Post by: admin on December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM
Hardness: 75-77
RG: Med (2.56")
Flare: High (.065" differential) 5-7"
Length (1-100): 66
Back end (1-100): 88
Hook (1-100): 63 (oil) - 86 (dry)
Avail. Wts: 13-16# (Centaur AMB core)
10-12# (on request - light wt. core)
Lane Conditions: Medium Conditions
Do NOT expect this ball to be a smooth, controlled arc motion like the Green/Blue Centaur.
The high differential, large flare potential and heavy flip cap make this a skid/snap type reaction.
Post by: I_Bowl4Money on January 21, 2005, 09:48:12 AM
I have two drilled for comment:
Lane Conditions: House Shot, Sport Shot (semi-reverse block, small OB 5 out)
Drill Patterns:
Layout 1 - 4 1/2 Control, axis = 4 right 3/8 down
Layout 2 - 5 Stack, axis = same
Pin Placements:
Layout 1 - 3+ pin out - above ring finger, cg kicked right, no axis hole
Layout 2 - 3+ pin out - on the left half of ring finger, drilled through pin, cg stacked with a slight 1/4 inch kicked right, very small axis hole thumb quadrant.
Layout 1 Reaction:
SS - This ball rolls very strong in the middle portion of the lane with a nice gradual arc at the end to finish the roll. This rolled particular well on the sport condition by staying clean through the front, maintaining its line through the oil on the middle part of the lane (playing 5 along heavy oil line) and generating a very smooth, heavy rolling, controlled finish on the backend.
HS - This layout is not the best for the house shot because the need for more oil in the front part of lane is not there. This ball makes a very strong mid-lane read and will have a tendency to jerk early or burn up. Up the track players may find this layout helpful however because the ball will not squirt through the tug shots when playing the oil line. This layout is more conducive to a sport pattern or a tighter house pattern.
Layout 2 Reaction:
SS/HS - This layout was set solely for playing 15 out and as deep as 5th or 6th arrow. The nice part about this matchup is that the ball will get through the front and middle of the lane very smooth. The overall reaction on the backend is super strong. On a house shot in two different centers, it took only 3/4 of a game before I was already 10-12 left (with feet, mark moved 5 boards left)of where I started. On the sport shot the idea was to get as deep as possible and play 5th arrow to about 12 and let the ball bend into the pocket.
The nice part about this matchup is the amount of energy that is stored up for the backend move and pocket. An excellent compliment to anyone throwing a G-3 and needs a to create a little more area to the right that the G-3 may not allow.
**All-in-all, a very excellent and exciting addition to the Visionary line. A definite must have bowling ball in your bag to open up the condition with a stack drill or to combat medium to medium-heavy mid-lane sport shots with the control layout.
Post by: jwsmith01 on January 22, 2005, 12:00:14 AM
Dislikes: Carrydown...ehh...
Ball Specs:
15 pounds
Top Weight: 3.08 oz
Pin out: 2-3 inches
Factory Surface
Layout: 3 1/2" 80 degree
This put the pin next to my ring finger and the cg kicked out slightly towards my axis. I put the weight hole on my axis which is 4 3/8" from my center of grip. I took the side weight back to 1/2 positive
Lane Condtions: Second Shift Brunswick Anvil Lane broken down heads and very minimal carrydown
My Stats: Power Stroker with around 10-30 degree axis tilt, around 15-16 mph off my hand and around medium revs
Reaction: This ball is one amazing peice of equipment. This was the first ball I recieved from my Visionary Ball Test Program and I couldnt be happier with it. I'm a power stroker, normally I don't move past 25 with my feet, well that all changed when I put holes in this ball. I have found myself playing angles that I could only have imagined. On the second shift league I find myself standing 35 throwing it over 15 at the arrows and letting it work out to 5 at the break point and once it turns the corner there is no chance of stopping it. I thought I would lose some carry playing that deep of an angle but the AMB kicks out the 10's with the best of them. The one thing that did surprise me about the reaction was how well it still reads the midlanes. For a ball with this much built in skid flip, it doesnt ignore the midlanes, which is a plus for my style.
About the only dislikes that I have encountered with this ball is the occational carry down I see. I have to play alittle straighter with is to combat the carry down. But even when I square up with the carry down I have found that it gets a slight case of over/under. But that is the only dislike I could possibly find with this outstanding ball.
