Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Companies => Custom companies => Topic started by: clarkey on July 28, 2009, 11:14:09 AM
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I was looking on their site and is it realy £40 for a grade 1 junior bat or am i geting mised up some were ?
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It depends on the size apparently. For a harrow it's more like £80 I think but for a Size 2 or 3 it's only £40 or at least that's what I have heard.
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im harrow so might contact them. Are they any good as i have read good and bad reviews about their bats ?
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I bought a full size Solitaire a month or so ago, and I can't speak highly enough of either the product or Roger's service.
The bat I bought weighs 2lb 9ozs, has dead straight evenly spaced grains (8 from memory, but at work just now so can't check!), and lots of wood on it. Pick is light, but the noise it makes when you hit the middle is incredible! First time I used it I got 40, with 9 fours!
For £100 quid you can't go wrong, and I'm sure the junior bats will be equally good!
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there the cheapest custom made bats on the market
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How can he sell them so cheaply and still turn a profit. If he's made bats for Viv Richards and Ian Botham clearly he knows what he's doing.
I'm not complaining, it's good to see someone not charging £250 and this will be a front runner for my next bat, but how can he do it?
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Because he sells direct, probably does most of it in house and is happy to only take around £50 in profit.
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I have picked up a solitaire bat for the first time today and i have a split opinion. Yes the stickers and the grains were nice, and if you have a look at it, im sure alot of people would guess the price is higher. But this bat I picked up today was horrible. Small profile for a 2.8, very heavy pick up. Albeit, it performs ok and when you middle it, it does fly, but not too impressed with the pick up on this particular one!
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I think solitaire have had some good reviews purely because for £100 you cant even buy some crappy bottom of the range gray nics of puma - people feel like their getting value for money. When you spend £350 on a bat you expect so much more, i'd want it to cook me meals and wipe my ass for that price!
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My dads has an very old SS jumbo which is long dead, do you think he could make one in the SS jumbo shape and also is there and way to get SS jumbo stickers
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Walshy - another brilliant remark!!!! I'll just get my crystal ball out and see what it says shall I?
Solitaire has a website with contact details - put two and two together and you may get an answer to your question!
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Just wonder, don't get your knickers in a not!
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would be very suprised if you can get SS jumbo stickers anywhere, i dropped one of the older players Jumbo in for a refurb to our local shop in Bristol and they asked if they wanted the stickers kept on to be sanded around as they were "as rare as hen's teeth" to get replacements for! Im sure the shape could be replicated but you would struggle for retro stickers.
They had a couple of Jumbo's for sale in the shop at £200.00 each with the retro look, bit like M&H did with their green stickers
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Thanks for that mate, how good would it look retro shape and new style SS stickers.
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Anyone got any pics of their solitaire bats they could post???
looking at getting 1 :)
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I just emailed rodger about a bat and he has it would be £100 and then £15 postage :S does he make his money on postage?
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Roger said that he will copy any bat shape, profile etc as long as you either send him the bat or send him some pictures.
BTW here are some pics (from CSF):
(http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv45/xXLBWXx/solitairecricketbats2009003.jpg)
(http://i668.photobucket.com/albums/vv45/xXLBWXx/solitairecricketbats2009001.jpg)
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we all no that . . .
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they are good looking bats and it is a shame the softs aint as nice looking
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they are good looking bats and it is a shame the softs aint as nice looking
I really like the design of the gloves and the salix style gold wk gear. If the latest solitaire logo was used and a black and white colour scheme was incorporated (so no red!), then they would looks much better. Roger said that they have more stuff now but haven't updated the website in ages because of some problems with the host
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i feel the gloves look old and outdated and good do with something new to keep woith the beautiful bats roger is making
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£100........grade 1 .........Custom made...........Bat maker to the legends.......
Bloody tempting isnt it!
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yeah just a bit, i mite give in soon :)
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Mine's a dog, 99% sure it is not English made. All you fans are welcome to buy it from me.
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pictures please
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To follow, feel free to ask Redback, SillyShilly or Slogger02 who have seen it and hated it apart from the grains.
