JBeam Bullet?

[chiromikey]

Tell me about this driver...

[coops1967]

Hmmm, the very high toe reminds me of my dear, beloved Adams 9015d - which is a good sign.

 

More info here at jbeam

http://jbeam.co.jp/product-sub-01.data_/driver.data_/product-01-driver-22.html

 

Unfortunately, it appears to haver the current fashion for stupidly high lie angle if the 59.5 - 60 spec  is for lie which would make sense...

 

9-11 deg Loft, 450cc... 65k yen  but don't know if that's with shaft or not...

[Vegaman]

I also like the high toe look...although one wonders how that will look when combined with the upright lie?

[RLL33]

What would be the effect of the high toe on trajectory?

[Vegaman]

35 minutes ago, RLL33 said:

What would be the effect of the high toe on trajectory?

Not sure about trajectory, but I'm thinking a bigger sweet area for misses out of the toe or high on the face, self correcting draw comes to mind. Personally I never miss out of the heel for example. 

[RLL33]

Hmmm...  Will watch for a review if anyone gets hands on one. I've never seen that shape in a head, and am def curious.

[chiromikey]

My longest drives come from slightly high and toward the toe (due to gear effect) so if this makes that area even bigger, lookout. But that lie angle does scare me, the last thing I need is help drawing the ball!

[chiromikey]

Can anyone translate the jBeam site for me? I'd really like to know more about this?

[bngolfer]

I like that it is more upright as I want to play my drivers short. With my ZY-7 now at 45" it is a bit too flat. And I'd really like to play it at 44.5.

[coops1967]

Even at 44" it's still too upright.

 

Look up some typical iron specs

eg Epon 303 4 iron is ~38" long and 60.5 deg lie.

 

Each of those irons progresses by 1/2" in length and also 1/2 degree in lie per club in the specs.... ie approx 1 degree lie flatter per 1 inch in length longer.

 

So... 38 to a 44" driver should be give or take 6 (!) degrees flatter than that 4 iron lie. = 54.5 degree lie, and that's for a 44" driver... never mind 45 or longer ones.

 

A driver may have low loft, so a couple of degrees or so of lie beng wrong is not drastic... but 6++ degrees? ( and if the argument is that a driver's lie angle is so unimportant... why jackup the lie angle to this extent?)

and then you'll hear the odd excuse that these amazing, wonderful graphite shafts suffer so badly from toe droop... that it somehow excuses this.  Apparently this is 'ok'. ( and yes drivers have got longer, and longer from heel to toe putting the cog further from the shaft line.. but then the head has also got lighter).

 

My Mizuno 611 driver is at 56.5 deg lie and 44" long... and it is still in no way a fade/slice machine ( and that's with a preposterously stiff tipped Nunchuk shaft in it).

 

I'd like to get Tom Wishon's take on it - and mind you, i or anyne can put an impact label on your driver face, whiteboard marker line on the ball and tee it up with the line vertical to see check...

 

Sorry for the  rant!

Edited August 22, 2017 by coops1967

[+TourSpecGolfer]

 

Spoke with the owner/designer of JBeam.

The JBEAM BULLET driver is used by several Dragon Driving golfers right now.   More than 20 wins so far with the Bullet prototype on the Long Drive Tour of Japan.

The head has a natural draw bias and regarding the swollen toe, the  bullets head has a longer center of gravity distance which prevents the duck hook

I will ask about lie angle.  
 

[Henry]

Would love to see more pictures of the Driver especially the back end of it.

[chiromikey]

1 hour ago, TourSpecGolfer said:

 

Spoke with the owner/designer of JBeam.

The JBEAM BULLET driver is used by several Dragon Driving golfers right now.   More than 20 wins so far with the Bullet prototype on the Long Drive Tour of Japan.

The head has a natural draw bias and regarding the swollen toe, the  bullets head has a longer center of gravity distance which prevents the duck hook

I will ask about lie angle.  
 

Thanks Chris! If you can find this with a flatter lie angle and open face, this would be the first driver I'd consider since the 435!

[nobmontana]

I read a few blog posts on this head. 

Normally,  when you have the CG located too far away from the axis or rotation,  you'd have a head that will be slower to square at impact.    Just a guess at this point but I think that is where the upright lie comes into play.    It is trying to help compensate for that longer CG which normally would result in pushes to the right or even slices.  

