Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: Chad on August 25, 2016, 04:06:53 PM
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Right, here's something I got up to while cleaning the bat room - which is still a mess... But at least I got some pics done! Just wanted to show the slight differences in the shoulders and bindings of different companies. Remember that there's always gonna be some variation, and batmakers will change the ways they do things from time to time. Also, this is only from what I've observed, so could be different for what other people have found.
FC Sondhi
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_215017.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_215017.jpg.html)
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_215239.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_215239.jpg.html)
Traits:
- Curved shoulders
- Thick binding
- Stamps on the knob of the handle
- Number of inserts can vary, even within the same model and grade.
Comments: They don't tend to compete with SS in terms of size, but seem to be the most consistent I've seen to date of the Indian manufacturers. Binding goes quite low - good thing in my books.
Millichamp & Hall Sareen Sports
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_214837.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_214837.jpg.html)
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_215723.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_215723.jpg.html)
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_215806.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_215806.jpg.html)
Traits:
Squared shoulders, with a slight rounding at the top
Thinner binding
Rubber inserts
Comments:
The Puma I'm not too sure of the origins, initially I thought SS as the shape is similar, but the shoulders don't seem to match, but the twine does. The shape isn't far off the Sierra, so perhaps it's SG. Handles tend to be very flexible.
Gray Nicolls
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_215653.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_215653.jpg.html)
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_220336.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_220336.jpg.html)
Traits:
- Rounded shoulders with a slight squaring
- Tend to have 3 inserts, with the middle one being red. (GN500 is the exception)
- The outer 2 inserts are cork and the middle is rubber
- [li]
Comments:
Just from personal experience, GN are possibly the most underwhelming off the shelf bats out of the 4 big brands, bar the Classic range. (In terms of response and feel) I'm sure there are some that are very good out there, but just from the ones I've seen. I have an old Predator 5 Star which is excellent, wish they made all their bats like that! Go back to making thicker handles and less edge and more middle! :P
Gunn & Moore
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_214459.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_214459.jpg.html)
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_220843.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_220843.jpg.html)
Traits:
- Curved shoulders
- CNC markings
- Older ones have binding where there are black dots throughout the binding. Not sure if caused by the glue or binding, but the newer models (Six6 and Mana) don't seem to have this.
- Thicker binding
Comments: Most consistent of all the big off the shelf brands in terms of quality of finish, pressing and shaping. Pic of handle knob and binding is comparison between a B3 and the GM Argon.
B3
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_220843.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_220843.jpg.html)
Traits:
- Curved shoulders
- Thicker binding
- Same dotted trait as the older GM
- CNC markings, but not quite as pronounced
Comments: Extremely similar to GM, except the shoulders feel a touch more blended/smoothed.
Salix
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_215406.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_215406.jpg.html)
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_215443.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_215443.jpg.html)
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_215436.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_215436.jpg.html)
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_215521.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_215521.jpg.html)
Traits:
- Curved shoulders, slightly different to the previous ones in that they're more rounded as opposed to a single curve
- Thicker binding
- Rubber inserts
- Binding lathe pin marks
- Incredible finishing
- Handles sometimes flare out towards the top
Comments: I only recall the old school Salix bats not having the spine run down to the toe. I've found that the shaping of Salix bats tend to be very even throughout, and their profiles don't tend to vary massively. I think there are two different batmakers, sometimes the spine seems a bit more rounded, and some others have a sharper one. Also, the old chrome stickers are still some of my favourites. 8) The Sabre bat is an example of their dropped shoulders.
Laver & Wood
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_220141.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_220141.jpg.html)
Traits:
- Square shoulders with a slight curve in towards the handle
- Neoprene toe guard
- Quite a distinctly rounded toe
- Thin handles
- Excellent balance
- Thick vinyl scuff sheet
- Tend not to be bowed
Comments: Generally have quite a clunky sound when striking the ball. I haven't used many bats which are as well balanced as what James makes, probably the biggest selling point (imo) of Lavers.
