Help me out guys I'm stuck on this one. I got a customer who's MP99 is warped. Supposedly strung by a reputable stringer too. One side is really warped. The bottom is sagging, the top is budging. the other side looks alright but probably a little too narrow. The customer asked me to string it back to the regular shape like it's something that's in the books of a stringer. Anybody have any experience? I cut the strings and left it for two days but the shape isn't reverting. I have two wild ideas that I'm not willing to try without some opinions: 1) Stuff in in the freezer. When things are cold, they contract. Sometimes when you get a dent in your car you can put some dry ice beside it or spray aerosol and it'll pop back out. Maybe this can work? Danger is that the racquet may crack. Then again, all those times I left my bag in my car with the freezing cold of Canada never seemed to hurt my racquets. 2) Add some tension where I deem necessary to restore the narrowness of the racquet. Manipulate the mounting so that it compresses the bulging side a little more and is a tad looser on the narrower side. I could string it and see what happens but if the shape holds, I'd feel inclined to give it back at no charge. BG85 isn't cheap so I don't know. Actually I'm a little worried about the frame's structural integrity at this point as well. Warped this badly, the next stringjob may be its last. What do you guys think?
This sounds like a tricky situation. You get to explain to your customer the extent of the warpping and ask for his/her permission to perform your said procedures. If anything bad happens, it's not your fault.
I doubt very much he will just go get it replaced. Not someone who pays a lot of attention to equipment. Just wants a racquet that works. If I deny the job, it will just be strung by a club/store owner willing to take it. Most likely it will be rushed and for a frame like this, it's suicide. I think I'll have to do some explaining before I put this one under the operating table. Luckily it's a relatively low tension of 20/22 lbs. So of the two methods, what do you guys like more/ think is more likely to work?
I'd opt for # 2. Freezer stuff is not my style. Either way, I would not string the racket. More trouble than it's worth.
This has happened to me once with my AT800. - Frame was bulging badly on one side because the stringer only used one piece and neglected the existance of the double-pass grommits. I ended up stringing it myself, but added more tension on one side and balanced it until the frame looked right. The racket is perfectly fine now. If the racket is still unstrung and you were to push down hard on the bulging part, you would find that the racket will take it's proper shape. - Probably works on this principal. I left the racket for two months before stringing it and the frame did not revert back. - Leaving it alone is not an option. Hope this helps
Sudda, so for the side buldging, are you saying more tension should be added when doing the mains? Please give details. Thanks!
Did you explain that the racquet frame might not come back to the origional shape? Also, the fram might be cracked. I think this one is dead and beyond hope.
Not yet but I will. I wouldn't say it's dead, but near it. At low tensions like the ones he uses, it should survive. Restoring the shape would be difficult.
Yes, that's correct, i added more tension to the bulging part. The damage you were talking about sounds serious. The bulging on my racket was only about a finger width away from normal.
If an out-of-shape racquet reverts back to normal after the string is cut, then the racquet is perfectly ok. If not, then it is probably the type of racquet warp you get after leaving your racquet in your car boot under the hot sun, in which case you just throw it away because nothing can unwarp it. What you can try is to use an old fashion racquet press on the warped racquet and then put it in your car boot and let it sit under the hot sun for a day. After that leave it, with the racquet press still on, to cool at room temperature for a few hours. You will either get a better shape racquet or a shattered racquet. The car boot does strange things.
Personally, I won't even bother to touch a racket like that, especially if the customer is not knowledgable about equipment and have high expectation of (I paid you, so I expect you to do a perfect job). It's usually too much of a hussle to explain, especially if the racket "dies" on your hand. Ppl might be "nice" and give you all the freedom to do your things when they gave it to you. Once something happen, your reputation will be going down to the toilet with their mouths, with all the laughable "reasons" they can even dream about.
Well I had a talk. I told him that the attempt to restore his racquet may be the last. I asked him if he noticed any problems playing with the deformed racquet. He said it was just fine. I convinced him that it shouldn't matter a whole lot, it's better to have a deformed racquet than a shattered one. He agreed. I strung the racquet at 19/22 lbs. Tightened the buldging side slightly more. No cracking, racquet isn't PERFECT but a bit better than before. Hopefully there won't be any problems when he plays with it.