Epon EMB with the cottom treatment

[jacksonlui]

hi Guys

I've been reading a lot about the EMB and this is basically how I summarized it after several threads:

- not any longer and in some cases shorted than the AF101

- noticeably more forgiving, drives should be longer as an average

- the sound was compared to an aluminum baseball bat and yes I did see xchangmax's video, the sound, although not unpleasant, is very loud, like a high pitched twang!

Of course I had to try this out for myself because I had wanted something I can work "straight" and is slightly more forgiving than my tour burner. My only concerns at this point was with the possible loss of distance and then the sound.

While I couldn't do much with the distance, I wanted to see how I can mute the sound with cotton balls. I've unrolled 8 cotton balls and fed them into the head through the hosel. This was a tedious process but all 8 fit in nicely. I found the insertion depth to be 1.4 inches which is quite a bit deeper than my other drivers. I also found that the bore to ground distance is shorter than normal. So my playing length came out to be about 43.5 to 44 inches. After adding the cotton balls, the head weighed in at 211g. I don't think the cotton balls added that much weight, perhaps the previous owner had this special order or hot melted. Nevertheless, when shafted at about 44 inches, the swingweight came out to D1 which is perfect.

After the glue dried, I went on the course and played a few holes. I can say without a doubt that this is an extremely forgiving driver. It had good height and trajectory for me and the entire club was nicely balanced. (I'm using a 70g altus proto firm with a light stabilizer counterweight.) I've noticed I wasn't any longer, sometimes a few yards shorter, but most of the time it ended up in the same places that my tour burner placed me. Due to it's forgiveness, I found my self "going for it". On some #4 hybrid layup holes, I found my self going for it with my driver which left me a wedge shot into the green.

Now onto the sound: I didn't experience the loud twang, instead it was a very muted version of that twang which became more of a tonk! It sounds almost identical to my FT3. Sounds like something hitting concrete. I might even compare it to a more muted version of the TM CGB driver or moi Sumo driver. I definitely can live with the sound and it won't raise an eyebrows on the course. I think the cotton treatment was a success and did exactly what I had wanted to achieve.

I'm going to play a few more rounds in the next few weeks and see how it performs, beyond the honeymoon period. I might not be any longer but I'm definitely straighter. Although more forgiving, I did lose a few to the right but seldom ran into any hooking issues, unlike my drivers of old. I can't seem to let it loose and rip it without slicing, but I'm attributing that to my swing. Also keep in mind, since the driver is shorter than normal, that might have helped me with the forgiveness factor. I might pop in my longer xcon5 firm which should play at about 44.5 to see if I'm any longer without losing the forgiveness factor.

Jack

[Blader-X]

Great review and a very interesting concept. That must've taken some time to accomplish. Keep us posted on how your success continues.

[xchangmanx]

Cheers!! Thanks Jack, I would have never thought about this.... Very Interesting. Great feedback on the driver.

[jacksonlui]

i took a lesson today and hit the driver some more. i personally think the sound is very solid, nike sumo solid, not TM510 or J33 solid. I'd recommend this treatment for anyone. so far I'm pretty stoked about this driver. on a side note, i got a spider today and i can't wait to try it out this weekend. i guess fugly is in as long as it performs, does it also apply to chicks ;)

[HungryPillow]

i guess fugly is in as long as it performs, does it also apply to chicks ;)

Definitely a big no... haha

Pretty creative what you did to the EMB, would have never thought of that. Is there anything negative at all about doing this or has it all been positive so far?

[jacksonlui]

for me it has only been positive. it does seem that the extra cotton balls add extra weight to the head so i'd take that into account. it's great if you're someone that uses a tip weight, lead tape, or someone that uses a shorter driver. let me tell you, I have not really seen a loss of distance or ball speed with a shoter driver, in fact my shots are more centered and solid. the only other thing is that I don't know if disturbing the sound waves inside the head messes with it's performance. maybe Chris can answer that by the way of Epon themselves. my experience says no so I don't know for sure.

many other people have done the cotton treatment as well as playing 44 inch drivers, I definitely didn't come up with it. I just implemented it.

Jack

Definitely a big no... haha

Pretty creative what you did to the EMB, would have never thought of that. Is there anything negative at all about doing this or has it all been positive so far?