Froth's Bag of tricks and random old stuff. (updated 9/02/14)

[Froth]

Well I'm happy to report my right leg is 90% better, I've been able to successfully practice on it for the past four days with no pain at all, so long as I stretch it extra during my pre-practice warm up. Been fiddling with the top end of the bag a little, but this is what I've come up with. Take special note that the V-steel 3 wood was purchased for a whopping $4 at a local yard sale, I wasn't expecting miracles because it sits a little closed to my eye but once I put my shaft in it and flattened the lie angle a bit I've really been surprised by the results.

Pictures updated, specs updated.

[JC671]

Glad to see your playing again. That putter is unreal, 40+ grams of lead tape!

I did the same to my method 003, i believe it was 49 grams total.

[Froth]

[quote name='JC671' timestamp='1405388773' post='9701599']
Glad to see your playing again. That putter is unreal, 40+ grams of lead tape!

I did the same to my method 003, i believe it was 49 grams total.
[/quote]
I love me some lead tape!

Side note: Had a phenomenal practice session today, one of those days where you can't do anything wrong. Now the key is to find more of those days!

[Mitchell]

Glad to hear you are feeling better!

[Froth]

TONS of crap going on but zero time to post about it, perhaps I'll get in to it later or perhaps not...meh.

Possible change to my irons is coming, I'm testing out a recently acquired minty set of 1994 Ram FX Tour Grind blades w/ S400 2-PW that I've built to the exact length/loft/lie/grip size as my 17's, we shall see how it goes. I'm also ditching my old fairway woods and kicking them to the curb hopefully for good, got my hands on a TEE XCG6 16.5° 4 wood and it is nothing short of pure magic, seriously...it's REALLY GOOD. That's about it, you know...just completely ripping apart my bag but there is actually a reason(and a good one) I promise!

[Froth]

Well, after three really really solid practice sessions(including one in the rain, gotta test those grips!) I have come to the decision to put the RAM's in the bag. I bought them with intentions of using them in a 90's era vintage bag but after the initial range session I came to the conclusion that they were too good(and in too good of condition) to not be put into play.

Entire first post updated, BOOM. It's going to feel weird walking on a course with a different set of irons, I can tell you that. Thankfully the RAM's have a nearly identical head shape to my beloved Wilson's probably in part to them being forged by the same factory. As a matter of fact, I was able to get the set pretty darn close to 100% ideal specs for me, even with the heavier S400's in there. Can't wait to get some rounds on these things!

[PeanutsDaddy]

Love the look of the 'new' Rams Froth. How would you describe the sensation of a well struck ball?

[Froth]

[quote name='PeanutsDaddy' timestamp='1409705555' post='10053211']
Love the look of the 'new' Rams Froth. How would you describe the sensation of a well struck ball?
[/quote]
Honestly, it feels like I never even hit the ball and just took a divot when I pure one, However going from doweled to not doweled iron shafts I knew I was going to lose some of the "good feel" that I had become accustomed to, but the heavier S400 seems to be helping a teeny bit in that department, there isn't a whole ton of feedback on mis-struck shots but there is enough to let me know I've not hit it correctly, it's just that there is no accompanying knuckle jarring vibration like I'm used to. Definitely a larger sweetspot and higher MOI than I've been playing though, that's for sure.

[CDLgolf]

Great looking bag love the irons, they bring back memories.
I had a set of Ram FX forged years ago.
Ram made some very nice looking iron sets and the zebra putter was the first mallet I used.

[BIG STU]

[quote name='Froth' timestamp='1405337818' post='9695959']
Well I'm happy to report my right leg is 90% better, I've been able to successfully practice on it for the past four days with no pain at all, so long as I stretch it extra during my pre-practice warm up. Been fiddling with the top end of the bag a little, but this is what I've come up with. Take special note that the V-steel 3 wood was purchased for a whopping $4 at a local yard sale, I wasn't expecting miracles because it sits a little closed to my eye but once I put my shaft in it and flattened the lie angle a bit I've really been surprised by the results.

