Different handle colors on Darker blades

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Hi there,
I have just received a second Darker 5P-2A blade and was quite astonished that the color of the handle differed significantly from my first one. Whereas the first blade has a chocolate brown handle this one has a sand colored one (see picture). They almost look like two different blades if you ask me. Did anyone else experience such a range in handle color on identical types of Darker blades?

Btw, the difference in color is not due to sweat or sun. My first blade had a dark brown handle right from the beginning and the color hasn't changed at all.
 

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I'm not so sure if I should find that cool or uncool to be honest. The idea was to have two identical blades which is, in a way, not the case now. Of course the playing properties will still be similar (weight only differs by one gr).

Your new blades handle looks the same as my Darker Speed 90 and Imperial blades. Looks very nice! Personally I think the difference is a positive thing, as you can easily tell the difference between the two of them. I track the hours of use of the rubbers on mine, so it's easier to keep track if you have identifying marks.
 
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Your new blades handle looks like the same as my Darker Speed 90 and Imperial blades. Looks very nice! Personally I think the difference is a positive thing, as you can easily tell the difference between the two of them. I track the hours of use of the rubbers on mine, so it's easier to keep track if you have identifying marks.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I think you made a good point there. It's not that I think the handle is ugly or that it makes a great difference. I was just surprised that Darker doesn't seem to care much about the consistency of the designs of their blades. I know that all Darker blades are handmade and individual and thus not comparable to mass production blades. They probably take the wood they have at hand to make the handles out of it regardless of its color. Still, surprising don't you think?
Btw, do you know if the handles are also made out of Hinoki?
 
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says Spin and more spin.
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I could be wrong, but I think the handle is also made of Hinoki. The older blade with the darker color, the grains are also tighter. It looks like some of the issue is they may have changed batches of Hinoki for the handles.

This happens. If you look at the handle of a Viscaria from 7-8 years ago, it was made a completely different way than the way the handle is made now. They both look like Viscaria handles. But there is much more difference between old Viscaria handles and new ones than the difference shown in your two Darker blades.

It is hard to say if there was a reason for the change in wood selection for the Darker handle, or if it just was that they selected wood without considering the wood used in older models.

I like PushSmasher's reasoning for liking that they look different. But I understand that I just don't get the aesthetic concerns of many TT players. :)

I hope the new blade plays well.
 
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Put some labella flats bass strings to see if the low E resonates the same...

...


wait...

I'm joking but there's a bit of vibration principles when it comes down to wood for sure ! BTY is making some marketing points with that .

I don't have any, I'm afraid. ;) I might put some rubbers on it and see how the feeling compares in both blades.
 
says Spin and more spin.
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It would be hard to say which wood would provide better feeling without trying the blades though. And since the vibrations you would want from a musical instrument and those that would be beneficial for feeling from a TT racket may be different, the wood that makes the better violin may not be the wood that makes a better TT handle. :)
 
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It would be hard to say which wood would provide better feeling without trying the blades though. And since the vibrations you would want from a musical instrument and those that would be beneficial for feeling from a TT racket may be different, the wood that makes the better violin may not be the wood that makes a better TT handle. :)

"Music&Ping" just stated that the wood grain influences the feeling transmitted by that wood. That's a good point I haven't thought about, quite logical.
 
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It would be hard to say which wood would provide better feeling without trying the blades though. And since the vibrations you would want from a musical instrument and those that would be beneficial for feeling from a TT racket may be different, the wood that makes the better violin may not be the wood that makes a better TT handle. :)

I hear you and of course that was not my point here, I was only speaking about vibrations transfer according to woods: do you want more or less vibrations ? more or less informations to be read by your hand ? of course in music instruments industry it's totally different: not the same purposes obviously, it's all about timbre, resonance, sustain, consistency all over the register, that is how woods are choosen indeed, not for their informations they transfer to our hands... and body for the bassists hahaha (you know when an upright bass is good: when all of your belly if shaking when playing that low E hahaha :D)
 
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I hear you and of course that was not my point here, I was only speaking about vibrations transfer according to woods: do you want more or less vibrations ? more or less informations to be read by your hand ? of course in music instruments industry it's totally different: not the same purposes obviously, it's all about timbre, resonance, sustain, consistency all over the register, that is how woods are choosen indeed, not for their informations they transfer to our hands... and body for the bassists hahaha (you know when an upright bass is good: when all of your belly if shaking when playing that low E hahaha :D)

I have just put rubbers on it and tried it out. The one with the lighter handle (the new one) transmits slightly less vibration, not much, but you can tell. Now that's interesting.
 
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