chuck4golf

Here's what Chris wrote me when I bought them: "I had them refinished in boron black, same finishing house Miura uses"

Time to change... two great sets of heads that I totally enjoyed. No trades. Well, maybe great wedges. Miura Giken CB-2007 5-W. sold. Yamaha 2014 Tour RMX CB 4-W. sold

PM sent..

55 minutes to sell these....

How flexible are they in their design - weight, flex, torque, flex profile - they are able to personalize all of these? That's just awesome.

Chris, can you elaborate on the grind?

Havovictor - these are pretty low launching. My 11.5 launches lower than my previous Wishon at 9*.

I think you're on the right track. Check this guy out http://bargolfinstruction.blogspot.com/. It may be pretty technical seeming but it seems he really knows his stuff. He says getting the club aligned is only a part of the issue. A lot of people say it is a lot of stuff that influences square alignment - optics, neck, your way of standing, etc, etc.

I have come to think getting the putter fit right is the biggest leverage from fitting there is of all the clubs in terms of the score. This guy has the most comprehensive research re this, works closely with Byron Morgan - he helps you get the specs, best head. Byron builds to these specs. Length will impact how far you are from ball, the degree of arc in the stroke. http://bargolfinstruction.blogspot.in/.

Thx RLL. Especially for a 58* the primary thing is how the sole grind works. And face milling for spin. I need to use it in the sand, and for pitches when I short side the approach. Digging is not good. I like to use the bounce a lot and your experience suggests minimal bounce. That's why I am ditching the current Miura - not enough bounce, ball doesn't have a lot of bite on it. When I look at the Tataki, its sole grind looks very similar to the A-Grind, but I don't think the bounce is listed. Got a few days... in India 10 more days, don't need to decide until about to return. I have dead time in India always, that's when I think 'buy new clubs!' Maybe I can expense it. Now that's a dangerous thought.

RLL really likes the A-Grind. My point is, I am betting they are both superlative wedges. I am just wishing I had some, any idea about how they might be different. But I am thinking that is not going to be easy. If I can't find any comparative info, I am going to go with looks.

I know this is pretty tough to find anyone whose tried both but... Pics look like the grinds are similar. I am looking at 58*. Anyone have any ideas about the two? Both seem beautiful, with the looks edge going to Takati.

RLL - seems like the grind will let you open the face pretty well. Is that your experience?

Yeah, I know it's inevitable. I'm already a little embarrassed when people ask me about the driver (almost every round with strangers.) and the 'what's its cost.' Wait'll the number adds another $1500. I'll have to say something like it cost 'the price of a condo in Memphis' or something. Boys, if I get a FW 7 D, then I authorize you to have me committed. I'm a psychologist by training, and I know crazy when I see it. Me getting a FW 7 D, that right there is crazy. (Hope I don't have to walk that proclamation back! Somehow strikes me as the famous last words of a desperate man.)

Haha. Yep. There is that. I do sort of think that ho-ing might be slowing. Nah. That's not true. I discover the pleasure of the Mac blades - and they are magnificent - and within a few weeks I start roaming around looking at other possibilities. I suppose a fully customized shaft could add to performance. (He writes trying to prop up a rational ploy for an irrational lust). I suspect the trip to Tokyo is inevitable. I mean, it's on the flight path to India so what's a guy to do? ps: I noticed your A Grind migration. Wedge comments in particular caught my eye. All these great clubs. Good Lord there is some quality stuff coming out of Japan. I keep wondering how all these (presumed) boutique shops pay the bills. Obviously, most do.

Anyone whose not hitting the ball 300 yds play this shaft? I am 230-250 off the tee with blackout/trpx touale and was totally happy, had decided 7 dreamers could not possibly add anything to its performance but now I wonder.... I could go to Tokyo in Oct it seems.

Hey Serge, I am in Kolkata right now! Got to India Monday AM, not sure how long I'll be here. 2-3 weeks? Bangalore... now I will need to find a reason to come down there! I keep a set of clubs here in Kolkata but mainly can only practice maybe 1x/week. Pretty busy! I will PM you with contact info. Would love to play if it can be managed.

