Fish scaled Viscaria???

Is it really worth paying extra for a fish scale wood design viscaria???

Does it play better than the simple one?

Anybody has experience with the two types and can compare the performance please???

Here is a link:

http://ttnpp.com/store/home/818-butterfly-viscaria--7.html#/weight-91_92g

BTW is viscaria faster than TBS if two blades have same weight?

Thanks

Why dont u buy one to try and you will know? If it doesn't interest you, why bother finding out about its characteristics.
Just buy!

Wood surface with fish scale pattern are the best in quality. Less than 10% of the blades are having this wood pattern.

Are they serious?

Okay okay...... let me break it down for you.....
Scaly koto differs from average koto in terms of feel. Just like how light colored limba feels different from dark and dense one. The grain determines the feeling most of the time.

Scaly kotos are generally harder than the non-scaly ones. In my opinion too stiff and hard to give me the dwell i require in blades. Some players like it,some players dont. Collectors love it.
Why is it more expensive is probably becos its not something u see everyday...

I have specially bought scaly koto viscaria or tb series blades just to collect. Gameplay wise i myself prefer non scaly.
Some people may doubt my theory abt scaly koto. But well, not everyone here has the same feel.


Edited by proSpin - 07/04/2015 at 10:10am

proSpin wrote: Okay okay...... let me break it down for you..... Scaly koto differs from average koto in terms of feel. Just like how light colored limba feels different from dark and dense one. The grain determines the feeling most of the time. Scaly kotos are generally harder than the non-scaly ones. In my opinion too stiff and hard to give me the dwell i require in blades. Some players like it,some players dont. Collectors love it. Why is it more expensive is probably becos its not something u see everyday... I have specially bought scaly koto viscaria or tb series blades just to collect. Gameplay wise i myself prefer non scaly. Some people may doubt my theory abt scaly koto. But well, not everyone here has the same feel.

Thanks for breaking it down, stiffer means more speed correct?

JohnnyChop wrote: somebody told me once that scales have to do with which part of the tree the wood comes from… suppose to be better but who knows

You get fish scale pattern if the wood gets quartersawn, so no it's not a better piece of wood.

This discussion was just up over at, TT Daily http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?10800-Fish-scales-pattern-Viscaria


Edited by OldSchool - 07/04/2015 at 4:57pm

Wouldn't hurt to get it as it's only $10 more expensive :P

One thing I found is that the one that has the fish scale is impossible to get splinter.

my stand is fishscale only if u like it.

lol fish scale is probably better, but I don't think anybody on this forum can feel the difference haha...

haggisv wrote: I would not bother... chances are most of us could not feel the difference, and even if we could, how do we know which one we'd like better? We've had discussions here on other ariations between blades already, and we know that there are many other variables that give the blade different properties apart from appearance differences in the outer ply, so I would not pay extra for something that someone claims is 'better'.

I can definitely feel the difference between my best two Viscarias and the other four that I currently have (and I have owned a lot of others over the years, having played mostly with Viscaria for about ten years now, including two incredible ones that were stolen).  There is a lot that goes into any blade, and the question is how much does the orientation of the grain on the top ply matter to what you get?  Or in other words, is the fish scale top ply the main reason why one blade feels better than another?  I do not think it  it is the only thing that matters (obviously weight matters a lot), but I think it might be part of what makes some blades special.  The problem is that even though I have owned a lot of Viscarias, my own personal sample size is not big enough to say how important the outer ply orientation is.  Maybe Dean would know more, he seems to own 90% of the vintage Viscarias on the planet.

Anyway I would pay 10 bucks extra to get one like that.  I think it might be worth the risk.

By the way, I am glad some of the other posters explained what causes some blades to look like that.

One other thing.  I have never owned a bad Viscaria.  The question I am talking about is how good?  It is like comparing different years of a Gevrey Chambertin (a very famous Burgundy wine).  IMHO, there is never a bad one.  Just great ones and really good ones.

Baal wrote: haggisv wrote: I would not bother... chances are most of us could not feel the difference, and even if we could, how do we know which one we'd like better? We've had discussions here on other ariations between blades already, and we know that there are many other variables that give the blade different properties apart from appearance differences in the outer ply, so I would not pay extra for something that someone claims is 'better'. I can definitely feel the difference between my best two Viscarias and the other four that I currently have (and I have owned a lot of others over the years, having played mostly with Viscaria for about ten years now, including two incredible ones that were stolen).  There is a lot that goes into any blade, and the question is how much does the orientation of the grain on the top ply matter to what you get?  Or in other words, is the fish scale top ply the main reason why one blade feels better than another?  I do not think it  it is the only thing that matters (obviously weight matters a lot), but I think it might be part of what makes some blades special.  The problem is that even though I have owned a lot of Viscarias, my own personal sample size is not big enough to say how important the outer ply orientation is.  Maybe Dean would know more, he seems to own 90% of the vintage Viscarias on the planet. Anyway I would pay 10 bucks extra to get one like that.  I think it might be worth the risk. By the way, I am glad some of the other posters explained what causes some blades to look like that. One other thing.  I have never owned a bad Viscaria.  The question I am talking about is how good?  It is like comparing different years of a Gevrey Chambertin (a very famous Burgundy wine).  IMHO, there is never a bad one.  Just great ones and really good ones.

Baal thanks for sharing your experiences in detail and it's a shame your stuff keeps getting stolen, any chance someone is keeping an eye out for your goodies

From where do you order your Viscarias and what weights were your best ones???

All this dogged questioning over a choice that will do no more than add 25 pts to your game at best.

unstopabl3 wrote: Baal wrote: My best one ever has that appearance but my second best one did not.  I have owned a bunch of these.  I don't think it's altogether reliable. Baal what are the weights of your best and second best Viscarias??? Are they in flared handle?

Flared, both my current favorites are 91 g. All of the great ones I have owned have been between 88 and 92.  Personally I don't like the new lighter ones as much.  Actually, I only had blades stolen one time (my whole bag disappeared), but it had three absolutely fantastic blades in it.  Traumatic.  I spent a bunch of money trying to find replacements that were as good, finally succeeded.

As to NL's comment, it is true, it is true that this is a really arcane discussion about minutiae and it is doubtful that in time I play any different with any of these particular blades, but people do have a preference.  Musicians do the same thing.

As for the comment that if fish scale blades were so good, then ZJK and others would use it etc. etc., I have never seen a picture of one of their blades without the rubber on it, so for all I know that is that  they use.

Everyone has a preference. Whether it is arrived at by obsessing over things that hardly matter as opposed to falling in love with something for tacit reasons is the issue at hand. In the end, OP will love the blade even though it is clearly not what suits his game. Anyone who spends so much time buying a blade has no time to do the real work of playing good table tennis.