Is there a vast difference in 'FEEL' between the different arylate carbon blades?

[Nikoli]

Nikoli, Part of the reason that I have quite a few of these blades is that I don't have a good system for getting a good one. I would order from a company, they would send me one and I would hope for the best. The problem is, I don't like many of the new ones, so the really good ones I have are black tag ones and you have to pay a lot of money for them. I was willing to do that.

The ones I like best have fish scale outer ply, a lower pitch when you bounce them against your head, 89-92 gram weight, some flex, minimal vibration. The only way I know to make sure you get one like that is used, on line, where you can see a photo before hand. Generally, those features all go together.

Maze blade is quite different from a Viscaria in terms of handle shape. That matters a lot. I think both blades are excellent for the NP40+ ball. Frankly, the only way to know if you would like one or the other is to hit with them. One guy I play with a lot, he loves his old Maze blade, and he is a very good player. Neither one of us would want to trade blades.

Let me also say this, some of the new ZJK-ALC blades (NOT the one with the blue dragon, the newer one) actually seem better to me than some of the new Viscaria blades, they actually are a bit more like older Viscaria blades.

Very interesting Baal. Thanks for sharing with us. I'm not a big fan of the new ZJK-ALC blade handle. It's too bulky for my hand, and i'm a 2 wings looper. Since finding a new blade is quite hard, i'm actually thinking about ordering a custom made from Japan. I wonder if any body has come across the quality and play characteristics of the custom blade!

 

[Baal]

I will know soon. I am having two new ST handle Viscaria blades custom made for me by Bty.

 

[Nikoli]

I will know soon. I am having two new ST handle Viscaria blades custom made for me by Bty.

Can't wait for your review!

 

[NextLevel]

I think people should look at the Double Day ALC Loop King and the Double Day ALC Winner. I used to think the Loop King handle was too thin but I love it now with grip tape. I have never tried the Winner since I dislike Koto but if it is anything like the Loop King, it sure is a Winner.

 

[Suga D]

This too:

==

Oh well, I thought I would stay out of be entertainment business.

One thing that can be said and has already:

Whatever blade you choose, if it is a decently good blade like any of the blades you are looking at, after you use it for a few months, THAT ONE WILL BE THE RIGHT ONE FOR YOU!

Think of it like the wands in Harry Potter: the wand chooses the wizard and without the allegiance of the wand the wizard's magic is much less powerful.

As you use a blade and get a feel for playing with it, and establish a connection to it, you start knowing how it works and developing your game, your touch and your technique around that blade.

Choose something, get it over with. And start developing that bond, that connection, with the weapon you choose.

All the blades you are looking at are good pieces of equipment. What I am talking about WILL happen regardless of which blade you decide on.

Sent from the Oracle of Delphi by the Pythia

I agree to the fullest, except for this little part here:

....with the weapon you choose.

I like to add that a coach i know told me that instead of seeing my blade as a weapon, i rather should see it as an Instrument to create art...

 

[NextLevel]

I tried the black tag Viscaria of a club member - felt so much different and better.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I agree to the fullest, except for this little part here:


I like to add that a coach i know told me that instead of seeing my blade as a weapon, i rather should see it as an Instrument to create art...

Yeah, I am playing with metaphors. I wonder if most people would think of touch and feel as associated with a weapon.

That is why I chose the image of the wand also. It is not like a battle axe or Thor's hammer that you just bludgeon opponent's with. The wand in the Harry Potter series is thought of as an instrument through which the wizard channel's his creativity and life force.

When someone crude, like Voldemort, does magic it can be powerful but crude and base. He is quite powerful but his limitations are there in his use of force and fear and not understanding certain subtleties. When someone like Dumbledore does magic, you get a description like this:

Dumbledore approached the wall of the cave and caressed it with his blackened fingertips, murmuring words in a strange tongue that Harry did not understand. Twice Dumbledore walked right around the cave, touching as much of the rough rock as he could, occasionally pausing, running his fingers backward and forward over a particular spot, until finally he stopped, his hand pressed flat against the wall.

“Here,” he said. “We go on through here. The entrance is concealed.”

Harry did not ask how Dumbledore knew. He had never seen a wizard work things out like this, simply by looking and touching; but Harry had long since learned that bangs and smoke were more often the marks of ineptitude than expertise.

