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Equipment => Bats => Topic started by: AJ2014 on February 27, 2019, 12:53:51 PM

Title: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: AJ2014 on February 27, 2019, 12:53:51 PM
Since I've had some very good fortune to get best grade 1 bats, don't feel like buying lesser than grade 1 willow bats, what's your take on this?
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Gurujames on February 27, 2019, 01:03:01 PM
It’s your money and you can do as you please but a well-pressed g1 does not perform any better than a well-pressed bat of a  lower grade.
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: jayralh on February 27, 2019, 01:26:08 PM
I agree with @Gurujames here. I never bought so called grade 1 or pro bats. All my bats look ugly i.e uneven grains, marks on face etc(beside harrow GM chrome thats on sale ) but they all play well. Especially my current match bat with 6 grains. I cant imagine any other bat can outperform it regardless of grades.
I wont buy anything else due to my match bat being so good and in future i get it copied from same manufacturer. manufacturer never said what grade was it and i never asked. One forum member senior player saw it called it top willow and he know more than i do. And price I paid for it you be shocked to know. ( very very very cheap)
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Jlscarroll17 on February 27, 2019, 01:58:03 PM
Again have to agree with @Gurujames, some of my best performing bats have been butterflies and g2. I’m not bothered about what the bat looks like, I’m only bothered about performance so for me it’s performance over looks any day of the week
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: AJ2014 on February 27, 2019, 01:58:41 PM
Agreed with you all, as I've been using grade 3/4, and I know they can play better than expected, but now that I can make a comparison, these bats make such a beautiful sound tapping a cricket ball on them, ping is definitely much better, to be honest haven't used them yet in the nets, I'm preparing them, so use grade 3 for indoor nets which I thought is as good as any other grade
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: AJ2014 on February 27, 2019, 02:02:57 PM
Again it's not about the looks, very top ones, don't always be pretty 😀 but it's willow and pressing that makes them what they're
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: WalkingWicket37 on February 27, 2019, 02:05:56 PM
Give me a cheap "low grade" butterfly over and expensive "high grade" bat any day.

Grading is purely cosmetic. Again I agree with Gurujames. The ping is all down to the pressing.

Ask @InternalTraining his views on the matter  ;)
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: AJ2014 on February 27, 2019, 02:09:14 PM
Do you know very top end willow also has butterfly Stained bats? £60 vs £300 butterfly, £300 one will play better 😀
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: WalkingWicket37 on February 27, 2019, 02:21:31 PM
Do you know very top end willow also has butterfly Stained bats? £60 vs £300 butterfly, £300 one will play better 😀

If all things apart from the price are equal, then they'll perform the same.

As for spending £300 on a butterfly stained bat, that's the definition of "more money than sense"

Please do share this source for £60 butterfly bats though, sounds a bargain!
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Buzz on February 27, 2019, 02:38:01 PM
To be fair I paid quite a lot for this butterfly from Tim
(https://i.postimg.cc/Df4Xs0sk/IMG-20180613-211302.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/5j1yWxnn)
(https://i.postimg.cc/BQW1C3c8/IMG-20180613-211309.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/nMkzH6WZ)
(https://i.postimg.cc/Vk8nzwJy/IMG-20180613-211343.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/D8x8ctQ5)
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Sitonit on February 27, 2019, 05:07:35 PM
"Grade 1" or "Grade 20" has NEVER been my first preference or the baseline of selecting a bat.

The pick-up, feel and balance, is what that matters to me. I don't give a flying flock as to what grade of willow is it if the bat feels good in hands.

Grading is also subjective, there is no set in concrete standard to grade the willow - new terms come up every year to jack up the price.

Folks hardly seem to ponder that for the last 200 years these are the same trees producing G1 - but somehow they now produce G1+, G1++, G1++ Limited, G1 Pro Grade, G1+++ Professional, G1++++ Kohli Grade, and whatnot kinda BS that was unheard of before.

 
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Seniorplayer on February 27, 2019, 05:11:03 PM
If all things apart from the price are equal, then they'll perform the same.

As for spending £300 on a butterfly stained bat, that's the definition of "more money than sense"

Please do share this source for £60 butterfly bats though, sounds a bargain!

