needmoregolf

not to jack this thread either but the t.388 is not a foamed head stock. the sound to me, is a light "tink" and very nice sounding to the ears. just enough to know you got it but not overwhelming in any way. feel is smooth and I find it very hot off the face.

the best way I can describe the 435 black sound is that of a metallic crunch. I get a very similar sound/feel from my trpx D-013, and I've grown to like it very much -- feels like you mashed the ball. neither is really loud (or nowhere near original sumo loud/obnoxious), and it's got a great feel off the face, not dead or uninspiring.

Thanks for the write up Mjr, great to have some user feedback on both these popular offerings. I totally understand the sound/feel part, as that is a such a subjective thing and if it doesn't gel after some quality time, usually your gut is right. But, for the sake of the ball flight argument, do you think bumping up to a 10*+ would help things for you with this particular shaft?

Thanks K, you know me, love shooting stuff that looks cool. Up next is my A-Grind UT which I'll post soon as well ;)

both are amazing looking putters, but that copper though! Gorgeous!! tae, is the head weight the usual 365g that piretti uses as a standard?

awesome, lemme know what you think guys! They are based out of Germany and believe they ship world wide, so check on their site.

Thanks for the shoutout MB and Hutch! Been meaning to share my thoughts on Vice balls. I play a lot of different balls and am not too particular, as I find many of the premium balls work for my game, and the hardest part for me is keeping them in the bag, but the improved iron striking and more consistent tee shots is helping with that, thankfully ;) Love Pro V's - tried and true and would play them any day of the week. Very much like Taylormade Tour Preferred as well as Penta (older 5 layer ones). Growing affection and very impressed w/ the Z Star (and the XV) ball. Bridgestone B330 line is pretty good, but for some reason, I can't hold onto these for more than a hole at a time (Golf Gods don't like these for me?? dunno, it's weird but true...) Tried a couple other Srixon Japanese offerings and they were very nice as well, but not had enough time with them to even offer much feedback. That being said for all of these, I'm turned off by the pricing for premium balls at the retail level, so when I stumbled upon this new company, Vice, I was happy to see that someone decided to do something about it. Their basic biz model is to offer volume discounts by direct distribution and cutting out the middle man (retailers). They offer a fresh perspective on the golf ball design as you can personalize down to a picture, and not just some logo or boring stamping. They do small run collaboration w/ other new and exciting companies and designers. I chose the Pro Shooter as it offered a cool retro design w/ the revolver, and I will likely personalize w/ pics of all my playing partners at some point and hand them out (now I just need to make sure I get pics of them all doing something silly and embarrassing on the course hahaha). So, for about$34.95 for one dozen or the discounted $24.95/dozen (when ordering past a certain amount - I believe its 8 dozen or thereabouts), these balls perform very well. They're a bit firmer than say a ProV, but spin better than a NXT, so holds greens well and feels pretty good on putts. Off the tee I could not tell a difference in distance from the premium balls, and feeling off the face was similar (although I find Z star yellow balls to be the only ones to feel really different from the rest off the tee as they seem spongier). They hold up well too, and I put the ball into a lot of different places on the course LOL All in all a solid ball, fun/cool design, durable and great pricing. I'm still on my first box so can't offer much more than that, but so far, so good ;) Here's some eye candy for you to enjoy...

I've seen guys use an air gun and save grips even with solvent, it's just a matter of getting some air in there and slowly but deliberately wiggling/rotating, then adding more air and it seems to come off pretty easy. if you practice, seems like you won't need to worry about using solvent to get it on in the first place as it's better because the grip won't rotate after a few rounds. I had a Nakashima driver that the guys there would always just use an air gun to blow it on but the grip would rotate on me with use, pretty annoying.

pm replied

Paging Robbie! AF Tour copper + Roddio i10s (full set) = 2 unicorns mating with fire coming out of both their arses?? ok, now I'm disturbed :-|

This driver looks majestic, and love that there are so many details to customize. What is the pricing between the stars?

this sounds promising at least. this seems more easily repeatable with a square stance and favoring weight on front foot, then swing and explode it out. aiming any different or just 2" behind the ball?

