T-GOD: The ball has a 1.75" pin. I went with the pattern my driller insisted on going with. It's a 'CG out' pattern -- The pin is on the vertical grip line directly below the fingers. The CG is down and 1.25" to the right of the pin, which puts it under the ring finger. No weight hole was required. I did talk to my driller about your recommendations, and he didn't have a problem with 2:30-3:00 type drill. However, he hit me with one of those "trust me" scenarios, so I agreed. He's drilled in excess of 40 balls for me, and he wanted me to try something new.

I threw about 15 games with Cranberry over the weekend, and I'm still searching for a condition on which this ball will consistently excel. The primary problem I'm experiencing is that the NIB cover seems to hate oil. If I make a mistake and throw the Cranberry inside the oil line, it just keeps skidding. At best, the ball will turn past the ideal breakpoint resulting in a guaranteed 10 pin. On the other hand if I make a conscious effort to slow my speed down and start the ball more in the dry, it tends to overreact. I found myself having to be almost perfect to strike, which isn't real confidence inspiring.

Thinking the problem might be me, I asked a few higher rev players I respect to give the Cranberry a try. Both experienced the same problems I was seeing, and consistently returned from their shots scratching their heads.

So at this point I'm fairly certain it's not me, and the drill pattern doesn't seem to be the issue because the roll itself looks good. Again, the problem seems to be that with any appreciable oil it simply doesn't want grab.

Ironically after a few games of this, I pulled out my Ebonite V2 Dry, and experienced almost the exact same reaction. Given the lane conditions, I expected this of the V2 Dry, but certainly not the Cranberry.

I'm beginning to believe the NIB surface does not produce enough friction. When I get home tonight, I'm going to take the cover down on my spinner with an 800 grit grey scothbrite pad, and then refinish with Ebonite Matte Finish polish. Hopefully, this will give me an earlier breakpoint and make the ball more usable on medium conditions.

If you have any other thoughts, I'd like to hear them.  


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I've taken mine down to 600, what a difference! It's now pretty strong even on heavier conditions.

Steven, because you have a high track, putting the pin on your centerline, could make it a 6 x 5 layout or even a 5 1/2 x 4 1/2. To me, that layout would skate in the oil and give you more over/under. You will definitely need some surface on the ball, with that layout, if you're bowling on oilier conditions. =:^D

T-GOD/seadrive: Thanks for responses. With my current PAP, the pattern is essentially a 5.5 x 4.5. I understand that the 5.5" pin takes it to the limit for my style, but I've had some success with that PIN-PAP distance on other equipment. I have an older Track Assassin, and two new Columbia WOW's (Regular and Pearl) with 5.5 x 3.5 patterns, and the balls are monsters within their intended conditions. In fairness, these balls are 4" pin-outs, and the pins are placed above the bridge, so that certainly accounts for some difference.  

Anyway, I haven't taken the cover down yet because I'm subbing tonight in a house that's drier than what I normally see. I'll try it there, and if that fails, go with a 600-800 grit surface this coming weekend. If these efforts don't work, I'll consider plugging and going with a shorter PIN-PAP layout. Thanks again.
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T-GOD: Your last reply seems to explain what I'm experiencing. We'll see what happens this week. I'll let you know.

Thanks again.
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Steven,
NIB condition my Cranberry went too long before making a turn to the pocket, I bowl on pretty oily conditions. Dulled to 600 it is a VERY strong continous arc to the pocket. Good Luck.

I probably didn't describe clearly what I'm doing. I'm having the existing finger holes plugged, and new holes drilled counter clockwise (to the left). This will move the pin from the vertical grip line to under (or slightly right of) the ring finger.

Grip span will remain the same. A new thumb slug will be required to get the proper thumb pitches in relation to the new finger hole locations.

My experience has been that a total plug and redrill usually does not kill a ball. However, I want to give the Cranberry as fair an evaluation as possible, so I'm trying to minimize the effects of a redrill.
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