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aye, it be a rotter! Tiny profile, poor concaving and heavy. Not a nice bat at all.
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But made by a man who lost his job from a firm that lost its way big time.....
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i have seen better bats from argos....
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But made by a man who lost his job from a firm that lost its way big time.....
I was starting to buy the ' solitaire cricket bats are rubbish' thing but that statement has totally blown me away.
Roger Weston did not lose his job at Duncan Fearnley, who by the way still make very good top of the range bats, contrary to general opinion. Roger Weston had a argument with Duncan Fearnley over importing goods from India. Fearnley wanted all bats apart from the Ultimate and Test ranges to be Indian made. Weston had an argument and left. He then opened up Solitaire cricket on Solitaire avenue in Worcester, about a mile away from the Fearnley Factory itself and used previous contacts from his Fearnley days to get gear at great rates.
The rest is like a memoir of Fearnley and Solitaire shop visits
How do I know this? Over the summer we were going to Birmingham to visit relatives and I managed to convince my dad that we should go through Worcester so I could visit the Fearnley and Solitaire shops.
The top of the range Fearnley gear was like the level 4 range (High level quality) form Kookaburra. Top of the range gloves had black calf leather palms and were £50. They weren't even sheep leather, let alone pittard for a top of the range set of gloves. Pads were much better but the cane was quite weak - you wouldn't get hurt if hit but you will feel it - £70 wtf. Many more examples like those but the bats were quite the opposite. Top of the range was £280 but ping off it was immense and the middle was forgiving.
Solitaire cricket didn't have gloves - he ran out. Pads offered great protection and were quite flexible but the colour scheme didnt work. not many bats therer as they are all custom made but some I tried had fairly light pick up and the ball flew when you hit it right, not as much when you didn't middle it though.
i have seen better bats from argos....
Lets not get too far ahead of ourselves. I have yet to read a bad review about solitaire - and there are lots of bat reviews on CSF
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well the last few comments posted are a bad review, you've read one now
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well the last few comments posted are a bad review, you've read one now
one bad reviews wont undo the tens of good reviews I have read. All companies have lemons and that bat could well be one. Its a first anyway. and it certainly wont convince me of switching from solitaire
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What if he put his prices up to say £175, would you still buy one?
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I'm glad I bought one without having to persuade anyone to drive me to Worcester as it has shown what you get for £100, not a lot.
This may be a lemon, but maybe they all are?
You seem to have a very in depth knowledge and instinct to defend a brand, what is reason for that?
But don't worry I'll pop in and have a look when next passing, just won't need to make a special trip now.
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I am afraid i agree with the above comments. Yes the willow was nice on the one I saw, and albeit, yes it did ping ok. However, the pick up on the bat i saw picked up like a sleeper (the bat weighed 2lb 7oz) and the concaving was very suspect.
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sorry someone`s had a duff blade but kinda inevitable,i fear....i bought one start of the season and it pings,Roger made a longer blade for me for no extra cost .
Up to date,SEVEN of my teammates have bought his bats,so you can imagine my trepidation as one after another spent their cash on them,but everyone`s chuffed at the quality for the price.One of them initially had doubts on what he was sent(after a consultation over the phone)so he sold onto someone else at the club and then bought another,lighter blade,which he loves !
I`d be surprised if someone went to the shop,selected a blade,then got home,had a net and then decided it was not right,that Roger wouldn`t swap it ??
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I'm going to try and see if he'll swap it as it is not the kind of bat that anyone I know would want, the size of a 2.2, no joking and weighs 2.11 with a very poor balance for a bat 10mm thick all the way to the middle which is only 35mm at the spine.
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Mike,
It would be good if you could get it swapped and see if the second bat is still as poor. Maybe Weston's bat-making never moved on from the eighties, when railway sleeper bats were popular?
Given my financial situation at the moment, I'd have to have a look at Solitaire if I wanted a new bat.
Interesting case study would be to compare Solitaire and Black Cat - 2 new companies who have gone into the same market (?) with completely different approaches.
