Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Companies => Custom companies => Redback Cricket => Topic started by: gdb19 on August 05, 2011, 07:23:06 PM
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All,
I'm very close to ordering a 3lb redback paradox premium from Gary and am just waiting for him to get back to me with a total price including delivery.
I have a couple of questions that I wanted to ask as it'l lbe my first handmade bat from a smaller company.
1 - can anyone advise if the paradox has good pickup? At the moment I have a 2lb12 puma tribute 4000 from a couple of years ago which is a nice bat but I want something heavier (I'm 6'3 and quite a big bloke). I plan to order a 3lb paradox which I think will be ok for me if they pick up well.
2 - not sure on the etiquette when ordering a handmade bat and I'm sure Gary will make me a great bat but is there anything I should ask him for when ordering (e.g. number of grains, heartwood, etc) or is this a bit cheeky.
Any advice would be great, thanks.
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Pickup is a subjective thing, what one person likes, the next may not. Saying that, I doubt very much that any premium bat manufacturer goes out of their way to make a bat which picks up heavy for weight.
The joy of ordering a custom made bat is you can request whatever you want. If the batmaker is unwilling, vote with your feet and ask another one.
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Paradox should have a decent pick up as is higher middle
Plus as Jon says with a custom you request what ever you like and they should do there best to accommodate
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Just to add my two pennies.
I have had a three redbacks. All excellent. I sold my paradox without using it as i thought it was a bit bottomy.
The surefire's i had both had excellent pick up.
However i am sure when you talk to gary he will try and accommodate everything you want.
Receiving a handmade redback is righto up there for me! I am Jealous
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Think I'm going for a Paradox too although there's no way I could handle a 3lber!
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any 3lb bat has some scope to play with what u get if uv got that much wood to play with :)
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I have a Paradox LE and it's fantastic, easily the best bat I have owned during my 11 years of a cricketer.
I asked for specific details, and he sent me photos of 3 clefts which suited, then I chose.
Great service, and great product.
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I just picked up a paradox last week from Gary, and I must say the pick up in amazingly light, mainly as mentioned before due to the higher middle.
I must of swapped e-mails with Gary for about 3 months, sending him photos of old bats, discussing handle shapes and premium edge thickness possible on a 2lb 10oz bat. When I went to collect he had 5 bats for me to try from which I selected one. Basically Gary will try and sort you out anything within reason, so in my experience it pays to ask, if it mean you get exactly the right result for you.
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Does anyone know if Gary is away at the moment?
I emailed him last Wednesday to confirm the weight I wanted and to say that I'd call him to pay. Not had a reply as yet, I know he's probably really busy but I've got the money burning a hole in my pocket and I was really hoping to have a paradox for our last game of the season on Monday the 29th.
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I ordered a couple of clefts on the 22nd July and I haven't had them yet so I suspect he's quite busy at the moment and has a list of orders to get through. I'm sure he'll get back to you and get it sorted.
Did you email him via the website address or PM him through here?
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call him, I'm not sure his email is working properly...
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He emailed me last week confirming it's back up and running.
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Thanks for the replies, I tried to call Gary and got hold of him on Wednesday - think he's a very busy man. Seemed like a good bloke and he's sorting me out with a 3lb paradox, hopefully it'll be with me before my last game of the season as he thinks he'll be able to get to it late next week. I told him I wasn't concerned with grains, appearance, etc as long as it's a good bat, from all the comments on here his bats are great so hopefully this one will be too.
Just one thing I did want to ask. Any recommendations on grip setup. I seem to remember when I used to play years ago a few guys had two grips with the bottom one folded down in half so the handle was thicker for the bottom hand and this felt good. Anyone else have this? If so how the hell do you go about doing it, or should I just ask Gary if he can sort it fir me.
Thanks
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Ask Gary if that's what you want, he is pretty accommodating.
Saw him on Tuesday but yes he is certainly a busy man!
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Gary is trying to sort out my new bat in time for my last game of the season next weekend. He is making the bottom hand thicker by adding a half grip underneath Hopefully it will come in time, I'll post some pics when I get it.
I'm very tempted to get some redback gloves and pads to match. Are the softs good? I have some kook blade 950 gloves and puma tribute pads at the moment which are really nice and not much wrong with them but but I just keep thinking of getting matching kit.
If they are good does anyone know if Gary does any end of season sales? I can't really justify the full price of the softs when my current kit is still ok but if there were any end of season sales then I'd be tempted.