Newbery/Tim Keeley
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_220057.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_220057.jpg.html)
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_220102.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_220102.jpg.html)
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_220040.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_220040.jpg.html)
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_220052.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_220052.jpg.html)
Traits:
- Curved shoulders, similar to Salix, but with slightly less gradient
- Thicker binding
- Handles tend to be on the thinner side
- Rubber inserts
Comments: Not sure, have to double check this, but I think the binding tends to have a yellow tinge because they use animal glue. One of the most sought batmakers, and these performance of these bats explain why.
Hell 4 Leather
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160818_220400.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160818_220400.jpg.html)
Traits:
- Curved shoulders, with a slight rounding to them
- Excellent shaping
- Thicker binding
Comments: Well seems like most folk own one on this forum, but they are excellent bats.
Conclusion: I've wasted so much time on this cause I'm so sad... :D Will seem massively incomplete, but I just cba anymore, might expand on this a bit later. Hopefully interesting for some, and I'm bound to have missed out a lot haha.
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Interesting post very enjoyable, interesting to see bats from the same maker varying in cleft length or is that just the way they're stood up for pics?
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Interesting posts. But some bats don't seem to follow the traits outlined, for example the Vapen looks more like the B3's in terms of binding and the Puma shoulders are completely different to the SS ones.
Did you know the makers before categorising? Or group them blindly on similarities?
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Chad thanks for the pictures and write ups .
Having been a GN bat buyer for years agree the modern ones apart from the Classic range don't ping as well as the ones i have that were tmade at Robertbridge.
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Interesting posts. But some bats don't seem to follow the traits outlined, for example the Vapen looks more like the B3's in terms of binding and the Puma shoulders are completely different to the SS ones.
I personally thought Hammer sourced their bats from B3 after using L&W, obviously could be miles off the mark but that was my rough understanding...
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Interesting posts. But some bats don't seem to follow the traits outlined, for example the Vapen looks more like the B3's in terms of binding and the Puma shoulders are completely different to the SS ones.
Did you know the makers before categorising? Or group them blindly on similarities?
I did mention that I was unsure of the Puma, that the shoulders were pretty different, binding and shape were similar though. Just happened to have it in the photo, so thought I'd talk about it. I'll double check the Hammer binding, but the shoulders didn't seem very B3 from memory, but I could be wrong about origins.
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Interesting posts. But some bats don't seem to follow the traits outlined, for example the Vapen looks more like the B3's in terms of binding and the Puma shoulders are completely different to the SS ones.
Did you know the makers before categorising? Or group them blindly on similarities?
(http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af230/ch4d0m4n/20160825_195943.jpg) (http://s1010.photobucket.com/user/ch4d0m4n/media/20160825_195943.jpg.html)
There you go, I don't know exactly if it is TK for the Hammer, but that one was assumed because the binding and shoulders seemed to match. So yes, in this case, grouped purely based on similarity and since they've used TK before!
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Vapens were originally laver and wood when it had the ultra shape.
When the shape changed to more standard style shaped, they were made by b3.
First year black editions were b3 made to.
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Anyone see handles like this often? It is best handle on any bat ive owned but ive never seen another bat with that much cork in the handle and no knob.
(http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa464/dav1d55/image.jpeg) (http://s1199.photobucket.com/user/dav1d55/media/image.jpeg.html)
(http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa464/dav1d55/image_1.jpeg) (http://s1199.photobucket.com/user/dav1d55/media/image_1.jpeg.html)
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Am I the only one that is in awe of @Chad collection?
:o
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Am I the only one that is in awe of @Chad collection?
:o
Always in awe of it!
There's more pics on here
http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=38028.15 (http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=38028.15)
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Always in awe of it!