I am now 4+ months into Blackout/TRPX Touale..So the honeymoon phase is finished. At 63 yrs, 230 is long for me. Previous custom fit driver had me at 210-220. I am almost always 230-250 off the tee with Blackout, and consistently in the fairway. I think it's the consistency of the driver that really blows me away. I am longer, straighter and more consistent with this than I can remember. Now, my swing has gotten better and better, so it's not all club. But this is the real deal. For me, anyway. The things it does for me is it is low launch - I am lower with it at 11.5 than I was with 9* on previous. And just the right amount of spin - plenty of carry, plenty of roll. I had thought I'd try a 7 Dreamers, but it's hard to think I want to now. I mean, I have done enough experimenting (just ask my wife whose eyes rolled up so many times with the next and next and next club that they damn near got stuck) to appreciate the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' philosophy. I think I am getting all I can out of this rig with my swing. Anyway, just thought I should mention how incredibly pleased I am with this club.

I am sure the arithmetic says USDM and JDM drivers perform about the same. Maybe it's all about fit. But I have now had my JBeam Blackout for 3-4 months with a TRPX Touale shaft and played it a lot. I am past typical honeymoon phase. As the ad says, 'Pow!'. This is the longest driver I ever owned. Don't know why. Hardly a round goes by when I am playing a course I hadn't played yet with this driver where I don't find myself down the fairway farther than ever before.. Maybe it just works for me and my swing has gotten better. But it is long and straight and consistent. Without a doubt, my favorite driver ever. Almost every round, someone says, "what is your driver?' and want it.

I really like an off the well beaten path, well thought through bag. It reflects a real passion for the game. Or, more briefly said, sweet.

Were the coppers used or NOS? I think there's something really cool in finding something retro and then doing them up right. The core element is the head design itself - sole design, how the weight is distributed, size, offset, etc. Then once this feels very right, do them up with all the respect they deserve. So the copper is a finish to the original? I bought Chris's Yamaha CB that were finished in a deep brown that I really like the look of as the finish wears. It gets kind of burnished look. But I am thinking there is something different between this and what was done to your heads. Can you briefly explain what was done? thx...

When I decided to get these blades, I had thought I'd use them like you do, for practice. But I had to play them just for kicks and then I fell for them. I had to look the on-offs up and saw a set of coppers. Very very nice.

RLL, are you now not playing the Yamaha's? The main thing about blades is they are ... finicky and seem to reflect the reality of impact more vividly. Subtle stuff is more amplified. The conclusion I am reaching is you really have to dial them in with more precision. But wow are they fun to play. I think I am blades-only from now on. Once I settle in on heads (and frankly I can't imagine switching from the Mac's but I have felt this way before only to see that vanish because of a shift in unseen ethers) then the shafts are next. I wish there was some way to assess a shaft with a head systematically.

I have gone back and forth between blades and cb's for decades. Up until now, blades were clearly a problem. My swing wasn't good enough. But finally great lessons have me in better shape, swing-wise. I put some Recoils in a set old (nos) Macgregor 1025M blades and wow I have never loved a set of irons this much before. I think I am going to sell both sets of cb's (Miura Giken cb-2007 & Yamaha Tour cb) and just play blades. It's like a whole new realm opened up.

Shafts are harder to evaluate than driver heads which are harder (to me, anyway) than iron heads. Irons, you can see the technology. Heads have it buried and shafts even more-so. I just bought a 435 blackout from TSG after doing a lot of looking and thinking and evaluating - and I really like it. It is as long as I had hoped. So this makes me think careful reading and thinking can accomplish something. But shafts are the great mystery. I have access to (an old version) of a shaft profile software, but it isn't really helpful, especially when such subjective criteria are so important. The other thing is, I have been fitted several times. I have to confess, it seems like a hit and miss process. Just to make things more complex, I end up 'swinging to the club' and there are a lot of clubs/shafts that all seem similar. It's kind of like when I was single - the hardest women to really deal with when dating were the ones that were 'almost right.'. Since I started this thread, I also have realized with this new (and really powerful) infatuation with blades, that the sole grind is a big deal. So I think the next step is not what I said (shaft, then try heads) but maybe land on a good set of heads. Then (crap) do some trial and error.