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Have a word with him when you go down. You never know, he might knock some off for buying all at once.
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Yes it's definitely worth asking if he will do you a package deal. I got a pair of the pads which seem nice, not worn them yet though. The gloves felt excellent and I would have bought a pair had I not picked up a new pair of ss gloves only a couple of months before.
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Just spoke to Gary and my bat is all ready and will be posted to me today. Should come tomorrow or Wednesday so I can't wait. I'll put some pics up when it arrives.
Thanks for the posts about pads/gloves, I decided my current pads and gloves were still good so thought I'd make them last a bit longer. Will probably pick up some new stuff next year.
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My redback arrived today and it looks to be a monster.
It's a 3lb premium and when compared to my 2lb12 puma tribute 4000 it's significantly bigger all round. I've managed to wave it around in the house without smashing anything and the pick up feels good. Edges are 37mm thick (only had a 10p coin to show on the pics for scale) and overall I'm really pleased.
Have tried to add some pics below
(http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff381/gdbonner/81ff66ff.jpg)
(http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff381/gdbonner/8d49da9c.jpg)
(http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff381/gdbonner/9fd3df37.jpg)
(http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff381/gdbonner/06e106cf.jpg)
(http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff381/gdbonner/bd03fab3.jpg)
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Bloody hell that's huge!!
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Looks like you could do some damage with that!
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Really nice bat there hope it goes well for you! :)
With the grips and thicker bottom hand I use a chevron grip underneath and then a GM Shock Absorba grip on top, it does the same thing I think...!
What was the motivation to buy a premium as opposed to a premier/LE? Just out of interest...
Not seen many of the lower grade Redbacks but this looks good too :0
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Gary did sort out the half grip for the bottom hand underneath for me which was good of him. He also stuck on an antiscuff sheet too.
As I'm not that good a batsman and currently only play midweek cricket I decided that I couldn't really justify the more expensive bats but thought I'd be better off getting a premium redback instead of an off the shelf make.
I gave up playing for about 10 years until a couple of years ago when I was 31 and started midweek again. After never really scoring any runs when I was younger I've had three fifties and a couple of other decent scores in 2 years so I'm hoping this bat (and trying to play straighter) can only help.
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Forgot to add that another reason for buying the premium was the info on this page
http://www.cricketbatwillow.com/blades.php
It suggests that the difference in willow grades is mainly appearance and not necessarily performance which is something I didn't really know, I'd always assumed a grade 1 bat would play better. It also suggests that more grains may mean the bat might not last as long, not an issue if you can afford a new bat each year but I'd like mine to last a few years.
When I contacted Gary I told him I wasn't worried too much about appearance and how the bat performs means more to me. I've got a game on Sunday so I can't wait to try the bat out.
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I used the redback today and I'm very impressed. Chasing 134 to win me and my brother had an unbroken partnership of 90 to win the game with me ending on 47 not out.
Despite being far bigger and a fair bit heavier than my old 2lb12 puma the new 3lb redback didn't feel any heavier and picked up well. Hit a few big sixes including one massive pull over widwicket to win the game but even deft little late cuts pinged away. Overall really impressed and can't wait to use it again next year.
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Thought I'd add a quick update to this now I've had chance to use the bat more. It's absolutely brilliant and definitely the best bat I've ever had. I looked up some of my old stats from playing in a northern league 2nd team and I only scored 77 runs in 18 innings as I was a pretty bad batsman batting 9/10/11. I've used the redback in 7 games now and scored 223 runs at an average of about 37 - for most people on here probably not that great but for me it's a massive improvement. I'm finding that I get away with poor shots a bit more due to how good the bat is and when combined with the tips I've picked up on here I feel a lot happier about my batting.
Everyone that sees this comments on how chunky it is and how well it picks up. Overall I can't recommend Gary and redback enough so if you're thinking of getting one go for it. Just be aware that it's not like buying from a shop and may take a little longer but it's worth the wait.
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Well done! Great improvement indeed, and looks like a rocket of a bat. 8)
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Thanks Pete, I don't play at a great standard now which helps but I'm generally trying to be more sensible and play straighter. I've even hit a couple of cover drives for 4 which is pretty much unheard of for me.
The tips from buzz and others have made a difference too.
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The likes of Buzz are incredibly helpful! He gave my some tips at the batoff....although his main tip was, "Take up bowling!" ;)
The Stig gave me soem tips, but he is a quiet fella, so sign language normally!
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