I got a decent trade offer for one of these, so I want to hear what you guys think of the Absolute today.  What kind of conditions do you use it on?  What are it's strengths and weaknesses?  How would it work for a medium speed, lower rev player who likes to play down and in?  My only Brunswick experience thus far was a pretty bad one, I got a Smokin' Inferno and could not get the ball to work for the life of me.  Sell me on the Absolute!    Right now I throw mostly Hammer, with a Doom and Pain in the bag which are great.  Where would it fit in relation to those on a ProAnvilane surface with a medium heavy oil crown patter?  How is it on flatter tournament conditions?
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If you aren't watching 'The Wire,' the government should be forced to come to your house and repossess your television. END OF STORY!

Mr. Lebowski, this is Bill Salnicker with the Southern Cal Bowling League, and I just got a, an informal report, that a member of your team, uh, Walter Sobchak, drew a firearm during league play. If this is true of course, it contravenes a number of the league's by-laws, and article 27 of the league...

BOB:  Did you see the way she was lookin' at me?
DOUG:  Yeah, because she thought you were some kind of freak!

I have had my AI since April 2005 & it is still my #1 ball. Go to this link for a pic of the AI. http://home.cfl.rr.com/dolfan/images/AI1.jpg As you can see in my profile I too am a down & in shooter with lower ball speed and revs. This ball drilled right should be great for you. Good luck with it. The small yellow dot in the pic is the CG.

CaptZap

Edited on 1/31/2007 12:42 PM

have one for trade if anyone is interested...lmk.

Matt

I currently have three. The first one I have had since they first came out and probably have 500+ games on it. This one is drilling 3 3/8" stacked. This ball has not been resurfaced or had any oil removed from it. It has lost a little strength but mostly just smoothed out the reaction. It still hits with a tremendous amount of power. My second AI was about a 1" pin so I drilled it with pin and cg stacked under the ring finger(on recomendation from J Mac here) and it is polished. This ball is very smooth and actually works best for me when I can push it into the dry area early - gives a very smooth arc reaction. The third AI does not match up with my style. It is drilled with the pin under the ring with the cg kicked out to the right and a good sized weight hole low in the thumb quadrant. At some point I plan on plugging and redrilling with a layout that better fits my style.
  Overall the AI is the best and most consistent ball I have ever had. It is the only ball I have managed to shoot 700 with(x6). The hit is the thing with this ball to me. I hope I have helped you with this post. Good luck and bowl great!
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Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can't... you're probably right.

The Absolute is a ball that will continue to be one that is out of your bag for a long time.  The Activator coverstock is hard to beat.  For me, follow me here, the skid snap controlled reaction is tought to duplicate.
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Who needs a 300 or 800, when I have a 294 and a 295!?!?!

My Absolute is a 3-4 inch pin, 15lb ball, drilled like Brunswick 1L only 4 inches pin to pap, no weight hole.  This is a ball I can use almost all the time.  You do need to find some head oil to use it.  It works ok on carrydown. It would need a surface adjustment for heavier shot, like 800 grit wet sand no polish. This layout puts the pin above and slightly right of my ring finger.  Goes fairly long and makes strong backend move.  It is not a skid snap ball.  Picks up the roll fairly early and has strong midlane and backend.
It really responds to surface adjustment. Mine is factory rough buff finish now.  I am kind of a stroker/tweener low side of medium revs.  I usually stand right foot on 24 board and target 2nd arrow with ball.  When I was more lower revs I was standing on 18-20 and targeting 7, which is where you might start out.

It is a great ball.  I will never get rid of this one, and should get a NIB spare to drill eventually.  This one has 200 plus games on it.  Looks like new.  Never resurfaced.  I clean it with storm reactive cleaner after a set.
Never put it in the bag before cleaning.

Mark

I had an Absolute Inferno and loved it at first, but every time I cleaned it, the bluish coloring of the ball came off real heavily on a towel and wouldn't quit, so I got disgusted with it and sold it. Was going to maybe buy another later, but now will wait and see what the next cover(s) are on the Fury core.

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Brick

I got one used from a friend and I love mine. Spans a bit short, but it hits very hard and looks cool going down the lane. You won't be disappointed!
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Hammer and Brunswick. The best of the best.
www.hammerbowling.com
www.brunswickbowling.com