I may be looking into getting one of these in the far, far future. May be. Has anyone used it to string badminton racquets? I'm interested to know how accurate it is in the badminton tension ranges. My only experience with electronic stringing machines is watching my usual stringer work on my racquets and he always calibrate the machine manually beforehand, because it isn't as accurate in that range (it's properly calibrated in the 50, 60 and 70 pound range). Then again, the machine is quite old, so may be it never was designed for such low tensions. Anyhow, just wondering. Thanks. P.S.: Just in case, I'm referring to this: http://www.tennishead.com
these are a great buy if you doing both tennis and badminton. I remember asking about the lowest tension on these machines and it wasn't exact the best range for badminton, my point in being that the lowest tension that this machine can go down to was around 18 poiunds. Now i don' t know if that's okay... but i wouldn't want to string on the lowest setting. Just something that bugs me about it.
Thanks for your response. 18lbs.? Really? I just realised that the website doesn't specify what the tension range is for this machine, and I'm not desperate enough at the moment to ring them up and ask. I agree that even though I string my racquets at higher tensions than 18lbs., I'd prefer that the machine has a bit more "play" in the lower range. Most crank systems that it's designed to replace go as low as 9--11lbs. I don't know how accurate they are at that setting, of course, but I'd think something that's intended as a drop-in upgrade would have similar basic capabilities. Anyone else who have used one to string badminton racquets care to share their experiences?
anybody tried it so far? I'ma ctually looking into one...calling them now might be impolite (dunno were they live...probably USA, I'm dutch...it's probably 4 'O clock there... that ánd their crappy site gave up on the order-form... so does anybody have an email?
E-mail: info@tennishead.com I ordered one over 6 weeks ago but they were backordered for 2 weeks (so they said). After reading some problems about it on the www.tenniswarehouse.com website, I decided to cancel my order (in addition to the delay).
Good decision, Sir Dink! It's always a good idea to go with the bigger companies like Babolat for example. The Star 5 seems like a better canddiate: http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=68603
Yep, the Babolat looks great, I will look into it some more... http://www.usrsa.com/rsi/200603/200603babolat_star_5.html
what problems? I'm actually looking into this machine...some baddy-specific problems? What is a backorder? never heard of it (in english anyway)...
I order a Wise 2086 over 6 weeks ago. I received an e-mail stating it was backordered 2 weeks. 5+ weeks went by I received nothing. So I just cancelled my order.
Yes, the company is located in the U.S. BTW, Babolat offers financing option for purchasing the Sensor and Sensor Expert: http://www.courtsidesports.com/articles/babolat_sensor.htm "Babolat has always been known for producing world-class professional stringing machines, but often at a price that has made them inaccessible to the North American market. The Sensor and Sensor Expert are priced respectively, at $5200 and $8500. Babolat had introduced a financing program for these machines in an effort to make them more obtainable. Both machines are available with either three or five year terms. A monthly payment on the Sensor Expert would be $290 over three years and $200 over five. The monthly payment on the Sensor is $175 for three years and $120 per month for five. Both machines are available through Babolat VS North America." - www.outsidesports.com The currency is in US Dollars.
I believe Wise is switching manufacturers or just recently did so. That may offer some explanation for the supply and fit issues. I too had an initial problem with the gripper not closing tight enough to grip badminton strings and that was due to mismatched parts from different machine shops. Mr. Wise sent me another pair and it works fine. Other than that, the unit works wonderfully. It does only go as low as 20 lbs., though. Not a problem for me because I don't string lower than that. I also lost the 360deg rotation on my machine, but I got used to that quite quickly. FWIW.
A few horror stories from Grand Slam Stringers: http://www.grandslamstringers.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1153104915
Seems to me that he (i.e., Mr. Wise) has got a major supply and quality issue. Because it appears to me that there's a somewhat blurred cutoff time where those who bought unit prior are mostly happy and then the dissatisfaction rate increases for those who bought after. What's going on over there? All I can relate is my own experience with my unit which has been excellent, so far. I must admit that I'm now rather worried as to what may happen should it malfunction in some way.
well, Wise hsi biggest problem is his reputation...all the nutters that are interested in an electronic stringer, and look into a unit such as his, are almost always registered to such a forum or know of a site...and the happy customers don't really make a fuss... I hope he can hang on. maybe make a baddy-model that goes 14-40 lbs