PROJECT X - vs - KB TOUR - vs - NIPPON 1150

[TheRawEdge]

One man shaft test!!

I am currently trying to figure out which shaft is going to fit me the best. I have been playing original Satin PX 6.0 shafts for about 18 months. I like everything about them except the feel. Then I heard about the new KB Tour iron shafts that were supposed to be low spin like the PX except with better feel and maybe a higher ball flight. So I was excited and bought a set to put in my new Scratch irons. In the mean time, my new irons came with Nippon 1150 shafts already in them. So I decided to try them before yanking them for the KB Tours. Now I am even more confused. I really love the feel of the Nippon shafts, and the only thing I can see where they lack is in the spin category. They truly spin more than I want them to. So now I have an experiment to do over the next couple weeks. I am going to spend some time hitting balls and playing ON COURSE with 3 different 6 irons. Here is how they will be set up....

Adams A-Tour Black - Project X 6.0
Scratch SB-1 Blade - Nippon 1150 (stiff)
Toski Target T58 - KB Tour 6.5 (soft stepped)

I know the KB Tour 6.5 is a little stiffer than the others but I am soft stepping a 5 iron shaft
to bring them closer together. The Nippon will be the softest of them all but the stiff is all I have
to go with. I am mostly looking for a difference in feel, spin and ball flight. I know the different
head will contribute to that a little, but its all I have to work with. I went with the Toski because
is was $13 and readily available. If I have the $$ to invest in another Scratch 6 iron then I would
have. It will be a couple weeks before I have any real conclusions because of my work schedule.
I will keep you posted.

[*sigh*]

Well if they are $13 heads and readily available, why not pick up 3 of them. Pull a Project X and Nippon and then go to the range.

[coops]

Well if they are $13 heads and readily available, why not pick up 3 of them. Pull a Project X and Nippon and then go to the range.

 

this sounds like the best thing to do... and i'm looking forward to the results.

 

I've got PX 6.0's (orig satin stock also) in my Epon 301's and am still dubious about the shafts, but am learning to love them... at least, when i swing well :man_in_love:

 

Really interested how they compare to the KB tours as i'm an old Rifle/Precision shaft fan (used Precision 6.5's for many years). The Nippons are easier for me to find in asia though....

 

Using the same head exactly would leave no doubts......

 

ps anyone tried the new Titleist fitting system - doesn't it have ability to swap out iron shafts also? Not sure what range of shafts they have to try though...

 

Coops

[TheRawEdge]

Well if they are $13 heads and readily available, why not pick up 3 of them. Pull a Project X and Nippon and then go to the range.

 

 

Well, if I was a scientist, thats how I would do it. But, I have no interest in pulling aobut 2 perfectly good 6 irons just to borrow the shafts. This will be a good enough test for me. If you want TRULY SCIENTIFIC stuff, then you better see the boys over at "THE OTHER SITE". :)

[burleygolf]

I am currently trying to figure out which shaft is going to fit me the best. I have been playing original Satin PX 6.0 shafts for about 18 months. I like everything about them except the feel. Then I heard about the new KB Tour iron shafts that were supposed to be low spin like the PX except with better feel and maybe a higher ball flight. So I was excited and bought a set to put in my new Scratch irons. In the mean time, my new irons came with Nippon 1150 shafts already in them. So I decided to try them before yanking them for the KB Tours. Now I am even more confused. I really love the feel of the Nippon shafts, and the only thing I can see where they lack is in the spin category. They truly spin more than I want them to. So now I have an experiment to do over the next couple weeks. I am going to spend some time hitting balls and playing ON COURSE with 3 different 6 irons. Here is how they will be set up....

 

Adams A-Tour Black - Project X 6.0

Scratch SB-1 Blade - Nippon 1150 (stiff)

Toski Target T58 - KB Tour 6.5 (soft stepped)

 

I know the KB Tour 6.5 is a little stiffer than the others but I am soft stepping a 5 iron shaft

to bring them closer together. The Nippon will be the softest of them all but the stiff is all I have

to go with. I am mostly looking for a difference in feel, spin and ball flight. I know the different

head will contribute to that a little, but its all I have to work with. I went with the Toski because

is was $13 and readily available. If I have the $$ to invest in another Scratch 6 iron then I would

have. It will be a couple weeks before I have any real conclusions because of my work schedule.

