PP735 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 I am new to Tour Spec Golf and what JDM golf has to offer. Although I have played a Yonnex set back in the early '90s and knowing of Yamaha and Honma I really had no idea what else was available. As the title states I am looking for a driver and fairway wood made of actual wood! Here in the US I have looked at Louisville Golf and Joe Powell for "modern" playable options. I have a set of Ping Zing Blondes that I have retired but miss the sound and feel of a wood head. Wanted to see if there are any JDM manufacturers that are still producing this type of club. Love the site and information here and I am interested in Quadra, Crazy and Basileus shafts. Will see about submitting my info for suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffer19 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 If there is any JDM that still produces the Persimmon woods, it would be Honma. Honma was famous for their hand made Persimmon woods but that was quite a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supo Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 cant help ya ive never seen any not saying there isnt.. but Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 havent heard of any either. the only remotely related jdm driver that comes to mind is something i've seen on ?tourspecgolf? while back, it wasnt made of wood but they claimed it produced the same feel as wood, cant recall the name. Mizuno used to make them as well, nice heads, really liked their 3w. i think your best bet is fishing on eBay, sometimes you see real good deals there. not too long ago picked up Hogan Apex speedslot with Apex 4 late 70s and in excellent condition for like $35, regrip it and is ready to go. if you wanna something Japan related look for Mizuno or Honma or Wood Bros All Japan model which has Japan islands on the sole plate :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffer19 Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Perhaps T would sell you the Honma Persimmon wood I gave him many moons ago if he still has it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gocchin Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 I still have it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaijin_Golfer Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 Id suggest checking Ebay. You can sometimes find persimmon woods on there, even Japanese brands like Mizuno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiromikey Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 i played my ping wood woods and driver up until this year and there's nothing else like feel, sound, and workability of those clubs. ping was the last major oem to make the switch from wood to steel/ti and their innovations allowed them to keep up with early metals. if you really want that wood feel i'd suggest you pull your blondies out of retirement, there's not much better. a few years after ping's last isi wood clubs left their factory and my freind at ping said they would no longer refinish or repair their woodies i got 2 extra sets of 1, 3, 5 woods...just in case! easily some of the best clubs ever and until the rbz came out this year i hadn't found a 3w that was significantly longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PP735 Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 (edited) Thanks for the responses. Just found out about Ping not doing any work on these wonderful clubs, thankfully they are in great shape but thought of reshafting which no one will touch. Looking on The Bay I found a listing for Hiro Honma Big LB Persimmon Driver, 3 and 4 woods for what I believe is a reasonable price. Have done a search yet but what is the difference between 2 and 4 Stars with regards to the shaft? What manufacturers create a smaller driver / fairway wood heads that resemble the old ones? I doubt they could have the same feel but would be hotter and maybe less forgiving. Might seem crazy for 20 handicap to ask about such potenially unforgiving clubs but I am coming back to the sport after taking 10yrs off. Used to be a 12 handicap but the grind lost its appeal but over the last 2 years I have fell in love again. I like a traditonal looking club for sure and a soft feel. I am having more fun this time around and I know with more rounds and range time my scoring will get better. Edited June 18, 2012 by PP735 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiromikey Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 many manufacturers are following the trend of more compact "players" style drivers but when i say compact it's relative compared to the 460cc heads that are now standard rather than a 270ish cc head of the pings. i don't know anything about the honmas except that the more stars the better the shaft but persimmon will probably have a slightly different feel than your maple pings with their face insert. regardless, it will still feel better than and metal driver. as for modern fairway metals, most, if not all, manufacturers have gone to a more shallow elongated face/body compared to the square compact style of old. the new taylormade rbz is the first 3w that i've found to be significantly longer than my ping 3w (ryoma would probably do also), enough so that it got my last wood wood out of my bag. something you could look into if you give in to a ti driver is having sound deadening material inserted inside or even a little hot-melting done. much of the feel we interpret comes from the sound and these two techniques will definitely get you some of that feel back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ant Posted June 18, 2012 Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 (edited) yeah reshafting persimmons can be quite a bit more involved but some folks still do it. nobody makes smaller driver heads because 1) they dont sell; 2) its more difficult and expensive to make a max cor head under 380cc. there is nothing crazy about you asking all this, in fact personally i think persimmon is actually more forgiving as far as finding fairways goes. modern metal heads do everything design wise to kill spin or at least to kill it to be within certain range for their target customer all to gain the maximum distance. they are also very flat faced compared to persimmon. if you combine these two things what happens is you cant take advantage of gear effect with modern metal heads as you can do with old wood heads. so modern metal heads try to fight that with high moi designs. in reality however your wood toe and heel misses would curve and come back if there is nothing in their way and your metal misses would go off the planet and gonna keep going. anyways, i'm gonna shut up now because this is becoming offtopic here me thinks but good luck with what you are doing and dont ever let any of them conformists out there get to you :) Thanks for the responses. Just found out about Ping not doing any work on these wonderful clubs, thankfully they are in great shape but thought of reshafting which no one will touch. Looking on The Bay I found a listing for Hiro Honma Big LB Persimmon Driver, 3 and 4 woods for what I believe is a reasonable price. Have done a search yet but what is the difference between 2 and 4 Stars with regards to the shaft? What manufacturers create a smaller driver / fairway wood heads that resemble the old ones? I doubt they could have the same feel but would be hotter and maybe less forgiving. Might seem crazy for 20 handicap to ask about such potenially unforgiving clubs but I am coming back to the sport after taking 10yrs off. Used to be a 12 handicap but the grind lost its appeal but over the last 2 years I have fell in love again. I like a traditonal looking club for sure and a soft feel. I am having more fun this time around and I know with more rounds and range time my scoring will get better. Edited June 18, 2012 by ant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PP735 Posted June 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2012 I love that gear effect and maybe that is what I miss about a wood head. I do get more distance from my 630FT but it is the miss hits that kill me. I hit the fairway 50% of the time with my miss being a pull or a slice when I try to fade it. I used to be able to work my drives back in the day but I can not figure out these metal heads for the life of me. Maybe if I studied Bubba Watson I can lean! As my info shows, I mainly play irons as I feel more comfortable with them with either driver or 3 wood depending on the course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffer19 Posted June 19, 2012 Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 At least you still have one of the best irons Mizuno ever produces. I still kept my two sets of T Zoid Pro, one steel shaft and one limited edition graphites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PP735 Posted June 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 Thanks Duffer19, I love them! I have tried the 53's but do not see a reason to change right now at least while I am falling back in love with the game. Will need to replace the PW, FW, SW and LW soon though. I just found out that Joe Powell Golf can refinish and possibly reshaft my Blondes. Thanks for all the great information. Now have to thing about shafts......wonder what a Quadra or Crazy would do for my maple wonders!?!?!?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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