Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Companies => Custom companies => Topic started by: seedy on November 19, 2009, 03:58:11 PM
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Right lads, two custom made G1's required for next year!
No one is going to compete with solitaire price wise and the quality of mine this year was outstanding. So what do we think?
Stick with solitaire or consider others.
Liam
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Consider others, who else have you used in the past?
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Charlie French - Prices have gone through the roof. Gm - Ditto for a top grade bat.
Infact all of the major brands are way over priced imo, keep seeing good things about the likes of redback etc... but i don't think they will compete on a price front tom?
Liam
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i would probably go warsop and redback mate....
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You might be able to get an ugly piece of good performing willow from a batmaker @ just over £100 but it's doubtful anyone would match Solitaire for a G1.
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Think it's solitaire then tom your the authourity on bats and if you say thats the best anyone can do i will go with that.
Plus i have a good relationship with roger and he is very easy to talk to.
Will be sending off the template tommorrow hopefully after a chat with roger in the morning.
May just get the one and consider one from another company.
Liam
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1 from Solitaire and then treat yourself to 1 from Redback?
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Why dont you do a test - buy a grade 1 from solitaire and buy a grade 2/3 from redback, hell4leather or SAF - see which one is the better performer????
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good idea shilly! i know which id put my money on though....
i would do the same if solitaires communication wasnt quite so dreadful!!!!!
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Thats an interesting idea shilly, i have just spoke to roger on the phone and he is having a delivery of new clefts next week so i am getting my bat off to roger so he can copy it again and possibly have two bats if he has some nice willow come in.
The performance of this one has been increadible!
Liam
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It makes me laugh when someone says communication is dreadful... ever thought of picking up the telephone as roger has always been at the end of the line
for me mate and he is happy to talk about what you want in your bat.
Not all companies reply to emails quickly.
Cheers for tips lads but i think it will be two more solitaires to go with the GM and solitaire that is hanging on after a 1000 runs.
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tried phoning, no answer. i dont expect lightening quick responses to e-mails, i know roger like all bat makers will be very busy most of the time. but over a week (and counting...) is too long for a response in my opinion.
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it seems to me you were never going to buy anything but the solitaire because of the cheap price.......
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Maybe so, i was just hoping... maybe one of the batmakers on here could offer something as a second but the phone call to roger has just chaned my mind.
@ slogger... i am sorry but i don't believe you i have just literally rang roger and he answered straight away as always!
Liam
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Sorry i have to agree with slogger, sent him an e-mail a while ago . . .still nothing and in the mean time opted for H4L . . .glad i did Matts stuff is top notch!
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has anyone owned a warsop/redback or other custom bat and then brought a solitaire and found the performance to be equal? I remember reading a while back that soliatires handles are poor, but then again I have heard some great reviews about rogers bats.
Tom, have you ever seen/used a solitaire?
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I own a Warsop and as of yesterday, a Redback.
And this is certainly one experiment that I intend to do very soon.
Will have one of them copied and see how they both perform!!
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pete, you going to show us some pics of your redback? I'd love to see some profile pics
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seedy - you can believe what you like!
thedon - i own a couple of redbacks and have used several warsops, i am trying to get a solitaire to compare!
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No worries mate... Roger also text me straight back in response to a question... seriously are you sure you have the right contact... i expect it to be a couple of weeks before i have my new one/two solitaires so will obviously post a review.
Liam
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look forward to the review! yes am sure have the right contact, hopefully ill get soemthing back soon. oh and your bat covers are in the post.
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Cheers Buddy... if you don't hear anything let me know and i will tell Roger to contact you... infact PM me your number!
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I hate to say this but I've seen a solitaire and it wasn't worth the G1 price compared to the other bats available at that price.
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Can you explain that please Norb?
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There are better bats available for £100 based on the bat I saw. My dog could have made a better bat, pressing was bad, shaped was uneven and ummm hmmmm it just wasn't worth the money
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Cheers norb, Appreciate your comments however I was given an excellent solitaire so have no complaints.
Well as I have said I have packaged up my old solitaire for Roger to copy so the 1/2 bats that roger makes for me this time round will
recieve an honest review!