Pictures updated, specs updated.
[/quote] Sorta late to this party been hanging out with the other old farts on the classic club section. You will like the V-Steel 3 wood. I have been carrying an old V-Steel 7 wood for years love that thing. I had a TM rep tell me last year at a demo session "you would be surprised how many V-Steel woods of all types are still in tour bags especially on the Champions Tour TM staffer or not".

[Smking1981]

How do you find the steel shafts in the sldr? I put an x100 in my cleveland classic and I was loving the results!
Great bag.... You have me hankering for some steels in the woods again!

[Froth]

[quote name='Smking1981' timestamp='1410246893' post='10088155']
How do you find the steel shafts in the sldr? I put an x100 in my cleveland classic and I was loving the results!
Great bag.... You have me hankering for some steels in the woods again!
[/quote]
It's one of the better decisions I made and personally I think A LOT of golfers out there could be helped by going to a shorter heavier driver shaft. I was using a 46" graphite at 70g and having all sorts of tempo problems, luckily for me I routinely also play classic golf with 80's blades and persimmon and what always seemed to confuse me was that I hit my persimmon driver REALLY well, come to find out the overall club weight is 401g and SW is D7 on the driver I've been using for my classic rounds, I decided to try making the SLDR more readily replicate the feel of an older driver in my hands, shorter and heavier. What I ended up with is 44.5" in length, with a massive E3 Swingeight and 393g overall weight. I really truly love it, and if you look back to post 140 you can see that I'm not losing ANY yardage vs a modern graphite shaft.

[Smking1981]

[quote name='Froth' timestamp='1410247748' post='10088175'][quote name='Smking1981' timestamp='1410246893' post='10088155']
How do you find the steel shafts in the sldr? I put an x100 in my cleveland classic and I was loving the results!
Great bag.... You have me hankering for some steels in the woods again!
[/quote]
It's one of the better decisions I made and personally I think A LOT of golfers out there could be helped by going to a shorter heavier driver shaft. I was using a 46" graphite at 70g and having all sorts of tempo problems, luckily for me I routinely also play classic golf with 80's blades and persimmon and what always seemed to confuse me was that I hit my persimmon driver REALLY well, come to find out the overall club weight is 401g and SW is D7 on the driver I've been using for my classic rounds, I decided to try making the SLDR more readily replicate the feel of an older driver in my hands, shorter and heavier. What I ended up with is 44.5" in length, with a massive E3 Swingeight and 393g overall weight. I really truly love it, and if you look back to post 140 you can see that I'm not losing ANY yardage vs a modern graphite shaft.[/quote]
I find I still practice with my classic as it tends to stabilise my swing. My x2hot pro does beat it on distance constantly though but having seen your driver I am tempted to try it with a steel shaft now! Also.... Loving your irons!

[Froth]

Feel I should update this, since I finally have some time without much to do. The reasoning behind removing the FG-17's from my bag, I had acquired some very precise measuring equipment with the intent of measuring my grooves to ensure USGA legality, while measuring them I discovered that the faces of 6-PW had gone concave from .015-.009 in the center contact area of the face, I was able to confirm this with with a precision straight edge and feeler gauges, the centers of the face had gone concave. I measured them against my "classic bag" set of 17's to be sure, and the faces of them were all practically perfectly flat, so obviously the 700+ rounds I've put on my beloved irons have taken their toll. They had to be replaced and just around the time I had stumbled upon a nice set of RAM FX Tour Grind 2-PW, which I have really enjoyed and ended up putting in the bag in place of the now worn-to-death 17's.

