Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: KarlPennington on December 29, 2015, 02:48:42 PM
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I've got a budget of between £250 - £300 and I'm in the market for a new bat. Any recommendations, reviews will be helpful.
My previous bat was SS Limited Edition it was great to look at, had a lovely pick up and good ping. It was heavy though and clunky if I didn't hit the sweet spot, it got a bit weather damaged in Season 1 and cracked beyond repair in season 2 (didn't help that I let everyone use it in all formats)
I'm probably looking for something slightly lighter, with more margin for error. When I put my credentials into the GM Bat Selector it recommended the GM Maxi... So that's an option
All I know about my batting is that I either don't score at all or I score quickly and deal generally in boundaries.
I'm open to new ideas...
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Speak to @The Doctor or @procricket B3 They'll be able sort you something exactly to your requirements
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Your best bet would be H4L Hattori, B3 (you can choose your profile) or Red Ink. Wont go wrong with any of them...
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H4L Warbird is a top choice.
http://www.h4l.co.uk/collections/cricket-bats-online/products/h4l-warbird-cricket-bat?variant=8149324097 (http://www.h4l.co.uk/collections/cricket-bats-online/products/h4l-warbird-cricket-bat?variant=8149324097)
you can read some reviews out it
http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=35707.0 (http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=35707.0)
You can also contact various other forum sponsors like @Blank Bats or @Aldred Cricket Bats or B3 guys and you will get top quality bats from them.
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Many to choose from. Aldred, B3, Red Ink, H4L, Blank Bats of you're looking to go Custom however I wouldn't rule out off the shelf stuff our sponsors have either.
Speak to Jake at Vitas, Paul / Chris at Its Just Cricket, Asad at Uzi or Vinay at VKS
With that kind of budget, I'd personally go down the custom route
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Admittedly the H4L Hattori bats do appeal especially being a Tarrantino fan, Imagine having my very own Hattori Hanzo - the cricket bat version.
So generally do you think with that budget It's a choice between a mediocre 'off the shelf' bat or a 'good' custom bat?
My issues with custom is this - I wouldn't be able to get a feel for the bat before I purchased it, somebody once said to me you don't chose your bat, it chooses you (basically meaning when you go to the shop, there'll be a certain bat that feels right for you) So I suppose it's not just custom but ordering a bat online in general that I'm concerned about.
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Hi Karl,
If you drop us an email at sales@ItsJustCricket.co.uk we will be able to help with a few options which would be suitable for you! With regards to ordering online - we do this all the time. Unlike other shops, our video reviews means you see the bat, get a proper look at it, and our experience helps us analyse pick up and styles of play accurately - we incredibly rarely, if ever, get returns fro, people who have trusted us to pick a cracker for them!
Chris
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Admittedly the H4L Hattori bats do appeal especially being a Tarrantino fan, Imagine having my very own Hattori Hanzo - the cricket bat version.
So generally do you think with that budget It's a choice between a mediocre 'off the shelf' bat or a 'good' custom bat?
My issues with custom is this - I wouldn't be able to get a feel for the bat before I purchased it, somebody once said to me you don't chose your bat, it chooses you (basically meaning when you go to the shop, there'll be a certain bat that feels right for you) So I suppose it's not just custom but ordering a bat online in general that I'm concerned about.
Never done it myself, but I have heard of a few people on here ordering maybe 3 bats, keeping the one they like the feel of, then sending the others back?
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Where abouts in the world are you?
If you can visit the sponsors shop/workshop that's local, it's going to work in your favour. For some reason saying which profile you want and what weight can get lost before a bat is finished.
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you can always speak to the custom bat makers and walk through your old favorite bat and they can always make a replica and even enhance or modify it to your liking if needed. Being in US we do not have the luxury to feel the bats :-) So if you stay around these custom bat makers please visit them, else then go the phone/Skype route. Am sure you wont be disappointed.
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As Chris from @ItsJustCricket says you can speak to them as well and let them know your needs. He and Jake @Vitas Cricket should have plenty options both off shelf and custom made to suit you.
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Thanks Chris,
I will have a good look on your website later (when I get home from work) I think I have watched your video reviews before in fact... Your website seems to have a good selection including some of the custom bat makers on here...
