BallReviews
Equipment Boards => AMF => Topic started by: Strapper_Squared on February 08, 2014, 06:38:53 PM
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Drilled mine up tonight. 40 X 5 X 30 layout. Cover seems different than anything I've seen before... doesn't seem to take polish...looking close at it, almost looks like very fine fiberglass... not sure if it comes through in the photo..
Oh that's right, can't post a real sized photo here...
Will throw tomorrow am and give some feedback.
S^2
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http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af243/sberkhous/Mobile%20Uploads/20140206_214247_zps060bcfec.jpg
http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af243/sberkhous/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-02-08194210_zps77b93d54.jpg
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Thats the same thing that happened with my incinerate. It is not a polish friendly ball. With that being said it forced me to pick up an incinerate pearl which im very glad i did. Im going to try putting brunswick high gloss polish on it and see what happens. I have my incinerate at 4k so i want to polish the darkness to complement both incinerates.
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This is how the neat surfaces have tended to be for me as well. I've found I have to take them all the way down to 360 and bring it back up to 4000 or 2000 abralon and then polish to get it to polish the way you would expect it to. It's just the way the NEAT pads leave the factory surfaces.
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They are finished on a haus or something similar. The finish lines aren't horizontal like a spinner. They are circular. Any 900/amf ball I've had with any surface less than polish has tons of circular cuts. They are awesome oob but suck for trying to regain that finish.
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The darkness is not a neat finish. It is a straight 4k abralon pad.
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Alright. Had a chance to put a few games on the Darkness. Here is what I saw:
Lanes
I choose to practice on Sunday mornings for two primary reasons... 1) cost - special rates for league bowlers and 2) condition - get the leftover from hours of open bowling the night before. This acts to push a lot of oil down the lane, more or less taking away any "free" hook. Its about the closest thing I can find to a flat pattern.
Impressions
Anyway..on to my initial comments. This ball has a very strong core. I had flare rings 1/2 way around the ball. Reminded me of the old bomb cores from Lane#1. Even with that strong of a core, the ball pushed surprisingly far down the lane. I actually expected the ball to start up a bit sooner that it did. Compared to my Green Mamba with the same surface (45X5X70 layout), it had 3-4 ft more length. Some of this may be due to core/layout, but with the slightly stronger coverstock on the Darkness, I expect the two to be closer. Backend was very smooth. Even on shots that were sent a little wide (reached the outside boards where the friction lives), the Darkness didn't jump or over react. Very smooth backend reaction. On shots towards the middle, I found it a bit squirty though... Again, this may be completely due to the lane condition (although my mamba reacted well there). With the stronger cover, I expected the Darkenss to react a little stronger. When the ball made it to the pocket, it had very good continuation through the pin deck. Usually on this type of condition, I am able to leave wrapped 10 pins at will, due to the carry down and lack of drive through the deck. Once it turned the corned, the Darkness really continued through the pins well.
I'm planning on throwing during league this week to get a better feel for performance on a fresh shot.
S^2
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Someone compared it to a stronger IQ Tour kind of look. Super excited to have this for when I cant use my Incinerate (which I imagine will be a lot lol)
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Yes, I could see that description... seems very smooth reacting like the IQ tour
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So threw it last night in league. I had mixed results. The ball was pretty strong; I was playing 3 to 4 boards deeper than my green mamba. Started the night around 12 at the arrows and out to 5 at break point. By the end of the night, I was playing 18 at arrows out to around 8 at break point. Good length and a strong backend...but readable and easy to control. I stayed in the pocket all night, with the exception of one big move in that left me a 2-4-8.
I did find that the ball must have been pushing a touch too far down the lane as I left a ton of 10 pins and a pocket 7-10. On the night left twelve 10 pins! Varied rotation, length of target down the lane, tucked pinky, etc. Good news is covered 11/12 of them.
Now need to decide how to address... had surface at 2000 abralon...don't really want any more hook. Thinking of enlarging my P3 hole from 29/32 up to 1" or 1 1/8" to get the ball started up a touch earlier.
S^2
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I was honestly thinking about double thumbing this ball...
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I was considering the same Doom but was thinking about doing a 5.5" pin to pap with a double thumb hole too.......
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I have to ask why double thumb on such a strong ball?
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Why not take the ball up to 4,000 and see how it rolls? It is a fairly strong shell, and the 2,000 grit could explain some carry issues if they ball is out of energy downlane.