I will keep you posted.

 

 

I would have to say the KB Tours just because K.B. designed the ProjectX shafts, and they would not let him do evry thing he wanted so he went out and started his on company, and the fact I have a set in both my irons. The Nippon sahfts seem like they are to week compaired to the soft feel of the KB Tours.

[TheRawEdge]

The KB Tours are going into my Scratch SuperBlades. They are an amazing iron with lots of feel. The ball and trajectory were very easily controlled with these shafts. I am going with X flex 6.5 soft stepped once.

 

4 iron head - 3 iron shaft

5 iron head - 4 iron shaft

6 iron head - 5 iron shaft

7 iron head - 6 iron shaft

8 iron head - 7 iron shaft

9 iron head - 8 iron shaft

PWdg head - 8 iron shaft

53° & 58° - 8 iron shaft

 

I was a little concerned about what to do when soft stepping, but I spoke with Ari and Scratch golf and I followed his

instructions. It went really good. I am also building them with the "wooden dowel" treatment that Joe Kwok explains

in his iron building threads. I am pretty excited to get the build complete.

[rpmsooner]

The KB Tours are going into my Scratch SuperBlades. They are an amazing iron with lots of feel. The ball and trajectory were very easily controlled with these shafts. I am going with X flex 6.5 soft stepped once.

 

4 iron head - 3 iron shaft

5 iron head - 4 iron shaft

6 iron head - 5 iron shaft

7 iron head - 6 iron shaft

8 iron head - 7 iron shaft

9 iron head - 8 iron shaft

PWdg head - 8 iron shaft

53° & 58° - 8 iron shaft

 

I was a little concerned about what to do when soft stepping, but I spoke with Ari and Scratch golf and I followed his

instructions. It went really good. I am also building them with the "wooden dowel" treatment that Joe Kwok explains

in his iron building threads. I am pretty excited to get the build complete.

 

My interest is certainly piqued. What is the reasoning behind the 8 iron shafts in the last 3 sticks?

[TheRawEdge]

The KB Tours are going into my Scratch SuperBlades. They are an amazing iron with lots of feel. The ball and trajectory were very easily controlled with these shafts. I am going with X flex 6.5 soft stepped once.

 

4 iron head - 3 iron shaft

5 iron head - 4 iron shaft

6 iron head - 5 iron shaft

7 iron head - 6 iron shaft

8 iron head - 7 iron shaft

9 iron head - 8 iron shaft

PWdg head - 8 iron shaft

53° & 58° - 8 iron shaft

 

I was a little concerned about what to do when soft stepping, but I spoke with Ari and Scratch golf and I followed his

instructions. It went really good. I am also building them with the "wooden dowel" treatment that Joe Kwok explains

in his iron building threads. I am pretty excited to get the build complete.

 

My interest is certainly piqued. What is the reasoning behind the 8 iron shafts in the last 3 sticks?

 

 

That is how you soft step. They only make the shafts in certain lenghts. They are sold in 3 iron thru 9 iron. Both the PW and the 9 iron get the same shafts by design. It is actually called a 9/PW shaft. So if I was to put the 9/PW shaft in the PW, then the PW would not be soft stepped because it would have the same shaft as if it were NOT soft stepped. The 9/PW length shaft is designed to go in everything 9 iron and shorter......so in order to "SOFT STEP" correctly you should put the 8 iron shaft in everything from 9 iron on down. I hope this helps.

 

:rolleyes:

[jacksonlui]

i would think the 9 shaft goes in the PW and the wedges

it probably wouldn't matter if you softstepped the wedges since you don't normally hit full shots with those anyways

putting the 8 in the PW is like double soft stepping.

does anyone know for sure?

[Vic]

I might be wrong but I was under the impression that soft stepping is the other way around: putting the 8i shaft into the 7i head and so on.

BTW I have a ste of Ping i5 with KB tour 5.5 softestepped once (maybe I went a bit too soft and regular5.5 would have been even better). I really love these shaft, so much that I have put the 4i back in my bag and I am even contemplating adding the 3i. I have been playing my iron so well that I haven't used my hybrid or my 3w at all lately.

