Custom Bats Cricket Forum
Equipment => Bats => Custom Made => Topic started by: yvk3103 on September 03, 2008, 08:24:22 AM
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Hello,
Assuming we all had £200 to get a bespoke / custom made bat, which brand would be preferres (and why?) - M&H or L&W.
Which bat profile would you choose - classical (like the M&H retro) or bowed or special (hybrid between the previous 2).
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Id go for L&W as id love to try out a carbon handle from there. I like the way James sends pics throught the stages of the bat being made aswell!
Id choose a nice chunky bat... possibly longer handle shorter blade!
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James is a top guy has been very patient with the string of emails i sent him and always replied to them explaing everything.
I spoke with Nick and Rob at M&H earlier today and they were very open in discussing my requirements and sharing their views.
I am really amazed at the margins these guys have on the bats.
Price came down from £275 to £200. Maybe I can get another £20 off when I finally decide to order.
I did like to visit Newbery or M&H to get a bat made by the distance is too much and adds to the cost
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m&h, top bats.
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Id go for L&W as i'd love to try out a carbon handle from there.
Also i'd go for the special profile.
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yes, there carbo handles are different and in-line with the new MCC guidelines
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I didn't like the L&W handle or the pickup on the bat I had, I believe that Slogger02 has that bat now.
I did think however they were good for online ordering, significantly better than Warsop and Fusion.
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Like many I am not a big fan / supporter of the carbon handles
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I didn't like the L&W handle or the pickup on the bat I had, I believe that Slogger02 has that bat now.
I did think however they were good for online ordering, significantly better than Warsop and Fusion.
do i?? which laver is that then? i've had a few.
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You have one with the Wavy grains. Weighs about 2lb 11oz, looks v.similar to one I had.
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Since you mentioned wavy grians, I would like post another question ----
how important is thge grain structure to the performance of the bat? Would bat with 16 straight grains perform better than one with 16 wavy grains?
I feel it's just cosmetic gratification..... every guy wants to date the hottest looking and the most beautiful girl....
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oh right, the carbo comet, i got it off ebay but i don't reckon it was from you. did you sell it to someone beforehand?
i've just sold it to make funds available for my newbery custom.
i really liked the handle on it and i thought the pickup was great, but my opinion only, it may just suit me better than it did you.
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Since you mentioned wavy grians, I would like post another question ----
how important is thge grain structure to the performance of the bat? Would bat with 16 straight grains perform better than one with 16 wavy grains?
I feel it's just cosmetic gratification..... every guy wants to date the hottest looking and the most beautiful girl....
the more grains the better it is likely to perform but if they're wavy or not doesn't matter i don't think, just cosmetics
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yeah more grains = better performance in a short span = short bat life....
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I swapped it with Gary from Redback originally for his top of the range, he may have done some work on it but I do remember it feeling very bottom heavy. It did have a low middle though, whereas my Fusion's have generally had high as have my Itias bats.
I prefer straight grains merely for looks, but got quite a wavy grained bat here which I may use for next season as I don't forsee getting much for it and it's a nice bat.
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i'm not sure i got it from gary either, i think the bats done a bit of travelling!
it did have a low middle but i am a strong lad and used a heavier bat last season with a lower middle so to me the pickup was good. i don't like high middles as i never seem to time it right with one. i also prefer straight grains but if it performs well i will overlook it.
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To get all techie on you wavy grains will change the poisson ratio . i.e when something is stretched in one direction is tends to contract in another direction.
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Andy - you must be the geeky willow expert of the forums!
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Thanks Chris hehehehe do you want to know about young modulus as well.... ;D
In fact I'm looking at a few things at the moment and doing some [FEA] Finite Element Analysis on willow so some things are as clear as mud in the mind... If only I'd listened in my Lectures ;)
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I need to go back to school.
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I'd go with M&H simply as I've tried Laver and although very impressed by the service James offers and the endless nice bats he churns out, the carbon handles I'm not too sure on, but other than that can't fault the bats on performance and the matching of the requested specs.
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The carbo handle doesn't come as standard just ask James to put a standard handle in the bat with a carbo shape he won't mind...
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I'm fully aware of that, if there wasn't a choice then it wouldn't be a fully custom bat would it, I opted for the handle and wasn't keen on it.
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Why didn't you like the handle?
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The carbon rod makes the handle much stiffer, thought I would give it a try to see what it played like and compare it to other carbon handles and standard cane. I'd rather use cane or a carbon handle which adds more flex to the handle, such as the C6+.
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I'm not sure whether it was the carbon handle I didn't like or just the Laver handles in general. It didn't feel very substantial in the hands and it just didn't feel 100% right when I hit the ball.
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I have heard that laver handles are a bit too skinny for some people?
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I'd agree with that, they are thinner than standard handles a couple of grips usually sorts it but obviously changes the way the bat feels in the hands.
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I double grip all my bats anyway, so with the Laver one I was looking at having to triple or quad grip it. By the time you do that the handle is far to squidgy and the bat would feel dead.
The bat itself I had went really well, just wasn't that nice in the hands for me it obviously has suited others though.
