J's Professional Weapon CB irons

v1xspeed18 · May 20, 2017

I have been in the market for a new set of irons and, like most of you, I am partial to older irons. I love the classic setup, no frills, no crazy technology stuff the new manufacturers like to dazzle us with.

Instead of purchasing a new set of irons, I was thinking of finding an older head, but a classic one and placing todays new technology shaft in it, and maintaining my scratch handicap with a club that NO ONE else has.

There is a set of re-chromed J's Professional weapons (re-chromed by the Iron Factory) on fleabay for $350. They appear new....

Nice set of shafts would run a few hundred, making the total cost of these irons about $650 or so.

My question is, am I crazy to put this kind of cash in a set of J's?

They are an awesome set of irons, always have been and theres nothing like old classic forgings......am I nuts?

SubaruWRX · May 20, 2017

Beechin' idea!

v1xspeed18 · May 20, 2017

any one else wanna chime in?

ws6 · May 20, 2017

I played the J's CB irons for a long time. They were great clubs. I switched from the J's and went to J33CB. I loved the J's but the J33 CBs are better clubs, IMHO.

Tyus Stones · May 20, 2017

There are no shortage of high quality 10+ year old irons that people still game today, and game well.

If the chroming is what has you intrigued, you can always find the ideal set of iron heads and have them rechromed and grooved for under $300 all in.

Unless you are enamored with this particular model, not just the fact that no one else is gaming them, this wouldn't be my move. This is a project build. If the point is to have a unique, custom vintage set built for you, and you're already gonna go through the trouble of buying and installing your favorite shafts, why take a shortcut/compromise in buying these heads just because they're already refinished?

My first bit of advice would be to turn this into an off-season project (assuming you don't live somewhere where you can play year-round like myself). If you are going to do this up right, you should go in expecting the whole process to take 2-3 months. If you start now, it won't be done before season's end in all likelihood. But if you instead take this on as an off-season project, it will give you something to do that is golf related to help scratch that itch, and give you something to look forward to gaming when the new season starts. Don't put yourself in a position where you feel rushed to finish, or might end up with a final product that you aren't in love with. Because odds are, if you don't love them and end up unloading on the BST/bay, you will never get back out of these anywhere near what you put into building them, both in terms of money and time. So be sure you're willing to fully commit to this project upfront.

Where I trying to do what you've described for myself, here would be my process:

1. Take an afternoon and think about your favorite forged irons sets of old. Maybe spend some time browsing the "Equipment" section, there are plenty of threads dedicated to old school forged blades and CBs to give you some inspiration.

2. Armed with your top 3-5 choices, spend a week or two checking EBay/BST/Craigslist for a cheap used set

***DON'T RUSH THIS. Be patient and make sure you find the right set in the right condition and the right price. There are new listings every day, you just need to be patient and vigilant, and eventually the set that you want will become available.

3. Buy the heads and send em in for beautification

4. Buy 2-3 single shafts in brands/models you have enjoyed in the past, and install them into the 6/7/8 irons. Figure out which feels/spins/flights the best with your specific model head. Just because a shaft worked for you in the past, doesn't mean it will play the same in these.

5. Get a full set of the winning shafts and install them

6. Take your new dogs out to play

v1xspeed18 · May 20, 2017

Awesome Answer, thanks Tyus! Tbh, I played the J's in college with s300's and have played several sets (mostly Bridgestone J33, 36, and now the J40) and for the life of me cant come close to a set that felt like the J's I played in college. I have a set of Mp-14's, MP-29's, and 33's and although sweet, don't compare (IMO). I play have been playing the Modus 130 tour shafts in most every iron I own, since they came out. It's what works best for me. I just figured the J's would be incredible with the same Modus shaft. Thanks for the advice, though and for taking the time....

thevaporz · May 20, 2017

You're crazy to waste $650 like that. I'd stay a scratch golfer with what you're currently using.

halliedog · May 20, 2017

I would concur with everything Tyus said, as I've gone down this route myself.

The only thing I might say is a little "off" could be the part about purchasing a set, then having the shafts pulled (if you can't do that on your own), and then getting them stripped, regrooved, and then plated for right around $300. Of course a lot of this comes down to how much you can find a set of your irons for, and if you can do any of the actual club work yourself.

The pricing for the iron factory is $42/head for regroove/chrome (apparently includes pulling shafts) and $90/head for regroove/chrome/shaft with Nippon.

Just saying, if you are at all handy, you can cut costs quite a bit, but are still looking at at least $32/head just for chroming through Iron Factory. You can usually find a local shop to strip the original chrome for around $5/head if you aren't in a hurry (they'll throw them in with a batch of something else once they have a big enough order) and might be able to get a better price on re-chroming if you go with the same shop? I wouldn't personally trust them to do the regrooving though, as that's not their forte. And they obviously won't pull/install shafts.

$300 could be doable for the stripping/chroming, but only if you do quite a bit of the "club building" part on your own. Then throw in the cost of the heads and new shafts. Not trying to discourage you, just saying be sure to factor in everything. Like Tyus said, best an off-season project if you decide to go down that road.

v1xspeed18 · May 20, 2017

Thanks a bunch for the advice. You all are a stand up group of guys and give awesome advice. The j's that are on eBay for sale have already been re-chromed and re-grooved and are "heads only". I would merely have to put a shaft in, set of grips and let em rip. I think I may just find a set of new MP5's and be done with it. ? I'm like a bunch of you folks. Just love the old stuff.....thanks for thinking out loud with me and for the great advice.