Im not sure what makes you think that you could, the metal is very smooth and can not grab the string at all. That is why they are there. You can buy some flowable silicone for about 5 dollars that will last longer and give you more replacements than buying pads. I had the pads rip out on my dreadnought g and I know from experience that no pads=no binding, hehe.
Kudos if you can bind without a response but…the real issue is your throw. If you can actually throw with more power than 5 year old, the string will slip and the yo wont spin as well as it should, and it will just thunk at the end of the string. Response is more than just getting the yo to return, it’s about keeping the string from slipping on the throw as well.
Edit: Apologies to the 5 year olds that throw hard enough to get a yoyo with no response to thunk.
it’s possible to bind if you have a sort of responsive bearing. I didn’t have any response in my 888 for a couple days and I could still bind with it. Granted it didn’t hold a tight bind at all, it still did bind nonetheless.
Many narrow fixed gap yoyos, the sides themselves become the response system. The Imperial and Butterfly come to mind. The string has nowhere to go but to rub against itself and then that causes the response of coming back up the string.
No apology necessary. I’m trying to get him away from that yoyo and onto his ONE so he can do something productive. But, his little hands are too small to do Rock The Baby, so I gotta find a super narrow butterfly with a ball bearing. I’m gonna go through my collection tonight. I might have to get an Aoda Littles for him or something like that.
I already have a Mighty Flea. No way I’m letting my kid touch it. He can’t even bind yet.
Believe it or not, the Mighty Flea is my first metal!
I should get my yoyo site up and working, if for anything, to show pictures. But I have to redo all my photos soon anyways. Just waiting on a couple of items to arrive.
Right now, I don’t like the Mighty Flea, but it’s because my skills aren’t up to what that yoyo needs to properly utilize it.
I tried like you once. Didn’t want to buy new response pads for my protostar so I didnt but that did not work. It will slip greatly and when you throw it will just fall to the ground and not spin or sleep.