New Equipment 2017

Hi stratara, I thought you were a smart cookie. Why do you get on board to those brainless statements of Andy Smith ? I just told the truth of soulspin and my experiencies of doing a special blade.

If you don't believe as an ordinary human being, I can't help you.

Actually, Butterfly Special Order has of the most limits together with Nittaku's. Asymmetric structures cannot be requested as commercial special order, and the blade dimension is limited to all commercial blades' dimensions, I believe?

Edited by Jasonh - 01/17/2017 at 1:44pm

To be honest, that is what it sounds like to me.  I have become pretty picky about my handles, but tt-spirit has demands that would not be plausible for anyone except a small custom maker like maybe Mr. Levy in Romania. 

From what I have seen of Soulspin blades, they are awesome, and NOBODY gives you more flexibility.  But even they have limits.

The blades made by Soulspin that I have seen from people who have purchased directly from them are amazing.  I have first hand knowledge of their feel and build quality.  They build blades for other companies (Donic for ex.) and I don't know if they are responsible for the design, and I have not tried their blades.  I certainly lack the secret EJ power to judge just by looking. 


So Soulspin made a blade you don't like?   Remember, Btfly came out with a Kreanga blade that wasn't even legal and that they took off the market a few months later!  (It was a terrible blade for other reasons).  They brought you the Boll Tricarbon, and a bunch of other losers.  Of course Btfly also have created Viscaria and several other blades that would have to be on any objective list of greatest blades ever.  Stiga has some of the other all-time greats too.  Nobody could dispute that.  They have also introduced blades that de-laminate.

The problem with Soulspin is they have almost too many choices for handles, so without the test boxes how does one narrow it down?  (Also, I am not sure they will send the test box to the US).  From time to time I travel to that part of Germany, so I have figured the thing to do is just go there in person and get custom fitted, so to speak, as if it was a suit.  I will definitely do that one of these days.

By the way, Soulspin offers every blade they sell in three different head sizes!  Who else does that? (Nobody).  And they don't just allow you to choose handle shapes (including asymmetric handles, which is kind of their specialty) they also give you multiple choices for handle material, so you can adjust overall weight and weight balance.  Heavy handles can be chosen reduce head heaviness by selecting a given handle cap made from denser wood.  Again, who else lets you do that?  (Absolutely nobody).

Lack of expertise?  The guy who started the company had decades of expertise working for several other blade companies.

As for Btfly, I think they have discontinued making special custom blades for ordinary people, unless that has changed in the last couple of months.  My results going that route were not happy, but I may not have been specific enough with what I requested from them. 

Baal wrote: Jasonh, I can't speak to any of those rubbers made by the Daiki factory except for Karis.  I can compare Karis to some ESN rubbers like MX-P or EL-P.  Karis has no smell of booster at all, and it doesn't play at all like a boosted rubber.  It domes a little out of the package so I am not going to claim with absolute certainty that it does not have some additive to the sponge, but it it does, it doesn't have any of the usual booster smells.  The most notable thing about Karis is the extremely short pips.  The topsheet is not shiny, it is a quite dull color.  Nicely grippy, though.  From the photo Mantra looks like that too, but I don't notice the lines in Karis.  Regarding the sponge of Karis, compared to what I have used for the last decade (T05 and MX-P) it has very small pores.  Makes it a lot easier to glue down.  Very very easy to cut, also.

itc powercell mp is also from daiki and similar to karis hard sponge and mantra

piligrim wrote: Baal wrote: By the way, Soulspin offers every blade they sell in three different head sizes!  Who else does that? (Nobody).  OSP?

piligrim wrote: Baal wrote: By the way, Soulspin offers every blade they sell in three different head sizes!  Who else does that? (Nobody).  OSP?

Oops. I'm an idiot.   

Yes.

OSP and Soulspin.

AMonteiro wrote: Donic Dyjas Ultra Power (based on Jakub's blade / 7 ply Clipper like) http://shop.sport-schreiner-tt.de/dstore/Hoelzer/37349/DONIC-Dyjas-Ultra-Power.html

Already on the list.

Ray wrote: Blades: Xiom Musa Euro Xiom Musa Asia Rubber: Xiom Musa III

Jasonh wrote: AndySmith wrote: Omega II Love (??? A valentine's special perhaps...) WWWWWWHHHHHHHHAAAAAATTT???????

TurboZ wrote: DHS is giving us Gold Arc 5 and 8. Made in Germany and developed with the help of WLQ and Ma Long. Package is very Chinese New Year with a Red and Gold theme. Both have BIOS logo on package but Tensor logo on GA8 only.

Edited by AndySmith - 02/02/2017 at 7:20am

TurboZ wrote: AndySmith wrote: TurboZ wrote: DHS is giving us Gold Arc 5 and 8. Made in Germany and developed with the help of WLQ and Ma Long. Package is very Chinese New Year with a Red and Gold theme. Both have BIOS logo on package but Tensor logo on GA8 only.   That's very surprising!  A bold move if true.  Any links? Not to worry - I've found them: http://www.ttshop.cn/goods.asp?id=12957 http://www.ttshop.cn/goods.asp?id=12956 Wow, eh?  So, GA5 is cheaper (£20-ish), non-tensor, slight confusion on the sponge hardness (pic says 47.5, description says 42.5).  GA8 is more expensive (£29-ish), tensor, 47.5 degrees.  I guess both are non-tacky? Yes they are non-tacky Euro style rubber. GA5 has a choice of 42.5 and 47.5 in hardness. GA8 has 47.5 and 50. They said GA5 is meant for BH and GA8 for both sides.

TurboZ wrote: Probably only through a taobao agent for now. Hope TT11 will stock it soon.  I have not used buychina before but they seems straight forward with clear pricing.  http://www.buychina.com/products/544610579819

I am curios about the Joola short pips - much though I find their product and pricing ridiculous.