Ls
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As a challenge norb, could you make me a better bat for 100 pounds made to the same spec if I sent you one through?
Liam
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As a challenge norb, could you make me a better bat for 100 pounds made to the same spec if I sent you one through?
Liam
Can I just say my opinion was based on one bat I saw this one Talisman is going on about [ http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=2364.15 (http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=2364.15) ]
I admire your cheekiness but nope sorry not until after christmas [It'll be Stowfords willow ;D]
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Yeah it did look like talisman got a plank, well I threw down the offer to any if the batmakers! I have 100 pounds ready for anyone who can custom make a bat based on the template bat that I send you to compete with the solitaire that will be made in the next week or so. Obviously on recipt of Both I would be happy to so an unbiased review but the bats must be made out of like for like materials i.e grade one willow!
If anyone of the bat makers wants that challenge please reply on here!
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You know for £100 it is just not worth making one out G1 willow
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And I don't want stowfords willow thanks alot Norbs!
Roger manges it somehow? As do many of the asian manafacturers, why can't the English batmakers? Do we just want increased profit margins? I certainly know if I was to get two bat CF would get close price wise, infact I had two bats fron Charlie for 180 prior to him moving into his shop.
Am I missing something?
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I won't tell my stowfords willow you said that it is quite sensitive :'(
As you say each to there own Seedy.... it is to do with costs though! You can upgrade and down grade willow but it will average out so
I find it suprising that G1 willow can be consistently sold for £100 and there are no other options on grade available... If you are just buying G1 from the willow merchant you'd have to pay a premium for G1 only if you get it sold to you in one grade only as normally the prerequiste is you have to buy a range of grades as part of the order [It make sense to do this as well]. Even if it is a G1 order only you'd have to down grade some of that G1 willow. All for a £100 a bit strange for a completely handmade bat
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Good for Roger - but if people try to compete with that pricing then it would be disastrous..........the only way most companies could realistically compete with that kind of price is to just get every bat imported from india.....then you loose the sense of a bat being handmade from england - from that happening i would imagine a lot of the smaller companies could not compete and you would not get the likes of SAF, Redback, Hell4leather even existing......but this is just my thoughts on it.
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There's no need for other manufacturers to match Roger either, £180 is pretty much the standard minimum for a G1 bat on the market. Why slash your margins?
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Like I said each to own but personally I cant see the margins in it at that price. Then again why should I worry it is not me selling them
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True - everyone will offer their own individual service, which will differ from maker to maker.
Its a competitive market, but there is room for most of the makers out there I think.
As I said before, i will be trying Solitaire to see what he offers. At that price he deserves a chance at least!!
I don't expect for his bat to be as good as Redback or Screaming Cat, as that would be unrealistic for that price.
But if he offers a decent quality copy with the same spec as the Redback for example. Then that would be an excellent way of practicing to an identical bat in the nets (with the Solitaire) and saviing the Redback for matches. In my eyes, that would be a great service if the bat was anywhere close to that performance of the Redback, and would mean that the Redback would perform better for longer, as I wouldn't need to practice or net with it all the time!!
But I guess we will have to see if this woorks out soon really!
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seedy did you ever get those pictures from talisman re the solitaire plank he got? I would be very interested in seeing them
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I did but I have deleted them unfortunately, to me there was nothing to a miss with it other than a small profile! I don't care about huge edges etc all I am interested in is performance and I won't fully review a bat until I have used it.
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Seedy i saw that bat, i picked it up and even weighed it.......2.13 for something with such a small profile was shocking!!! The handle was cheap and the amount of concaving done by roger meant that he had scooped out all of the middle and left a tiny little ridge on the back........i would not be happy if i paid £100 for that.
However, if he did me an exact replica of my current newbery and it had nice clean grains then i would be happy......i think when next pay day comes i will have to get a bat off him and review impartially.
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bounced a mallet on it, tap it and listened to it I didn't need to use it after that
Actually let me add here.... I shouldn't really be forming an opinion based on one bat, as I think that is what Seedy is eluding too
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Yup I am norb, see what roger produces over these next few bats as a few other lads are after some I think. Liam