These are reall side spin killers

[joey3108]

KB are using the same shaft for 9 and PW. So if you softstep them once, his calculation is CORRECT!

 

Good Luck!

 

Joe

[*sigh*]

Well, if I was a scientist, thats how I would do it. But, I have no interest in pulling aobut 2 perfectly good 6 irons just to borrow the shafts. This will be a good enough test for me. If you want TRULY SCIENTIFIC stuff, then you better see the boys over at "THE OTHER SITE". :rolleyes:

Whoa there... it was just a suggestion so that you get an accurate measurement of how these shafts stack up against one another.

 

Good luck with your new clubs though.

[jacksonlui]

thanks, i get it now

[TheRawEdge]

Well after about 2 weeks of straight 12 hour days at work, my irons are done. I will be playing with them on Monday morning. I installed them just as described above. KB Tour 6.5 soft stepped once to play at 6.2 on the scale. I like my irons heavy so I made them D-4 through the entire set and D-5 in my PW.

 

I also went ahead and followed Joe Kwok's "DOWEL TREATMENT" and I can't wait to feel the difference. I have been building my own clubs for about 10 years, but this was my first set with dowels. :black eye:

[iscarter69]

I agree with how great the KBs are. I have also been doing the same shaft testing and also ended up going with KB Tour 5.9 (4-9) and the new black nickel KB Tour Wedge (PW, SW, LW). Couldn't be happier. Prior to finding the KBs, I always loved the flight of the PXs but just hated the feel -- especially on partial shots. The KBs have the same flat flight as the PX, but the feel is great. I really notice the lower spin and increased accuracy of these shafts in the short irons and wedges.

 

On the Nippon front, the shaft just created too much spin.

 

Just like PX, the KBs are probably not for everyone, but for those who don't like harshness of the PX, but fit the flex profile the KBs are great.

[jacksonlui]

what's the difference between the black nickel wedge shaft versus the 9/PW wedge shaft besides the color?

[rattler917]

Do any OEM offer KB's?

[iscarter69]

According to the KBS Shaft website, Ping, Cleveland, Scratch and Muira are offered as custom.

 

I do not think that there is any difference in the specs of the black nickel wedge and the regular shafts. In my limited amount of play with them, I haven't seen any.

 

I think we will start seeing them more and more as the usage increases on tour. The following is a short list of KBS Tour users that I am aware of:

 

Kenny Perry

Darren Clarke

Richard S. Johnson

Paul McGinley

[bsc1872]

Rod Pampling

Justin Rose

Jeev M. Sing are more players using KB STEEL

 

These shafts simply are design to have the highest MOI so off center hits won't curve as much and you good shots will curve alittle less. I have found in the 10 sets I have built most people are losing about 30% of ball movement on our outdoor launch. We use Flightscope.

 

Black Nickel shafts are alittle softer and produce alittle more spin

 

Remember this is Kim Braly the designer of Rifle and Project X so maybe a new company but years of experience. By the way you are correct about the 8 iron soft stepping through the 9 iron and wedge.

[jacksonlui]

thanks bsc1872 for the info on the black wedge shaft

if i've soft stepped the irons shafts then i can't use the black wedge shafts for my 52/58 set

but if it's a little softer, perhaps it'll fit within the so called frequency curve

[TM golf guy]

I'm going to order a set of KB Tour's for my i10's in just a little while. I can't wait to hit these.

[TheRawEdge]

I need to give a little update here. I am not playing the KB Tours anymore. I decided I missed the feel of the Nippons to much. I was playing the Nippon 1150 is STIFF flex and they were a little to soft. So, I am going back to the Nippon in an X flex (might soft step them once). The KBs were great shafts, but they hit the ball very high and I much preferred the "FEEL" of the Nippon sticks.

[Grum]

Just gone back to my KB tours.

 

The reason i went away from them was after a swing change they felt very stiff to me. While rebuilding them today, built at D3 they frequenced consistently stiffer than S300's by 6-7cpm's. Swing is back on track and hopefully they'll be fine now.

[jacksonlui]

i agree

after switching to the KBS tours from the NSPRO 1150's, I miss the soft feel of the Nippons. The KBS was a bit too harsh, even more so than the DGS300. The trajectory on the KBS was pretty nice and it's a good shaft but can't really compare to the Nippons in feel.