The high toe design reminds me of the Kamui KP-X from several years ago.   That was a good head! 

 

 

Edited August 22, 2017 by nobmontana

[+TourSpecGolfer]

5 hours ago, chiromikey said:

Thanks Chris! If you can find this with a flatter lie angle and open face, this would be the first driver I'd consider since the 435!

Will do.  awaiting more info.

You know you can reem your hosel to give you both flatter and more open.  There are also club making parts that can do similar.

[chiromikey]

2 hours ago, TourSpecGolfer said:

Will do.  awaiting more info.

You know you can reem your hosel to give you both flatter and more open.  There are also club making parts that can do similar.

I've heard you talk about that. How do you stabilize the shaft? Are there shims that have to be used? Either way, it scares me a little...

[supo]

that exactrly what I thought I was looking at, he Kp-x

boy that head  was a hammer. anyone who likes compact  boxy  heads shud look at that  ..

 I shafted it all wrong when I gamed it ,  needed a  shaft that wud release the beast a little more, more active tip I found it a slicematron  if I didn't middle it . when I did tho booooooooooooooooooooooooooom!!!

 

this CUD be of interest...!!!

[+TourSpecGolfer]

I talked to Sakata-san owner and designer of JBeam.  

This is what I got out of him:

One of the reasons the lie's are more upright in Japan is because asian players tend to have shorter arms

Also the flatter the lie the more it promotes the right side.

Jbeam heads are not designed for shorter length shafts.  The flat lie angles do not perform well with longer shafts

Jbeams are usually shafted above 45"  often even 46 & 47"

60* is the norm for Japanese drivers.

Dispite the head promoting a draw,  better for shorter arm lengths and longer lengths Jbeam has many tour and long drive professionals using their product.

JBeam considers the upright lie promotes a draw and designs the head so that it can be neutral or even create a fade bias.  So there are multiple ways he can achieve his goal as a designer.

hope that helps.  true or not this is his opinion.

 

[chiromikey]

I definitely don't want any help with a draw and would need as much fade bias as can be achieved. What can we get from the factory to meet my needs?

[Vegaman]

I remember posting something about this years ago, when I started getting into JDM, the fact that irons were always short and flat as standard, but woods were always over-length and super upright...It somehow doesn't make any sense. For example, if Japanese golfers have "short arms" then that should result in longer irons too, not just woods? 

[+TourSpecGolfer]

17 hours ago, chiromikey said:

I definitely don't want any help with a draw and would need as much fade bias as can be achieved. What can we get from the factory to meet my needs?

JBeam can make super fade bias by changing the weights on the head and hand picking or adjusting the face and lie angle.  There are Jbeam players with 3.5* open with 3* flat.  (reem hosel)

Getting a bias is no problem at all.

[RLL33]

So can we assume that the opposite is also true for those of us who like to draw the ball? Also, any idea when this baby will be available?

[supo]

On 8/28/2017 at 6:25 AM, chiromikey said:

I definitely don't want any help with a draw and would need as much fade bias as can be achieved. What can we get from the factory to meet my needs?

id suggest gerting the kui pro ko-x tjeu are free.these days and test it out. that was impossible.to draw

[chiromikey]

3 hours ago, supo said:

id suggest gerting the kui pro ko-x tjeu are free.these days and test it out. that was impossible.to draw

The Kamui Works Ray was the best feeling driver I've ever owned and I loved that it was built to MY EXACT specs (flat and open). Besides the shape, I wonder if this Kamui has anything else in common with the jBeam or if that's where the similarities end?

[coops1967]

On 28/08/2017 at 2:40 PM, Vegaman said:

I remember posting something about this years ago, when I started getting into JDM, the fact that irons were always short and flat as standard, but woods were always over-length and super upright...It somehow doesn't make any sense. For example, if Japanese golfers have "short arms" then that should result in longer irons too, not just woods? 

Don't be bringing simple common sense to the argument..... ;-)

 

Perhaps all Japanese golfers are playing their irons 4 degree up or more from standard - maybe the Mizuno iron standard which i always heard was slightly flatter  than those westerners... ( I mean a 6ft Japanese man is going to have signigicantly shorter arms than a Western 6ft man? Or a 5ft 6in Japanese vs a 5ft6ib Westerner LOL.... what about the old chestnut that 'driver lie angle didn't mastter due to the low loft' . Now apparently some races have Trex arms ;-)    )