@thedoctor I have visited your website too, the concept seems brilliant, I understand why they call you the doctor, but I can't see a finished product... I'm a visual buyer:) Am I loooking in the wrong place?
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Just head on to the B3 bat maker section in this forum you will find tons of finished B3 bats with different profiles. B3 bats can also be seen on youtube.
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And once you have looked at all your options and made your decision take a look at Bellingham and Smith you will find them Top Quality at real value for money
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And once you have looked at all your options and made your decision take a look at Bellingham and Smith you will find them Top Quality at real value for money
Gonna call out B&S really impressed with mine and well in budget, lovely lookers plus play really really well.
Others that I really rate from what I own would be a Laver & wood, or UK wise Salix or H4L all have superb finishing plus serious performance. World us your oyster mate
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I think I've over-faced myself, there are some lovely bats out there. Sent the guys at ItsJustCricket an e-mail, they are probably more experienced at picking a good bat than I am. Had a look round all the custom bat makers websites, it's like a whole new world out there. Class. Keep up the good work fella's!!!!
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Don't forget Aldred. Paul makes stunning bats in performance and beauty.
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I have been on his website and saw a review on its just cricket, the bats look beatiful. It's certainly an option
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We have plenty of stock from a wide selection of brands to suit your budget and requirements.
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For that money, there's a world of choice out there
You certainly don't need to spend more.
Top spec gm,s off the shelf, seem to be good this year,(my sons swapped his affinity for one this season, and he's pickier about his bats than me!)
Bas, ton, ca all get decent reviews, especially at that price point, and I'm sure off the shelf will all perform
Custom, there's loads of options, Paul aldreds bats are pure class, red ink,b3 and many others all have plenty of reviews on here and I'm sure will be happy to sort you a decent bat, to your specs.
But for me this year Hell for leather have really stood out, I played against matts team and all 11 players had stunning bats.
I've been down to matts workshops,( highly recommended ) and seen the quality of his products, his attention to detail and eye for making a bat that plays as good as it looks is to me at least,(and quite a few very very picky bat lovers on here) , better than anything out there.
Arguably his devil grades and grade two,s are the real bargains, the bats he downgrades would be grade one plus for a lot of company's out there, and I'm sure there are many on here who would back that up.
I've just got three bats off him, and pads and gloves, his products are so good
Whatever you go for , enjoy the process, take your time and above all score loads a runs
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I've had a couple of bats off Hell4Leather over the past 12 months and they've both been belters so it's +1 for H4L for me, currently waiting on a B3 so can't comment on their bats first hand yet but customer service and communications have been excellent.
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Lots of positive feedback here for H4L and the web reflects this sentiment... Visually the 'phantom' range is stunning especially the dark edition but there is little information out there... Now to throw a cat amongst the pigeons I visited Barrington Sports earlier and there was a Bradbury Sovereign bat that ridiculously out performed everything else in the shop and I had the luxury of picking it up and pinging a ball of it... To complicate matters further Chris from It's just cricket has introduced me to the Newbury Platinum designed by the team, it looks lovely and I noticed that Newbury got to the final of the cricket world cup!!!
So if I do a little cricket bat world cup prelim round who would qualify top from a group of H4L, Phantom, Bradbury and Newbury???
Haven't ruled out others but concentrated on bats where video reviews were available.
Thanks
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Karl,
Glad our introduction to the Platinum could help. Based on what you said, we thought it would be perfectly suitable!
Phantom Dark Editions are incredibly rare, and we do have a video review about them on the website!
Same for all the Phantom, H4L and Newbery ranges we stock...
CBD
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Having sample a lovely selection of H4L I will go out on a limb and say if you buy one it will be a gun!
I have a brand new by sitting unused that I'm thinking of selling to fund a H4L for myself :-[
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Anything Newbury related is gonna be good
I've used several in the past, all lovely bats, especially sps ones
Phantom are very nice, arguably the lower priced ones are the bargains,as all play well, as per Newbury
Never used a Bradbury or even seen one, so can't comment
Ask Simon May or Pete Hosk and many others to tell you how good h4l are
We all netted on Tuesday with several h4l bats, including devil grades,and all excelled in pick up and performance.
Especially for brand new, not even knocked in bats.
Both those guys have bats worth more than my house, and both I'm sure will rate matts bats at the top of their collections.
