Klippermate® Tennis Racquet / Racket Stringer

Just because the Klippermate is in the lower price range of stringing machines does NOT make it low quality. Rather, it is built extremely well - Made in the USA - with an unlimited lifetime guarantee that covers the machine and tools! Everything is of exceptional quality, from the packaging to the product to the customer service.The included 3 free sets of strings were a plus, but more importantly I have to recommend the Klippermate based on the supplementary materials. The instructions manual is detailed with pictures at each step to guide you in stringing your racquet. Others proclaim it as one of the best in the industry. I had little trouble with my first racquet. My recommendation: string your first racquet during KlipperUSA customer service's open hours. You can call them for help, and they're glad to do so.After playing tennis for almost 1 year and having to get my racquets restrung 5 times, the money spent started building up fast. I decided to purchase the Klippermate to string mainly for myself and family, and it's one of the best investments I've ever made. I'm saving so much money by stringing myself and bypassing the labor charges and increased string prices at pro shops. That is one of the major incentives of stringing yourself.If you're hesitant because you worry that stringing seems complicated, well it's not. It's just really time-consuming at first because you have to familiarize yourself with so many things. Once you get used to it, it goes by pretty quickly. I've strung three racquets with the Klippermate so far. My first time took 4 hours, then 3, then 2. My goal is to string in under 1 hour, because there are other Klippermate users who can do it in 40 minutes.I fully recommend the Klippermate if you're a beginning stringer. The only reservation I have is if you plan to string for a high volume of racquets per day. You can maximize your time by investing in other models. But if you're a home stringer like me, the Klippermate does the job well. Tensions are accurate.[UPDATE 8/30/2011] By the 7th racquet I strung, I got down to 1 hour. My fastest time is 42 minutes, which was on my 18th racquet. Speed is about focus and concentration, being confident in your ability to string, and getting into the groove.Another concern for some is the competing Gamma X-2 / Progression 200. In short:1. Gamma has a convenient ratcheting mechanism for when you feed too much string into the tension head. The Klippermate doesn't. However, once you're an experienced stringer and know how much certain strings stretch, the ratchet is really unnecessary because you'll feed the right amount anyways. It's more of a convenience for when you first start, or if you never get to that experience level due to lack of stringing frequency.2. The Klippermate has superior clamps. Period. Gamma owners' biggest complaints are for being bulky, and sometimes cutting into their hands. But really, it's something Gamma users get used to.3. This isn't much of an issue anymore: Gamma's X-2/Progression 200 previously only had a 5 year limited warranty. Now they've upgraded it to a limited lifetime warranty. Klippermate is still an UNLIMITED lifetime warranty.Me? I went with the Klippermate. Happy. There are also happy Gamma owners. The main reason for being unhappy is wanting to upgrade to a higher-end machine with features like fixed clamps.

All my kids play tennis. As my oldest started hitting more aggressively, we found ourselves at the tennis club each week getting racquets strung. At $20 a pop, it added up quickly. So I bit the bullet and searched for an inexpensive stringer. I thought that if I could find a used stringing machine for $300 or so, I'd be ok. But I read the Klippermate reviews and thought to give this stringer a try! This product is very well-made. It comes with an UNLIMITED lifetime warranty (great for families with teenagers who seem break anything!). It also came with 3 packs of string products (Ultimate Hybrid, a synthetic gut, and Spin Max 16). The tools that came with it (stringer plier, awl, double string clamps) are quality-made. It also came with a bonus overgrip.Stringing the first racquet was a family affair since everyone wanted to learn how to string. They thought it was cool. My daughter volunteered to use her racquet as the guinea pig. Her racquet is a Babolat Pure Drive Roddick. We used the Klipper Sringing guide to determine how much string to use for the mains and crosses, and where to tie the knots. The stringing step-by-step manual was also very clear (I had my teenagers read the manual so the everyone knows what to do). We did call 800 number to ask about whether the one-string or hybdrid (double)-string method was easier, and the rep suggested that hybrid stringing, with all the string technology available these days, would probably be easier. We just had to deal with 4 knots instead of 2. So we did the hybrid(double)-stringing method. Klipper's customer service was very very courteous and knowledgeable. It probably took us a little over 2 hours to string this first racquet, because there were 3 of us, and someone was reading the guide and double-checking the other (and a lot of breaks). My daughter was very happy about our stringing job on her racquet. We even showed it off at the club and they said that we did a great job on our first string job!I have since strung another racquet (Prince) and it also turned out perfect! Took me about an hour to do. :)Great product!

The machine works just fine. I like it a lot. Although it takes a bit longer to string a racquet on Klippermate than on a more advanced and expensive stringer, the outcome is the same - a quality stringed racquet.The only thing that upset me is the awl they include with it which is just a cheap disappointment - it broke on first use. They sent me a replacement and it broke again straight away. Had to buy myself a sturdy awl elsewhere which I have been using for over a year without any problems.