Hello all! It's been a while since I was last on here, but I'm looking at buying my first personal stringing machine. I actually have quite a bit of stringing experience, having strung professionally at my local tennis club and part time at one of the largest mail-order tennis retailers (the one located in Baltimore, MD). This was back in my college days (20 years ago) when tennis was much more popular in general than it is today. I figure I have close to a 1,000 racquets strung over my lifetime, mostly on Prince P-200, Ektelon Model H/Prince NEOS, Babolat Star III and Prince 3000 machines.
I am looking at Tourna's 300-CS manual crank machine versus their 600-ES electronic rotary gripper machines. The primary reasons for going with these Tourna models is their relative value with similar machines from Gamma, etc. costing more and that the Tourna machines have self-leveling & centering 6-point mounting. I have read comments on this forum regarding Tourna/Unique Sports' relative "newness" to the stringing machine arena, but they are a company that has been around a while, both machines come with 2-year warranties (1-year on the electronics parts), and can be serviced long-term by Tennis Machines, who kept the Prince P-200 I used working far much longer than it had any right to.
My question to you is, what path would you take: Buy a manual crank machine and convert it to linear-pull with the 2086 or just go with a rotary gripper model? My experience has only been with linear-pull machines, so wondering if there is any true advantage between the two pulling "styles"? The main advantage I see with the 300-CS/Wise combo is having the crank-tensioner as a back-up should the Wise ever need servicing, however this is the pricier way to go ultimately by about $300-$400 (I would buy the Wise at a later date, so initial lower cost of purchase is another plus here). An advantage with the 600-ES is that it's a table-top design with a stand, so it could be easier to store than the stand-only 300-CS. I would LOVE to buy an electronic, linear pull machine, but the cheapest model (new) is the Alpha Ghost and I just can't justify that cost for a personal-use machine. I am not looking at used machines as most that I have looked into have issues with electronics, need new parts, need new clamps, have been beat up, etc...
Sorry for the long post, but really appreciate all the experience and expertise on this forum. Thanks for any feedback or suggestions!
Arvin_C
I am looking at Tourna's 300-CS manual crank machine versus their 600-ES electronic rotary gripper machines. The primary reasons for going with these Tourna models is their relative value with similar machines from Gamma, etc. costing more and that the Tourna machines have self-leveling & centering 6-point mounting. I have read comments on this forum regarding Tourna/Unique Sports' relative "newness" to the stringing machine arena, but they are a company that has been around a while, both machines come with 2-year warranties (1-year on the electronics parts), and can be serviced long-term by Tennis Machines, who kept the Prince P-200 I used working far much longer than it had any right to.
My question to you is, what path would you take: Buy a manual crank machine and convert it to linear-pull with the 2086 or just go with a rotary gripper model? My experience has only been with linear-pull machines, so wondering if there is any true advantage between the two pulling "styles"? The main advantage I see with the 300-CS/Wise combo is having the crank-tensioner as a back-up should the Wise ever need servicing, however this is the pricier way to go ultimately by about $300-$400 (I would buy the Wise at a later date, so initial lower cost of purchase is another plus here). An advantage with the 600-ES is that it's a table-top design with a stand, so it could be easier to store than the stand-only 300-CS. I would LOVE to buy an electronic, linear pull machine, but the cheapest model (new) is the Alpha Ghost and I just can't justify that cost for a personal-use machine. I am not looking at used machines as most that I have looked into have issues with electronics, need new parts, need new clamps, have been beat up, etc...
Sorry for the long post, but really appreciate all the experience and expertise on this forum. Thanks for any feedback or suggestions!
Arvin_C
