As most of us on here I am a bat freak (not the extent of the Hosk or Uzair). As much as I love owing the best prices of willow (I can get my hands on, and that is a lot), I like to experiment as well.
Ever since I read a random topic about B3 on CBF, I was fascinated by the concept – several permutations and combinations to choose from to get my “ideal” bat. It was something new to experiment and play around with and a very good pass time creating different profiles.
Finally, once I read about Dave’s bat and saw the video, I decided it was time to give David a call.
Having interacted with David in his previous assignment, I knew he would be all ears to what I was going to say and give a open and honest opinion/answer.
After a few (quite a few in fact) emails and a couple of calls, I decide to visit David and B3. I have never woken on a weekend @6:00 a.m. ever, but looking back at this massive effort, I feel I made a good investment foregoing a few hours of sleep ☺
So, I finally met David, we spoke about various profiles, the ideas I had in mind and going through some standard B3 series bats to get a feel and explain what would be my ideal bat.
No guesses on the specs for my ideal bat – most of us are always looking for the same BIG (an lite) BEAUTIFUL BAT.
Weight 2lb10oz finished
Grains minimum 10, more the better and no heartwood
Big edges, mid-low middle and no concaving.
This meant that David needed to find the “perfect cleft” and we started the exciting and time consuming exercise of weighing clefts, measuring them and then using one of David’s excel worksheets find the density of each cleft and the estimated weight of a finished bat based on the selected clefts. I picked 4 clefts in all – 2 of which were already graded as Pro clefts as these were light and big and a couple of stunning G1s.
The profile I finally selected was very similar to a DB3 but with a more fuller back and longer middle.
David kept me informed about each stage the cleft and eventually the bat went through and I got my bat after 4 days of visiting B3.
When I first picked-up the bat, I thought David had got it wrong as the bat felt like a 2lb8oz - a bit disappointed thinking if tis was a 2lb8oz then I had lost our on a few millimetres on the edge and spine. However, when I weighed the bat it was dead 2lb10oz – now I cursed myself even more as I thought I could have gone for a bat couple of ounces heavier.
Anyway, to distract myself from this, I went on to tap the bat and bounce the ball on it and without doubt the bat (even without being knocked-in) rebounded is exceptional and as good as on any of my bats (that have been custom made by some of the best bat makers in the UK & AUS) – so David certainly knows how to press his willow and create the perfect pick-up.
I have used the bat in a few net sessions and it packs a serious punch, which has lead to several people asking me about B3.
Given the price for top of the range bats for 2012/13, I can say with a lot of conviction that B3 is serious value for money – not only you get to design your own bat and choose from some of the best clefts etc, you also end-up learning a lot and creating a special bond with the bat.
Overall, this has been one of my best experiences and I am now waiting for David to design my new bat.
Enjoy the pictures.
For those who go by absolute numbers - edges are 36-37mm, spine is ~56mm, 12 grains (most of you would have counted them by now)
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Topic: Big Beautiful Bat – or simply B3 (Read 10262 times)