I have messed with surface on my Onyx. I bought two when they first came out. The first one I drilled pin up and left it at box finish. The second, I drilled pin down, and I've tried it at 1000 and 2000. Personally, I like and find more use for the pin up, box finish version, but the other has its merit as well. As you would expect, the pin down, 1000 matte Onyx is earlier and smoother throughout the lane. From my limited experience, I'd the second one resembles a Blue Vibe. In any case, if you don't like the look with the box finish, I would definitely go down to 1000 or 2000 to see what you get. These balls seem very workable at that finish for me.
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Bowling bad since 1979 with no end in sight

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i love my vibe, i thought about it for so long even before i drilled it. you have to remember that if you call the surface "out of box" thats seriously only good out of the box for about 9-12 games. i sanded mine to 2000grit and polished it with black magic polish, this surface is remarkable with the layout, pin under ring finger and cg kicked out with a weight hole. really smooth