My son and I attended a Ebonite family ball demo this past Sunday at a local lane. I've had limited exposure to these brands and my son had virtually none.
Past experience: A couple years ago I was throwing both Black Widow Legend on the black and gold spike. I liked them both; especially the Spike. Kind of wish I had drilled the widow differently. The first ball I bought when I started bowling was a used Ebonite Signals. The span was drilled about 1/8" too long (I don't go to that pro shop anymore), but I still liked that ball. I also briefly had a 919C (also used). Meh.
Demo Balls:
GB3: This may have been the one I liked best. I really liked the control and predictability. I was great when I tried it early in the fresh. About an hour later, not so much. Would be a great first ball out of the bag, but maybe not so much later. Good value on this one. Even though they only had house shot down, I get the sense it would be good in sport shot by the way it was reading the mids.
Rip'd: This was the opposite of the GB3 for me. Early on it was WAAAAAY too long for me. I picked it back up late and then it was really good. It finally starting reading a little early, but still easy length and a nice strong move. I was able to play 5 boards left of my normal comfort zone.
Rip'd Solid: Didn't like this at all. Maybe it's an illusion, but some balls come off my hand very well and other just do not. They seem to lope and labor down the lane. This was the case with this ball. Took about 5 shots and put it back in the box. Never gave it another thought (The Rip'd hybrid, came off my hand VERY well. I don't get it)
Alias Symmetric drill: This was okay but also seemed to labor on me a little. I had to play pretty direct and it was fine. Just didn't move the needle much.
Alias Assym drill: I like this drill much better. It just gave me a little more on the back end that really opened things up for me. Felt better coming off my hand and just gave me a much nicer shape. This was a top 3 on the day for me.
Lit Pearl: This ball didn't do much for me. It was pretty 'meh'. Didn't like how it was getting down the lane most of the time and was unable to hold the pocket with it. Since i liked others better, I quickly put it back and never picked it up again. (My son liked it a lot the first time he threw it, not as much later on)
Ultra Heat: I really liked this one a lot as well. It was much stronger than I was expecting which leads me to label it the house shot killer of the group. It much up very well for my tweener game on this house shot. Just felt like I could throw it down lane and it just did what it needed to do. Auto pilot. Definitely top 3 on the day. I think the GB3 would have more condition versatility, but this ball was a gem among some much higher priced balls.
Verdict pearl: This ball grew on me each time I picked it up. Definitely liked it better than the Lit Pearl. It wouldn't be the ball I grabbed in warm-ups, but I could definitely see it's usefulness in game 3. For the price I'd want more usability, but it is a very nice ball when the time is right.
Fierce Phobia: I liked this ball a lot too, just not enough. Gave me a decent shape and carried pretty well, it just didn't wow me. I had thrown the original in a brief demo over the summer. I liked it better.
Very enjoyable experience and the reps there were all very helpful. We didn't end up buying any that day. If I was to pick one to buy, it would be the GB3 (and I still might...we were given a card as proof of attendance and can still get 20 off).
For the record, almost without exception, the all looked amazing in my son's hand. He was having his way with each one. Later on, when going back to them, some of them lost their earlier look for him, but we don't know if it was simply fatigue setting in. He had bowled eastern PA High School regional's on Friday and Saturday.
