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TAGG
Amateur
United Kingdom
138 Posts |
 Posted - 03/11/2010 : 13:18:10
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| Gutted I had to turn down the opportunity |
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lovers99
Semi-Pro
876 Posts |
Posted - 03/11/2010 : 15:50:52
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| Brillant day, GM put on one hell of a show. Thanks to Edward, Richard, Streaky and the guys for an education in English made cricket bats. I'm already a huge GM fan and after today I'm even more impressed by a great English company that has mixed tradition and modern thinking into their business. Photos were taken by petehosk and we didn't get turned down for anything. Access all areas and all questions answered, simply brilliant. |
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roco
Amateur
United Kingdom
484 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2010 : 01:27:39
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Was a great day out from the bacon butties on arrival to the presentations and equipment, cnc is very impressive plus all the work behind it there is still alot done by hand and very well I might add made things look very easy all questioned answered honestly and constructive criticism taken on board and discussed plus Luna picks up great feels very nice and could be a future purchase had a chance to try on the gear and air swing all the models plus had a few swings of johnathon trots bat very light but huge no concaving what's so ever all in all a fantastic and informative day two people even tried there hand at bat making one shaving a handle and other binding the handle must say one of the most well organised set ups I have seen
Many thanks to all the gm team for the opportunity |
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Perkins17
Amateur
United Kingdom
106 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2010 : 20:02:10
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My day started with a 6:30 wake up for an 8:30 train which got delayed but then a train appeared 2 minutes later :S
Then after a nice train ride a cab driver told me it would be easy to walk then i got lost and then took a taxi the the factory where i was greeted with a bacon butty which was great!
Then we had the introductions then the history of bats and a great selection of antiques of which one non willow one Mike and Pete looked to try and take out the back door and run!
The tour of the factory was Amazing starting with the willow outside in the cold to the Kiln which was amazing to see how much care they take with the drying process. The grading room was something of dreams with the pro clefts hidden away ! The piles upon piles of willow was breath taking !
The CNC machine was great to see it working and shaping a bat so quickly even thought there we a few people who turned it off (Pete)
Everyone one of the bat makers seamed to love every minute of there job and if anyone buys a GM with a strange handle then blame Watsontotty :L
The discussion after very interesting and trying on all the kit was very fun especially finding the original prototypes of the Luna in the bat covers
The net after was rather fun but i feel like i can never bowl again! not the best of batting from me i must say ! Mikes TT was just something else ! i wish i had such a bat !
Then to the Talisman boot sale! around 10 beautiful blades to chose from i got my pick of 4 part mades one of which was something else !! but i have one which i will get pics up later ! Roco also got a bat of which im sure his wife will know nothing about for a while !
Then for a nice 3 hours pub trip! a great time there £1 a pint for coke and £1.50 a pint of beer and then £1.99 fish and chips ! a few discussions with Mike was great to learn more about what he does which i now know is more then people think !
Then for a trip home with Roco, had a good long chat with him about bats and about him not wanting to have his car stolen and for him not to get mugged !
Over all it was an amazing day out for everyone involved!!
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Cover Drive
Semi-Pro
665 Posts |
Posted - 04/11/2010 : 22:51:23
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Great follow up guys. Thanks for it.
Just wondering Perkins that how were Professional player's cleft/bats different from oridinary bats in grading room?
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roco
Amateur
United Kingdom
484 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 06:44:09
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| The pro clefts were stashed up the corner but was funny to hear the grading person pick up a cleft with a few stains and say it would not be a top le or original but would play well so he would be giving it a pro |
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Edward Lowy
Managing Director: Unicorn Products Ltd
United Kingdom
79 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 09:31:40
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Well good morning all, sorry to take a little while to respond. Yesterday we had a briefing on GM 2012 and last night Richard & I had to attend an industry function in London.
What did we make of the day? An outstanding audience is what we think, gentlemen thank you very much indeed for taking the time and making the effort to come to Nottingham, and for your interest in what we showed you.
We greatly enjoy what we do and it is a pleasure to talk to such knowledgeable folk about why we do what we do and how we do it. Very interesting for us to hear your thoughts on bats, bat purchases and all things cricket. We listened carefully.