If you could have a net with one, or even bounce a ball on one, you'd see just how good matts pressing is, and of course the quality of his willow,(which matt has a huge supply of unreal willow!)
I think one message I will try and get across, is the fact matt won't sell anything that doesn't perform.
I would bet you the price of a phantom dark edition, that one of matts devil grade bats will play better.
I'm sounding a bit geeky now, so will give it a rest.
But I get like that with class bats
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I've picked up a bunch of Bradburys recently here in Sydney. I feel they are the best Aussie bats available for the 2015/16 season. Expensive but stunningly good.
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I've got a H4L Hellfire Pro that I got from IJC. I'm sure it was either top 5 winner or in the top 3, it is an awesome bat! Everyone who picks it up and hits a ball with it wants to keep it. I'd put some pics up but I took the scuff sheet off it yesterday for a bit of tlc. That being said, I've had about 7 bats from Matt and they have all been excellent.
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i bought a h4l hattori pro from @Vitas Cricket just before Xmas, jake is a pleasure to deal with and always gives sound advice and pictures before buying so can personally vouch for him.
If you have an old bat that you like and have pictures of the boys at b3 can make a pretty close replica from those, worth considering.
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I've pre-ordered a H4L Hellfire Grade 1 through the lads at IJC. I've been through the same questions as yourself and the forums members have been fantastic in recommending bats. I ultimately went for H4L though because I haven't spoken to anyone yet who can say a bad word about them.
That's hard to come by - especially on a forum!
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Ok, so it looks as though it's coming to a shootout between a H4L and the Bradbury I have sourced. Now the Bradbury is £298 reduced from £440 (last season range I assume, discounted to clear) but it's their top grade willow. For me to get top grade willow on a H4L would cost me £375, their next grade down is £295. Yet from what everyone on here has said H4L grade1 willow is probably as good as anybody else's top Grade stuff.
So let me ask this about H4L they are a custom bat manufacturer, do they only custom make their 'custom' range or do they custom make the Warbird, Hattori, Devil etc??
I know all bats are handmade but do you have to pay more for it to be custom made, or is that just if you visit the factory???
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Ok, so it looks as though it's coming to a shootout between a H4L and the Bradbury I have sourced. Now the Bradbury is £298 reduced from £440 (last season range I assume, discounted to clear) but it's their top grade willow. For me to get top grade willow on a H4L would cost me £375, their next grade down is £295. Yet from what everyone on here has said H4L grade1 willow is probably as good as anybody else's top Grade stuff.
So let me ask this about H4L they are a custom bat manufacturer, do they only custom make their 'custom' range or do they custom make the Warbird, Hattori, Devil etc??
I know all bats are handmade but do you have to pay more for it to be custom made, or is that just if you visit the factory???
having used both I would definitely go with h4l, their shapes cover pretty much everything you could want, you can't go wrong
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By custom do you mean tweak the standard profiles or make your own profile completely? Vitas are selling the Pro grade H4L bats for £325 not £375?
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For me it's got to be h4l I own 8 with two more on the way they are seriously good bats Matt gets the best out of every cleft and his pressing is top notch just ask jb Hosk Chad will all agree we all have serious collection off bats and out of all my bats h4l stick out every time you use one and Matt is a decent guy who will go out off his way to help
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I had a poor customer service experience with H4L. Never bought one because of it. Different people, different opinions I guess.
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I agree with Simon 100%, waiting on Custom no2 and I may yet add a warbird Pro! The people at H4L are excellent, as Simon says will go out of their way to help. I asked Jake if it would be possible to get a pair of their Sausage finger gloves with pittards, he spoke to Matt and they are sorting a pair out on their next order in Feb. To me you can't get any better than that!
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I have a H4L NV and I have to say it is absolutely fantastic. I also have an Affinity Carbine. There is nothing between them performance wise. The carbine has no concaving, the NV has minimal concaving. The handle on the NV for me feels more comfortable as it is slightly thinner (I have small hands and use youth size gloves).
The customer service I experienced from H4L when I had the NV re-handled was excellent and their workmanship top drawer. Personally I believe all of the top makers (aldred, red ink, h4l, RK, b3.....) do excellent work so whatever choice you make you should end up with a good bat.
