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Here we go: Colour - Black Weight - 70grams but with a titanium weave in the tip to make it SW out higher (ala the 671) Torque - 3* Tip - not as stiff as say the NV but more so than an 869 (read normal) Kickpoint- mid to high Feel - like a Speeder 869 - kick at impact!

maybe its just me but I dont get the point of your last post... :sad:

have to update - price drop to $610 shipped. now looking for R7 Tour, R7 TP, R500, 983E Tour, Ignite Tour, and a 47 - 49* wedge Patrick

:whistle: you snooze you lose :surprize: :spit:

Here is my take - grinds are huge on irons. I am a picker & the stock grind on the MP-33s suit me, whereas the 680s would be terrible for me. Do you know what suits you? Find out - and then look at what is out there that still meets your requirements. If you want the perfect set.... there are 3 things you can do. Happen across the perfect retail set.... or (what I did) find I retail set you like & look into getting it grinded to suit you (think JK does this) or finally... go Scratch and get it perfect 8O

yikes - well at least you apologise. I got a 652 installed by you and you were fine to work with. hope things work out - just dont make promises you cant keep.

trust me - the MP-30s are terrible. I played the MP-33s and found them to be actually MORE forgiving than the CB counterparts.

Ari says they are "standard" length and lie and I would imagine this is to UP Spec as opposed to the shorter&lighter Japanese Spec. He should confirm when he gets on.

PM sent back! Update - asking $625 but am really loooking for trades.

No Tiger does have a different X-100 shaft in his driver. I have heard it called the X-100Q I think. Its 15grams or so lighter - almost like a TX-90. I am sorry I dont know more.

Pure Facts: Model: Tourstage 2003 MARU SPEC US-Drive Loft: 8.5* (marked) 8.75* (actual) Face Angle: Square to .5* open Shaft: Fujikura Speeder 652 Stiff (Black Janapese) Length: 44" Swingweight: D4 Grip: Golf Pride Players Softie Cord Round Condition: 9.5/10 Headcover included. A note on the condition - I got the MARU at Easter and it was pretty much brand new. I played 5 rounds of golf in Portugal and hit maybe 10 balls with it in Ireland. Thats it! So I think 9.5/10 is a fair reflection on it. Now the subjective review begins: This driver is NOT for the 18 handicapper looking for the next big thing. It is for the player looking for possibly the best looking head of modern times. Its 370cc with a deep face with jet black metallic paint & no alignment aid on top. Performance wise it is just as long as the R510 DF, 983E, GBII etc. (providing it fits you) My personal opinion - its the best driver out there if you want to eliminate the left side of the course. I honestly do not find it impossible to hit, I would have flipped it a lot faster if that was the case. Ari finds this to be the best driver for a hooker/strong player. For me, I am a "short" hitter, only get it out there 260yards so I need to draw it. This is like the DF for me in that I find it hard to turn it over. That is pretty much the only reason I am not keeping this club in the bag. Finally story - solid Tour quality driver... handpicked from Tourstage Tour van for square face, heavy head weight (note D4 @44") superb looking. Make me offers! And in reference to my "Tour Drivers!" post - trades are possible.

Nelson - thats a really nice gesture. I feel the pain of Didier. Its bad enough shipping to Hong Kong, but try Ireland and being just a teenager! Thankfully my great friend Ari trusts me ;-) :roll:

Thats exactly what my dream putter would look like! My reality putter is a PP refinished in Flat Black, blank sole and just Titleist Script in the cavity with silver paintfill. But still muchos props to that putter!

Thanks for the really good post DM! Just on a note about getting retail equipment to fit you.... Well I can only speak about my own experiences but this is how I set up my bag: I could have gotten pretty much any Tour/Japanese/Rare club out there & at a good price. Club prices over here are crazy - a set of 690s cost literally $1300, a R510 TP is $650, and a Scotty is pushing $350. So when I traded in my old gear I got a nice bit. Well lets start with the putter - I have always liked the Del Mar 3.5 head shape and love the "mystique" about Tour CT Scotties. I spent ages looking on ebay, scouring BST and just hoping I could score a CT 303SS Del Mar 3.5, the best price I saw was $850 over this time & that putter was chipped & beat up. So what did I do? I picked up a PP 2nd hand on GO for $140 and had George Palombi work on it. He did some hand grinding on it, and its now got a black finish & a totally blank sole (ala Tour) silver paintfill & my favorite grip. So yes, its not a tour putter and its not going to make me automatically putt better, but its a sexy putter & will inspire confidence. Wedges were only ever going to be one thing - Scratch. Custom ground, custom finish and totally suiting ME! I love them - they take the best things about say my 60-M Vokey, the forged feel, shape etc. Irons - here is where I will 100% stand behind these babies. I was googling at a set of RAC Miura Satin Tour CBs and other high end clubs, but they did not really suit me. So what did I do? I got a set of 670MBs second for $425 and had them refinished in Satin and grinded to suit me. Then I had them blueprinted with Project X 6.5s to my specs.... So in essence I got a Tour set of irons for LESS than a second hand set of Japanese spec RAC CBs! FW Wood - this is just my favorite club in the bag. Again I was eyeing up the rare tour club - namely the 970 Silver. But I could not justify paying that much money for a club that I had never hit & has its reputation. Enter the SS-03 I got head only in Ireland, shipped to the States & put a Fujikura Speeder 869 in it. Now you coud not get this club for my cold dead fingers! I will not move onto the driver just yet - I am still searching! On a side note - for that entire set I paid less than for what a R7 Tour is going for now.

