Head to head

Gosen AK Pro 17 vs Wilson K-Gut 16

AK Pro 17 leads on 3 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where K-Gut 16 is 48 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gosen

AK Pro 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Wilson

K-Gut 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16229th pct
17239th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2120th pct
2017th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9168th pct
9063rd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.440th pct
4.440th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.39319th pct
0.47568th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08944th pct
0.10874th 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 AK Pro 17 at 52 lb

String K-Gut 16 at 47.1 lb 21.4 kg

Coming from K-Gut 16 at 52 lb

String AK Pro 17 at 58.7 lb 26.6 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.

AK Pro 17 mains / K-Gut 16 crosses

Stiffness34th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss19th pct · 1 measured
Energy return66th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential40th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite27th pct · 1 measured
String friction53rd pct · 1 measured

K-Gut 16 mains / AK Pro 17 crosses

Stiffness36th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss18th pct · 1 measured
Energy return65th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential40th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite62nd pct · 1 measured
String friction68th 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.

AK Pro 17

~34 hours of play

K-Gut 16

~35 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gosen AK Pro 17 Nylon17find16221914.40.3930.089
Wilson K-Gut 16 Nylon16find17220904.40.4750.108

Add a third string AK Pro 17 in full K-Gut 16 in full