toalson Gold ("Toa Gold"). But again, only the 15 gauge lasted long enough to play with more than a few matches.
 
mctennis said:
They still make the Leonia 66. Plus when you read the reviews they still say great things about it. I may try some for the heck of it.
Click to expand...

SteveI said:
Mike.. I used it for years. The 77 is the 16G and the 66 is a 15G. All I really used in the 80s. Still a nice hit.. but I bet with my newer strokes I would break it in under 5 hours. I also used to play a much smaller head.. and 18 x 20 pattern. The 66 used to last for weeks and weeks..

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/Toalson_Leoina_66_15L_String/descpageACGAMMA-LEO.html

http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/feedback-LEO.html

If you hit with heavy topspin you are going to rip thru these. If you have an older type/flat game... these are really a nice hit.
Click to expand...

TonyB said:
It's actually "Leoina" not "Leonia". And the 66 used to be what most of my friends played with because we were young and our parents didn't want to pay for restringing all the time!

Another popular string was Toalson Gold ("Toa Gold"). But again, only the 15 gauge lasted long enough to play with more than a few matches.
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If I recall, this current one isn't the same as the one you all used.

I was going to get some for my wood frames, and remember being told it wasn't the same as the one of old.

J
 
J011yroger said:
If I recall, this current one isn't the same as the one you all used.

I was going to get some for my wood frames, and remember being told it wasn't the same as the one of old.

J
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Hey Jolly,

It pretty much seems the same to me.. but who knows. I strung up a set about a year ago..seemed the same to string.. but I did not play the frame it was for a customer. BTW Klippermate has the same string in their line up (16G). I used to buy it when I could not get the Leonia.

http://www.klipperusa.com/products/gripstringdetail.php?catnum=S260

General Info:
"One of the oldest, most widely accepted strings on the market."
 
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I used leoina 66 then switched to Tecnifibre 515 and 416. Tecnifibre 515 was the first multi I ever played with. I also used Babolat VF and Fine Play. Gamma TNT did not come out until 1991/92. But Gamma Gut was hugely popular.
 
SteveI said:
Hey Jolly,

It pretty much seems the same to me.. but who knows. I strung up a set about a year ago..seemed the same to string.. but I did not play the frame it was for a customer. BTW Klippermate has the same string in their line up (16G). I used to buy it when I could not get the Leonia.

http://www.klipperusa.com/products/gripstringdetail.php?catnum=S260

General Info:
"One of the oldest, most widely accepted strings on the market."
Click to expand...

Time to fire up the old Ektelon G!

J
 
J011yroger said:
Almost everyone used PSG, and the stringbreakers and top club players used Problend.

Gamma got big in the 90s.

J
Click to expand...

this. personally, my first experience with hybrid stringing was in college (early 90s). i never ran into anyone before that who hybrid-ed. not saying it didn't happen before then.
 
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
"Elekton" just didn't play like it, or maybe I stopped using it because I couldn't get it in purple/blue/green anymore. :)
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that's why it didn't play so well because you couldn't get it in purple/ blue/ green. lol!

i'll +1 what some have said about leoina 66 and breakage. i snapped that and psg like crazy and i've not really been much of a string breaker, well, ever!
 
vandre said:
that's why it didn't play so well because you couldn't get it in purple/ blue/ green. lol!

i'll +1 what some have said about leoina 66 and breakage. i snapped that and psg like crazy and i've not really been much of a string breaker, well, ever!
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Hell yeah! The purple gave me extra power. The blue gave me extra spin. And the green gave me extra touch.
 
Lakers4Life said:
I used VS Gut, it was not Babolat back then. I also like this stuff called Gutex Graphite.
Click to expand...

Did ya have the big VS stencil on it too? I always envied those who could afford natural gut. I stuck with PSG and Topspin. They still smell the same too. Perhaps a weird comment, but true. :)
 
Say Chi Sin Lo said:
Polys came around late 90s/early 00s.
Click to expand...

The first poly I worked with was Polystar and Dynocraft from Snauwaert. Was around 1981/82. Available in 1.2 and 1.3. Played ok (1.2), lost tension fairly quick and had not that much grip on the ball, slice was harder.
Was a "hard string" which sort of drilled itself into the wooden rackets quickly.

The 1.2 played ok but did not last to long on red clay, for sure in mid or oversize rackets.

Peter
 
The first poly (hybrid) I had ever used was the Prince Let R' Rip. I was a teenager when it came out and I knew nothing about strings, just knew that I was snapping Prince Synthetic Gut Soft 16 (and they stopped making it) every other day in my Prince Precision Response Ti.

http://www.stringforum.net/stringdb.php?show=242

Really didn't like it, but it was durable. It hits like a cardboard.
 
I used Vantage nylon in my wood rackets and a couple of times used Blue Star (never liked Blue Spiral). It frayed and it was best just before breaking where the frays of the outer wrap would grip the ball. In my Yoneyama 8500, I think I had Leoina 66, usually. Used Gamma Ruff in my Black Aces, but it broke so quick I ended up using ProBlend, which I used for years - and sometimes still do.
 
prince topspin was highly popular mid-late 80's also. quite colorful too!!

leoina, gamma, supernatural 16. string was cheap.
 
THESEXPISTOL said:
Now we got all this poly rave, but in the 80s polys were bad and unpopular. What did those who could not afford natural gut used back then?

Synthetic gut and kevlar/syngut hybrid for stringbreakers?
Click to expand...

Your misinformation is as bad as your grammar. Poly strings weren't available in the 80's. Technology for that wasn't present. Do you also believe LEDs were available in that period, but people just never "liked" it and that's why it never caught on?