There's more pics on here
[url]http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=38028.15[/url] ([url]http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=38028.15[/url])
If you're culling that Salix or Red Ink @Chad , let me know bud haha what a collection! Love this thread too, such detailed yet slight differences between the brands.
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Fantastic post really thought provoking. Thanks for the efforts. Hopefully more insights to come. I had a hammer st that was Newberry made.
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SF - nails in the handle
Most Hunts have very distinctive shoulders (although I have one or two that don't!)
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Am I the only one that is in awe of @Chad collection?
:o
Wish i had a bat cave.
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Good work.
I think that a lot of handles and bought in, and shoulders are possibly finished by hand, even at CNC shops, so down to podshaver on the day?
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honestly he can start a bat store by himself
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@Chad this came out of that B3 post and you said you would get to work on @procricket's theory that the bat make could be spotted by the shoulders and you went one step further by looking ar the handles and bindings. Add New Balance to the FC Sondhi stable too.
Bravo!
Myth is
(http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p570/marcinadelaide/A09FA3D1-592E-4DD9-8A5E-165F14EEF9A7_zpsxal8hwva.jpg) (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/marcinadelaide/media/A09FA3D1-592E-4DD9-8A5E-165F14EEF9A7_zpsxal8hwva.jpg.html)
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Add this Aussie Market Slazenger V1200 G1+ and New Balance DC1200 Limited Edition to the FC Sondhi Stable
(http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p570/marcinadelaide/20160828_054147_zpsdtznd2vd.jpg) (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/marcinadelaide/media/20160828_054147_zpsdtznd2vd.jpg.html)
(http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p570/marcinadelaide/20160828_054415_zpsrvgbcmwq.jpg) (http://s1156.photobucket.com/user/marcinadelaide/media/20160828_054415_zpsrvgbcmwq.jpg.html)
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Hate to think what the price difference is between the 2 brands @sarg - even on comparable quality willow I'm sure the NBs will have a substantially higher RRP!
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Hate to think what the price difference is between the 2 brands @sarg - even on comparable quality willow I'm sure the NBs will have a substantially higher RRP!
the V1200 cost me $220 off ebay and arrived packed in its original Spartan box. That New Balance is slightly lighter, better grains and a Steve Smith replica profile.....Owner paid $1065 with no cover bahahaha
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Outrageous really, all for a set of pretty stickers haha!
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Glad people have found this somewhat interesting, I'll update it later on in the week with a few more pics of Lavers and BAS. :) I'm sure I've missed a few too, and will try include toes of bats.
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@Chad any chance you could rehost the photos in this thread elsewhere?
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Great read, very interesting @Chad
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@Chad any chance you could rehost the photos in this thread elsewhere?
@Kulli will try find time to do so!
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Actually, I think the Photobucket photos are working again, could someone else confirm?
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Actually, I think the Photobucket photos are working again, could someone else confirm?
I can see them .
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Winner, looks like photo bucket have reversed that terrible decision. Makes the forum a much better archive.
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Can anyone guess the bat maker on this one
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1781/29190912838_00ba57e09b_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Ltv4oE)
(https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1763/42344662334_2bf682c19b_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/Ltv4oE) (https://flic.kr/p/27vRsR5)
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Chase?
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Actually, I think the Photobucket photos are working again, could someone else confirm?
News was, photibucket we’re on the verge of bankruptcy so bought in a new management team.
They changed “third party hosting” feee from 399.99 a year to 19.99 a year.
That was on May the 18th.
If the pics are working it would presume someone paid? Or they’ve since got rid of that fee too.
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Chase?
not chase
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Going to say that’s almost definitely a GN
Aussie made?
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GN surely
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Yes GN Bat, definately not indian made, pretty sure its uk made oppose to aus. will add picks to my gn thread to not clog this one up
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Now that Photobucket have sported their (No Swearing Please) out, i thought this thread deserved a bump and an update with missing makers :)
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I used to wish if I had a bat cave; however, now with age, I wish if I had just one bat but I could play better.