The RAM's came with S400's, so I figured I would try them out to see what was up. Honestly, I really like the feel of them and if I'm relaxed and smooth they perform really well BUT if I really go after one they balloon and I lose about 10yds compared to the X100's I'm used to. Blah, so now I have this dilemma, I'm not going to rip the X100's out of my 17's to put in the new irons because they still work really well and I'll probably use them in a classic bag. So, at this point I need new(stiffer) shafts...I've tried a ton of different options and I wanted to try something new without breaking the bank. Honestly what I really wanted was Nippon Super Peening Blue's 2-PW but that's $300+ in shafts, not willing to spend that. SO after a ton of eBay browsing I came upon a gem of a find, a different shaft that I have used in the past and am accustomed to, Rifle Precision FCM 7.0's. I was able to snag a NOS set 2-PW for $65 shipped. I know the 7.0's won't give way to even my most aggressive iron swings, which is what I want. Should also lower the ball flight a bit compared to the S400's. I'm pretty psyched for the new shafts to arrive.

Oh. I should be playing today with the RAM's for the first time on-course. Will report back on how that goes, I know I'll need to keep my swing around 80% with the S400's though.

[driverwedge]

Hey buddy. If you want to try some C Taper X, I've got 4-pw. The 5-7 are new and uncut. I found they launched lower and spun less than PX 7.0 if you cared for a comparison.

[Froth]

[quote name='driverwedge' timestamp='1410786652' post='10119363']
Hey buddy. If you want to try some C Taper X, I've got 4-pw. The 5-7 are new and uncut. I found they launched lower and spun less than PX 7.0 if you cared for a comparison.
[/quote]
As much as I'd like to, I simply don't get along with the feel from the profile of the C Tapers. The shaft I have on the way are not PX's, they're actually the much older Royal Precision labeled version which has a very high bend point to promote a low ball flight, they're also one of the original brunswick stepped designs that was based on the "accra tour steel" that Royal Precision made. I've hit them before, My father used them for several years in the late 90's. This is the same shaft that Retief Goosen used for a period of time and the shaft that Henrik Stenson used for a few years, nothing like the profile of the current PX 7.0

[driverwedge]

Cool. Good luck with the new gear.

Ever hit X7?

[Froth]

[quote name='driverwedge' timestamp='1410826843' post='10122989']
Cool. Good luck with the new gear.

Ever hit X7?
[/quote]
Yeah, I'd love to have some X7's but again the price can get up there.

I was pleasantly surprised today by a delivery a day early, my shafts. As I suspected from the pictures in the eBay listing these shafts are what I thought they were, the Royal Precision Rifle FCM Platinum, which was never released to the market under that name, they were called "accra tour steel"(They had a following on tour, and may still be in some bags), I seemed to have gotten my hands on a pre-production set of FCM Platinums, and in 7.0 to boot! (Info: http://www.torontogolfnuts.com/showthread.php?t=47686) A small thread with responses from Kim Braly. I'm really psyched to play these shafts.

If anyone else is interested, the same eBay seller proclubs is selling some .370 FCM Platinums in 7.0 as well, for a good price. It appears I snagged the last .355 set

[Mitchell]

Froth,
Will be very interested in your thoughts after the build, my favorite set of irons ever were a set of Founders Club 200 series blades with the original Brunswick FM precision non-stepped 6.5. A close second were my Golden Ram tour grinds with same shaft...while I truly enjoy my current 962b with s400 hardstepped once that I have been playing forever, I am detecting a theme here, and if you are making a change, in the words of Duffner's Waggle...ruh roh

[Froth]

[quote name='Mitchell' timestamp='1411017671' post='10138403']
Froth,
Will be very interested in your thoughts after the build, my favorite set of irons ever were a set of Founders Club 200 series blades with the original Brunswick FM precision non-stepped 6.5. A close second were my Golden Ram tour grinds with same shaft...while I truly enjoy my current 962b with s400 hardstepped once that I have been playing forever, I am detecting a theme here, and if you are making a change, in the words of Duffner's Waggle...ruh roh
[/quote]
I'm up super late tonight so I can assemble the heads so they can cure and I can hit the range ASAP, I'm super pumped to hit this shaft. Supposed to be [b]LOW/LOW.[/b]

[Froth]

Got everything fully installed today, Ferrules came in and I transfered grips from the S400's. Weirdly, in some sort of freak incident I needed ZERO lead tape on any of my irons to get the swingweight to what I wanted...very strange. Perhaps a sign? Going to the range tomorrow after work, will report back on the FCM 7.0 goodness/badness.

