I have thrown my The One at 1000+polish (Black Magic XL), 2000+polish (Black Magic XL) and 4000+polish (Ebonite's Factory Finish polish) and have had varying degrees of success with each surface. At 1000+polish the ball checked a little earlier and didn't quite make the corner as hard, but hooked the most overall of the three surfaces, at 2000+polish, the ball went a little longer and made a little more pronounced move on the backend, and at 4000+polish, the ball went the longest and made the most pronounced flip on the backend. This is with the #1 layout on the ball (pin above bridge, MB swung out right, etc.)
I had drilled another The One with layout #3 (pin next to ring, CG/MB stacked, cover to 1000 grit abralon, no polish) and the ball just kinda rolled for me, didn't exactly give me a great reaction, but in the end it wasn't entirely bad either.
I like jkiser's suggestion about the Big One, I have one of those as well, same layout as The One, but took the cover down to 1500 grit (white scotchbrite) and the reaction is pretty impressive. The ball still goes downlane a little (basically, it doesn't hook at your toes), checks pretty hard in the midlane, and still makes the corner. I like this surface prep a lot better than the box condition of the Big One (4000 grit abralon, no polish) because it allows the ball to read a little earlier, but still make the corner. I am tempted to drill up another Big One to put a stronger drill on it and see how it reacts to that, but that's for another day.
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Andrew Loose
1/2 of ABT's Finest
"Strike for show, spare for dough, split for D'OH!"
