Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Cricket Manufacturers / Brands => Hell4Leather => Topic started by: Manormanic on December 19, 2012, 11:35:30 AM
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...Royal Mail van just pulled up outside, this'll be my new Tempo...
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Hopefully it will be a long blade ;)
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I predict the next post will read "pictures"?! :)
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Pictures
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(http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/images/smilies/this_thread_is_useless_without_pics.gif)
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Hold up guys, its still in the wrapping!!!
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This lackadaisical approach to displaying new wood is unforgivable.
Have a word mate, you're better than this
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If I was this bad getting things unwrapped on Xmas day, I'd have to be put out of my misery...
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C'mon guys - you've got to allow him a special moment... ;)
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(http://assets.diylol.com/hfs/6f1/495/285/resized/sad-sloth-meme-generator-awww-come-on-maan-8e5fc3.png?1306500888.jpg)
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(http://images.sodahead.com/profiles/0/0/3/4/3/2/1/1/7/where-88147968740.jpeg)
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Is this the one - Huge Bat ;)
(http://i1063.photobucket.com/albums/t518/i12breakfree/BigBat_zps51c75f1c.jpg)
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I like that profile!
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I like that profile!
Haha it took me a while before I even noticed the bat!
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what bat?
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Hokay, now that we've had time to get to know one another, it goes a little something like this....
Having been a "big edge" merchant for as long as I can remember, I bought a rather nice Distinction from Tall Paul a few months back and found that I actually got on pretty well with high spined bats. And then Matt posted details of the new Tempo range, which ticked a lot of boxes for me given the impressive shaping and his skills as a batmaker (I confess that the slightly more understated stickers also ticked a box...)
So, we chatted. I asked for a long bladed bat weighing in at 3lb dead with two grips and a toe guard. He named a price, I liked it (a lot) and here we are...
(http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m588/Manormanic/DSCF0055_zps6be61168.jpg)
First imperssions on getting it out of the box were...well, that Matt might need to get some bigger boxes for these babies. Yes, it has an "imposing" spine - my best guesstimate (it being hard to know when your eyes are precisely level with the spine and tape measure) is that it is somewhere around 73-75mm high - but unlike similar bats such as the Distinction, there is still a significant amount of wood elsewhere in the blade, acheived by an almost Laveresque tapering off of the edges at the top of the bat.
(http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m588/Manormanic/DSCF0056_zpsf3c24836.jpg)
I was also quite taken with the pick up - I think I've snipped at a few people before for saying a bat picked up an ounce or so lighter than it is - well, I figured this for being slightly under my stated weight, maybe a 2lb 12 or so, so was very surprised when my scales made it 3lb 1.4! The grains are not the most even I've ever seen, but they are all straight and there are a good number of them...
(http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m588/Manormanic/DSCF0054_zpsd0c192f7.jpg)
(http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m588/Manormanic/DSCF0059_zpsef726bec.jpg)
The bat is really well finished - the only tiny thing I'd pick up on it is that there is what appears to be a tiny, tiny surface crack under the scuff sheet, though this is not going to affect the performance in any way and I suspect most people would not even have noticed it!
Spent about an hour knocking it in. I don't like to jump to conclusions based on the first hour too much - the best bat I've ever owned was a B52 that seemed slightly tinny for a week or so - but the response seemed very good indeed. What really impressed me was that the middle, as well as extending through most of the length of the blade, which you might expect, also went out toward the edges, which will give great stability in match situations...
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This looks fantastic and right up my street as I use 3lb myself - I don't go in for buying loads of bats but maybe after next season I might retire my redback and have to buy one of these.
Does it even fit into a bat cover?
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It sort of fits into an M&H one, but its a bit of a squeeze...
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My what a lovely tree you have there....! They are marvellous looking, if a little on the heavy side.
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My what a lovely tree you have there....! They are marvellous looking, if a little on the heavy side.
You say heavy, I say perfectly weighted. And to be fair, it is not one of those heavy bats that picks up like a railway sleeper...
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Lovely looking stick.
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You say heavy, I say perfectly weighted. And to be fair, it is not one of those heavy bats that picks up like a railway sleeper...
I'm sure it isn't and I'm equally sure it picks up well, but I also know that once I get above 2lb 12oz, I am late to my shots, regardless of pick up!
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Looks like a plank...............
in all seriousness, Looks a serious weapon
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That Barton chap certainly knows his way round a travisher
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Good stuff, I wondered what a 3lb beast would look like considering my comparatively weedy 2.13!
Pick up does seem good on these too from having picked up a few at the workshop. Didn't see this one there though, Matt must have been hiding it ;)
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I think these are pretty impressive. Considering it's a long blade and dressed to kill, I wouldn't call it particularly 'weighty'.
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How does it compare to your distinction measurement wise? A side by side pic would be interesting.
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Nick, for you I shall make the effort...
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3lb long blade now were talking
Finally a mans bat
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its actually one of my lighter ones...
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Be still my beating heart
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hehehe :)
Got a lovely B52XL at 3lb 5 if you want really big....!
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Woo woo woo
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You betcha!
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Nick, for you I shall make the effort...
thankyou, just before I went for my Tempo I was mulling over a Distinction in the sales. I think I made the right choice but the comparison would be interesting.
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Okay, here we go...
(http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m588/Manormanic/DSCF0065_zps315dd82f.jpg)
And
(http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m588/Manormanic/DSCF0064_zpsa71e0734.jpg)
The bats are the same weight to within 0.4oz and both are big in the spine. As I said originally, its tough to measure spine height accurately but I think the Tempo has it by about 6mm, and there is a wider expanse of wood across the face as well. The Distinction has the nicer grains but, even in Tall Paul's Silly Sale was £275 as against £220 for the Tempo, which already taps up as well without nearly as much work.
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edges bigger on the tempo? I made mine around 30mm which isn't shabby for a big edged bat, let alone a high spined one.
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slightly bigger at the sweetspot, but thin at the top of the bat, which doesn't bother me in the slightest.
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nope, if you hit it at the top it's not going anywhere. Never understood why GM made bats with massive shoulder edges. Middle looks a bit lower on the Tempo, not a bad thing on many decks.
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lower but longer...
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yes, to be expected with that spine. What surprised me was the width of the middle. When I was knocking it in I was getting decent response nearly off the edges. The larger edges in part explain that.
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against a 2010 distinction i think it would be a good match as the middle is a little lower.
For the money i think these tempo bats are the best bats available on the market at the moment.
I have yet to see any copy come as close to the distinction as these Tempo's.
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what I'm really loving about mine is that the shape is so....for the want of a more eloquent way of describing it, fluid. A big edged bat looks like, well, a tree trunk whilst a high spined bat is visually dominated by that massive ridge. This is more measured, and as Nick says, the sweet spot covers most all of the face!
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I think Matt's on a winner here - it's a great shape, and a good price point.
Doubt I'll buy any bats in 2013, but one of these is definitely now top of my list for next time I do buy one
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That about sums it up for me!
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How are they so big ? i mean other 2 11/12 bats are nowhere near this big :D Matt,whats your secret ? xD
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Dammit xD wrong h4l tempo thread :'D
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Any absolute beauty!! I may have missed the post on this but how light could a Tempo go before it stops being a Tempo?
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Any absolute beauty!! I may have missed the post on this but how light could a Tempo go before it stops being a Tempo?
I think Matt generally makes them from 2.10 upwards, but I think DBM8's one is closer to 2.9. I reckon it depends on the willow density! :-[
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Ohhh, 2.9 Tempo. *drools*