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Cause I've been throwing it like I'm on Gucci staff lately. #needmoreflareipromise
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I got to see the network and darkness at league last night. The darkness was way too strong (wood, THS, everything hooks too much)...but it seemed to have a predictable motion.
The network was about perfect for the condition..super clean through the fronts...and the ball looked like it just stood up to the pocket...like the defiant line did. The guy shot very well last night and was very happy with his new ball. He went he went mid 700s..
I shan't say if I smoked him with my wrecker or not...;)
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If my assumption that the ball was pushing too far down the lane and coming in behind the head pin, causing the 6 pin to wrap around the 10, then it seemed reasonable that a finer surface finish would exaggerate the problem.
But this could actually be a good test for several reasons...should directionally improve if burn up was an issue, and the finer surface should tighten up my line a bit to the pocket...which in itself may help with carry. Plus it's an easy change.
Scott
Why not take the ball up to 4,000 and see how it rolls? It is a fairly strong shell, and the 2,000 grit could explain some carry issues if they ball is out of energy downlane.
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I Drilled mine last night, went 45x4.5x90 (essentially a Rico). I threw it in practice today at a tournament. All i can say is i threw 2 shots with it and put it back in the bag. The first shot i started at 3arrow and it went to the 4 pin. Second shot I moved 5 deeper than my eagle pearl and went runaway Brooklyn. Hope i can see some oil to see what this thing does on soup. I dont see any possible way this ball Could be going too long. I would bet that it's just over reading the front part of the lane and has nothing left when it gets to the dry in the backend.
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Wow, that's one heck of a drill on an early ball. Shark, here you come!
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Wow, that's one heck of a drill on an early ball. Shark, here you come!
High pins on strong balls like that transition too fast for me and end up being unusable. I was hoping that using this layout would give me enough continuation to make it more usable.
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I'm thinking 45*4.5*65 with a low hole.
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I've found over that last few years, I've managed to play straighter and straighter (either getting weaker or found a way to increase speed a bit)...
Hit the surface with 1k Abr, 2k Abr, 4k Abr. Unlike my first attempt at adjusting the surface, this time it took quite nicely. Nice and smooth, almost a bit of shine. The surface looks completely different than when it was received. On receipt, almost looked like particle surface...that is all gone now...
Will see how this rolls tomorrow night.
Scott
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Agreed. The surface on mine is rough. Can't wait to see this and my Incinerate roll off the press.
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Ended up changing surface to 4k, left weight hole untouched. I didn't get a chance to make it out for practice this past weekend, so tonight was my first time throwing with the surface change. Starting out, it looked as this slight surface modification may work. Had a decent reaction, but was quite a bit deeper than I have began in the past (green mamba). Really about an arrow deeper with the darkness. Unfortunately, this didn't last long and I began to move deeper. The ball looks really good going down the lane. Easy length, really strong move on the backend, but like the previous week just not getting the right entry angle to carry. Only threw it for a game and a half this week...but again didn't miss the pocket and had about a 50% 10-pin rate.
I thing I just need more oil, which should allow me to play straighter with this ball.
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I drilled my Darkness 45 x 35/8 x 55 pin in my ring finger and x hole 31/2 from pap down val. It's about 5 boards stronger than the Network, and I thought the same thing as strapper 2 with the reference to the the lane 1 Super Carbide Bomb and flaring half way around the ball. My strike ball was the same alignment I use to shoot a 10 pin with plastic and it was 10 straight back. The ball is very continuous thru the pin deck and carry is amazing. I had to opt for The Look tonight cause of way to much hook. A friend rolled it that uses a I Q Fusion and it had to move 5 left with his feet. A guy was crying about not getting his ball to hook and he asked what ball I was using and how could I stand so far left and he couldn't get the ball to wrinkle. Great ball and will come in handy on longer sport patterns! Oh, the ball does shine with Bean's Secret Sauce!
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This ball seems to impress me every week of use. Great continuation and carry. Even whe the lanes start to get squirrly and forcing me extreme left, I still have confindence that I can make a good shot and won't have to worry about carry. Last night starting the 3rd game, I moved (left) in to 32 with my feet and around 4th arrow and it still continued to carry strong. I had the front 10 in the 3rd game and due to operator mistake made a poor shot and it was a touch weak on the carry (286). It definitely holds pocket well and goes through the pins like no other. Can't wait to get this onto a sport shot in the near future. Hope everyone else is liking this one as much as me.
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I still haven't put holes in mine as I can't see where I will have enough oil to throw it out of practice?