How about this, if you make a false statement, don't phrase it in a way where it sounds factual, then people who don't know better will start assuming its factual and the greater amount of people who think something is fact creates the bigger illusion the lie is real.

Poly technology wasn't developed for tennis back in the 80's. not even sure it was developed period for other processes/use ages for other things.
 
I used Prince Topspin 16 in the early 90's... and in the mid to late 90s I switched to Gamma Syn gut.
 
THESEXPISTOL said:
It amazes me that there was tennis before polys.
And people actually played well if no better...
Click to expand...

Think of it this way, strings and equipment provide a sense of comfort level for your game. If you want to talk about outcome of your shots, strings and equipment contributes just about ~10% of the outcome. (and I'm being generous)

If you're missing shots, it's not because of the strings.
 
THESEXPISTOL said:
It amazes me that there was tennis before polys.
And people actually played well if no better...
Click to expand...
This might come as a shock to you, but there was also tennis before graphite racquets. And people used wood racquets that were only 65 sq. in. and weighed 14 oz., and played very well with them. Just ask Rod Laver or Bjorn Borg. :)
 
cork_screw said:
Your misinformation is as bad as your grammar. Poly strings weren't available in the 80's. Technology for that wasn't present. Do you also believe LEDs were available in that period, but people just never "liked" it and that's why it never caught on?

How about this, if you make a false statement, don't phrase it in a way where it sounds factual, then people who don't know better will start assuming its factual and the greater amount of people who think something is fact creates the bigger illusion the lie is real.

Poly technology wasn't developed for tennis back in the 80's. not even sure it was developed period for other processes/use ages for other things.
Click to expand...

For your self-evaluation
 
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cork_screw said:
Your misinformation is as bad as your grammar. Poly strings weren't available in the 80's. Technology for that wasn't present. Do you also believe LEDs were available in that period, but people just never "liked" it and that's why it never caught on?

How about this, if you make a false statement, don't phrase it in a way where it sounds factual, then people who don't know better will start assuming its factual and the greater amount of people who think something is fact creates the bigger illusion the lie is real.

Poly technology wasn't developed for tennis back in the 80's. not even sure it was developed period for other processes/use ages for other things.
Click to expand...

First of all, English is not my native tongue, so STFU.
Second, if you read this thread carefully you'll find other posters mentioning that poly was available in the 80s.
 
Prince syn gut was very popular. Cannot remember what multi's were available but I think Gamma had a few multi's available if I had a little more money.
 
THESEXPISTOL said:
First of all, English is not my native tongue, so STFU.
Second, if you read this thread carefully you'll find other posters mentioning that poly was available in the 80s.
Click to expand...

as a HS player in the 80's, i do not recall poly strings.

that's not to say (by me) that they were not produced, but
if they were they were not popular. understandable. most
older players i know (70's 80's early 90's as young players)
still don't play poly. yet, some do at least in a hybrid. you gotta be
pretty burly to have played in the 80's and be playing poly now, IMO.
 
cork_screw said:
Poly technology wasn't developed for tennis back in the 80's. not even sure it was developed period for other processes/use ages for other things.
Click to expand...

Dacron polyester textile thread was available in the 70's.
Remember Leisure Suits?:)
P.S. Ashaway, Gosen, TOA, and Technifibre all make textile thread and fishing line as well as tennis strings.
 
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slowfox said:
Did ya have the big VS stencil on it too? I always envied those who could afford natural gut. I stuck with PSG and Topspin. They still smell the same too. Perhaps a weird comment, but true. :)
Click to expand...

Back then It only cost $10 more than the Gutex Graphite, and I was not a big string breaker. I did not have the VS stencil. You knew it was gut by the smelled out of the package. It had a very clinical smell, like iodine.
 
What and when were the first multis?
I know that Intellistring/tour was launched with the i-series racquets.
What about others? Sensation and NXT, for example.
 
vsbabolat said:
Babolat always made VS Gut. The company did go through few name changes. The Company was called Babolat-Maillot-Witt and then Changed name to BabolatVS in the mid 80's
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I just knew it for VS Gut back in the 80's. Now I know the manufacturer was B-M-W (not the German car company). ;)
 
70s - Vantage I, Vantage II, nylon, Blue Star, or natural gut (lots of different brandings) - my favorite was PDP Rough Gut

80s - Prince Synthetic Gut (no Duraflex yet) the above, lots of "graphite infused" strings, natural gut & kevlar

90s - same as 80s, poly, natural gut, lots of choice in gauge

00s - lots of choice in manufacturer (everybody found out that .50 worth of synthetic string could be sold for $15)
 
fortun8son said:
What and when were the first multis?
I know that Intellistring/tour was launched with the i-series racquets.
What about others? Sensation and NXT, for example.
Click to expand...

The Vantage, Vantage II, and Blue Star that Rabbit and I used in the 70's were all multis. I would think that they had multi-nylons since maybe the 40's.
 
Loved PSG. Pretty much everyone I knew in the 80's (I was in HS) who couldn't afford VS Gut played PSG. When Prince Topspin was available I switched to that in my shiny white Spectrum Comp 110. Didn't experience my first set of multi or gut until about 12 yrs ago, and finally tried poly about 6 yrs ago. Now doing hybrids with multi or gut mains. Life was so much simpler back then!
 
TonyB said:
It's actually "Leoina" not "Leonia". And the 66 used to be what most of my friends played with because we were young and our parents didn't want to pay for restringing all the time!

Another popular string was Toalson Gold ("Toa Gold"). But again, only the 15 gauge lasted long enough to play with more than a few matches.
Click to expand...

Oh, I was talking about Leonia strings. I guess it isn't the same string. Thanks for pointing that out.
 
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