[LittleLeftToRight]

I had a set of GR Tour Grinds from the early 80s with S500 shafts in them. When I started playing again I had a lot of balooning problems with them. I replaced them with Srixon irons to get "conforming" and part of the reason why I chose those was the Black Gold X shafts in them. I can really lean on them and they don't go up, just out, which is I guess what they are supposed to do.

I played the Tour Grinds all through my junior years and college. I think they are one of the best irons ever made. I wouldn't have changed except for the stupid "conforming" list.

To be honest, I wouldn't mind putting a set of Rifles in the Tour Grinds that are now in the closet. They originally came with 6.5s. I look for them on ebay every now and then. I am kind of jealous of your find!

[PeanutsDaddy]

Froth,

No lead tape . . . oh the humanity.

When Kadin built my most recent set he had to add a few strips of lead tape to the back of my gap wedge. I thought I would hate the look, but when I look at the club in the bag I feel like a player. I'm beginning to subscribe to your 'tools not jewels' philosophy.

Happy to hear that your equipment in coming together, also have to add that I love the new avatar.

[Froth]

Well I just got back from the range after hitting the FCM Platinum for the first time(AKA Accra Tour Steel) VS the S400 and Tour Concept X100. Honestly if I had to describe the FCM Platinums in one word it would be smoooooth(yes, with five o's). They don't launch lower than the S400's, honestly they may launch a teeny bit higher but the peak flight is more level, definitely killled some spin especially on the mid/short irons. With the S400 if I really tried to get after a 7 iron it simply would not go over 180yds, it would balloon and fall straight down to earth...now with the high bend point and reinforced tip of the FCM Platinum no matter how hard I go after it I cannot get one to balloon on me and the flight stays penetrating at the peak with a nice soft landing, iron distances are back in check! . Flighting the ball down took some work, I'll be honest there that I generally always struggle with flighting the ball lower since I hit such a high ball to begin with. Draw/Fade workability though, WOW...what a workable shaft I can really feel what the head is doing very well through the shaft down in to the grip and the action is entirely predictable all the way from 2-iron to PW. Really happy, yay.

edit: Bottom line is that I'm happy, for $65 they were a steal and now I am considering buying one of the sets of .370 FCM platinums that are still on eBay for a backup/future iron set.

[Mitchell]

Great to hear you are pleased with the outcome, play well!

[BIG STU]

[quote name='PeanutsDaddy' timestamp='1411170850' post='10150307']
Froth,

No lead tape . . . oh the humanity.

When Kadin built my most recent set he had to add a few strips of lead tape to the back of my gap wedge. I thought I would hate the look, but when I look at the club in the bag I feel like a player. I'm beginning to subscribe to your 'tools not jewels' philosophy.

Happy to hear that your equipment in coming together, also have to add that I love the new avatar.
[/quote]I was shocked also no FG-17s and no lead tape. I must be getting old and the times are changing

[drbonesvt]

Did you have to do any special prep for the steel shafts into the TMAG Adapter on the SLDR?

The SLDR head, 10.5 open to 8.5 or its 10.5 measured to 8.5*? Is it a tour van head? Looks like you might have hotmelted this one vs lead tape?

The 906's are out of the bag, your lead tape job on those was truly exquisite

You really should get embroidery on your golf bad - "The Hammer"

Are you sticking with the 4 wedge set up?

