Print

[Bats_Entertainment]

How so, maybe a low performing stunner, thus the customer thinks it's a misgrade?

Because GM have graded it correctly according to their system.  Cricket bats are for hitting cricket balls, not looking at, after all?

[Kulli]

Because GM have graded it correctly according to their system.  Cricket bats are for hitting cricket balls, not looking at, after all?

Because grading is all about opinion.

[Bats_Entertainment]

So how would you know if, say, an 808 had been under-graded unless you tapped it up next to an OLE.

It's relative, isn't it?

[prim0pyr0]

Yup, all facts. 

Nope. We use CAD/CAM intelligently where it is appropriate. All of our bats have substantial care and time in the hands of very skilled GM craftsmen and women. We find that when people have been around the factory and actually seen how we make bats, what our processes are and how much skill and care is put into each cleft of timber, they appreciate a lot more what we are all about.

Not really. Increasingly we use our own sourced timber to further improve consistency and quality for our customers.

We don't do custom made bats for retail sale, quite true. What we do do is place a fantastic range of bats in the hands of trained, quality cricket retailers for individuals to touch, feel, pick up, swish and fall in love with. In our view that has a lot of advantages over selecting from one custom made bat that may not feel quite how you thought.

Kind regards

Edward

Thanks for that, quite insightful. Hadn't thought about my own shopping habits and how picking up bats in a shop is quite important for most of my bat purchases(lower grades especially, top le type bats there isn't the same numbers to try but it's a safer bet that they will perform and pick up etc). However GM do sell online, and it's a disadvantage not to be able to choose bat weight. with the players bats most retailers don't have stock but can order them in, if there is only 50 made it  wouldn't be too much work to weigh bats.
Thinking about GM offerings vs custom/others and one thing GM promotes more than other brands is several different blade lengths, with more minimal refined stickers. Other brands tend to focus more on promotion by player association and swell position, with more "noticeable" stickers. Custom hand made companies are a different experience and offer tailored uniqueness where you can choose clefts/handles/weight/profile etc etc. It would be pretty hard to scale fully hand made to the production quantity of GM I imagine.
Possibly how good a fit the bat is with someone maybe doesn't matter as much as how good a fit the brand/marketing is with someone.


 

What happens if you don't really hit it off with your custom made bat?

..Buy more bats!

[prim0pyr0]

You get a lot of 'GM must have misgraded this one' posts on here, accompanied by picture of a good looking bat.

If GM grade on performance, these are surely nonsense?

"our assessment of performance" doesn't equal ball rebound performance, it may include looks or longevity, or assumptions like : more grains = performance, heart wood = poorer performance.
Id guess they mallet test the higher grade OLE and players bats, less likely for the lower grades. Quantifying mallet performance over their numerous grades with exact accuracy would be pretty difficult.

[Bats_Entertainment]

Mr Lowry is right. The only real way to know a bat is right for you is to feel it in your hands.

However, wasn't the original selling point of DXM that it could reproduce bats exactly?

[Bats_Entertainment]

Possibly how good a fit the bat is with someone maybe doesn't matter as much as how good a fit the brand/marketing is with someone.

Most people buy for this reason, which is terrible really.

[Edward Lowy]

Mr Lowry is right. The only real way to know a bat is right for you is to feel it in your hands.

However, wasn't the original selling point of DXM that it could reproduce bats exactly?

It does, by shape. However, each cleft of willow will have differing characteristics.

[Bats_Entertainment]

It does, by shape. However, each cleft of willow will have differing characteristics.

Exactly

[Bats_Entertainment]

Isn't this the reason some say that you can never properly balance a bat by machine?

[Wickets-then-runs]

Isn't this the reason some say that you can never properly balance a bat by machine?

by the same logic, what feels balanced to one person can pick up terribly to someone else...

[Bats_Entertainment]

by the same logic, what feels balanced to one person can pick up terribly to someone else...

I agree.

[Edward Lowy]

Isn't this the reason some say that you can never properly balance a bat by machine?

Can't see how you could do that. We don't.

[Bats_Entertainment]

So no two bats are really identical?

[Edward Lowy]

So no two bats are really identical?

As no two clefts are identical in composition, then no.