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So let me ask this about H4L they are a custom bat manufacturer, do they only custom make their 'custom' range or do they custom make the Warbird, Hattori, Devil etc??
I know all bats are handmade but do you have to pay more for it to be custom made, or is that just if you visit the factory???
I had discussed this with H4L folks once. Custom bat means completely customized to your needs. You can change everything - profile, handle, weight etc. If you are planning to go the custom route then you can very well ask them to take a H4L model of your choice like warbird and customize that design to suit your needs. Shoot an email or PM to H4L folks. I am sure they can sort out things for you.
Please check this link : http://www.h4l.co.uk/collections/cricket-bats-online/products/h4l-custom-cricket-bat?variant=10399703041 (http://www.h4l.co.uk/collections/cricket-bats-online/products/h4l-custom-cricket-bat?variant=10399703041)
On a different note, Jake @ Vitas cricket also offers a custom grade 1 hunts county bat for less than 200 GBP. Chat with him as well. H4L G1 is top notch but hunts county custom g1 from Jake is more value for money.
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Hi Karl,
If you wanted any tweaks to the bat done we can arrange this for free - no extra cost. For example, we've done fuller profiles or SSH or thicker handles etc etc. So as long as no dramatic changes, it will be free.
Chris
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Yes we have arranged various reasonable changes to any H4L bat, this is not a problem and most requests are accommodated
If you want something completely bespoke then a custom is for you, and we offer these at £375
Please email jake@vitascricket.co.uk to discuss further
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Rather surprised no ones mentioned an handmade bat from Red Ink.
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Rather surprised no ones mentioned an handmade bat from Red Ink.
Mentioned Red Ink in my post along with all other sponsors who could make him custom bat :)
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Rather surprised no ones mentioned an handmade bat from Red Ink.
Yeah? I mentioned red ink too
You not read previous posts??
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Rather surprised no ones mentioned an handmade bat from Red Ink.
I'm not surprised you replied without actually reading the thread.
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Yes all the custom bats have been mentioned and I've visited all their websites. I was like a kid in a candy store... I had to narrow down my search and on this thread at least H4L has been the most hotly tipped... But I've just promised my girlfriend I won't talk or think about cricket bats until next year :D
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Yes all the custom bats have been mentioned and I've visited all their websites. I was like a kid in a candy store... I had to narrow down my search and on this thread at least H4L has been the most hotly tipped... But I've just promised my girlfriend I won't talk or think about cricket bats until next year :D
Haha. We have all made such promises before. Only a few hours more and you will be free again ;)
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Ok, decision made. I'm going for the Bradbury... However I want to become part of the H4L revolution. I play a fair bit of T20 and LMS, so I'm going to dip my toe in the H4L pool. Can anybody source me a 'Devil?' Basically my decision is 2 bats :D
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Ok, decision made. I'm going for the Bradbury... However I want to become part of the H4L revolution. I play a fair bit of T20 and LMS, so I'm going to dip my toe in the H4L pool. Can anybody source me a 'Devil?' Basically my decision is 2 bats :D
Yes we sell Devils for £135 with free delivery.
Devils comes in the Hellfire shape and are generally 2'10+
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Surely you would need a H4L Warbird for T20 ;) haha
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Some of the pitches we play on and some of the "balls" that get used in LMS - It's probably a good idea to have a lower grade, cheaper bat... So a good opportunity to trial a H4L Devi. Vitas I'll e-mail you later this afternoon
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Hunts County Butterfly and B3 Butterfly have both been used to great effect in LMS in 2015 by me. Very cheap and very good!
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Update: Following the feedback on this thread, I recommended H4L to a friend who was in the market for a bat. He's just bought his first H4L Hellfire Grade 2. I hope it lives upto expectation.
I'm jealous though, but at least there are a few more paydays before the season starts...
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It certainly isnt cost efficient this forum, ive ended up with a new b3, helmet, newbery keeping gear and soon a bag, i only signed up a week or so ago 😳
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ha! this is amazing! so many bats, never enough money! I'm currently working my way towards a HRL hattori. want something light with a long middle. trialled a few hattori's they were beauts amazing pick ups!!!
gonna have a vist to H4L and pick up a hattori and, perhaps, a devil grade bat too! probably need a new helmet and a new bag whilst I am at it.......