Emerald or Carbonado

[rmpelc]

What blade is better for a player who spins heavy and dosen't drive a lot and learning to counter spin. Stiga Emerald or Stiga Carbonado 145.

 

[Giangt]

Hi and welcome to the forum. There's a of reviews of the carbonados in the equipment review center. I haven't tried the Emerald so I can't compare the two blades. I can only recommend the carbonados which are good decent blades. I have one 145 up for sale if you are interested.
http://www.tabletennisdaily.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?5574-FS-Butterfly-Stiga-DHS

 

[Shuki]

carbonado is a lot faster than emerald vps. emerald is more flexible but its also got a harder outside ply. its also almost impossible to find a carbonado under 90 grams while its very possible to find an emerald vps for under 90g

 

[Killerspintt]

To me it was easier to find a carbonado under 90 than Emerald. The lighter emerald I found was 94gr, I found a carbono 145 at 87gr and a 190 at 83gr.

 

[Rajah*]

If you are a spinner type who loves to initiate an early 2nd ball attack then take the game into a rally, then i would say carbonado 190. I find emerald more of a counter hitting blocking blade. If you want an all wood there is rosewood and ebenholz nctV

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[rmpelc]

I block occasionly would carbonado be alright for that. My rubbers are quite fast.

 

[MegaZZ]

My impression Emerald VPS and Carbonado 145

What blade is better for a player who spins heavy and dosen't drive a lot and learning to counter spin. Stiga Emerald or Stiga Carbonado 145.

I have Emerald VPS and Carbonado 145 and have played with both. The Emerald VPS is harder, stiffer and is faster in my opinion. It's very good for close to the table play, and is good for fast loops and drives close or mid distance to table. I found the dwell a bit less than I am used to (I came from mostly wooden blades or innerfibre ZLF blades which have very woody feel/dwell time). The BH of Emerald VPS is impressive for its low arc and is good for blocks and punches. I struggled a bit with BH open ups against backspin though due to short dwell time but in general this is a weaker area of my game and someone with better technique can manage fine I suspect.

Carbonado 145 has quite a woody feel despite the carbon layer and I liked the FH side better as I can generate heavy spin and is relatively fast, the BH was better for open ups against backspin although it lacks some power on the BH from my point of view for the topspin rallies. It's quite a stable blade, in fact I would rate it as being quite fast and powerful but with an emphasis on increased dwell for spin. I did find the blade a bit hollow and with a little too much vibration for the short game though, but everyone is very different there.

I really suggest trying to find someone around you who may own one of these blades and testing them out, I feel these are two quite different blades. Btw, I haven't tried out Carbonado 190 so I can't make any comments there.

 

[rmpelc]

What rubbers did you use on both blades

 

[Dan]

If you are a spinner type who loves to initiate an early 2nd ball attack then take the game into a rally, then i would say carbonado 190. I find emerald more of a counter hitting blocking blade. If you want an all wood there is rosewood and ebenholz nctV

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

I block occasionly would carbonado be alright for that. My rubbers are quite fast.

I have Emerald VPS and Carbonado 145 and have played with both. The Emerald VPS is harder, stiffer and is faster in my opinion. It's very good for close to the table play, and is good for fast loops and drives close or mid distance to table. I found the dwell a bit less than I am used to (I came from mostly wooden blades or innerfibre ZLF blades which have very woody feel/dwell time). The BH of Emerald VPS is impressive for its low arc and is good for blocks and punches. I struggled a bit with BH open ups against backspin though due to short dwell time but in general this is a weaker area of my game and someone with better technique can manage fine I suspect.

Carbonado 145 has quite a woody feel despite the carbon layer and I liked the FH side better as I can generate heavy spin and is relatively fast, the BH was better for open ups against backspin although it lacks some power on the BH from my point of view for the topspin rallies. It's quite a stable blade, in fact I would rate it as being quite fast and powerful but with an emphasis on increased dwell for spin. I did find the blade a bit hollow and with a little too much vibration for the short game though, but everyone is very different there.

I really suggest trying to find someone around you who may own one of these blades and testing them out, I feel these are two quite different blades. Btw, I haven't tried out Carbonado 190 so I can't make any comments there.

Great posts guys. I agree with all of this. Like MegaZZ has suggested, if you can try the blade from a friend that would really help because everyone's styles and techniques are different, some may prefer the Emerald to the Carbonado and vice versa. One thing is for sure is that they are both high quality blades and both work well in your case. You are currently using the Joola Rosskopf Allround right? I would go to the Emerald first. i think you will get more control with this blade and you will get lots of spin from the dwell. I could produce a lot of spin with the Emerald when I tried it. It's hard plys as users have mentioned allows you to play strong to.

 

[rmpelc]

How about open ups.

 

[Shuki]

To me it was easier to find a carbonado under 90 than Emerald. The lighter emerald I found was 94gr, I found a carbono 145 at 87gr and a 190 at 83gr.

from where did you find these? i've emailed tt11 and they had none under 92g.

 

[Killerspintt]

I found both of them at ttex.se
Sold the 145 and kept the 190. Its 84gr in the end (with my new scale, just rechecked a took a picture) : http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2015/43/1445623406-unnamed.jpg

But one thing is very important also about the weight distribution : the Emerald is really head heavy, to be honest I had the feeling that my emerald was 100+gr. A 92gr carbonado will feel much lighter than a 92gr emerald. Carbonado are very well balanced while emerald is really head heavy. But Emerald has such a nice feeling.....I think most people will prefer emerald to carbonados if they can test the blades.