A great first purchase for my ball tester program...and as always if you have any questions just email me at my new address jwillie300@netscape.com
Thanks and great bowling,
Joshua W. Smith
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Visionary Ball Club Tester
Tell them I'm through, 'for the love of the game', Billy Chapel
Post by: Aud21946 on January 22, 2005, 03:31:56 AM
Personal Stats.
Tweener with 40 to 35 degrees tilt.
Ball speed 16 to 18 mps.
Bowling center info:
5 yrs old Brunswick Guardian surface .. house shot 8 to 8 to 38 ft.Med. Backends.
Ball Layout from the Visionary Drill sheet.
Pin Placement C with Mb placement 3.
Ball Surface Factory which is 1500 polished.
Ball has a weight hole.
First night with the ball used the ball after lane brake down 5 man leauge in gm 3 and this ball perfectly complimented my Burgandy Gryphon which is my benchmark ball. Where the Burgandy started to flat 10 switching to the Amb, I could play the same part of the lane without moving my feet which were at 17 and my eyes at 8. Great Carry. Second night, the center put new pins in ( Finally) and Started with my Alter Ego and didn't throw it well and swiched to the Centar and automatic started to stike. Once again great carry. Finally I can say Visionary has made a ball for the power stroker and/or tweener with high ball speed( like myself). Trying to post a picture in the fourm area to show ball layout.
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Audric S. Bent
Visionary Test Member
San Antonio, Texas
Post by: L7H2N on April 21, 2005, 10:41:38 AM
I took some cover off to make the transition a little easier to read (have a lot of hand in the ball). Already had several 279 games and couple of 700's. This is my 1st ball most of the time.
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L. Nelson
Visionary Test Member
Post by: Jturley46 on May 07, 2005, 04:01:58 PM
Josh Turley
Visionary Test Staff Member
Post by: Flyboy on June 05, 2005, 11:57:46 AM
Have not had any need to change the surface on this ball - 1500 polished works great for me.
Gives very nice length, with a predictable, hard angular move. I haven't really seen any over/under with the deep lines I play with this ball, but I haven't used it in competition yet.
I am a medium speed tweener with medium revs. I have never been able to get a ball to make a nice hard, angular break before this ball.
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Luke Krepsky
Visionary Test Staff
Post by: robertbrowder on July 01, 2005, 04:58:13 PM
Post by: The Swede on August 20, 2005, 10:03:21 AM
Post by: Jturley46 on April 11, 2006, 12:15:37 AM
Higher end tweener with 40-60 degrees axis rotation.
Ball speed 16 MPH
Ball Specs:
14 pounds
Top Weight: 3 oz
Pin out: 3 inches
Factory Surface
I thought I would post another review, as I have gotten another Centaur AMB pearl. My other one had a seperated core and I got this one as a replacement and decided to drill it differently. I set it up with Pin C and MB 4, Pin is about 3 1/2" from PAP and the CG is kicked right at a 45 degree angle. It has a weight hole on my PAP which brought it back to 3/4 positive. All I can say is WOW, the old 1:30 drilling I had on the ball tamed it down, but this drill brings out the beast inside! Ive always thrown the ball relatively slow, around 14 mph, but with this ball I have to throw it hard, and in doing so I have actually increased my ball speed which is a major plus. I tested the ball out on my troublesome league shot, THS, 40ft, pretty heavy shot, and it put it to shame, I started playing around 23 to about 5, which I could do with my old ball speed but with this drill I was throwing the ball around 17 MPH and it would just crush the pocket, with the new and improved ball speed I was also carrying everything, tripping 4's, pins would bounce in the gutters and tap out flat 10's, I actually had a ton of messengers which I rarely get, I mean the ball has that much power, i felt like Tommy Jones! This is definatly my favorite ball from visionary, Im going to redrill my AMB solid with the same drill, so it can handle the soup, and I might buy another AMB pearl.
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Visionary Test Staff 2005-06
Post by: jefftaker2002 on June 05, 2006, 02:53:42 AM
Pin: 5"
Drilled: Stacked
Surface: OOB
Lane Specs: AMF HPL Synthetic with 40 Foot Slight Christmas Tree Pattern
(* Fair Shot *)
All I Can Say Is that For Most Of My Equipment Befor Getting into The Visionary Test Staff Membership Had To Be Either Dull Or Partical Balls Just To Be Able To Move But Not Needed With The Bronze Centar. This Ball I Can Play Anywhere On The Lane As Long As It Got To The 3 Board 45 Feet Downlane It Will SNAP STRAIGHT Into The Pocket And Will Almost Always Strike Even When Playing With Sliding Foot Infront Of Right Gutter Of Other Lane Over Ball Returns.
