Head to head

Gamma Synthetic Gut 16 vs Head Synthetic Gut 16

They split the measurements 2–2. The widest gap is stiffness, where Synthetic Gut 16 is 9 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gamma

Synthetic Gut 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Head

Synthetic Gut 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
18653rd pct
17744th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2329th pct
2431st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9384th pct
9384th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.621st pct
3.621st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.40225th pct
0.39420th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.11378th pct
0.11076th 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 Synthetic Gut 16 at 56.7 lb 25.7 kg

Coming from Synthetic Gut 16 at 52 lb

String Synthetic Gut 16 at 48.1 lb 21.8 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 / Synthetic Gut 16 crosses

Stiffness48th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss30th pct · 1 measured
Energy return84th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential21st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite24th pct · 1 measured
String friction78th pct · 1 measured

Synthetic Gut 16 mains / Synthetic Gut 16 crosses

Stiffness47th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss30th pct · 1 measured
Energy return84th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential21st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite21st pct · 1 measured
String friction76th 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

Synthetic Gut 16

~31 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gamma Synthetic Gut 16 Nylon16$4.9918623933.60.4020.113
Head Synthetic Gut 16 Nylon16$3.5017724933.60.3940.110

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