Someone asked in the "what bat you're using" thread for some pictures of my Black Cat Custom. Here goes...
What I asked for was a 3lb long bladed bat with a shape similar to the Newbery B52 but with the middle drawn out further up the spine. This is what arrived on my doorstep a couple of weeks later, at a cost of £235.
The weight is bang on - it is now 3lb 1.3oz with three grips and a toe guard on. The pick up is, I reckon, a good 2-3oz lighter than that, from the first I felt it to be a superbly balanced bat. There are 15 grains on the face - all pretty much straight and the spacing about as even as you ever get with bats with that number on them - the only thing I didn;t like was a small dead knot toward the top of the bat, though I was assured that this would not affect performance and can confirm that it hasn't (you would, in truth, have to be a pretty crap batsman to hit a ball there anyway!).
First impressions were that the response was good - not, perhaps, spceial, but certainly noticeably solid, perhaps with the willow pressed slightly firmer than some bats. Knocked it in, used it for two games, decided I preferred the B52XL that I bought from IJC. Came back to this about three weeks ago and went on a bit of a run with it - couple of fourties on wet dogs followed by 87*, 25, 103*, 37, 89, 66. The middle got noticeably better as I used it, to the extent where I was chipping sixes wih it in our club day last week...!
How would I rate the experience? Well, I certainly got what I asked and paid for - customer service was decent and the bat came bang on specification and very well finished indeed; I reckon there are plenty of runs left in it! I'd certainly have recommended the experience to everyone at the time and was looking to get another myself - not sure how I feel about the same at the recently increased prices though.
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Topic: Ask and ye shall receive (a review of my Black Cat, that is...) (Read 3566 times)