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4 grips!!! it would feel like holding a high density foam handle!
I tried 3 grips once but completly lost the feel
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So was it a hand load comfort thing on the bottom / top or both hands....hand load on the palm or finger
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Maybe next time someone orders from LW they could ask for it to be double 'binded'
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Both hands as I hold the bat very low on the handle.
And you could ask for it to be double binded, or you could also ask for a thicker handle at the bottom. I would have done had I had experiences with the handles before my first order.
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Tom or anyone that doesn't like them comfort or hand load when hitting the ball
Palm or fingers if you get what I'm talking about
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Ok to give you an idea of what I'm talking about and why I asked....
Stiffer handle will exhibit the following hand loading characteristics based on hitting it in the sweet spot....
Bottom Hand Palm hand loads Low. Fingers of the bottom hand fairly high when middled but avgs out against less stiffer handles as it moves from the sweetspot
Top hand, hand loads on palm is relatively close but is high it then averages out against other handles as it moves from the sweetspot.... fingers of the top hand fairly low loads when middled and is on average the same as normal handles as it moves from the sweetspot
- I won't go into the whys and therefores based on blade deflection and the performance of a stiffer handle vs a "normal" handle
EDIT: I think I got that right this time ;D
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Norbs how the heck do you know all this! You really are a willow/bat/speed/wood expert :P
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I'm a bit of cricket bat obsessive geek ;).... I like to understand how things work but also interested in views and people's practical experiences. That is why I sometimes answer a question with a question like I did here...
It is still an open question?
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m and h anyday, bought one at start of last season, scored over 10 times more runs than the previous season!! highly reccommended
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It's very difficult to say who is the best.
I have seen some extraordinary M&H bats and some totally crap ones.
a couple of weeks back I was at Pro4 looking at a Kookaburra Ricky Ponting Kuhana which it the top end bat and sells for £270. Just next to it was a M&H for £200 which picked-up even better than the Kookaburra and had meatier middle. If I were to buy my £200 was on the M&H. Another plus all bats are oiled and knocked-in not like Kook RPK which is knocked-in by a machine.
Last season a friend had bought a M&H from one of the retailers and though it played well for sometime but it was not even close to my BAS in performance and pick-up (finally the guy chucked the M&H for one of my BAS).
Another point. It is myth that a custom made bat will perform better. Some off the shelf bats deliver better performance than a custom made.
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yeah i agree with you there mate, they are sometimes inconsistent on the quality of their bats, if you had the bespoke experience you can chose your own cleft of willow, when i had mine done, they brought out around 10 of their best clefts, lined them up and let me pick. was a hard choice though!
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I would have left the decision on the bat maker at M&H to choose the right cleft. Maybe they were playing safe. I do not know a sh** about willow ;))
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yea rob the batmaker had a look at all of them and said they all played the same so was just down to appearance really! i chose one with 10 grains and a strip of heartwood on the outside edge (right hander)
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so 95% of the job done if rob had evaluated the clefts and put them at par..... did u see how he graded them or felt these would play better than the others??
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yea i suppose so, im not sure how he graded them because they keep all the same graded bats in the same place, so he got the best range of clefts in front of me, gave me a mallet, and said up to you mate! i would definately reccommend having this done, was an awesome day out, and bat has lasted really well so far, hardly even a surface crack on it, should last me a few years, fingers crossed!
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Rob knows how to get a good bat, which is very good considering he is clueless.
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I picked laver and wood but am not very sure, there great bats, it could all be luck, you could get the same bats and play better with one its also about mental habits if that sounds right haha
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Personally I love playing on the front-foot and so the L&W bowed range is the perfect bat, but ur style may be different.
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i personally dont like either of the companys, i think that spending plus 200 quid is ridcoulous, although the kit may be good, i think it is easy to find better alternitives, i have picked up a friends m&h and hated it, and apprently its the best bat out (wisden good gear guide 2009)
i found that i have got on much better with my CC (colts cricket)
than my warsop!
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Never had m&h but have a l&w private bin in special shape at 2lb 12 with carbo handle. It does sound different but goes like a gun, should get better over time.
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any pics mate? it sounds nice
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I have tried only LW "Firefly", Will always get my next bat from Laver. I love this bat in 2.8 Lbs with very nice pickup and great ping
(http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q361/thaman303/DSC00117.jpg)
(http://i349.photobucket.com/albums/q361/thaman303/DSC00118.jpg)
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Personally living in Somerset i would choose M&H as their factory is half an hour drive from me.......Lavers are fantastic bats but cost is too prohibative......
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seems to be a lot of forum members from the south west area!
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Good cricket down here mate, I moved here from London a couple of years ago..........fantastic grounds and a good standard of leagues aswell.........
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Ahhhh another somerset lad, whereabout you based, taunton area im guessing? Im over at langport.
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No mate I am up the other end near Frome..........
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Ahhhh, which league do you play in then - the bristol or somerset?
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I play for Warminster in the west of England prem 2........
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Not a bad standard B&d one for me at the moment shud be pushing for promotion tho lol
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ayrtek what team do u play for as i play in bristol and somerset (wepl)