Settle in, boys, it's gonna be a long one...
Didn't know there was Comp love still! Great to see.
It's quiet, but it's there. A few years ago I had a conversation like this with
@AndrewD. (
And here it is.) He had run into the pre-1984 individual grommet version, which was my old beloved college frame, and was also struck by its difference from the bumperguarded 1984 version I've stocked up on now. I recall too a TT poster from the UK who was, in the past decade, still having them shipped over from the U.S, — where thankfully there are still closets full of great Prince frames to be emptied. I've occasionally thought of tracking him down and offering him one of mine for free, just to evangelize The Faith.
I'd still call it my favorite frame, and it's still the one frame that, when I look at it at home, makes me want to go play tennis. I often think I ought to go Comp-only just because I love it, and never mind if I play better with something else... But it's
so offense-oriented — and in my dotage I need so much help on defense. The one-stripe is slower through the air, but with the twist weight of a heavy 107, it doesn't even notice an off-center hit. The Comp, even at the almost-as-impressive twist weight of a round, heavy 103, does notice the egregious off-center hits my slower feet and weaker eye now produce.
Weak attempt to get back on-topic: I'd like to hope that the Yamaha EX-110G has most of the stability and feeling of impenetrable defense of the 1-stripe, and most of the quick-for-its-swing-weight offensive nastiness of the Comp — as well as most of the good looks of its predecessors.
I got another one to replace it (the earlier individual grommet kind), and was very surprised to find that it's actually a different mold -- did you know this?
I did. I think that earlier one might be even thinner than the 1984 one. If you have calipers and measure yours, please post.
The same applies to the one-stripes: the pre-1984 individual grommet frame is a different but similar mold to the 1984. That's why slapping a post-1984 bumper strip on one doesn't work.
The throat area turns out to be a different shape, and it doesn't play the same -- it's also way heavier and more head light -- 361g/326sw/7HL.
Yep. My only currently unleaded Comp is 352g, 7.5 HL, 334, and that's with #5 grip, butt cap flare, overgrip and dampener. I have a #4 grip that's lighter still. I'd bet the difference in balance is entirely attributable to the bumper guard.
Incidentally, I know it's odd to add lead to a heavy stick, but my Comps take a little (2 or 3 g, depending on your frame-matching needs) at 10 & 2 so nicely that now the swing feels wrong if I try to use them unleaded. The upper-hoop weakness you mentioned vanishes, and the handle has more than enough weight to balance it out.
It's a very weird thing about the head size now that you bring it up -- I just played with the 7G I just got, and in the other thread I was like "yeah these 5G and 7G rackets have a pretty small sweet spot" ... but today I found myself looking at the stringbed thinking, "are you reallllllllllly a 100? You can tell me, you know ..." Well hopefully I'll have a real 100 soon ... when the Black Ace 105 arrives.
Hah! Back when I tried out the 5G Pro, I measured its stringbed at 328 x 241 mm. Applying the area of ellipse formula (works pretty well for rackets), that's only 96.2 sq".
I've only hit with 2 POGs (both 4-stripes) and didn't fall in love with them. I really wanted them to be heavier and more Abramsy like yours, and they just weren't, they seem to have pretensions to whippiness, and I want them to feel more like the Comps except times five. I'll absolutely be on the lookout for one.
Hmmm... The differences between the 2nd (pre-1984), the 3rd (1984-1987), and the 4th (1988 on) are real but subtle. If you didn't like 2 and 4, don't pay a lot to try 3.
And you've probably already realized: Graphite 2nd is to 3rd as Comp (separate grommets) is to Graphite Comp (bumper strip). The closest thing to the Graphite Comp in the family headed up by the 4-stripe would be the very different (but same mold, I think) Spectrum Comp.
Even though I love swinging frying pans, the direct feel of the EX's kinda makes more sense in that smaller headsize? An interesting thing ...
Probably. I'm not the guy to say: my use for smaller head sizes is limited to string preservation (as I so seldom make contact with them), and my enthusiasm for feeling everything directly is roughly that of a traumatized junkie forced into therapy. Give me a big, heavy pillow — I'll know when the ball arrives, and that's enough for this country boy.
Sorry for long posts! All kinds of fun stuff goin on in this thread ...
Fun to talk about, isn't it? I can already tell I'm going to be one of those geezers who doesn't understand why the minutiae of his youth isn't as fascinating to the young folk around him as it is to himself.
And, I do apologize to anyone who came to this thread and was irritated by rhapsodies on non-Yamaha frames that already occupy a good chunk of the rest of Classic Racquets.
So yeah... when my elbow heals up I mean to look for an affordable, on-topic EX-100G to try... and then I'll most likely go back to dithering between the two old Princes, while the Ti.Radical makes its very reasonable case to be included in the mix.