I cannot help, but I hope things are going to work out here for ya.

just for the record I am actually a 5 handicap not 18! 4.9 to be precise but have not played a competition since last August on a/c of school

Yes it is a topic that has pretty much been over talked. But there are some differences between tour clubs and their retail counterparts. For most it makes no difference, but for the few (thats us) looking for that special something they can provide us with our fix. Just a couple of interesting things (I believe) When TM Tour clubs are touted as the next best thing they are said to have a maxed out COR. Yet on other posts I read that you are more likely playing a non-conforming club if its retail. This was said as if its a bad thing, yet if it was tour, the price would go up $200. Headweights really annoy me - people say its great because it has a heavy head.... Well for me that is true. I want to play me driver at 44" D4 with a 70 gram shaft. But say if I am a bad player and need the extra length say 45.5" D2, well pretty much every driver on tour is unplayable at that length! Tiger's Driver - when everyone was going crazy over the latest technology, he was still playing a trusty 975D. Steel shaft, 6.5* (confirmation?) with a 70 year old 125gram steel shaft! No one drove the ball bettre in 2000. Now he has got a Tour Prototype Ignite and the ONE made just for him, yet he cant hit a fairway!! (Yes I know - swing related) And that brings me nicely onto my next point - money! Say I jump on the TM band wagon (or any other OEM - its just TM does it for me) I am a promising 15 handicapper who has potential to play off scratch if I could just stop slicing the ball 20 yards. Enter the R7 Tour $1400 - now I just load up the weights and vóila - power draw! My X-12 thats I got when I first started and too forgiving & I need more feed back - here come the TP combos. Not the poor retails forgings but the Tour Miura Satins. Bling Bling but the 2 iron is more useful as a knife than a club. Oh yeah $1500 for the extra offset ones! Now comes the wedges - I am going to get 304SS TMs with an M-Grind. Why an M-Grind? Coz Tiger has in OBVIOUSLY! I have read countless posts (indeed one by an owner of another board) that said he wants an M-Grind even when a well known wedge Guru said it did not suit him at all! But these say proto in Times New Roman Font on the back $550 for 3. I am going to stop now, but thats in excess of $2500 for a bag that does not suit me, and is only bought based on hype. I have no problem with a person buying tour clubs if he has at least seen/hit them. How many lessons/range sessions could you get out of that $$$?

Perhaps you are right - but how do you know? Might want to get off your high horse just a little bit.

I would take it if it only have the Gauge logo in the cavity instead of those white dots. How does the SS Gayge feel in comparison the GSS? DM - I am sure you are right and the paintill is reddish, but the pic looks blue & I have seen other pics of MO's putter with a dark blue paintfill.

they are a crazt shaft -everyone I have spoken to loves the thing. Best 75g Fujikura out there apparently. Though it will set you back in the region of $350 :evil:

Hey Chris - could you post a pic of the Rossa CGB that looks like the Del Mar 3.5? Thanks!

983E turned about to be DD's so deal gone. I am not resigned to a R500. 9.5* thanks!

so did you win the bet?!

I have not hit the SIX but I have the 661 and 652. I hear the SIX is meant to be an unreal shaft for the mere mortal & am thinking about getting one in my next driver. They do play very weak to flex however.

Fujikura Speeder 757, Fit ON! SIX and another whose name escapes me now... Mitsubishi 70-LT as for what degree you go for... I would have to say demo them first. Also you can always lower the effective loft by raising the COG but lowering the COG will raise the spin rate. ie get a 9.5* to play like and 8.5* is better than getting a 7.5* to play like an 8.5* IMHO