Great topic indeed! Funny enough though, the undoubted keeper that still has a bag spot is my usdm Mizuno MP-T 64* wedge. Been trying to find a newer gamer in the same loft but she's stayed true so even if I find one, she'll get tucked away. Too many great green side finesse shot with that baby! My First Gold's - Lucky Money is a lifer!! Ones that are quickly earning the "Keeper" title are: 1. TRPX D-013 | Diamana X 70s 2. 2010 Yururi Flatbacks 3. PRGR idbl's stay with the Nippon Proto Ora's in S forever!

you and I both are big ferrule nuts, love the selection here! big fan of elite grips too! man, I wish these were right for me!! GLWS buddy

I know...Crazy's were factory built and they didn't have that option and yururi were used...booo I agree, very similar shape, and perhaps same stock. The plating/finish and the grind is what makes the main difference in feel and playability that I experienced me thinks. You, in particular, may be interested in knowing that the Crazy seems to have a tad less offset though

OK, couldn't help it as I had to remind myself what "soft" really feels like in an iron, so I took my Crazy MB 9 iron out to compare against the Flatback 9 iron on the range. The Flatbacks are soft, but as I was saying, a dense-soft, whereas the Crazy MB's are straight BUTTAH (not butter, but BUTTAH)....holy smokes they feel great!! I had forgotten how good they feel and that soft crispness they offer, what exceptional sticks they are....but I digress... For a daily set, I would choose the Flatbacks in a heartbeat, as they also feel great (but not as buttah-ery), have a more versatile grind for me, look better with more wear (whereas I subliminally don't want to do anything to ruin the sweet smoothness of the Crazy's) and can flat out score. I tried the same type of knock downs w/ the Crazy and they just didn't do what I wanted them to do exactly. The Flatbacks can be shaped both ways and have a natural draw to them for me. The Crazy go nice and straight w/ a super sweet high soft landing, but I couldn't vary my swings as much nor could I shape them as easily. Some of this could be attributed to the shaft differences - Nippon SPB in Yururi vs. Modus 125 in Crazy - but the results were clear that the Flatbacks remain better all around clubs for me. **sorry for the awful pics, bad light w/ my phone

I stand corrected. lol

R, I had the Tours, which are the same as the Raws, with the exception of groove conformity, I believe. I found those to be soft, but I guess everyone can have a different definition. They are more of a dense-soft than the traditional spongy-soft. I don't really hit full wedge shots as often so that may also contribute to the fact that I can't compare the feel 1-1. I guess if you hated the raw wedges, you may feel that strongly about the flatbacks as they are definitely similar in feel, but again, I believe these are great with a little time. As for the grind and digging aspect you didn't like, there's a silver lining here in the irons. The heads seem heavier than most, and I've been told by some guys with experience with these that one of the great things about these heads is they can be ground to your liking and not end up lighter than you would want. I personally like the stock grind and enjoy the heavier head, but seems like you could tinker with these and perhaps achieve the desired fit with some help of a good hand grinder. Hope that helps.

Hey R, For my comments, I should probably elaborate on my description of forgiveness. They are not GI forgiving, but definitely on the more forgiving side for a blade. Forgiveness has a different level of expectation for each category of irons, for me at least. For a blade though, these are definitely soft and my results have all been pretty good, even on the not-so-great swings. The feel is soft/pure and the grind has excellent turf interaction in many types of conditions, so I've found these to surpass my expectations and in fact, changed my view of how "hard" they would be to play as daily gamers. For someone who struggles to get consistently solid ball striking and tends to see a lot of fat or thin shots, I would not recommend the Flatbacks. For those who's ball striking is relatively consistent and solid, these are a joy to play. Hope that helps to clarify things, but I think just giving them some time would be the best way to see if these suit your game. ;)

excellent photos and updates, thank you!

you're onto something there, Ian, good mental pic on that one!

crazy sweet deal here bro, should be gone in a heartbeat!

thanks for the update guys. I've been practicing my bunker game a little and the confidence is a little higher but still intrigued by these as a bunker safety valve. how's it as a regular wedge around the greens? if not great or only so so, may not be worth it to me to take up a bag spot and only work for bunkers

I think you hit the nail on the head, nob-san. to top it off too, buying fourteen from a retailer here is really expensive, as if they were boutique JDM, and now that we are behind the velvet ropes, it's easy to see there are a lot more offerings in all price points.

looking forward to your feedback Dave. which one(s) did you get?