I still have my theory on Ebonite manufactured balls. They must be more inconsistent than other manufacturers when it comes to their curing process. You can have two of one ball, say a Black Widow. The first will hook out the building, slowly lose some hook over time, and rejuvenate as good as anything else does. The second will never be quite as strong as the first, lose hook quickly, and never come back to life no matter what you do to it. It's so random that it's hard to figure out. It's not like all Black Widows are bad, just certain ones - but which one will you get?
I have a Black Widow Bite that's as good today as the day I bought it. I've kept the surface fresh, but it's never had a full resurfacing or been de-oiled. It's probable that it's not 100% the ball I originally purchased, but it does exactly what I want, and I'm apprehensive to do anything extreme like putting it in a heated chamber for a period of time.
I have plenty of friends who have had either very good or very bad experiences with Ebonite. But even some of their lower end pearlized equipment became dead as a door nail at 60 games. You expect some degradation from the aggressive high end pieces, but not everything. Even though I really like the one piece I have, I'd be really nervous about purchasing another. I've just seen too many duds. If you could predict a good ball or good lot of balls from watching others, it might be different, but I don't like playing $200 Russian Roulette.
Ron Clifton's Bowling Tip Archive
