Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Reviews => Topic started by: Komdotkom on July 30, 2019, 10:02:19 PM
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I recently purchased this Laver&Wood Butterfly, they had free knocking for these on the website and having a few other butterfly bats I was keen to take them up on this as it can take ages for them to get going.
It was A$300 or 168GBP delivered including the bat cover, which I was pretty happy with. As soon as I placed the order I received an email from Paul asking if there were any specific aspects that I'd like included and we traded emails about shapes, weights and handle sizes. The communication was astonishingly prompt and answered all of my questions, which is unlike any other bat maker I've purchased from. I asked for a specific handle size and a weight around 2-8 with a nice pickup - not dead set on the scale weight, but also not 2-12 but feels like 2-8 like some other well known bat makers.... The pickup is lovely and seems good when swishing it around the garage which we all know is the true test of any bat. I'm fairly sure this is NZ made, but I didn't ask the question.
They advised 4 weeks lead time, the bat turned up in 4 weeks and 6 days. I got excellent shipping notifications and it arrived well packed.
The specs are nothing special - 36mm edge and a 59mm spine, grains are pretty good and not really marred by the butterfly stain, some concaving and the toe is a very even 25mm. The finish is very good with only some extremely minor sanding marks visible if you look on the right angle (but I am extremely picky). The stickers look really good, handle is well bound and it's got the trademark Laver toe guard and came scuffed.
I've used the very scientific method of bouncing a ball and hitting it with a mallet and concluded that the ping is excellent, this may be the excitement of a new purchase but I'm going to say it's the best of all my bats. Actually, it probably is just excitement - I've got pre season practice on the weekend so I'll find out but the ping is really good with a nice crisp sound.
So in summary, I was sceptical that Lavers may not live up to their reputation but I'm very happy with both the bat and my buying experience.
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Lovely bat and lovely shape. Iv been contemplating a L&W for a while now as maybe my last fully custom purchase as i sold mine before ever using it a few years ago
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Beautiful grains on that. Love the butterfly sticker.
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Looking at that shape, I’d not realised how similar I shape my bats
Not a fan of butterfly bats, but that looks very nice,,,
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So you not got any Butterfly willow then @Northern monkey ?
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I love that shape. There’s something about the L&W finishing too.
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Great review.
Can't go wrong with a Laver and their after service sets the bench mark.
Good luck with the bat.
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So I finally got around to using this in pre season nets on the weekend and results were interesting. It's always difficult to ascertain just how well the ball is coming off in the nets because you don't really get to see the results, but the rebound off the middle is very good and it was going well facing the 100kph porridge being served up in the slow net.
The scientifically proven method of swishing the bat around in the garage lead me to believe that the pickup on this bat was a little less that than the dead weight, but after frantically wielding it in the nets for 10 minutes I think I'll revise that and say that the pickup is normal. This is probably due to the lowish middle and the dense nature of butterfly clefts.
Although the bat came knocked in from L&W it still needs a lot more work before it's ready for a match and has a very hard feel and sound when you don't middle the ball, which sadly is most of the time for me. It sounds and feels much harder than my Aldred butterfly and is by far the hardest bat that I have. I'll use it against a machine for a few weeks and see if that opens it up some more.
None of this comes as a surprise to me given that Lavers have a reputation for being fairly hard, and butterflys are the hardest of them all so I will have to put some more hours into it.
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I received my L&W Butterfly from the same deal. Haven’t had a chance to take it out yet but as said it’ll need a bit more knocking in. Looks pretty good.7 straight grains, stains at very bottom and above playing area.
