Hi all… I’m currently working my way through the intermediate section on this site. I only have one decent yo-yo: a TK SB2, and I’ve been using it for everything. Until recently, it was still set up the way it was when I bought it in 1998, so no turbo-discs and a narrow gap. I found it difficult to land it on the string that way, and even when I did, it would slow down tremendously, since the gap width was the only response system the yo yo had.
I bought a cheap Duncan Freehand to see if I could land it better, and indeed I could. But it seems a little wobbly (might be my lack of skill, but I can throw the SB2 with no wobbles) and the bearing makes a lot of noise and doesn’t sleep anywhere near the way the SB2 does. But, it came with friction stickers. As an experiment, I tried applying them to the SB2. Once I had done that, and widened the gap, everything seemed to start going much better for me.
Now, as I posted in the general section, it was killing my hand on the return… Thanks to the helpful responses, I realized that I learned to throw sleepers way back in the day with fixed-axle yo-yos, and I was still throwing that way with the bearing yo-yos. There’s no need to throw a 100mph fastball (so to speak) with a ball bearing yo-yo. So I’ve started to ease up on the speed, and it’s much less painful now.
But, with less speed, the yo-yo seemed less stable; it didn’t seem to be as effective of a gyroscope. But then I remembered that it came with ring weights that had been floating around in the bag since I bought it. When it was new, I tried with and without the weights, and since I was still throwing like a madman back then, it came back with even more force with the weights in place and was even more uncomfortable. So I took them off and never thought about it again.
I tried it with the weights this morning, and with a nice slow easy throw, and all of a sudden things are working out fine. The extra weight keeps it stable at lower speeds, and the lower speeds make things much more manageable on the return (even with the extra mass hitting my hand.)
I tell you this because I’m about to ask for a recommendation of a modern yo-yo to compliment the SB2. I don’t have a lot of experience with a ton of different yo-yos, so the above will have to do to help figure out what it is that I’m looking for. The SB2 is doing great as a responsive yo-yo, but I’d also like to try my hand at an unresponsive yo-yo… Even if I’m not quite ready for that now, I’m pretty darn close, so I want to try.
I don’t think the SB2 would be a very good unresponsive player… At least I can’t figure out how. Without the friction stickers, it’s either responsive, or the string spins on the bearing without turning the yo-yo, since the aluminum sides are smooth and there’s no response system. (Meaning, I can’t even throw the yo-yo anymore. I can hold the yo-yo still in my hand, and just pull to unwind the string.) If I add friction stickers, it’s responsive even at the widest gap setting.
So, I started thinking about getting a DM, but I’m not sure that’s the right choice anymore. I understand that it’s forté is being able to be set up either responsive or unresponsive. I’m not sure I will need it to be a responsive yo-yo, the one I have seems perfectly adequate. So maybe a Legacy would be a better choice?
I guess I’m looking for something that comes unresponsive out of the box, but binds up fairly easily, since I’m new to unresponsive play. (I don’t want to have to be “perfect” to make it work, or I will get frustrated.) And I guess from my experience with the SB2 that I described above, I want it to be fairly massive.
What, aside from the DM and the Legacy should I be considering? I read lots of great things about the New Breed, but it always comes with the warning that it’s not for beginners. I don’t know if that’s just because it needs a bind to return, or if there’s more to it than that… I’ve only recently returned to yo-yoing after a decade long absence, so I really don’t know what’s out there, and am completely overwhelmed by all of the choices. If you guys could help me narrow it down, I would appreciate it very much.
Thanks.
-Kevin