I know that cotton strings should be used on wood fixed axles, but here’s the thing I have some Duncan Butterflies (and an Imperial) that I am painting which are metal and plastic. I want to use colored strings with them, but other than the stock string all I have is Kitty.
I tried the an older piece of kitty on my beater butterfly and it is pretty unresponsive. I don’t really mind this however, I am painting one possibly two of the butterflies as a gift for my brother. He isn’t into yoyoing (yes, I know that it isn’t a very good gift idea to give someone who isn’t into yoyoing yoyos). He does know the basic up, down, and walk the dog, so with the right amount of response he might just have some fun with them.
Another problem with the stock string is that it always rubs against the response, no matter how straight I throw it, cutting down the time that the it will sleep.
With fixed WOOD axle yoyos, you need to use 100% cotton. Anything else, say, a Duncan butterfly with a metal fixed axle, you can use whatever you want.
With fixed axles, it’s about managing string tension. Whatever you do, use fresh strings. Trash your old ones.
You can get colored cotton here too, buying it is not the issue that I’m having. I was worried because stock was rubbing on the response, where as my Kitty Sting wasn’t getting any response.
Thank you so much! A new string with a twist of tension snaps back perfectly.
I use fat Kitty on Butterfly. I’ve found that you need positive string tension when you first put on a new polyester string on a Butterfly, but as you play it for a while, it will start to get more responsive so that you can have neutral tension and still get it to respond.
They did change the axle at some point, I have no idea of when since I’ve had both axle types in recent purchases. IMO the old axle plays a little better.
I do like the butterfly and play it all the time, but don’t be surprised about people reporting different experiences with them. Trying 3 and having them all responsive doesn’t surprise me. It also wouldn’t have been a shock if you said one was responsive, one was unresponsive and one fell apart ;).
But all 3 of mine were perfect. Even after my friends dad smashed it on the floor haha. Btw because of inspiration from you and ed haponik I have started to get interested in fixed axle. I learned a few things on friday, and I will probably learm some new things this friday
my old Duncan from the 90’s (I assume) has been neglected to the point that one side of it slowly pulls away from the center making the gap wider and wider as it spins. Something to look out for I guess.
Also one of the caps is warped concaved so it pops out every so often, hehe. It also feels very light. I played a newer one and it felt much better and maybe a bit heavier.