Butterfly willow is the lowest grade of willow that tells us something.
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: AJ2014 on February 27, 2019, 05:19:04 PM
Butterfly willow is the lowest grade of willow that tells us something.
that might be do in your book but that's not true, what we see is a big mark, calling it butterfly as it looks like that, to grade for butterfly you wouldn't even know it's a butterfly 😀😀 there would be no marks there like you're used to use those bats, they're a lower grade but still very good bats
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: AJ2014 on February 27, 2019, 05:19:59 PM
"Grade 1" or "Grade 20" has NEVER been my first preference or the baseline of selecting a bat.

The pick-up, feel and balance, is what that matters to me. I don't give a flying flock as to what grade of willow is it if the bat feels good in hands.

Grading is also subjective, there is no set in concrete standard to grade the willow - new terms come up every year to jack up the price.

Folks hardly seem to ponder that for the last 200 years these are the same trees producing G1 - but somehow they now produce G1+, G1++, G1++ Limited, G1 Pro Grade, G1+++ Professional, G1++++ Kohli Grade, and whatnot kinda BS that was unheard of before.
You don't know that man, you've not seen them 😀 😀
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Sitonit on February 27, 2019, 11:06:14 PM
You don't know that man, you've not seen them 😀 😀

Probably.

And I think this guy has not seen them either.

Skip to @1:50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s8zEjRyPaY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s8zEjRyPaY)
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Contrails on February 28, 2019, 07:48:39 AM
I am in the same boat.  My first Laver was a Butterfly, and I sold it to fund for another bat which I then sold to get a Signature.  I still miss that Butterfly bat, had the best bing out of all the bats I used so far.   

I would love to get my hands on another Butterfly, from B3 especially. What's the prices for these if anyone knows?
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: SOULMAN1012 on February 28, 2019, 10:03:03 AM
Having been on the forum for many years I also always used to buy G1+, Prp, LE or what ever you want to call it.

Over the last 3 seasons I have only bought G2,G3,G4 and even G5 bats and i can honestly say that in terms of performance there is no difference as with pick up. I have still be able to get great looking light weight decent sized bats through forum sponsors hand picking or through dealing direct with excellent bat makers.
A G5 cleft well pressed will play as well as a G1+ its all down to the bat makers skills.

If people can afford it then it’s your money and spend how you want, but with top end G1 bats costing in excess of £400 now i just cant warrant that when i can get 3/4 bats for that and they will perform as well and in some cases look as good as well
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: AJ2014 on February 28, 2019, 11:20:21 AM
It's all about the willow, pressing and profile, obviously there are quality differences in various willows, to end are most likely to have extended middle, regardless of their profile, but lower grades, 3.4.5 are most likely not to have extended middles,
Extended middle is useful for those who like to pull and hook,
Otherwise most will be happy with 3.4.5 grades.
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Kulli on February 28, 2019, 11:38:55 AM
It's all about the willow, pressing and profile, obviously there are quality differences in various willows, to end are most likely to have extended middle, regardless of their profile, but lower grades, 3.4.5 are most likely not to have extended middles,
Extended middle is useful for those who like to pull and hook,
Otherwise most will be happy with 3.4.5 grades.

I don't see why the grade of willow will effect the size of the sweet spot.

You sound like a marketers dream  ;)
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Buzz on February 28, 2019, 11:40:08 AM
It's all about the willow, pressing and profile, obviously there are quality differences in various willows, to end are most likely to have extended middle, regardless of their profile, but lower grades, 3.4.5 are most likely not to have extended middles,
Extended middle is useful for those who like to pull and hook,
Otherwise most will be happy with 3.4.5 grades.
Most are happy with lower grades.
What you are saying is largely not true.
The best performing bat in Romida in leatherhead is pretty much the ugliest bat you have ever seen. It is also £280 which is why I didn't buy it.
It is basically vellum. But the performance on it is amazing.
Shane Watson famously used a 202 or something in a test match because it was brilliant...
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Kulli on February 28, 2019, 11:47:59 AM
Most are happy with lower grades.
What you are saying is largely not true.
The best performing bat in Romida in leatherhead is pretty much the ugliest bat you have ever seen. It is also £280 which is why I didn't buy it.
It is basically vellum. But the performance on it is amazing.
Shane Watson famously used a 202 or something in a test match because it was brilliant...

