To a newbie can you give me the most used (by top stringers) of these knots please. much appreciated.
You will find the half hitch get used most often as it is the easiest and at the same time secure enough.
Are you just asking about the knot type? Or do you mean the method for 2 piece stringing? I have seen stringers which use a starting clamp for the crosses instead a starting knot and tie off after they finished the last cross. I also did this a few times before at high tensions(>30lbs). You have a high risk for a flushed starting knot if it is too compact. After I practised and modified my knots, I don't had issues. A starting knot is FME the better choice to lower tension loss a bit. Actually I 1 pieced all my rackets and finish them with a Wilson Pro Knot. I guess that most top stringers use parnell, pro knot and toshi the most for tie off. And some use the toshi also as starting knot or a modified statring knot.
I don't see how a single half hitch could hold anything. It is specifically indicated to not use it when tying a knot in the USRSA documentation and exams. Double half hitch is fine though. I would say that the most popular knots by far are the Parnell and Wilson Pro knot for finishing knots. You can easily find videos on how to do them on Youtube. Starting knots are a little bit more varied, I personally use a Bulky knot, it's easy to tie, has never slipped on me and the tail sits nicely on the frame. Again, it's on youtube.
http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php/152834-A-Good-Knot Read that and it will answer a lot of your questions.
While some manufacturers recommend 2pc, it is usually not an issue for warranty to do 1pc since the crosses start at the bottom anyways.
They don't usually care too much about that (here anyways). They are usually more concerned with tension and general condition of the racket.
That's one thing I never understood. How are they gonna know which tension I used when I cut the strings and take them out? Maybe someone can shed some light on that... Do you have to send it to them with the (broken) strings still in the racket?
You should send your rackets with the strings still in the racket, however not all distributors care if they are in it or not. A distributor from another company explained to me that when they receive a broken racket, they cut it open where the crack is and inspect the graphite to spot imperfections or defects. If they don't find anything, they don't replace the racket. That is not Yonex however, so I don't know what they do exactly. Some companies just change the racket no matter what, as long as the invoice is less than 6 months old and the racket is still in good condition.
[MENTION=102521]Rob3rt[/MENTION] I don't worry about warranty, because I play with Victor. You are right, I would never one-piece a Yonex for a customer. Even if my both BS10's break, I doubt that they will replace them. Both are nearly 5 years old and use them at 13,5/14,4kg atm. I also runned them @ 31/33lbs a while ago and never had issues. IMO the BS frame is pretty strong for such a slim and sharp profile.
Okay, I see. Off-topic question: Have you by any chance tried any Li-Ning racket with airstream technology/break free frame? Especially the N80; maybe you can compare it - in terms of speed - to your trusted BS10. Because I've read several times that the BS frame is one of the fastest, so I wondered how they compare...
