Dear Forumites,
I've been meaning to post this topic since I picked up my new B3 last week - I've only just had the chance to take some snaps and I know it's more than my life's worth to post about a new bat without having some pics to back a post up
I'd been thinking about a B3 for a while - ever since Streaky joined the CI forum - I loved the idea of a truly bespoke experience, but always felt the top end prices were a little too top end. An email offer of 15% off if ordered by the end of Feb (in excess of £50 off) made me commit and I went to visit B3 in late Feb.
I'd already emailed Streaky with my thoughts. I wanted a profile similar to Michael Clarke's (picture I sent is below) - I liked the traditional shape with a modern twist. I'm not a fan of huge edges or concaving and seeing the bat on TV and pics made me realise it's similar in shape and sweet-spot positioning to the bats I've had previously. I'd also told Streaky I usually have 2.5 grips, it should weight 2.8-2.9 undressed, oval handle, blade 1/4" longer (I'm 6'1") and standard SH. I would have preferred 10-12 grains and some heartwood.
The brief...
I sat with Streaky and went over the design - he was a fan of the shape but felt the extreme dip at the toe of the bat wouldn't lend itself to longevity - in short, one yorker and it could be done! A slight alteration (no more than a fraction of a degree) to the shape resulted in a design I was (and am) much happier with. I'm sure the similarities are apparent to you in the finished product
To cut a long story short, after a tour of the bat-making process and a brew and the design consultation, I then went and weighed some clefts and was asked to pick out some that I would like. Streaky was very keen to state that if there weren't any I liked, no problem, he'd keep looking for me. I picked out 3 possibles but Streaky felt he had some better quality clefts coming in and he'd email over some pics.
The whole consultation was a great experience. Streaky and Russ give you their full attention (2 x county pros had to wait until I was done) and some of the anecdotes are superb, including Shane Watson using a 303 in a Test match (nice guy, very easy going apparently). I also got to wave around a current England test players' bats for the upcoming summer (heavier than I thought he'd have to be honest and a very strange handle set up!).
After some emails, picking a cleft and being sent pics of the bat once made (below) there was a delay in picking up my bat. The blue stickers are v popular and there was a hold up with the supplier. No major problem for me as I have a net bat and I knew the B3 needed knocking in... Streaky was great throughout - constant communication, advice and always got straight back to me if I asked for an update.
Anyway, here's what I picked up last week... To be fair, I'm absolutely delighted with it!
- B3 3 stripe bespoke
- Blue stickers and handle
- 1 grip - 1.5 handle twine (to avoid the grip slipping - Streaky's suggestion)
- Oval handle
- 2.10.4 fully dressed (includes anti-scuff) - pick up is amazing!
- 10 grains, tiny strip of heartwood (took advice on the quality of the cleft and went with that)
- 33mm edges
- minimal concaving
- Observations - quality-wise, it looks and feels top end - it's a lot of bat for the weight and the pick up feels like a 2.7/2.8. The finish is great; stickers look much better 'live' and the polished finish looks class. The mega-observant amongst you will see that the 'bespoke' sticker is missing; just a thing I have with all my bats, I prefer the face to have the logo only (less is more!)
- Reservations (with the whole process) - none. I think it helps to have an idea of what you want and no alteration is too small. It repsonds great to the mallet test; I need to knock it in before using in the nets. It would be good to get current B3 owners thoughts/observations on how long this took them and how long it took their bat to open up?
The teaser pics sent weeks before I was able to pick it up
...and here she is... (I'm not apologising for the quality of the pictures - David Bailey I am not...)
In short, I would recommend B3 to anyone on here - limitless design options and budgets to suit all. I will definitely be visiting them again! Questions and/or observations all welcome.
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Topic: My new B3 3 stripe bespoke (Read 8804 times)