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Stick some pics up of this bat talisman because i cannot believe Roger has sold you a duff stick. When my grizzly gave up the ghost i sent it away for roger to make me a replica and it has been the best bat i have used and this winter i am going to go down to the shop with the replica now sadly on its way out to have 3 new blades made for next year, roger has also agreed to let me select the clefts from willow he has in stock.
This fascination with massive edges is baffling to me though and i think some people on here are just being a little pedantic.
Anyway here is mine, as it was when purchased, it has been the sweetest bit of willow i have ever used.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/seedy9/DSCF0933.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v623/seedy9/DSCF0934.jpg)
Like i said it has done me for over a 1000 runs this year, did you ask for yours pressed in a specific way or anything as i asked for mine to be lighlty pressed for maximum performance and it flew off the bat out of the box.
Pm me or email me with these snaps as if suitable i may buy it off you.
Oh and this one is 2.11 by the way
Liam
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Liam, that looks lush ! shame the stickers are horrible !
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they are an improvment over the previous stickers at least :L
looks nice, but personally i dont like that kind of shape.
what is the edge and spine height on that seedy ?
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It was a sublime bat and as i said my three new blades for next year will be from roger. I wont have those stickers on anyway and i agree on that point and do remove them.
To be fair the front ones arent too bad its just the ones on the back.
I am looking forward to seeing these pics of the one mike has as i cant believe Roger has sold a duff stick.
I am 22, have played for 8 years and used GM, Charlie French, CA and Newbery. I had a good phase of charlie french bats and had several tourists when charlie still made them out of his shed in Cuckney, only ten minutes from me, however since opening his shop the standard of bats has declined and the prices have risen!
GM again Notts, and being a notts lad we see a lot, were average at best, even the le's are sold more on mrketing rather than performance in my opinion.
Newbery, Pro4sport local again to me, Chris Adams' brothers shop, the grizzly was very good and no complaints. Expensive however.
CA, this was fantastic, 10,000 plus, lovely shape and lasted 18 months and scored somewhere in the region of 1600 runs which is a nice life span.
I am an opening batsmen playing division one league cricket so see a very good local standard, played at cuckney who made the ecb club t20 finals for a couple of years aswell.
I can honestly say though that the Solitaire although being now held together with tape and still in Australia, damn customs, after my month playing over there was the best of the lot.
So, this winter i will make the 120 mile drive down to rogers shop to pic my 3 clefts and have them made up for next season. Solitaire will be my batmaker for the forseeable future.
Liam
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@ cakes.... i have no idea i wanted a bat made that felt the same as my previous bat and roger did that, i play with the same weight, shape and pickup regardless of brand.
I am not interested in edge thicknesss and spine height.
I would guess... as its in australia still... that they are 35 mm edges with a spine of maybe 50-55mm
that is a very rough guess.
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Seedy, more than happy to help you out and pass it on.
Since my last post have had the bat looked at by the best and notes are as follows,
Size is very small as made from a very heavy cleft but also pressed hard which has compressed the shape further.
Pressing is also poor in that the bat does not ping well and instead of a nice bow it has a crease, this means it is not Indian as they bow well.
Handle is as cheap as ever seen in a UK bat, binding too.
Concaved hard through the shoulders will weaken the bat.
Toe is not level.
On the positive side the grains are nice and I quite like the stickers.
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well, the evidence is there to suggest that Roger knows what he is doing and it was in fact a lemon.
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All the things written above by talisman shows that he may not be such a good bat maker, if anyone would know its talisman. And a bat being poorly pressed is unlikely to have happened in just one bat, the same with bowing. Obviously your going to state a long list of people who have used them but the bats are hardly comparable to the old fearnlys, plus the pros would presumably use what they were given.
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1 out of 1 bad one is not great from my point of view but happy to be proved wrong. Will go and see him soon as at least I know he could do with better willow and handles.
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Hiya Mike, drop me a Pm if you dont mind regards passing it on.
Would it be possible for you to either email me at superseedy@hotmail.com
or pm me on here.
If you really dislike it i would be interested in taking a look at it if you dont mind?
Thanks,
Liam
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Hi,
Really keen on getting one of these. Has anyone asked them to make a M&H Solution style bat, ie. low middle, thick edges and how did it turn out?
Thanks