So I got my Duncan FreeHand Zero last friday and the friction stickers at first were a pain. They were a little to catchy but now they are wore out bad. Yes it sleeps very long but more less a pain to get back to my hand. I have been doing a little bit of binding but i like to be able to not always have to do that. So is there something else I should try before just buying some more friction stickers? I was thinking of just using one sticker instead of both. I don’t think I am ready to spend 50$+ on a new yoyo with a different response system until I get this one down and get my current tricks down. Any suggestions would be great… Thanks!
1 sticker+bind
lathe+silicone
no response whatsoever
thick lube to the EXTREME
other pads (maybe?)
In my opinion, Duncan friction stickers stink. (I’ve never liked them and got rid of all but one of my Duncans as a result.) They are constantly changing so if, or when, you ever find that “sweet spot” it’s not going to last very long. You may want to try a dead sticker on one side and a regular on on the other side to see how that works for you.
I’d recommend a recess/silicone mod. The area occupied by the sticker on each side is recessed approx. 1.5-2 mm on each side and then filled with silicone. You can do it yourself with a lathe, drill press or a hand drill or there are modders out there who can do it for a fee. I did it to a Duncan FH2 I had sitting around gathering dust and now it’s an excellent player and I’m enjoying it now. It’s not totally dead unresponsive but nearly so so if you did the recess mod, you’d probably want to know how to bind. I wish I had known or tried this mod earlier, I would have kept my Freehand Zero.
Yea what sucks is if I go with the friction stickers I am gonna have to do this twice a week and for a day its going to be to catchy. If I was to buy a new yoyo, is there one that has more of a long lasting type of response system? Something I don’t have to mess with all the time… I almost just got the Dark Magic 2 but I felt I didn’t know enough yet to buy a 40$ yoyo. Any suggestions on a new one if there is one that has more of a “sweet spot” that lasts a while?
When I abandoned my Duncans, I went with a YYJ Lyn Fury. It’s got a double o-ring response which is totally maintenance-free. ( I love the weight and it’s made of celcon plastic which really feels solid and is nearly indestructable.) When I wanted it responsive, I lubed the bearing using a teeny amount of Carmex lip balm. When I wanted it unresponsive, I cleaned the bearing and lubed it with a small drop of clipper oil. When you get to the point where you’re doing a lot of binding and really want it unresponsive, you can take out the o-rings and silicone the o-ring grooves.
The Zero is a good yoyo which, in my opinion, has lousy response stickers. I actually wish I still had mine so I could do a recess/silicone mod on it because I’m sure it would be a great player as good, if not better, than my modded FH2. Try lubing your bearing. You’ll probably lose some spin time but it should make it more responsive.
This same problem happened to me with my FHZ .
I recommend picking up something DIF Pads which will make the binds tight and the FHZ unresponsive.
Also, you could try silicone recessing the FHZ;also makes it unresponsive.
If you like the responsive feel perhaps you could try o-rings or more stickers.
Hope this helped ;D
You really don’t have to spend $50 or $40 or even $20 to get a great yoyo. Any of the plastic yoyos, mainly from YYJ and YYF, are outstanding, and most don’t need response replacement.
As for what you have now, one sticker does well.
Do crucial ghost pads work well/fit in a fhz??
They literally stop snagging in it’s tracks and last for weeks