thank you !!
W1LD String (Chen Yang Signature) || C+ (77/100)
I’d like to start this by talking about the difference between soft, plush, and slick. “Plush” strings are like the plushness of blankets, which feel kind of puffy and big, like a cotton ball pressed into a string. “Soft” strings are like soft blankets, which can feel smooth, slick, fuzzy, or silky (although string vaguely so, exception of Joo String, shoutout). “Slick”, on the other hand, feels like a liquidy cohesive texture that gives the string a kind of one-ness as opposed to feeling every coil of the string (i know some strings will have lube to make it/bring out the slickness). Some blankets can be soft while not slick, some can be slick and that brings out the softness, and some can be all three (like 100% nylon). It sounds like pseudoscience, but it’s my new hypothesis to describe what i’ve noticed.
ALL that, just to say that this string is soft while lacking the plushness of OT Fat. The twists/coils of the string blend into one another when feeling it while breaking it in, but quickly feels more rough and sectioned off as it loses softness. The thickness helps keep it all together.
The whip speed is classic(ly) fast, your usual string optimized for modern tricks (and i *think* it’s either the same speed or faster than ot fat). Slacks are weird; i can’t nail down the weight, and i’ve found slack movement being both too fast and too lagging behind the yoyo, which i guess you can call front-heavy and back-heavy in reference to 2D slack work. Either way, it felt very sensitive to technique, which is good since it feels great when you get your movement right. The string aged FAST and started developing a lot of fuzzies while catching on itself more, stopping on every coil. Tension holding was fine when the string was new, but it began to be a small issue near the hour. The comfort factor was kind of meh by the end, but i actually think slacks got better. They start good, feel weird for a second, and then feel good again?? Whips felt the same, if not a bit better. The string seemed to get more solid and more rough as it aged, like it burned off the softness of the initial feel.
Overall, this is definitely OT. Durability is always on the lower end, but the performance is always nice. The thing is, the way the string gets fuzzy and rough does make me a bit sad. For the people who don’t care about that / like that, this is only $20 ($3 more) than a 100 pack of OT fat. Weirdly enough, although i thought i like this more than OT Fat, the scores lower. Maybe my standards got higher, maybe i should take a second look at OT Fat. It’s all subjective anyways. That’s it! Stats below.
Durability 30 min (3)
Durability 1 hr (4)
Personal Thickness Feel (4) feels too thick in hand but binds are great
Whip Feel Break-In (4.5)
Whip Feel 1 hr (4.5)
Slack Feel Break-In (3.5) very sensitive
Slack Feel 1 hr (4)
Tension Hold over 1 hour overall (3.5)
Softness during break-in (4)
Overall consistency over 1 hour (3.5)
Total: 38.5 x 2 = 77, 77 = C+ graded based on letter system (A: 100-90, B: 89-80, C: 79-70, D: 69-60, F: 60<)