Right, here are some pictures, and the review is underneath!
Unbelievable quality for the price, I count 9 pretty straight and even grains. The blemishes underneath the middle are hard, but the mallet seems to rebound a little better off those parts. The stickers are lovely, some of the best out there at the moment. It's funny how they haven't changed the design all that much, they've just added texture, made the colours richer and added some chrome, and all of a sudden, they look 100 times better! (I used to hate the NB stickers, as I felt they looked cheap and that the fakes looked almost the same)
Pick up wise, this bat is lovely. I would have guessed around the 2.8-2.9 mark, so it is a nice and light pick up. The textured grip is a nice feature, but the best thing about the feel of the bat is probably the oval handle. It's kind of a medium oval, not any of that 'semi-oval which may as well be round' nonsense, but not too obtrusive for the people who like to use a lot of bottom hand for their shots. It's a nice feature, as quite a lot of Indian mass produced bats are just round handles, which I know many prefer, but for me, an oval handle just feels like it fits in my hands nicer.
The swell on the profile is located at around 230mm from the toe, which is pretty high, but the playing area does extend pretty low. Granted it may not pack as much of a punch as some other bats do down there, it is still impressive how long the playing area is. In terms of concaving, there is a fair bit, but it never dips below the edge, and isn't quite as aggressive as some other bats. The rebound is excellent, and will probably only get better, especially around the areas with 'marbling'. In terms of size, the edge thickness is around 36mm, and the spine height is around about 58mm. (Rough measurement for the spine) The toe is around 25mm at the thickest point, so a reasonable thickness.
The finish of the bat is lovely, a good standard and has been polished well. The handle has been bound well and the binding is of good quality, but hasn't had a coat of glue post-bind. The handle is a 12 piece cane construction I believe, (Can't quite fully count the number of pieces without peeling off the handle sticker) and has cork inserts. The toe guard is also fitted nicely and matches in colour! Just the overall presentation of the bat with the high quality textured stickers is impressive, especially for a bat in this price range. The only issue some people may find is that it doesn't come fitted with a scuff sheet, but I personally prefer bats without scuff sheets. Means I can round the edges nicely without worrying about tearing or wrinkling the scuff sheet!
All in all, an excellent bat in terms of value for money. I've seen plenty of higher graded bats at double the price look shabbier than this, and some that just don't seem as impressive in terms of a finished product, and don't seem to respond quite as nicely off the mallet.
A big thanks to Paul for his excellent and prompt service. Never had an issue with my dealings with him, and I feel that IJC's score on Trustpilot is a true reflection on the quality of service and product they provide. The bat was paid for on Monday evening last week and arrived on Wednesday. As soon as I saw it on my FB feed, it was just asking to be bought!
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Topic: New Balance TC560 bat (Read 21201 times)