(https://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/martyngabb/LW%20Butterfly/D924A51A-934A-4700-A7A7-039AB0705E08_zps8q567voj.jpeg) (http://s754.photobucket.com/user/martyngabb/media/LW%20Butterfly/D924A51A-934A-4700-A7A7-039AB0705E08_zps8q567voj.jpeg.html)
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(https://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/martyngabb/LW%20Butterfly/A0A98A81-A7A0-43D5-909E-80B5AF7D112A_zpshxsnarzn.jpeg) (http://s754.photobucket.com/user/martyngabb/media/LW%20Butterfly/A0A98A81-A7A0-43D5-909E-80B5AF7D112A_zpshxsnarzn.jpeg.html)
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(https://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/martyngabb/LW%20Butterfly/D2D5C953-92F7-41C4-8369-12F9B4B9E201_zpsytlc2ld2.jpeg) (http://s754.photobucket.com/user/martyngabb/media/LW%20Butterfly/D2D5C953-92F7-41C4-8369-12F9B4B9E201_zpsytlc2ld2.jpeg.html)
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(https://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/martyngabb/LW%20Butterfly/8CDD6B14-8786-4F9E-A858-2597478D82D8_zpshib6clup.jpeg) (http://s754.photobucket.com/user/martyngabb/media/LW%20Butterfly/8CDD6B14-8786-4F9E-A858-2597478D82D8_zpshib6clup.jpeg.html)
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(https://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/martyngabb/LW%20Butterfly/06E5AB2F-0732-4FCC-8AE3-5B8CE4ECBA31_zpsjyagjqzb.jpeg) (http://s754.photobucket.com/user/martyngabb/media/LW%20Butterfly/06E5AB2F-0732-4FCC-8AE3-5B8CE4ECBA31_zpsjyagjqzb.jpeg.html)
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(https://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/martyngabb/LW%20Butterfly/E1B3E219-5546-4619-A523-39694B7F5385_zpsh2xpgdc7.jpeg) (http://s754.photobucket.com/user/martyngabb/media/LW%20Butterfly/E1B3E219-5546-4619-A523-39694B7F5385_zpsh2xpgdc7.jpeg.html)
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That stain is in perfect place in my opinion. Makes toe stronger.
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(https://i754.photobucket.com/albums/xx181/martyngabb/LW%20Butterfly/358F497F-4299-478D-8C8C-D9D77527EC61_zpsendmaquz.jpeg) (http://s754.photobucket.com/user/martyngabb/media/LW%20Butterfly/358F497F-4299-478D-8C8C-D9D77527EC61_zpsendmaquz.jpeg.html)
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How much customisation is there with the butterfly deal?
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How much customisation is there with the butterfly deal?
All the normal as from L&W
This was 1/2 inch longer handle, 1/2 shorter blade, semi oval handle, 2lb8oz
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Nice looking stick mate, looking forward to seeing how they go with a bit more playing in.
With respect to customisation I asked for an Ultra shape and custom handle dimensions without any issues
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Very nice bat. I am in the process of buying a new bat with similar profile, but was bit nervous with the relatively thin shoulders. Worried about a full toss chipping of the blade. Any experience with this profile in the past?
I recently purchased this Laver&Wood Butterfly, they had free knocking for these on the website and having a few other butterfly bats I was keen to take them up on this as it can take ages for them to get going.
It was A$300 or 168GBP delivered including the bat cover, which I was pretty happy with. As soon as I placed the order I received an email from Paul asking if there were any specific aspects that I'd like included and we traded emails about shapes, weights and handle sizes. The communication was astonishingly prompt and answered all of my questions, which is unlike any other bat maker I've purchased from. I asked for a specific handle size and a weight around 2-8 with a nice pickup - not dead set on the scale weight, but also not 2-12 but feels like 2-8 like some other well known bat makers.... The pickup is lovely and seems good when swishing it around the garage which we all know is the true test of any bat. I'm fairly sure this is NZ made, but I didn't ask the question.
They advised 4 weeks lead time, the bat turned up in 4 weeks and 6 days. I got excellent shipping notifications and it arrived well packed.
The specs are nothing special - 36mm edge and a 59mm spine, grains are pretty good and not really marred by the butterfly stain, some concaving and the toe is a very even 25mm. The finish is very good with only some extremely minor sanding marks visible if you look on the right angle (but I am extremely picky). The stickers look really good, handle is well bound and it's got the trademark Laver toe guard and came scuffed.
I've used the very scientific method of bouncing a ball and hitting it with a mallet and concluded that the ping is excellent, this may be the excitement of a new purchase but I'm going to say it's the best of all my bats. Actually, it probably is just excitement - I've got pre season practice on the weekend so I'll find out but the ping is really good with a nice crisp sound.
So in summary, I was sceptical that Lavers may not live up to their reputation but I'm very happy with both the bat and my buying experience.
(https://i.imgur.com/WRpsb0t.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/2wU2Os6.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/6N6qYew.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/4JGYJXJ.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/furIb40.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/BR66VRh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/YMp3MAA.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/4xD8aWj.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/4dBxMA7.jpg)
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Hi mate, no I haven't owned one before and probably won't hit enough balls for it to be a problem!
The shoulders are thin but I think it will be fine for club level cricket.
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I took this for another run on the weekend and it's starting to get better already. I had an hour of throw downs and spin before moving into the faster stuff and it's already really starting to go well and the sound off the middle is sooo crisp.
These are seriously good value I reckon, particularly with the way the GBP is vs NZD at the moment.
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This sounds promising. Haven't had a chance to use mine yet so I guess it will be winter nets now.