Head to head

Dunlop Synthetic Gut 16 vs Gosen AK Pro 16

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is string friction, where AK Pro 16 is 24 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Dunlop

Synthetic Gut 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Gosen

AK Pro 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
17341st pct
17442nd pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2329th pct
2225th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9384th pct
9381st pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.927th pct
4.337th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.43145th pct
0.39822nd pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.11177th pct
0.09353rd pct

Bars are percentile against all 791 strings, and the marked side is the one that measures better, which is not always the one you want. A firmer bed is worse for your elbow and better for your control, and no measurement knows which of those you came for.

Which one wins, by problem

Each string's standing on the site's rankings, out of every measured string in the database. This is where a comparison stops being arithmetic and starts being a decision.

Swapping between them: what tension?

Bed stiffness is published at one reference tension, so the only honest conversion is to scale it. These are starting points from 52 lb, not prescriptions. The calculator takes your own tension.

Coming from Synthetic Gut 16 at 52 lb

String AK Pro 16 at 51.3 lb 23.3 kg

Coming from AK Pro 16 at 52 lb

String Synthetic Gut 16 at 52.6 lb 23.9 kg

Hybrid: what if you used both?

Estimated, not measured. No hybrid combination has been tested as a bed. These figures are the two strings' own lab measurements weighted by how much of the bed each one actually is. Treat them as a guide to which way a pairing moves, never as lab data.

Synthetic Gut 16 mains / AK Pro 16 crosses

Stiffness41st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss27th pct · 1 measured
Energy return82nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential29th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite42nd pct · 1 measured
String friction71st pct · 1 measured

AK Pro 16 mains / Synthetic Gut 16 crosses

Stiffness42nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss26th pct · 1 measured
Energy return82nd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential36th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite25th pct · 1 measured
String friction60th pct · 1 measured

Open this in the hybrid builder

Which goes dead first?

Estimated from tension loss, which is the only thing the database measures about ageing. This is when the bed stops playing the way you strung it, not when the string breaks.

Synthetic Gut 16

~31 hours of play

AK Pro 16

~32 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Dunlop Synthetic Gut 16 Nylon16find17323933.90.4310.111
Gosen AK Pro 16 Nylon16find17422934.30.3980.093

Add a third string Synthetic Gut 16 in full AK Pro 16 in full