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PostPosted: 02 Oct 2009, 09:45 
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The Stiga Ebenholz blades used here were supplied by Geoff of Aussie Table Tennis.
Ebenholz VII, Master Handle, 90.8g.
Ebenholz V, Master handle, 93.3g.

Impressions
The Ebenholz V and VII blades are a new line of NCT blades released by Stiga. While the blade formula for both have not significantly changed, both blades trace their roots back to older, classic Stiga blades.

The V is a 5 ply all wood blade based on the Stiga Offensive Classic. It is comprised of a thick, 4mm core, 0.7mm spruce second plies and a thin black limba top. It is thicker overall, approximately 5.9mm which gives the blade higher speed, better stiffness and more spring in the short game making it ideal for rubbers of all hardnesses. It is comparable to the newer Offensive NCT released not too long ago but is faster and more stable.

V ply structure: Thin surface Ebony (NCT coat), 0.7mm spruce, thick 4.0mm core, 0.7mm spruce, thin surface Ebony (NCT).

The VII is another 7-ply all wood blade that would be a descendant from the Stiga Clipper Wood. There are a few changes in ply composition, which looks like a shakeup of the traditional formula similar to what the Stiga Optimum Seven attempted (but did not succeed) to do a few years ago. Apparently, someone at Stiga decided that if you keep doing the same thing, you keep getting the same results and they wanted to do something different instead of creating yet another Clipper clone. As a side note, if you were looking for a more modern Clipper, look to the Stiga Hybrid Wood.

So what has changed in the VII? Well, the Clipper Wood utilised a three ply thick core for speed, alternating red and wood coloured. The secondary plies were thinner for control and a thin Limba top for feel. On the other hand, the Optimum Seven reversed this formula and used a thin three ply core, very thick secondary plies and the usual thin Limba top. What this worked out as was a very hard blade with too much vibration and little feel. With the VII, Stiga has brought back the thicker core, but clad it in thin plies and placed two more thick plies on either side, then topped it off with a thin Ebony top for an overall thickness of about 6.3mm. This new configuration produces a more powerful core less prone to flex resulting in a high speed design with good control.

VII Ply structure: Thin surface Ebony (NCT coat), 1.4mm 2nd ply, 0.7mm 3rd ply, 1.4mm core, 0.7mm 3rd ply, 1.4mm 2nd ply, thin surface Ebony (NCT).

Both of these blades use the new Stiga Nano Composite Tech (NCT), which hardens the blade, increases speed and creates a more crisp feel.

Speed/Feel/Control
The Ebenholz V was a dream to play with in both the short and long game. Vibration was dampened but still present and gave clear, sharp ball contact. Speed on the bottom end was easy to manipulate with reasonable linearity. Touch was fantastic: use a soft hand and you don't get much out of it. Drops were easy to execute yet given a bit of power, the ball rockets away for controlled but high speed powerloops or textbook looping arcs if you were so inclined. Counterlooping felt easy and power was still good at mid distances. Stiga classes it as an OFF blade and so would I. It's comparable in speed to the Clipper CR, Nittaku Acoustic and so on, yet I'm not convinced that the NCT coating gives it a better feel; it feels a little too hard at times. Both Stiga Boost TC and TP rubbers worked brilliantly on this blade, along with softer Tensors such as Donic JP Gold and sticky Hurricane rubbers; a very versatile blade that matches most, if not all rubbers.

The VII's overall speed was a step and a half above the Clipper, placing it firmly in the Off+ region. It's comparable to some carbon blades in top speed yet retains a better feel, unless, of course, you prefer the carbon ping. Speed on soft strokes were fast, a little uncontrolled, mostly due to the low dwell time. Power play and hitting is where this blade shines and given a little time, it's possible to tee off and blast players off the table even from mid distances. Blocking and punch blocking came with little effort but great reward. Unfortunately the VII, even clad in the reasonably lightweight TP and TC felt like a brick (I reckon I've had more feel off a Schlager Carbon - King of the Bricks...), especially on the harder TP side. The ball tended to stretch long instead of arc and the lack of feel didn't allow easy adjustment to the angle. The softer TC side was easier to control and the blade seemed to mesh better with it, providing more gears and better touch. Hard Tensors and firm Chinese sticky rubbers felt unreasonably clunky with very little dell but soft and medium soft tensors such as JP Gold and Tango Extrem worked superbly. Overall, this blade appears to work far better with medium and soft rubbers (but not too soft, or it will feel like mush and you will have lost all the advantage of a high speed blade), with Japanese and European rubbers providing enough gears.

Final Comments
I highly enjoyed using the Ebenholz V which I felt was a class leading offensive blade, good at everything with no significant weaknesses. The Ebenholz VII's high speed and solid nature was great for hard looping and power hitting but came at the price of a heavy and low feel. Of course, if you like low/no vibration power blades, this could be the blade for you.

Addenum
The V NCT coating was absolute rubbish. It was uneven and rough in places. As a result, it splintered aa bit. This V was a 1st batch, so I guess they've fixed it as the VII coating was immaculate. Beautiful blade.

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PostPosted: 02 Oct 2009, 10:32 
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Beautiful stuff, Silver :)
Funny thing, I was thinking about this review only this morning and wondered when you'd get around to posting it.
Looks like the V is a very nice piece of equipment. And it looks damn good too :)

Looking forward to the extended review.

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PostPosted: 02 Oct 2009, 13:55 
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Just added a few updates.

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PostPosted: 02 Oct 2009, 16:29 
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Silver,

One very important thing. I don't own either one, but I strongly believe that the outer ply must be ebony, thus the name Ebenholz (Ebony Blade).

It can't be limba for sure.


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PostPosted: 02 Oct 2009, 16:43 
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mmm. Could be. I don't know. It's definitely not the solid black style ebony I'm used to, but I think you can get some striped variety...

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PostPosted: 02 Oct 2009, 21:56 
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Nice review, Silver.

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PostPosted: 03 Oct 2009, 20:04 
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Great review Silver! :wink:

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PostPosted: 15 Oct 2009, 11:06 
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Silver wrote:
mmm. Could be. I don't know. It's definitely not the solid black style ebony I'm used to, but I think you can get some striped variety...


Most ebony is from small trees these days and even the heart wood is not solid black unless stained to even out the color. This guitar shows what it often looks like naturally.

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PostPosted: 15 Oct 2009, 14:30 
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Wow, looks beautiful!

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PostPosted: 04 Dec 2009, 20:17 
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PostPosted: 04 Dec 2009, 20:33 
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That is simply beautiful.
Great review, as well.
How much do they go for?


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PostPosted: 04 Dec 2009, 20:42 
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Excellent pictures as usual, Silver. Thanks very much :)
It is a truly beautiful blade. From a purely esthetic point, it is perhaps the most beautiful one out there.

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PostPosted: 04 Dec 2009, 20:47 
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VincentB wrote:
That is simply beautiful.
Great review, as well.
How much do they go for?

Converting Euro to AUD, the V is around 140 and the VII 160-ish. Perhaps you'll find it for less in Aussieland. Sometimes there is a price level difference between countries as well.

EDIT: And there is. http://www.aussietabletennis.com has the the V for 125 and the VII for 145.

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PostPosted: 04 Dec 2009, 21:12 
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I have some V photos somewhere...

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PostPosted: 04 Dec 2009, 21:37 
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If I may help a little...:

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