this is a very short question. what silk are you referring too? kusa, sol, dwi, etc. Anyways I have had a cusion clear and it is to tacky for me at first but it breaks in beautifully. it is pretty much up to personal preference.
It all depends on the player and their preference. To someone who likes grippy paint, cushion clear will be better because it will have more grip straight out of the box than silk paint will. To someone who doesn't like their tamas to have too much grip, silk will be better because it takes a little longer to get to the stage where it becomes broken in. To someone who doesn't even like painted tamas that much, neither are better. Overall, I would say that cushion clear has more grip to it than silk.
Paint is all preference. They both have upsides and downsides, but to truly understand which is better you have to play them both for yourself and formulate your own opinion. Other people's preferences won't necessarily apply to you, so you can't count on what they say.
Not disagreeing with you, but many of the companies that offer a rubber or silk paint it is the exact same paint because many of those damas come from the same factory . Cush is hand painted in MN and it Def is closest to resembling those other silk paints but Def it's own thing.
Truth, a lot of the 'rubber' styles of paint are similar, but there is a difference when comparing Cushion Clear, Kusa Silk, and say DWI rubber painted tamas. Each is a little different, each player will have their preference.
In Short Forn, Cushion clear is basically the best. Its sorta like Terra's matte finishes. It stays tacky throughout its entire life, at least until the paint chips.
I'm a big fan of cushion paint. It tends to last a very very long time. The bevel on the tama is likely to break down before the paint starts to chip off. It's a great paint and I recommend it over almost any else for perfecting stalls.
Well, I have a problem with a cushion clear, even though I just ordered my third Cushion setup. At first it was a blue kiwi on F3. I used a stained Ken and it played really good, but then, after it became all grippy/tacky but perfectly adjustable, I gave it away. But the second one was something else. I bought myself a first HOMEGROWN. So you must understand, how hyped I was about it. When it came to me, and for about 2 weeks it was really great. But suddenly, after I stepped away for a short moment for another tama I suddenly noticed, that the cushion clear is nothing more than a really rubbery rubber paint, nothing is as rubbery as this. After I started to play on my first glossy tama, I realised, that my homegrown cushion painted tama is almost... Unplayable. It doesn't have a tack, no, it's as grippy as possible, and I love to play with adjusting Ken position, but really it was close to impossible with that one. And the clear is not really strong when it's painted on a color base. I mean, I played this bad cushion Tama for 2 months, and on the photo you can see how far the chipping goes. I would never order another cushion. But my friend, I don't think he's on downspike yet, bought a cushion beech striped tama, about 2 months after I received my HG, not even directly from sweets. His Tama is just perfect, he can adjust everything with that Sweet feeling of tack. Actually, I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A GOOD CUSHION TAMA. So, I need to ask a question. Is it possible, that the cushion clear formula was changed? Because that would give me some hope, that my Canary will come perfect out of the box, and will stay that way or break in nicely. If that will come rubbery, I'm gonna sit down and cry, and most likely never buy Sweets again. I'm really hoping, that they just screwed up something, making those raw denim tamas... :/ I WANT TO BELIEVE, SWEETS!
Well to be honest I got all my cushions from mystery kendama buys, of which I bought three total. Two of my buys were cushion and the third was an aTack summer sunset. The aTack is really great but I love how the cushion is for stall tricks. If I'm not practicing stalls I don't think cushion is ideal and I usually play a natty...natty is still my favorite hands down, probably natty maple or oak. Now to answer your question, yes I think the formula has changed...or is sorta changing a bit at all times and it boils down to three words: research and development. Each of the cushions I received had noticeable differences. One did not have that outer layer that peels away and the other one did. The one without the outer film broke in way nicer but is far stickier. The one with the layer has taken a little time to adjust but has a little more give to it, better for slips and what not. Of course I got my cushion off of mystery buys so the standard formula might have a little more regularity to it.
I just got my first cushion, and I've had a couple different "silk" tamas as well. Like many folks have said, it is really preference and up to the player. I quite like cushion clear so far, but time will tell which I think is the "best." Variety is the spice of life and all that stuff...
I've debated this question a lot with myself. There is so much to both sides. To start, I do believe that the Sweets cushion clear will be a slightly grippier feel than a KUSA / DWI / Sol etc. tama. This can have its pros and cons. Some people love lots of tack while others love to be able to adjust their balance tricks easily. I have tried epic tamas in both of these finishes. Got a friend with a solar fade cushion that grips inwards like a boss, and I have a Silky Sky RWB that is honed for everything. Both of which are some of the, if not the greatest tamas i've ever played That being said, there is a major downside to these clears: Some of them are very inconsistent. What I mean is both of these tamas have a tenancy to chip very quick and become nearly unplayable after a few sessions. Just try both and see what you think!
I've only tried silk but here's my 'review'. I'm not sure this is justme but I glued my spike and the area around the bevel is super slick it's like another layer and it could be i have no idea on paint. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the glue that went on it because it was dry before I jammed it. Other than that I have no complaints. It's grippy while allowing adjustments. It will hip it that will happen to pretty much any kendama.
It's really just your opinion. Both clears are very durable but clear is very grippy. I really only like cushion clears for doing lunars. Since the paint is so grippy when i try to lighthouse i can't really adjust and it'll just fall off. Silk paint is grippy but you can still adjust easily. I personally like the KUSA silk better than cushion clear as it allows me to do more than just lunars.
Same thing happened to me. My first and second cushion were so tacky that the Ken would just tip while trying to adjust lighthouse. On my third cushion, I was finally able to slide the ken on the tama around a little bit instead of tipping. My fourth cushion tama I got is turning out perfect. Lots of tack, but I can easily slide the ken along the tama.
It's the same as my friend's CCS v4 pro model and my black/yellow tribute half split. I think it's just the way that KUSA paints the silk onto the tama, but you can always just rotate the tama to the side where most of the silk paint is. Either way, silk/rubber paint and cush clear will all eventually get tackier as you play, but like most people say, just pick the paint that suits your play style and preference. If you like to adjust the ken on the tama to a perfect position, I would recommend silk/rubber. If you really like to do tama tricks right out of the box, I would recommend cushion clear.
tbh, i rather choose sweets cushion, because kusa silks get super honed to the point when they're not tacky anymore
I have a v9 custom with cushion clear and if im being honest it has no tack what so ever. Can't even hold a lighthouse all that well. Haven't played it much because of that. Is this how everyone's cushion starts? Should expect it to break in and play properly or is it a lost cause.