I received this weekend the latest top from Strummol8, the Elisabetta.
I will start this thread with my first impressions. The top plays different than regular tops and has several possible setups so it will take a while to properly review it.
Mine came with several extras, including the long koma tip, axial bearings and a one-way bearing.
The quality and finish is what you would expect from an S8: tops!
The shape is reminiscent to that of a koma. It's relatively heavy, at 91 gr with the standard tip and 94 gr with the long "koma" tip.
Although it's barely wider and heavier than the Augusta, it has more mass concentrated on the rim and you can feel it while playing.The first thing I noticed was the finish of the body that feels textured to the fingers compared to the usual slick finish. I imagine this was done to stabilize the wrap as the top comes with the standard string and not with the thicker one usually used with komas. This works pretty well if you are careful with the wrap and throw, but I think beginner players should start by using a thicker string.
I first tried the top out of the box, with standard tip and radial ball bearings. The bearings were silent, so they had more friction than cleaned (dry) bearings, but I could still do 100 full crazy-eights (200 revolutions) from one throw, what is very good. The large moment of inertial helps for this.
One thing that you have to be aware while playing is the lower clearance below the top. For example, if the top is coming at an angle from the boomerang you have to slant your hand to avoid touching the rim.
By the way, you throw the boomerang with the tip straight down (or close) as it won't flip with the standard length of string. The koma style trapeze throw works well. I also find it better to put the button between my pinky and ring fingers as Japanese players do (with normal tops I have it between index and middle fingers).
Then I tried fixed (standard) tip. To convert it to fixed I replaced the metal tube that goes between the two bearings with the rubber tube provided. This one is a little longer than the metal one, so when you tighten the screw it squeezes it a bit, expanding laterally and fixing it to the body.
I was concerned that with the lower clearance I wouldn't be able to do regular roller-coasters, but that was not the case: I could get the top to stand vertically for the catches, without problem.
It's somewhat of a slow wire walker, probably because the inertia.
I need to play more before I can review it's play for other tricks.
I was very excited to try it with the long tip. The length of the neck (between shoulder and chin) is about 13 mm (0.5").
I first tried it as fixed tip. It didn't change the dynamics of the throw, except that catching the boomerang is easier and catching the trapeze much easier. For the simple tricks I tried, it worked like a very good koma. I really would like to see what Kanta or Jun could do with it. I regenerated with roller coasters, drumbeats and sewing machine without problem. However, with tricks like orbits the string slipped along the long tip and I lost control. This is likely my problem as my experience playing with koma is limited.
Then I set it up as bearing tip first using the axial bearings and then the regular radial bearings. My previous experience with axial bearings (also provided by S8) was that they have more friction, and this seems to confirm that . But perhaps in some circumstances they are better: I need to experiment further.
Komas with bearing tips are unusual and this is a good one.
Finally, I tried it with the one-way bearing and the long tip (the owb will also work with the standard tip). I think this is the first commercial one-way koma.
The long tip is easy to catch between the fingers (or in the mouth), then you can let it "grind" for a while and finally regen the spin back up, what can be the basis of a good performance.
My first impression is that the Elisabetta is a very interesting top with lots of possibilities to explore. With the standard tip, I would definitely get the Augusta first and the Elisabetta when you want to add variety. If the long tip becomes available for sale, I think koma players would be very interested in trying it. For now Marurizio has only made 5 long tips, but if you feel lucky, an Elisabetta loaded-up like mine is one of the great prizes on the current
raffle.
EDIT: I used
a torsion balance to compare the axial moment of inertia of the Elisabetta with that of the Augusta and the later is actually about 9.4% larger.
