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Author Topic: Lane Masters Legends Black Diamond: My take after nine games  (Read 2932 times)

jbungard

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About Me: See my profile.

About the Ball: 15 lbs, 3 1/2” pin from center of gravity, 3 1/2" x 3" (close to stacked leverage), pin just right of ring finger, CG right and down from grip centerline (thumb positive quadrant), shallow weight hole at positive axis point, static weights: 3/4 oz side, 1/4 oz thumb, 1 1/2 oz top weight. Prior to drilling: 15 lbs 2 oz, 3 7/8 oz top weight. Durometer: 75 ‘D’ scale hardness on surface (no mill hole). Medium load Traction Diamond particle coverstock, Radius of Gyration: 2.559 (same as Black Pearl and Black Pearl Reactive), Differential RG: 0.055 (same as Black Pearl and Black Pearl Reactive).

I picked up my Black Diamond Saturday afternoon from Impact Bowling in Sun City, Arizona. By Sunday afternoon, the Black Diamond had paid for itself several times over in winning a monthly scratch tournament. Nine games including a 275, 253, 269 and a 279 in the championship game. My apology for the FIGJAM but this is more about the ball than mei.  I’m not used to instant success with new equipment but the Black Diamond gave me a look that was at least as good as; better than most in a strong field of experienced, quality bowlers. In a year that I’ve been looking longingly at the reaction of those rolling Cells, Rogue Cells and Virtual Gravities, my Black Diamond had the best reaction among many excellent pieces.

Black Diamond characteristics with out-of-the-box factory polish: Good length and a pronounced back end reaction. Not quite skid-flip but excellent length with a strong move at the break point. LaneMasters’ new catalog shows this ball as slightly stronger than the Black Pearl with a slightly stronger back end reaction. This is consistent with my experience yesterday.

The tournament was contested on newer Brunswick synthetic lanes. The bowling center uses a Kegel lane machine and had put out a modified Kegel Main Street pattern (40’ instead of 41’ with a double head run.) I started out rolling 15 board to 8 board, ranging from 13 to 5, 15 to 5, 18 to 5, and 18 to 8 on seven different pairs of lanes. The Black Diamond was predictable with only a couple of “surprises” all day: A 2-8-10 on a shot that I thought was going to make it back and a freakish mid-pocket 7-10 with the 7 pin spinning but remaining standing.

In charting my games with the Black Diamond: 84% pocket strikes, 76% in the pocket, 67% strikes in nine games (using Frames for Palm OS software). In comparison, over my most recent 422 games with all balls used: 72% pocket strikes, 72% in the pocket, 55% strikes. In other words, I hit the pocket at close to the same rate as I’m accustomed but with much better pocket carry.

We’ll see how the Black Diamond ages but I would sure recommend keeping your eyes open for these. I like all of my Lane Masters/Legend balls and indeed have had success with Ebonite, Hammer, Brunswick, Storm/HSP, Columbia, AMF, Randolph Classic, Nu-Line and Manhattan Rubber equipment over the years, but the Black Diamond is my best “instant match” to date and I can’t wait to hit the lanes Wednesday evening in league play.

Special thanks to Joe and Patrick at Impact Bowling for their excellent recommendations and consistency in drilling all of my recent equipment. Their support of junior, high school and college bowling is second to none as these kids are the future of our sport.

 

TM3 LMBowling

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Re: Lane Masters Legends Black Diamond: My take after nine games
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2009, 02:28:49 PM »
Thank you for the review Mr. Bungard.

This ball is going to be the next "Big" Lane Masters Ball. We went back to the drawing board on this one and made sure you will have the best ball on the market by far in this release. The Black Diamond has 2 piece construction and our Traction Diamond particle cover that you can adjust and make changes to the cover without any problems. The Dynasty Core used in our Black Pearl is also in this ball so essentially I made the Black Pearl even better with the Black Diamond.

There is no question this ball will be up there among the elite with performance, consistency and Vintage Power of Lane Masters behind it. All you need to do is throw it and you will believe.   TM
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Tony Martin
Lane Masters Bowling
The Worlds Best Made Bowling Balls"

LaneHammer20

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Re: Lane Masters Legends Black Diamond: My take after nine games
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2009, 02:39:28 PM »
So this ball isn't going to have surface alteration problems like most had with other Diamond particle balls in the past.

Many said it was very hard to change the cover because of how tough the particles were.
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What is sandbagging???


charlest

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Re: Lane Masters Legends Black Diamond: My take after nine games
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2009, 03:22:22 PM »
quote:
So this ball isn't going to have surface alteration problems like most had with other Diamond particle balls in the past.

Many said it was very hard to change the cover because of how tough the particles were.
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What is sandbagging???




Unfortunately, it wsn't really the diamond dust particles that made the coverstock hard to adjust. It realy was the premium resin they used. To get many different reaction shapes, the both polish and abralon and Trizact pads provided many different looks, with the particles always providing additional traction.

Some of those coverstocks are much harder to change than even urethane covers.

Only Trizact had the least effect on the diamonds and the Super Carbon particles and that was not nearly the effect that the diamond abrasive pads had.

I am more leery of "plain" sandpaper and Abalon being able to change the particles in the new balls. I'd like to see what the proper procedure is for changing them back to whatever the stock surface is, after they have been smoothed by, say, a 2000 or a 4000 grit Abralon pad. The question is will it be restored to its out of the box surface??

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"None are so blind as those who will not see."
"None are so blind as those who will not see."

jbungard

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Re: Lane Masters Legends Black Diamond: My take after nine games
« Reply #4 on: August 17, 2009, 01:42:43 PM »
More impressions of the Black Diamond: Three Weeks Later

After a few weeks at several different houses on conditions ranging from christmas tree to top hat to 3:1 long sport pattern, the Black Diamond continues to impress. Excellent pocket carry, good length with strong back-end recovery, and lack of surprises are noteworthy.

Another big plus and somewhat unexpected: This ball is versatile. I've been able to use it on medium, medium-heavy and heavy conditions. I expected it to excel on heavy oil and medium-heavy but the Black Diamond's uncanny ability to be usable throughout a 3-game, 5-player set and to play well through a 9-game tournament exceeded my expectations. Indeed, the Black Diamond has become my benchmark ball.

Here's a good 4-ball arsenal from LM/L current line-up:

Heavy/long patterns: Dynamic Power (box finish, leverage to pin-down)
Medium Heavy to Heavy: Black Diamond (factory polished, leverage to pin-up)
Medium to Medium Heavy: Buzz Attack (factory polished), pin-up to label leverage)
Light: Hornet (factory polished to 4,000 to 2,000 abralon) pin-up to leverage)
(Solid Strike may be an excellent fit here but I've yet to roll one)

icewall

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Re: Lane Masters Legends Black Diamond: My take after nine games
« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2009, 01:57:16 PM »
sounds right to me seeing as this ball sounds like a black pearl just with heavier load of particles and with that being said I can see it being used for 5 games if the oil holds up.


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tournament average: 219

tweener
medium revs
medium speed
specs and ball layouts in profile

currently throwing
Visionary (O.P. / O. SS. / Glad S.)
Rotogrip (rogue cell)
lanemasters (black pearl)