This came up in another thread and the idea has been floating around in several threads, so I did some searches and I could not find a thread from the past to bring to the top, so here it is.
With the rise of boutique brands and bulk options, there are countless combinations. However subjective, not all strings perform the same with all response pads and gap widths. Also, different player preferences and playing styles also play into the mix. There has been a lot of discussion about the progression of Yo-Yo design, but strings have also come a long way from the day of when cotton was king and slick-6 was the latest innovation to inspire the trick meta into lacerations, slacks and whips. Now there are lots of poly varieties, pure nylons in a multitude of thicknesses, and just as many blends and combinations of the two. Let also not forget the players who just make their own custom blends for their personal use.
I feel there is a consensus that Kitty Yellow Fat is the modern standard to compare all other strings, as this was the top string choice a couple years ago.
Here are some of my current favorite pairings;
• Unspoken Murmur with Zipline White KC24 V2
• Freshly Dirty Canary with Airetic HyperGlo Yellow Standards
• Heaven Sent Creep with Knot Bads
• CLYW Peak 2 with G-String Solo
• CLYW Chief with Yellow Kitty Fat
• One Drop Deep State with Yellow Slick-6
• One Drop Parlay with Zipline Prestige
• 2019 TMBR Maple Irving and YYE Type-10 Cotton
• Core Co Alley Cat 650B and YYSL Type-X
• YYF Edgeless and YYSL Pink Plutonium
• A-RT Quail with Kitty Regular
• SF Ceasefire and Duncan Yellow Bulk Poly
• Duncan Freehand Pro and Airetic HyperGlo Pink Slims with a counterweight
I’ve been testing different strings lately (Zipline, Sochibut I do have a few combos I really like though.
C3 Krown with yellow Kitty XL
OD Intro with YYSL Type X
Hitman with YYSL Ammo
Butterfly XT with yellow Slick 6
FH2 and FHZ with white Slick 6
Off-Road Hand Rover with Airetic Solar Flare
Going to do a video where I dive into my “process” for matching yos and strings. But a few that I’ve paired up that I find perfect (for me) are below. I fully recognize that with most things this is a highly subjective thing. String feel, thickness, materials, play, response, etc. are all variables I consider.
FD Rooster - ZipLine Smoothie (Banana Slam)
Batsquatch - Zipline Slushy (Tangerine Twist) or PH22 yellow (which is being revamped, so…)
RCS Showgirl - Bad Wolfe Co. Slicc (Cotton Candy)
I also like the Batsquatch with ZIpline PH22, thats a good pairing. Haven’t played Zips on The Rooster yet, I really like my FD Rooster with @Markmont Formula 65s at the moment .
I’m a little bit biased (no, what? really? Shock and surprise), but I’m kind of a fan of Bad Wolfe Co strings
Joking aside, I honestly haven’t tried a ton of different string brands. I loved Lifeline Strings before Cody shut down, and he actually sent me a Glass Cloud Ultra recently so that’s on my Topyo Impulse that he gave me, for old times sake. I have a neon orange Aeretic on my RCS Metalhead right now, and that combination feels really nice. The Metalhead is such a comp throw, and stretchy nylon strings like Aeretic have a very serious feel to me so it’s a good pair. But honestly, most of the time I just use my own poly/nylon blend. Rain City Skills strings are pretty good, from what I can tell they seem to be pure poly. I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never tried Zipline or Kitty, which seem to be the standards everyone compares strings to.
Another perfect pair (for me) discovered soon after my O-Ting arrived. Felt I should try a thick string at the start, but wasn’t feeling it with a poly/nylon blend. Next try was ZipLine Performance thick… Perfect.
By the way, I recorded and uploaded that video I mentioned was on my mind. Ended up a big longer than I planned, but that’s what happens when you decide to go down the rabbit hole of nerdiness. It’s currently unlisted, not sure when I will slate it into my public schedule:
A feather in the cap for @BadWolfeCo: Have tried a bunch of different strings on my Komodo but his poly/nylon goldilocks (reg thickness) in Competition (yellow) is my favorite. This one is a bit worn, but still feels and plays nice.
Finally took the time to watch that video, and I gotta say as a string maker that’s some really good info. Honestly I have a pretty set standard formula that I really love on most of my yoyos, but that’s partly because I don’t have a ton of different yoyos to compare and most of the ones I have are pretty similar. I have three different thickness options, and I play with them all on different yoyos, but mostly I stick with the “Goldilocks” middle option. I might try and do a string swap with some other small shops, because your video really got me pumped about experimenting more. I like to play around with different materials and thicknesses but I’m kind of in a bubble of just playing my own strings without trying other brands very often.
Honestly, most of my yoyos play pretty well with a proper reg(ish) size string, such as a Ziplines Performance, your goldilocks, or bulk like MFD Vines. I have a few that are finicky about string thickness (Batsquatch is a great example), so I have to really tailor to those. But otherwise it’s just an obsessive search for perfect response, feel, play, etc.
Thanks for watching, by the way. I know it was a bit lengthy …
I’ll chime in again. I am not deadset on a certain string for a certain yoyo. Sometimes I just want to feel a different type of string. I had one string in my Top Deck for 2 months (Markmont Rebby) early in the year and it felt good to switch it out to another brand just to have a string with a different feel even though the Rebby had lots more life. Heck, sometimes a different color of string gives me a little enthusiasm. I still have a lot to learn about string and blends. A Kitty XL will feel perfect in some yoyos but so will some thinner Ziplines but another string of the same thickness as that Zipline string by another company will not feel as good to me.
I have noticed that certain yoyos that are tested and designed around a particular string play best with that string. A-RT and pre 2019 G-Squares come to mind as they were tested with Kitty Fat and use to come shipped with Kitty Fat. G-Square are now partnered with Zipline and the Diamond Blend is what the new G-Squares are being tested with. This is also something I’ve noticed with Duncan, Duncan Red Pads can be really grabby with thicker strings especially out of the box, Duncan Yellow Bulk Poly however plays great and very consistent with those Red Pads throughout the whole line of Duncan YoYos that I have played. Duncan Yellow Bulk Poly is definitely an underrated string choice that plays really well IMO. As for older yoyos; Slick-6 response is more consistent than ploy strings with Friction Stickers and Dif-Pads I’ve also noticed, that added cotton keeps those pads from getting slippy during binds and regens.
