Butterfly custom blades

With a custom blade, you can choose the handle, weight, thickness etc, instead of getting the luck of the draw, though with butterfly the quality control is very good.

My practice partner (2200+) normally plays with a Viscaria, but he decided to order a custom one. He had to wait 6 months and it cost $300, twice as much as the regular Viscaria. I hit with it and he said he can't feel the $150 difference. He actually prefers the original one. You are better off going to BladesbyCharlie.com to have Charlie make you a custom blade. Actually for somewhere around $20 he can change your handle to one of his custom ones. He did this for a couple of my Donic blades and they came out spectacular!

No value in the custom made one compared to off the shelf.  And they used to cost around $260.  I had two made.  Also, the handle shape they out on was pretty bad all considered.

In any case, at the moment they are not making them for people anymore.  And again, pro players pick from 10 or 20 blades the one they like best.  I am reasonably certain that if you take your pick of ten off the shelf blades, especially if all ten of them are the total weight you specify, you will find one that is fantastic.  Problem is, most of us don't get do that.  Over the years I have had Butterfly make three blades for me.  None of them was in any way special, in fact each of them had significant problems.  And at $260 each, it was not worth it. 

If you buy any "custom" blade vs the commercial version you will most likely be disappointed unless you have never tried the commercial version. There just isn't much of a difference. Buy the commercial version and spend the rest on coaching lessons.

The wood is the same as Gmax,KTS. It's all grade S. You are paying for a certain shape , weight and thickness more so than a better quality wood.

Well, you can find a good commercial version, but maybe 1 among 20 or 50 blades?
I have 4 Viscaria Commercial version
90,91,92,93 gr
Then I bought Viscaria Custom 86 gr which was hand picked among 12 Viscaria Custom available,
I pick the most solid and heavy one among them.
Compare 86 gr custom to 90, 91,92, 93 gr Viscaria, The 86 gr has more solid feel.
when you hit harder, it will become much faster, the comercial one seems not going faster if you hit harder and harder.
I never tried old tag Viscaria before, but comparing Q series custom Viscaria vs L Series Viscaria, i found it's more solid, harder, more consistency when bouncing it with the ball, and more powerful.

peter79 wrote: Well, you can find a good commercial version, but maybe 1 among 20 or 50 blades? I have 4 Viscaria Commercial version 90,91,92,93 gr Then I bought Viscaria Custom 86 gr which was hand picked among 12 Viscaria Custom available, I pick the most solid and heavy one among them. Compare 86 gr custom to 90, 91,92, 93 gr Viscaria, The 86 gr has more solid feel. when you hit harder, it will become much faster, the comercial one seems not going faster if you hit harder and harder. I never tried old tag Viscaria before, but comparing Q series custom Viscaria vs L Series Viscaria, i found it's more solid, harder, more consistency when bouncing it with the ball, and more powerful.

That was not my experience having bought three custom made ones.  The thing is, most people don't get to choose from among 12 Butterfly custom made ones.  The way it worked is you asked them to make it for you (I specified a weight), sent them a lot of money, waited months, and then you got what they sent you.  Don't believe for a second that every custom one they make is special because I can tell you FOR A FACT that they are not.  (Otherwise the ones I bought would have been great).

It's not that they were bad blades.  But they were not worth $260.  Here is another thing.  After spending that much money, I wanted to like them more.  I tried to like them more.  In fact, the second time I tried it I bought two blades, so after stupidly spending more than $500 (!!!!!!! ) there was every possible incentive for me to fool myself into thinking I had something really special.  But I liked them worse than at least four other blades that I owned, including a couple with silver tags.  (Next Level correctly pointed out that there was a time when I had an obsession with these blades and bought way too many of them, stupidly).

I was very disappointed with the custom ones (and later angry because I felt ripped off).  And trust me, I have owned more Viscaria blades than most people, including many black tag ones, several series.  So I ended up selling them (to some guy in England who turned around and is trying to sell them for 600 pounds sterling, which is completely insane).

By the way, my distinct impression is that the latest series of commercial ones, the ones with the hologram on them, are on average quite good.

Just find a decent ALC blade and play with it.  Play with it long enough and it will be the thing you like best.

Hi Baal, I tried to ask about the weight for the custom blades I ordered before through iruiru / ttjapan, but immediately they said that it was not possible. Perhaps I should have made the order directly to Butterfly ?

Baal wrote: That was not my experience having bought three custom made ones.  The thing is, most people don't get to choose from among 12 Butterfly custom made ones.  The way it worked is you asked them to make it for you (I specified a weight), sent them a lot of money, waited months, and then you got what they sent you.  Don't believe for a second that every custom one they make is special because I can tell you FOR A FACT that they are not.  (Otherwise the ones I bought would have been great). It's not that they were bad blades.  But they were not worth $260.  Here is another thing.  After spending that much money, I wanted to like them more.  I tried to like them more.  In fact, the second time I tried it I bought two blades, so after stupidly spending more than $500 (!!!!!!! ) there was every possible incentive for me to fool myself into thinking I had something really special.  But I liked them worse than at least four other blades that I owned, including a couple with silver tags.  (Next Level correctly pointed out that there was a time when I had an obsession with these blades and bought way too many of them, stupidly). I was very disappointed with the custom ones (and later angry because I felt ripped off).  And trust me, I have owned more Viscaria blades than most people, including many black tag ones, several series.  So I ended up selling them (to some guy in England who turned around and is trying to sell them for 600 pounds sterling, which is completely insane). By the way, my distinct impression is that the latest series of commercial ones, the ones with the hologram on them, are on average quite good. Just find a decent ALC blade and play with it.  Play with it long enough and it will be the thing you like best.

Yes I have to agree that all Butterfly Custom Blades isn't great. That's why I choose the best among them. I pick the heaviest avaliable from 83-86 gr, Which I choose 86 gr.
There's a tourist from Hongkong who choose 85 gr, scaly top ply. When I compare it to my 86 gr, Mine is harder and more solid.

I also order 94 gr FL from Butterfly North America, I got the weight as I wanted.
It's faster than the 86 gr, but I found the 86 gr has a perfect bounce, control.
The 94 gr is faster but I found it will be more difficult to control due to a more springy feel.

I got 91 gr AN, which is less special among 2 custom FL that I have, but still better than commercial L series Viscaria that I have.

I will compare the Q series Viscaria with L series and the custom one, and will let you know Baal.