StringSpec
String finder

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Head to head

Gosen Compositemaster II 16 vs Volkl Gripper 17

Compositemaster II 16 leads on 3 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Compositemaster II 16 is 13 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Gosen

Compositemaster II 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Volkl

Gripper 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
15114th pct
1385th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2431st pct
2533rd pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9386th pct
9386th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
4.543rd pct
4.440th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.3523rd pct
0.3739th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.07921st pct
0.08534th 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 Compositemaster II 16 at 52 lb

String Gripper 17 at 57.4 lb 26.0 kg

Coming from Gripper 17 at 52 lb

String Compositemaster II 16 at 46.7 lb 21.2 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.

Compositemaster II 16 mains / Gripper 17 crosses

Stiffness9th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss32nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return86th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential41st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite3rd pct · 1 measured
String friction25th pct · 1 measured

Gripper 17 mains / Compositemaster II 16 crosses

Stiffness6th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss32nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return86th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential41st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite8th pct · 1 measured
String friction32nd 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.

Compositemaster II 16

~31 hours of play

Gripper 17

~30 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Gosen Compositemaster II 16 Nylon16find15124934.50.3520.079
Volkl Gripper 17 Nylon17find13825934.40.3730.085

Add a third string Compositemaster II 16 in full Gripper 17 in full