Topic: Charlie French Premier Cru Custom - Pics Added (Read 10708 times)

PM7 · « **on:** August 30, 2011, 09:34:24 PM »

Hi Chaps,

Due to the offer from Johnny Firefly with the possibility of having a CF Premier Cru made in my desired shape for �160 I thought this was a right steal. I emailed Johnny my specs of a Sachin profile with a clean face, over 12 grains, min 35mm edges with a min 20mm toe,a slim oval handle and a light pickup weighing in at 2.8( no laughing or pisstaking please

). Ive never seen a CF apart from on the forum and they all looked lovely so what are the chances id receive a dud one?

I received the bat yesterday and thought WOW, this is a lovely piece of willow. I has a waft and the pickup was excellent for a bat of this size. It measures 36mm at the biggest edge and bang on 20mm at the toe. There is minimal concaving so the profile is pretty thick throughout. The 14 grains were quite beautiful and I have added a coat of linseed and they have some proper definition now. The finishing is excellent and Charlie obviously makes the effort as he remade my bat as he was unhappy with the first effort.

The handle is a quality oval handle but the bottom hand is slightly too thick for my liking which is annoying as I had asked for a slim oval handle. It came with a thick black snake grip so i will have a play around with some others and see what happens. Ive tapped it up and started to knock it in and it feels extremely responsive but its early days yet although it passes the mallet test bigtime.

In a nutshell this is a seriously good bat with a huge profile, light pickup and although initially I was unsure how close the profile was to a Sachin profile, I thought damm this is will suit my batting style perfectly. Maybe my expectations were different but Ive never seen a Sachin profile in the flesh anyway

Big thanks to Johnny who answered all my questions and kept me updated all the way. Id be more than happy to recommend anyone to try a CF especially at this price

I will add some more info and pics when ive had a net/thrash this weekend.

shazz · « **Reply #1 on:** August 30, 2011, 09:39:21 PM »

Sounds nice, but sachin uses a 2.10 I thought?

peplow · « **Reply #2 on:** August 30, 2011, 09:40:31 PM »

sachin profile... shape of the bat mate

jonpinson · « **Reply #3 on:** August 30, 2011, 09:46:25 PM »

It is nice to hear of batmakers going the extra mile to make exactly what you want. Just like it should be. Rather regretting not jumping in on the offer now.

Can't wait to see pics.

nathanmcnally · « **Reply #4 on:** August 30, 2011, 10:00:29 PM »

I agree. You have asked for a lot to be done with this bat and sounds as though CF has done a great job.
It's things like that which will get CF a lot more business

jonpinson · « **Reply #5 on:** August 30, 2011, 10:08:47 PM »

Yes, hopefully. He is rather off the radar or not very fashionable, but I've only ever seem impressive stuff from him.

Johnny · « **Reply #6 on:** August 30, 2011, 10:35:16 PM »

Off the back of me publicising the deal through my friend, he recommended me to CF and I'm now a sales rep for them too (not a full time job or anything) - I'm in the process of getting funds into paypal to pay for advertising on the forum, but means there should be plenty of CF deals knocking about.

The �160 offer isn't a limited offer, it's applicable anytime but requires an order of 5 bats - otherwise a Premier Cru is �180 (still a 25% saving on the CF website price)

jonpinson · « **Reply #7 on:** August 31, 2011, 05:36:44 AM »

Looks wonderful. Indeed I'd go as far as to say that the grain structure is as close to my Sig as anything I've seen.

Kulli · « **Reply #8 on:** August 31, 2011, 05:39:50 AM »

Grains look amazing and it'ss a decent size for the weight, profile isn't really my cup of tea but I guess if thats what you were after then it's a top deal.

Canners · « **Reply #9 on:** August 31, 2011, 05:41:46 AM »

I agree JP these CF bats look pretty damn good, i also regret not jumping in on this deal....

cant believe your still harping on about that SIG with the average grains

not quite sure its a sachin shape tho, but as long as your happy

19reading87 · « **Reply #10 on:** August 31, 2011, 05:52:49 AM »

Ow god daaaamn! A thing of beauty! Johnnys offer looks even better now....

Johnny · « **Reply #11 on:** August 31, 2011, 07:30:16 AM »

They are lovely grains, but I know the Premier Cru is supposed to be selected on performance as opposed to aesthetics, so to get one that looks this good as well is pretty much luck of the draw.

jonpinson · « **Reply #12 on:** August 31, 2011, 08:37:02 AM »

Is there a process in place for being able to select a cleft? I've not seen many of these bats but I can think of two others that were truly top class on looks.

Johnny · « **Reply #13 on:** August 31, 2011, 08:45:27 AM »

Quote from: jonpinson on August 31, 2011, 08:37:02 AM

Is there a process in place for being able to select a cleft? I've not seen many of these bats but I can think of two others that were truly top class on looks.

I think you asked this before Jon, and I enquired, but they weren't keen to do it at all. I know the likes of Laver and H4L are prepared to do this, but CF felt that if they offered it to one customer then they'd have to do it for all customers and they weren't happy about the extra work it would cause - although he has a back room staff to sort out administration the production side of things is a completely one man job - Charlie selects the clefts direct from Wrights, makes all the bats from scratch including stickering and he's even responsible for dispatch too.

Charlie also said that especially for a custom shape he would prefer to be the judge of which cleft will allow him to make the desired shape, as opposed to someone picking one out over the internet based on it having pretty grains, but it ultimately not being the right weight and density to get the shape right.

They do offer a Red-Letter day package where you can visit the factory and pick a cleft in person, and then watch whilst the bat is made - it's �350 though and is one of the few things I don't get offered a discount on.

Opener from the forum has also received one of these bats - I have pics I can post if he's happy for me to do so - his bat is colossal but seems to have a bit of specking on the face - not quite as clean a piece of wood as this.

PM7 · « **Reply #14 on:** August 31, 2011, 08:47:58 AM »

I did ask this as I didnt want any heartwood and a clean face and Johnny said that all the bats we had seen from CF were sapwood only which was good enough for me. In fairness from a picture you can only confirm the aesthetics and not the rebound qualities.
I actually asked Johnny if the bat was knocked in as when received the edges were rounded off and the rebound already seems like a knocked in bat. apparently it has not been knocked in.

Author Topic: Charlie French Premier Cru Custom - Pics Added (Read 10708 times)

PM7

Charlie French Premier Cru Custom - Pics Added

shazz

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peplow

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jonpinson

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nathanmcnally

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Johnny

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Canners

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19reading87

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