Gunn & Moore are bat manufacturers. We start with a tree and end up with a bat in our own factory in Nottingham staffed by our own superb craftsmen. How many other "brands" can say that? We are unique in bat manufacturing in being probably the last volume manufacturer of bats in the UK. We believe that our manufacturing processes are the best in the World but we shall continue to refine and improve them.
Thank you all for taking the time to post about your day with us. You clearly all listened carefully to us, we're impressed with your attention to detail! Glad the net went well and that you managed to get together and meet each other and have an enjoyable day to boot.
It was a pleasure to meet you gents.
Kind regards
Edward |
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Cover Drive
Semi-Pro
665 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 14:54:12
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quote:
Originally posted by roco
The pro clefts were stashed up the corner but was funny to hear the grading person pick up a cleft with a few stains and say it would not be a top le or original but would play well so he would be giving it a pro
So basically professional player bats are the one which perform well and nothing else? I mean some people say professional player bats are perfect with oversized clefts etc
Edward a great response I must say. Well done! |
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Super Slogger
Pinch of Salt !!!
1125 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 17:46:28
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quote:
Originally posted by Cover Drive
quote:
Originally posted by roco
The pro clefts were stashed up the corner but was funny to hear the grading person pick up a cleft with a few stains and say it would not be a top le or original but would play well so he would be giving it a pro
So basically professional player bats are the one which perform well and nothing else? I mean some people say professional player bats are perfect with oversized clefts etc
Edward a great response I must say. Well done!
i think its a bit pathetic how bats are graded on looks and not performance. mind you, i'm not complaining when i can pick up a beast of a bat for £75!!! |
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roco
Amateur
United Kingdom
484 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 18:17:47
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| You have to sell to the buyer most will not pay top dollar for a bat with a few marks but they do tap them up later on to check they will perform and up or down grade them accordingly so not just on looks but initally on looks |
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Tom
Professional
United Kingdom
2214 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 19:31:39
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quote:
Originally posted by Super Slogger
quote:
Originally posted by Cover Drive
quote:
Originally posted by roco
The pro clefts were stashed up the corner but was funny to hear the grading person pick up a cleft with a few stains and say it would not be a top le or original but would play well so he would be giving it a pro
So basically professional player bats are the one which perform well and nothing else? I mean some people say professional player bats are perfect with oversized clefts etc
Edward a great response I must say. Well done!
i think its a bit pathetic how bats are graded on looks and not performance. mind you, i'm not complaining when i can pick up a beast of a bat for £75!!!
Perhaps you could make a suggestion as to how a company could feasibly test all 40,000 bats accurately and swiftly.
When do you test them, where do you hit the bat to test them and what are you looking for in the bat?
If someone on here posted an ugly £300 bat, you'd probably be the first saying it's ugly and a rip off. |
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Perkins17
Amateur
United Kingdom
106 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 20:55:33
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Well grading 40,000 bats a year you will start to know what looks great and also that could play extremely well !
Maybe the pro section would have gain structures that the pro's like such as maybe something with 12 dead straight grains of something with 8 wonkey grains with a big butterfly stain ! I don't know but we did not get a good look at every graded bat they had there as there was atleast 10,000 ! |
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Tom
Professional
United Kingdom
2214 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 21:07:45
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| So your suggestion is to look at the grains and guess how they perform, isn't that just grading cosmetically? |
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roco
Amateur
United Kingdom
484 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2010 : 21:33:46
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| as said previously they do grade on cosemetics first then tap or bounce a ball on the bat and upgrade or downgrade accordingly but out of those 40,000 bats how many are junior or harrow etc as would not have thought they would need the tapping up process but maybe wrong but they are the experts so must have it sussed altough they did say they get it wrong sometimes which was a nice bit of honesty i thought |
Edited by - roco on 05/11/2010 21:34:12 |
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watsontotty
Cricket Retailer
United Kingdom
13680 Posts |
Posted - 08/11/2010 : 19:06:59
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| GM grade the bats in the same way most other companies do unless i missed something ? firstly they check each cleft and grade it and mark which end the handle is placed and mark that. They do sometimes weigh certain clefts but in the early stage the guy who grades each cleft is working on EXPERIANCE and cosmetics. Once the clefts leave him and head into the factory they are then checked again after the shaping has taking place and some down graded an others up graded as once you start stripping the clefts down closer to the finished bat some surprises appear. |
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Open Invitation to the GM Factory, Nottingham
