Downspike
Kendama Entertainment Network

A community for the balanced lifestyle.

My thoughts on my first GT.

Discussion in 'The Sesh' started by Ting.Kut, Mar 29, 2017.

  1. Ting.Kut

    Ting.Kut Honed Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Location:
    Amishville, Indiana
    Okay, so I picked up my first ecer Grain Theory Kendama last week. Here are my first impression.

    I got the espresso gt x stodd tama. Beautiful looking kendama all around. When i first held it I noticed it was considerably lighter than all of my other kendamas. The tama was my favorite part. Its such a simple design but yet it just looks so cool. When i first started jamming it I honestly abaolutely hated it.

    It just felt too light for me. I couldn't land a lot of the tricks that i usually do because the tama is just super slick. I prefer either a satin paint or something a little bit like the sweets prime paint. But after a week of playing with it some more ive grown to love it. I was never much a fan of slinger tricks, but the way the small cup grips and wraps around my finger is just magnificent. The lunar balance is astounding. Im just thoroughly impressed with GT. Quality damas. Even though i may have hated it in the beginning, I misjudged and found a new company I love!
     
    Mar 29, 2017
  2. Jasper B.

    Jasper B. Slayer

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2016
    Location:
    San Diego
    i love gts, ESPECIALLY the tama. From my experiences their tamas are SUPER GRIPPY. Im not sure if that was luck, or what...
     
    Mar 29, 2017
    Aloysius_hung_ and Ting.Kut like this.
  3. Primechicken

    Primechicken n00b

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2017
    Location:
    New Westminster, British Columbia

    How much did the ken/tama weigh? If you have a scale let us know. Curious to what "too light" means for you.

    I definitely prefer heavier damas too, in the low 80's g range is perfect for me. That being said, lighter damas are just better for certain tricks sometimes.
     
    Mar 29, 2017
    Aloysius_hung_ likes this.
  4. Ting.Kut

    Ting.Kut Honed Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Location:
    Amishville, Indiana
    Ill weigh it tomorrow
     
    Mar 29, 2017
    Aloysius_hung_ likes this.
  5. Matthew Rice

    Matthew Rice Member

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2016
    Location:
    Portland
    to get the raw ash sticky you have to play it a bunch to get your hand sweat in there to raise the grain and make it sticky.
    spectrum is light, most are 66-70
     
    Mar 30, 2017
    Aloysius_hung_ and Cheech_Sander like this.
  6. Ting.Kut

    Ting.Kut Honed Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Location:
    Amishville, Indiana
    Tama is 66.8 grams. Ken is 62.5 grams.
     
    Mar 31, 2017
    sambarboo likes this.
  7. Matthew Rice

    Matthew Rice Member

    Joined:
    Nov 1, 2016
    Location:
    Portland
    If you want a certain weight just put it in the notes when your order and I'll get as close as I can with the stock we have. I try and make sure all ken and tamas r within 8 grams diffence if possible. Usually closer if I can
     
    Mar 31, 2017
  8. Ting.Kut

    Ting.Kut Honed Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Location:
    Amishville, Indiana
    Hell yeah dude that would be totally badass
     
    Mar 31, 2017
    Gasiek, sambarboo and Cheech_Sander like this.
  9. Cheech_Sander

    Cheech_Sander Administrator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Aug 19, 2016
    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    love that customer service doh
     
    Apr 16, 2017
  10. Ting.Kut

    Ting.Kut Honed Member

    Joined:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Location:
    Amishville, Indiana
    Bro real talk. Shit got me woke
     
    Apr 16, 2017
    MicahDama and JJeffrey like this.
  11. Aloysius_hung_

    Aloysius_hung_ Honed Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2016
    Location:
    Earth
    Landed my first lh on a gt raw ash, failed in but ever simce i had been looking forward to getting a gt, still havent gotten one tho :(
     
    Apr 16, 2017
    sambarboo likes this.
  12. Nick Lectura

    Nick Lectura Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2016
    Location:
    Santa Cruz, CA
    Scoop one! There's some good deals on here or Facebook kendama community if you don't wanna pay full price
     
    Apr 16, 2017
    sambarboo likes this.
  13. DaKaiz3nWizard

    DaKaiz3nWizard Member

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2017
    Location:
    Mapleton UT
    Hoping to cop a maple/ash NS pro model once I scoop around the money
     
    Apr 18, 2017
    sambarboo likes this.
  14. sambarboo

    sambarboo Slayer

    Joined:
    Dec 31, 2016
    Location:
    Oceanside
    On my first GT order I put in the notes about weight matching and they were ON POINT! GTs cost a little more than most other kendamas, but they totally deliver on high quality and exceptional service.
     
    Apr 18, 2017
    juzkimmi and Ting.Kut like this.
  15. Joel Clayton

    Joel Clayton Honed Member

    Joined:
    Nov 24, 2016
    Location:
    St. George, UT
    I remember getting my first stodd. It was a birch stodd and it slayed so hard. the shape is just good for everything
     
    Apr 20, 2017
  16. Steph Lussier

    Steph Lussier Honed Member

    Joined:
    Oct 11, 2016
    Location:
    Calgary, AB, Canada
    Gotta break it in.

    If you've been playing painted kendamas this whole time, natties are gonna be super hard to play with. Put some work into it and you'll see that landing a trick on a natty is way more satisfying/rewarding than any other painted dama.
     
    Apr 21, 2017
    Grandpa Sandz likes this.
  17. azleonhart

    azleonhart Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2016
    Location:
    Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    My very first GT was a second run Capp, back in 2015.
    Soooo excited to finally get my hands on what was essentially, the most hyped kendama of the time!
    And when it finally arrived, i quickly paired it with my Prism Blue Musou, and it performed decently for lunars, since the weight distribution on the ken gravitates towards lunars (see what i did there?).

    Later on, after further use, the edges of the cups would chip, but very finely, and in turn creates micro "teeth", allowing the cups to grip so well to the tama!
    It just became a lunar machine, through and through.
    Hit many of my lunar milestones on the Capp, never regretted owning one.


    Nowadays, the Malaysian exchange rate is so bad that it's hard to afford a GT like i once did.
    I own 3 GTs to date - a Capp, a second-hand Maple HW and an SS-1.
    Much props to the GT team for coming up with some good fire from time to time!
     
    Apr 22, 2017
  18. Q Miller-Edwards

    Q Miller-Edwards Honed Member

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2017
    Location:
    AZ
    Why is this??? Are natty's slick?
     
    Apr 25, 2017
  19. azleonhart

    azleonhart Moderator Staff Member

    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2016
    Location:
    Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
    I can't back my post with scientific evidence, but it's something to do with your natural hand and body oils, coating the tama, running into the wood pores and making it better for play.
    Also, it develops its own "character" when you break it in like this.
     
    Apr 25, 2017
  20. Q Miller-Edwards

    Q Miller-Edwards Honed Member

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2017
    Location:
    AZ
    I watched a Jake Weins video about breaking in a natty, like wiping your forbess sweat on the tama to add the oils, and I've seen a ton of pros use natty's so I can only assume they're good yes?
     
    Apr 25, 2017
    Steph Lussier likes this.