What is it? Got to love an ugly pinger, though maybe less so at 280 quid!
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: AJ2014 on February 28, 2019, 11:51:30 AM
If 202 is good then what are we doing here?
That's a one off I guess, they must have adjusted to his specs
Or might have put those stickers on his request, that's called numerology for good luck, you know how batsmen are
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: richyreed on February 28, 2019, 12:03:39 PM
If 202 is good then what are we doing here?
That's a one off I guess, they must have adjusted to his specs
Or might have put those stickers on his request, that's called numerology for good luck, you know how batsmen are

I think the story was that they made him up one in a new shape in a lower grade to check he was happy with the pickup and balance. They were going to make him one up in a higher grade of willow but he said he was happy with the lower grade one and ended up using what was probably a 404 grade bat in a test match.

It's not really surprising as we all know that the cosmetics of the willow has little to do with performance.
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: WalkingWicket37 on February 28, 2019, 12:27:08 PM
If 202 is good then what are we doing here?

Lusting over bats with loads of grains and the latest stickers (neither of which have any effect on performance) and spouting a load of b***ocks mainly...
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: stevat on February 28, 2019, 12:35:08 PM
Love threads like this, you have to admire Watson for that I think, picked a bunch up, see which feel good, then bounce a ball on them to check for rebound and jobs a good un.

I don't give a hoot what a bat looks like, just that it feels nice and can be swung swiftly by me, and that the ball bounces off it well.  Totally agree that ultimately pressing and pickup are the most important thing.  There was a great thread on here not that long ago about each manufacturers pressing process, I would just pick a manufacturer I trust to press well, then pick the profile I like at the lowest grade, or maybe mid grade if I'm feeling flush.  Having played a few GM Signatures, I can't imagine ever wanting to spend more than that on a bat given the quality and performance they give you.
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: AJ2014 on February 28, 2019, 01:05:03 PM
Love threads like this, you have to admire Watson for that I think, picked a bunch up, see which feel good, then bounce a ball on them to check for rebound and jobs a good un.

I don't give a hoot what a bat looks like, just that it feels nice and can be swung swiftly by me, and that the ball bounces off it well.  Totally agree that ultimately pressing and pickup are the most important thing.  There was a great thread on here not that long ago about each manufacturers pressing process, I would just pick a manufacturer I trust to press well, then pick the profile I like at the lowest grade, or maybe mid grade if I'm feeling flush.  Having played a few GM Signatures, I can't imagine ever wanting to spend more than that on a bat given the quality and performance they give you.
Need to find that manufacturer pressing process, 🙂
Does anyone know who's using heaviest pressing machine?
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Kulli on February 28, 2019, 01:16:48 PM
If 202 is good then what are we doing here?
That's a one off I guess, they must have adjusted to his specs
Or might have put those stickers on his request, that's called numerology for good luck, you know how batsmen are

Custom bats don't need to be expensive, Aldred and B3 were making 100% custom Butterfly bats for a little over 100.
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: jayralh on February 28, 2019, 01:24:28 PM
If 202 is good then what are we doing here?
That's a one off I guess, they must have adjusted to his specs
Or might have put those stickers on his request, that's called numerology for good luck, you know how batsmen are
Half of what you write doesnt make sense to me
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Buzz on February 28, 2019, 01:35:49 PM
What is it? Got to love an ugly pinger, though maybe less so at 280 quid!
It is a Keeley. Lovely shape, nice pick up and weight dreadful willow. Amazing ping.
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: jonny77 on February 28, 2019, 01:47:46 PM
Need to find that manufacturer pressing process, 🙂
Does anyone know who's using heaviest pressing machine?

Heaviest pressing machine?!
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: AJ2014 on February 28, 2019, 02:00:22 PM
Thought that every pressing machine has different weight that's put on a Cleft
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: Ayrtek Cricket on February 28, 2019, 04:49:55 PM
The amount of pressure applied is variable, the weight of the machine isn’t what dictates the hardness of the pressing of a bat.
Title: Re: Don't feel like buying any other...
Post by: KW9221 on February 28, 2019, 05:50:11 PM
The amount of pressure applied is variable, the weight of the machine isn’t what dictates the hardness of the pressing of a bat.
This is the reason why I love this forum. You get  insightful information from experts.