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J. Shanks- Visionary Test Staff
Post by: HOCK823 on February 25, 2007, 02:51:24 PM
Post by: dukeofearl on September 27, 2007, 08:26:36 PM
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there are no magic balls, only MAGIC bowlers!
Post by: Jturley46 on March 14, 2008, 06:33:27 PM
Tweener, high tracker, 40-60 degrees axis rotation, very little tilt, and approx 300 rpm.
Ball speed 16 MPH off my hand
Ball Specs:
14 pounds
Top Weight: 3 oz
Pin out: 3 inches
Factory Surface
This is my third AMB centaur pearl, and this ball is absolutely my favorite ball that visionary has ever made. My only two 300's were with this ball. Ok, well I needed this ball for some angle, it seems I havent been able to play left of third arrow in like a year, so I decided to drill this baby strong. I decided to go with a pin to pap distance of 3 3/4" (yes I said strong!) and the CG is around 3 inches from my pap. This put the pin right next to my ring finger and the CG pretty much stacked underneath. First impression is this ball is a freaking beast, the Immortal pearl may have a bigger differential but it never hooked nearly as much as this ball, which is interesting. This drill allowed me to play as deep as 4th or 5th arrow(with an increased speed of around 19 mph mind you!) on a 38' THS with an out of bounds outside 5. The great thing is this ball is advertised as skid/flip which gives off the impression that it ignores the mids, and is very over/under. The thing is the ball rarely encounters an over/under type of reaction, and reads the mids well. If you havent purchased one yet, I highly recommend you do.
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Visionary Test Staff 2005-07
Post by: dukeofearl on March 15, 2008, 10:56:57 AM
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there are no magic balls, only MAGIC bowlers!
Post by: Twich2252 on April 25, 2008, 11:56:16 PM
4 step approach
Mark w/ right foot
Cranker
very high track
16-17mph
Ball:
14.30lbs
2.74 top weight
3 in pin out
factory surface 1500 polished
pin above/inside middle finger
This ball was drilled to go long and snap hard on the backends. It does just that. The break is so hard and abrupt that it should have a turn signal. I stand 5 boards left of center and throw over board 12, swinging it out to board 7. This gives me a great angle into the pocket and gives me excellent pin action after entry. This ball is very good on fresh heads on the house shot. After oil carrydown it rolls a little long. I have averaged 201 with this ball in 3 leagues. I'm amazed at how much this ball turns. The recovery is great on errant throws as well. overall this is a very balanced ball that could be drilled for many conditions. If you are looking for a long rolling, pocket crushing ball,I highly recommend the centaur.
Post by: Brian Green on May 31, 2008, 10:35:50 PM
15 lb
pin 3-4
top 2-3
bowler specs:
In profile
Drilling..... label leverage with no x hole on pap.....
Condition used on..... Both THS and 40 foot flat sport shot with 40 units of oil gutter to gutter
Comments:
I decided not to post the results of throwing the ball on the THS and the Sport Shot seperately because both results were very similiar......
The Bronze AMB Centaur is quickly becoming my favorite ball in my bag..... On both patterns i have bowled on i have seen very similar results, the ball gets very easy length and when it sees the dry, Even though it makes a very strong move to the pocket, it doesnt have a pronounced snap, its like an arc on steroids..... On THS i was playing 12 to 3 and killing the pocket all night long.... On the sport Shot i was forced to play in around 4th arrow with a breakpoint at the 11 board with a consistant and powerful arc to the pocket.........
The one thing i really like about this ball in particular is how this ball doesnt know the meaning of quitting and hitting flat...... i dont think i have ever left a half or flat 7 (I'm lefty) with this ball since i drilled it... when this ball hits, it is like a bomb going off..... the pins go everywhere....