[scruffynick]

Wonderful classic irons, used a set when I was working in Italy many moons ago. Cracking blade

[Froth]

Appoligies for being "out of the loop" I've been extremely busy and haven't had many chances to sit in front of the computer lately with everything I have going on.

[quote name='drbonesvt' timestamp='1413816995' post='10319247']
Did you have to do any special prep for the steel shafts into the TMAG Adapter on the SLDR?

The SLDR head, 10.5 open to 8.5 or its 10.5 measured to 8.5*? Is it a tour van head? Looks like you might have hotmelted this one vs lead tape?

The 906's are out of the bag, your lead tape job on those was truly exquisite

You really should get embroidery on your golf bad - "The Hammer"

Are you sticking with the 4 wedge set up?
[/quote]
For the steel shaft into the TMAG adapter I did no special prep, I did it just like I would for an iron or any other steel shaft. The head is not a tour van head, but I did go around to several stores with a digitcal scale looking like a mad man measuring the weight of each SLDR head individually to try and find the heaviest factory head, ended up finding one that was ~203G without the adapter that I have been using gladly since that day. Honestly I tried lead tape on it, I pulled the SLDR badge off the bottom and loaded that cavity up with 10g of lead tape but it lasted less than a round before it flew off.

After that fiasco I did put a 10g lead tip weight in the shaft tip and then put the adapter on which is how I'm getting such a heavy swingweight at a shorter length. As for the loft once I had everything set to produce the results I was happiest with I had the club digitally measured for loft and lie angle by a good friend who lucky for me recently became a certified club fitter and his new job location has lots of fun gadgets to play with. It is a 10.5° off the shelf head with the R1 adapter set all the way to low which ended in a 8.46° loft measured in the dead center of the face with the club head squared to target line.

I was tired of breaking the 906's and the TEE XCG6 is just destroying them on distance. The TEE 4 wood is going further than my 13° 906 3 wood!

[drbonesvt]

[quote name='Froth' timestamp='1415134815' post='10397145']
Appoligies for being "out of the loop" I've been extremely busy and haven't had many chances to sit in front of the computer lately with everything I have going on.

[quote name='drbonesvt' timestamp='1413816995' post='10319247']
Did you have to do any special prep for the steel shafts into the TMAG Adapter on the SLDR?

The SLDR head, 10.5 open to 8.5 or its 10.5 measured to 8.5*? Is it a tour van head? Looks like you might have hotmelted this one vs lead tape?

The 906's are out of the bag, your lead tape job on those was truly exquisite

You really should get embroidery on your golf bad - "The Hammer"

Are you sticking with the 4 wedge set up?
[/quote]
For the steel shaft into the TMAG adapter I did no special prep, I did it just like I would for an iron or any other steel shaft. The head is not a tour van head, but I did go around to several stores with a digitcal scale looking like a mad man measuring the weight of each SLDR head individually to try and find the heaviest factory head, ended up finding one that was ~203G without the adapter that I have been using gladly since that day. Honestly I tried lead tape on it, I pulled the SLDR badge off the bottom and loaded that cavity up with 10g of lead tape but it lasted less than a round before it flew off.

After that fiasco I did put a 10g lead tip weight in the shaft tip and then put the adapter on which is how I'm getting such a heavy swingweight at a shorter length. As for the loft once I had everything set to produce the results I was happiest with I had the club digitally measured for loft and lie angle by a good friend who lucky for me recently became a certified club fitter and his new job location has lots of fun gadgets to play with. It is a 10.5° off the shelf head with the R1 adapter set all the way to low which ended in a 8.46° loft measured in the dead center of the face with the club head squared to target line.

I was tired of breaking the 906's and the TEE XCG6 is just destroying them on distance. The TEE 4 wood is going further than my 13° 906 3 wood!
[/quote]

Thats some killer s*** right there, I am tempted to try a 460 SLDR, I tried a 430 and didnt like it so much.