Got this Strummol8 Alice today. All I have to compare it to is the YYF Short Circuit.
First thing I noticed was that I need to wear shoes, as the steel tip isn’t as forgiving as the plastic.
It definitely has more weight, which was pretty easy to get used too. I learned a lot about the importance of getting your string to the proper length with the Short Circuit, so I was able to dial in the Alice quickly.
It seems to correct itself better, and tricks like rocket are extremely easy in comparison. The steel tip spinning in my hand is also giving me a better feeling for trying to learn how to correct it in hand by swirling my palm proper (I am no pro at this yet.)
I marvel at the guys that throw these heavy tops barefoot, that stuff hurts!!
You will start to notice some big differences when you learn different tricks. The YYF will wire walk like crazy. But that added weight in the S8 makes it a little more forgiving for stuff like regens, and the tip is unique,it seems really small, but that top is actually kind of easy to catch with a whip catch, or the infamous fairies
The self correction is more prominent due to the added friction (higher weight, broader tip,etc) against your palm. The only “downside” is that you get much less spin time in your hand. So it’s not a wire walking top, but will always be extremely high on my favorite list. It’s the top I learned how to do drumbeats with. I like to practice hard tricks with it because it’s small. Then it’s easy to hit them on a Sara or the quicksilver!
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Grendel
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Come for the tops, stay for the yoyos. Coexist lol. Still in the very beginning steps. Feel good about throwing tips to the ground, rocketing it to my hand, and boomerang. So that’s the building blocks.
Those used to come with a couple washers you could drop in. It’s not real precision work, because you are just jamming up the bearing, but I like to baby that stuff so if I ever get the urge to throw bearing tip, they will still work.
So the small original washer that goes over the top bearing is removed, and the plastic or nylon washer replaces it, followed by a slightly larger OD washer that presses everything down. Then just snug enough to stop it spinning. I also made a rubber washer from an inner tube to soften up the load on the bearing.
