Great topic! I'm a fairly uneducated bowler. I bowled in HS on a league and bowled on my HS team, but after HS I quit until last season. So I tell people that I've really only been bowling for a couple of years now.
The center I bowl at has wood lanes that were resurfaced about 3 years ago I believe. It "seems" to me that the oil is fairly light but that might be part of the fast transition of the wood lanes. The owner has recently extended the pattern by a couple of feet, just to see if anyone would notice. My first shadow ball on this "extended" pattern missed way right, so I guess I noticed, lol.
I bought a Cell Pearl half way thru last season(first new ball since HS) so I really had no idea what I was really buying or how to have it drilled. The owner of the lanes drilled it up stacked. After a surface change, the ball has done well for me. With how dry the lanes seemed to get, I got the original Chainsaw (from Doug) and it is perfect for what I wanted it for. With the "extended" pattern I was struggling with the pearl (I still have issues with adjustments) so I wanted something with more midlane and I found a deal on the original Cell. I took it to a driller that was recommended to me by Mo Pinel. He watched me throw a few shots and drilled it up. It's drilled almost identical to my Pearl, but the pin to pap is a bit shorter. It has been ideal for me for the first two games, then I start going through the nose.
Now I have a NIB C-System 3.5 that I won in one of the raffles. After reading about the ball, I'm probably never going to be able to use it at my center, lol.
Next time I purchase a ball, I will buy it from a shop vs on the net and trust the shop owner to direct me to the correct ball. Unfortunatly the shop in my lanes is run by the owner of the center, and I'm not fond of his ability to drill. Plus his prices are insane ($235 drilled for the pearl and that didnt' includ grips or a slug, I didn't buy the ball from him so drilling was $90 with the grips and slug) He drilled up my Pearl and I had issues with it, took it to another shop and he adjusted my span and now it fits/feels great. However, I now have a great source for drilling, he knows my game and I have complete confidence in him.
Sorry for the rambling post, lol.