I know, here Dumbledore doesn't even use his wand. But you get the idea. Its a metaphor anyway.

So, yeah, I agree with you, an instrument for art makes perfect sense. But I like the sound of the word weapon, especially since I said that what you develop around it is your touch and your technique; I should have added feel, but, will add it now. LOL.

So yeah, we are in agreement even though it is fun to call blades weapons and I mean a different thing than what many would mean when they call something a weapon.

 

[Suga D]

Ah ok, interesting. That makes sense. Thanks. Nice way to see it.

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

I tried the black tag Viscaria of a club member - felt so much different and better.

Despite my post about wands and magic and art instruments and weapons, this post by NextLevel gets at something valuable. Baal talks about it a lot. He doesn't like the newer Viscarias as much as the older ones. When Butterfly switched from the company that made the black tag Butterfly blades to the silver tag blades, the quality is slightly different. They still make really good blades but the blades are not quite the same. And the outsource company that made the black tag blades made very good blades.

There is more though. For a while the silver tag Viscarias were still in that 89-93 gram range. And those blades are still decent. But a lot of the Viscarias made today are very light. And a blade that is the same size, the same thickness, all the same dimensions AND MATERIAL that weighs 10 grams less will not play or feel as good. At least not to me. And at least 95% of the time.

And this may be part of why I have heard Baal say, many times in many threads that the New ZJK ALC blades feel more like the older Viscarias than the newer Viscarias do.

So, with these ALC blades, you may want to find weights that are not too light if you want that feel Baal likes so much and perhaps what NextLevel was just talking about.

But not all of it can come down to weight. The company that made the black tag blades makes very good products. So feel free to research Double Day.

NextLevel has a Double Day Valiant Loop King and when I hit with it, I thought it felt pretty darn nice.

Here is a link:

http://www.ping-pong.tw/index.php?manufacturers_id=50&sort=0a&language=en

 

[UpSideDownCarl]

Ah ok, interesting. That makes sense. Thanks. Nice way to see it.

For me the "weapon" thing is just play and entertainment. As you already know, I choose my weapon to be, not too fast, a little more flexible, not to have carbon, to be all wood, and to have a lot feeling and good dwell time to allow me to have more control and spin. I am not the rocket launcher kind of guy.

It is fun to play with ways of describing things though.

 

[Shuki]

I have a black tagged viscaria and hate the way it plays. I think it could be either the placebo effect making people think it's better. or maybe the people who really like it more just have a better viscaria. I think it could be just as likely to get a silver tag viscaria that plays nicely.

 

[NextLevel]

How much do you want for it, Shuki? What's the weight?

 

[Baal]

I almost got one of the Double Day. But I had already ordered the custom Viscarias, and had already bought some ZJK-ALC ST blades in the mean time (I have played with those before in FL, so knew approximately what I would be getting). If I had known about DD a bit earlier, I might have gone that way except I have never hit with one.

 

[Baal]

I also have a black tag one that is not exceptional, but the two other black ones I have are much much better. I also sold two earlier black tag ones (years ago) because they were not as good as I had hoped. They are not all perfect, that's for sure but you can always sell them and find a buyer quickly.

These things are made out of wood, so they all have their own character. I have a silver tag one now that is pretty good also.

Also, Carl is right, a lot of it is weight, but not all of it.

So I am just hoping these ST custom ones I am having built will be ok. Weight won't be the issue, I specified that.

If those are really good, I'm going to have a massive FL Viscaria sale. I probably will anyway, just need to get emotionally used to the idea.

 

[Shuki]

How much do you want for it, Shuki? What's the weight?

85-86 grams. a few dings, I'd have to send you pictures. I also only accept payment AFTER you receive the product. you're well known so I trust you'd pay. If it ends up being not what you expected when you receive it ill pay for shipping returns aswell. 250USD shipped btw.

handle is lightly laquered in an attempt to avoid sweat stains. so it's a little smoother than most.

please pm me your email and ill send you a lot of pictures of it.

 

[NextLevel]

Don't worry about it. I wouldn't pay that much for a blade unless it was a collector's item from a top player unless they cut the money out of my fighting hand while I was dying.