If you are looking for a strong hitting pearl for medium amounts of oil this is a must have........... its a solid 9 out of 10
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"USAbowlersmart.com - only the best Survive"
Post by: JessN16 on June 28, 2008, 01:59:30 AM
The drill: Pin above ring, CG in the palm, AMB area in the strong, right of the thumb and inside the VAL, works out to about a 3.5 x 4 x 4 drill for me. Weight hole beyond the VAL 90 degrees from AMB area to the MB marker. Finish is 2000 plus polish.
Me: PAP 4 over 3/8 up, tweener revs, good speed, good circumference coverage
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Bought this ball used off eBay with the drill pattern already on the ball, which was not exactly how I'd have preferred to have tested this one. I wanted to drill it with a weaker pin, but the pattern on it was sufficient and I decided to try this first before making any big moves. All that was needed was the plug and redrill the thumb.
The surface prep when I got the ball was box, but it had some game traffic on it, 40-50 games. A light resurfacing and some Storm Reacta Shine polish brought it back to life.
This is not my first Visionary ball but it is my first of the AMB line. I have never had a bad experience from a Visionary-poured ball, the only company about which I can say that.
This ball didn't give me any problems, but it didn't jump out of the gate and impress me, either. It's possible it needs to break down its polish a little bit and work in some games.
Testing was conducted on two shots, a medium-light modified THS without a drastic wall, and a medium-volume flatter shot with dry boards outside 3. The Centaur liked the modified THS better than the flatter shot. It had trouble turning the corner on the flatter, heavier pattern and carry was a big bugaboo. It's likely the polish was too heavy on the ball.
On the house shot, however, the ball cleared problems in the fronts and mids very well. This house has very touchy, hot midlanes from time to time and this ball just ignored them. Energy transfer to the backends was good and the ball drove well without deflection.
Carry was disappointing on both conditions. This ball is allergic to high hits, leaving a lot more 4-pins and even 9-pins than usual. Quite a few heavy 7s as well. Stringing strikes was a chore as the ball would often finish dead flush on consecutive hits but leave single pins on every other hit.
The movement of this ball is a little different than most assyms I've thrown. It's a bit more predictable off the spot when the lanes are dry but the move in the back is a deliberate arc. There isn't a lot of snap in this ball, as I was told to expect.
I question this ball's general ability to handle a lot of oil. Perhaps with a surface change I might see it, but from testing it looks like this ball is for mediums and lighter. More testing is needed after surface changes. The summary:
Positives: Very controllable, one of the cleanest through the heads I've thrown, continuous move in the backend.
Negatives: Carry on high hits is curious to say the least, when polished it's not for anything over medium-light, not angular even when it needs to be.
Overall: A good ball for medium and lighter volumes of oil, but doesn't seem to stand out from the crowd.
Jess
Post by: JessN16 on January 28, 2009, 02:36:13 AM
Recently took this thing back to league and worked with it until I could knock off some of the shine from the polishing. What I got after that was a completely different animal -- especially regarding pin carry.
With a smoother reaction downlane, the earlier carry problems self-corrected. Pin action seemed to increase and messengers were a-flyin'.
The thing that seems to stand out from this ball now is that, despite the high polish, it can still play in the middle of a house pattern, which a lot of pearls have an allergy to. I'm continuing to work things out with this ball but my opinion of it has jumped up considerably.
Read my older review to see where I've come from (and to show the value of not giving up on a ball too soon).
Jess
Post by: Mr Old School on January 07, 2011, 05:58:04 PM
LANE CONDITION
Length:ths about 40' in lenght, from 8 to 8 side to side
Volume: don't really know
Type (THS, Sport Pattern etc): THS
COMMENTS
Likes: this ball rocks. when the centaur, checks up early, this is the go to ball without any fear! Bought this ball, with a long pin 3-4 inches. and a semi heavy top 3.70! This ball, for a pearl is not the normal skid/flip type, instead it's just like the solid! Normaly i would purchace two of the same, one dull, and one polished, to get a reaction that I would look for. But this ball answered any questions, about getting two of the same coverstock! Being a tweener, sometimes playing too deep, is wrong for my release. And playing to straight, is too strong. This ball lets me play, where the solid starts up a little to early. Don't know if this review will help you, take it from me...If you roll the solid, you must have the pearl also! It already save myself from rolling bad games! And the color of this ball is awesome!
Dislikes: none so far!
PICTURES AND/OR VIDEOs
Mr. Old SchoolIf you can't swing it, Your probally throwing brunswick!
Visionary test staff