3yo3 Ceephax!

Yo-Yo Reviews
1

Here we go!
Recently I had a master craftsman hand turn a yo-yo for me. That craftsman was Landon Balk and that piece of art was a 3yo3 Ceephax. Named after the musician Ceephax Acid Crew (master of the Roland TB-303), it has quite a bit of genius to live up to. Hope you enjoy the review.

Specs!

Diameter: 50.8mm
Width: 42.0 mm
Gap Width: 4.0 mm (about)
Weight: 65.0 grams (there’s a few stats floating around concerning weight but it IS 65.0 grams)
Bearing Size: Size C (Also comes in size A and size D)
Response:Flow Groove size pads 3.15 deep 2.02 wide (deep enough for flowable silicone)

Packaging
My Ceephax came in a sheer white see through pouch with a pull string on top. Very simple and I might add a bit classy.

Package free and all for me!
My Ceephax is a custom colorway that I discussed with Landon prior to purchase, mine’s a bead blasted yellow and black combination, Landon was even willing to mask the inner cup for me so it would remain smooth and glossy. Landon has a wide range of acrylics at his disposal and is very approachable concerning custom colorways. If you’d like a certain colorway or want to know ANYTHING about the yo-yos I highly suggest you email Landon, he’s always been more than helpful with me.

Design
It’s an undersized throw, but with enough width to make it comfortable in my hand, my middle finger fits comfortably in the gap and both my ring and pointer finger fits comfortably on either side, this is where I’ll first compare this to the Protostar, the Protostar does NOT feel comfortable to me. With its harsh edges and stepped V shape there’s nothing comfortable about the Protostar to my hands. The Ceephax has a similar shape, but with a much more rounded step in the V shape, and the diameter and width make the V much less dramatic. The bead blasted plastic is incredibly smooth to the touch, I’d compare the texture of this thing to the bead blast of my Punchline, which bodes well for grinds (more on those later).

My particular Ceephax came with a size C bearing (size A and D are options), the bearing is a stainless steel bearing that comes pre-cleaned and ready to throw, I’ve had it for a few weeks and it still hasn’t got any louder so I haven’t felt the need to apply any lube. The response that came in it was a pad (not sure which pad) but it fits One Drop Flow Groove pads, or it can take flowable silicone. The binds are tight and only happen when I want them with these pads (and I haven’t wanted to give up my yo-yo for a day) so I still haven’t siliconed it.

Well how’s it play?
Well now, this is where this yo-yo shines! It plays like an ultra high quality plastic. It is as fast and floaty as a 65gram undersized plastic should be. Seriously floaty. I picked up my Punchline and had to get used to the thunk I felt at the end of the string :o Not to mention smoooooth, this thing is as smooth on the string as 90% of the metals I’ve thrown (absolutely incredible for a hand crafted piece of plastic).

I’ve thrown the 3yo3 Cosmo and was wowed by the look, and even how it played, but it lacked the spin time required for serious combos. The Ceephax more than makes up in that department, granted it’s not a Protostar, it doesn’t have the metal and plastic/metal hybrids insane spin times, but I feel it has more than enough for any of my combos. As long as you have a strong throw there’s nothing to worry about in spin times.

The bead blast makes for incredibly smooth grinds, it barely feels like there’s anything touching your finger, the grinds are only slightly shorter than my Gnarwhal/Punchline which is something considering the decreased rim weight. The IRG’s a little shallow for me to pull of a decent thumb grind, but that’s not a huge issue for me, I’m sure a thumb that’s slightly smaller then the sausages on my hands will have more luck with them.

While this yo-yo is fairly forgiving on a bad throw it’s also fairly susceptible to tilt with bad technique, this isn’t a strong negative for me as it helps me improve my technique, it’s very easy to right when it starts to tilt, unlike my metals/Protostar that take quite a bit of effort to get back on track when they start to tilt.

I seriously can’t recommend this yo-yo enough, granted if you are just starting out yoyoing or if you have an injury that prevents strong throws than this yo-yo may not be for you, but for everyone who has a decent throw and enough experience righting a tilted yoyo, not to mention ANYONE who is a fan of plastic yo-yos, this one is perfect. It has incredible performance and more character than I can describe! Not to mention dealing with Landon is quite enjoyable, he’s very knowledgeable about his yo-yos and speedy with answers to any questions I had. So if I haven’t convinced you, drop him a line I’m sure he will :stuck_out_tongue:

I hope this review was helpful, any comments are welcome (I’ll get some Ceephax/Protostar comparison pics when my friend gives me back my Protostar…If I remember).

Kanah

2 Likes
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Great review! Now, I think I am off to bed again :stuck_out_tongue:

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Stupendous review. This is the first review of a Ceephax I’ve seen.

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I’m glad you guys like both the yoyo and my review, Landon put a lot of work into the yoyo and I put a lot of thought into my review. Thank you.

5

Well written review. However, I’d like to know about the recess. Is it too shallow to accept silicone?

Also, I do not believe that there is a ball bearing yoyo in existance that requires a throw that would injure your shoulder to achieve spintimes long enough to complete complex combos and one throws. I have plenty of plastics which outspin my metals. Also, any yoyo tilts with bad technique, these things are not necessary to be noted in my opinion.

5 star review.

~M

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6

I mentioned in the specs that it was deep enough for silicone.

I didn’t say it would injure you, I said if you had an injury(someone on another forum I’m on recently broke his shoulder, but can still yoyo) or if you have a softer throw(it makes a bigger difference when dealing with plastic than with metals.)

Which solid plastic(not hybrid) out spins which metal? You may want to find some nicer metals.

That entirely has to do with the stability of a yoyo, some tilt faster than others, to not mention it would have completely left out an aspect of how the yoyo plays.

Thank you for the constructive criticism though, I’ll see if I can’t re-word anything in future reviews to try to avoid confusion.

7

Not sure how I missed it in the specs. My apologies.

I find the spintime of plastics and metals to be far more than necessary, so anything over 5 minutes is completely reasonless to guage for me. If I can sleep my Kickside for 5 minutes thats beyond more than I need.

Also Im not sure why I even noted the thing about tilting, my apologies, I’m going to assume I was not fully awake when I picked up on that, because clearly yoyos tilt when they are off weight more than percision cut.