Towards the back end of summer 2014 I thought I'd finally have a crack at a Laver, so I decided to buy one from their special offers section. See link below:
http://custombats.co.uk/cbforum/index.php?topic=31382.0To cut a long story short I ultimately wasn't happy as the bat was quite a bit heavier than I expected, 2.13 with my preferred grip set up of 1 and 1/2. I didn't actually start using it until the middle of this season and it was quickly apparent that I just couldn't wield it. So i contacted James and sent it back to him for some modifications which he did free of charge. He did offer to make me a brand new bat for £200 but I wasn't willing to pay that to be honest. See pics below:
The new darker stickers really do make it look stunning (are these new or have people seen these before?) and overall I'd say he's done a very good job with the weight reduction without sacrificing the shape too much. The middle is perhaps just a shade lower than I'd like it, but he has got it down from an unusuable 2.13 to 2.10.5 and put some extra binding onto the handle to thicken it up for me. The pick up has definitely improved, bottom heavyish but much more usable. As far as responsiveness goes I don't think its lost anything in the reshaping, it sounds nice enough and before the reshaping I had struck a few in anger out of the middle and they had really flown but its not the sort of bat you knock a ball up on and it crashes into the ceiling. A friend of mine said he was convinced his Laver was a lemon at the start then after 2/3 games it suddenly sprang to life and became his favourite bat of all time, so perhaps given a bit of time mine will do the same. I do want to say that the main thing I have learnt from this experience is that as much as we all crave the exotic perhaps it really is wiser to buy a bat you can actually pick up and see in the flesh!! Something I have always done in the past. Buying sight unseen is a big risk, subsequently this may end up getting sold and a trip to either B3 or H4L may well we on the cards...
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Topic: The Mega has returned from NZ. (Read 2506 times)