JR97

Bauer Vapor X60 Stick'um Flex: 67 flex (intermediate) Curve: P88 Time used: Sporadically over 10 months Reviewer: 5'7 140 Beer-leaguer Aesthetics: I love the subdued earthy tones. I'm not a fan of flashy sticks. Weight and Balance: The weight and balance are great for this stick. 10/10 Blade: I'll agree with a previous poster that the blade feels livelier. This helps with my stick handling and receiving hard passes. Which you'd think the opposite would be true. I guess it's a force feedback response sort of thing for me. When I can feel that much "detail" my muscles react quicker/better compared to something more stiff. I don't know. Either way I really like the blade. 8/10 Shaft and Flex: When I first bought the stick I absolutely loved the feel and flex. My snappers and slappers had some serious zip. The stick didn't feel like a 67 flex until I loaded it up. Even loaded it never felt like noodle. It felt solid. Having said that, after picking up a Vapor X:50 with a different flex and the concave shaft, I couldn't go back to the One60 without making serious adjustments. There's nothing wrong with the One60 flex/feel. I'm just more comfortable the X:50 now. 8/10 Stick Handling and Passing: I really liked this stick for stick handling. The lively feel gave feedback that made things easier. Probably all in my head but the outcome was not. Receiving hard passes was great. Passing was good but nothing that stood out above any other stick I've used. 9/10 Shooting: This is a great stick for slappers and snappers. I really liked not only how the stick loaded up but where it loaded up. The only thing I didn't like was hard one timers. Probably because I"m using such a whippy flex, I couldn't get any mustard or accuracy on hard pass one timers. It was like the shaft absorbed all of the energy and never gave it back. My wrist shot wasn't as good with this stick compared to the X:50 though and I'm more of a wrister guy than slapper/snapper. I did get comments from 3 different goalies I played with last year that they noticed my shots in warm ups were coming with a lot more heat when I was using this stick. 8/10 Durability: I used this stick for about 2 months straight of 2-3 games/drop-ins/scrims a week with no issues. The blade stayed stiff. I relegated it to backup duty once I picked up an X:50. I whipped it out for a game last month and some schnozzle slashed it hard right in the middle. It didn't break, but it's creased pretty good and pretty much done. It'd probably break taking a hard pass let alone a shot. The blade is still in great shape. I'm not sure I used it enough to give a decent durability rating. 8/10 Conclusion: This is a good stick for over all play. It did just about everything well and was a good shooter if you're a slapper/snapper kinda player. Which I am not. However, it's a great price point for a OPS and at that price point is a great value. Even though I prefer the Vapor X line now, I have no qualms recommending the One60. Overall: 8.5/10

Bauer Vapor X:50 Flex: 67 Cut down about 3 inches. Curve: P88 Stick'um Height: 5'7" Weight: 140 Postition: Beer league forward/defense Used since: 11/01/11 - 9/15/12 Aesthetics: I don't really pay attention to aesthetics unless the stick really draws attention to itself which the Bauer X:50 does not. The 2012 has more black than the 2011. 8/10 Weight and Balance: When compared to the other stick I used at the time, the Bauer One60, weight and balance were comparable. Now that I've played with an X:7.0, the X:50 feels a tad blade heavy. Not necessarily a bad thing. Just something that is noticeable if you have another stick to compare to. 8/10 Blade: I was extremely happy with the blade on my first X:50. It lasted almost an entire year before it finally split along the bottom. Like all blades, it eventually lost stiffness over time but at a much slower rate than others I'd used... mostly Eastons. I'm more of a passer than shooter so ymmv. I loved not only how the puck left the blade but was also received on the blade. No complaints at all. 9/10 Shaft/Flex: The the X:50 was my 2nd OPS with the Bauer One60 being the first. The first thing I noticed was the lower kick point. My slap shot lost lift but that was more than made up by how quick the puck left the stick on wristers, snappers, and hard passes. The One60 has a mid flex which is good for slappers but since I'm more of a wrister/snapper guy the X:50 has been a better fit for my style. Maybe it's just me, but I don't like feeling a lot of flex in a stick until I shoot and that's what the X:50 gives me. The concave profile feels great in the hands and it's hard to play with anything else now. 9/10 Stickhandling and Passing: I'm not a slick stick handler. I prefer to minimize how much I have to handle the puck and use my legs instead. The One60 was actually a better handling stick for me in traffic because the mid flex helped me 'soften' the hands for whatever reason. However, my passing is so much better with the X:50. The stiffer feel really helps my accuracy and the lower flex point just puts on the zip. 7/10 Shooting: This is where the stick shines. My accuracy with this stick is heads/shoulders above when using any other stick in my stable. I think the stiffer feel/lower kickpoint has a lot to do with that. From mid to close range the puck goes wherever I aim and gets there quick. Last night in warm ups I was bar down or pinging corners on just about every shot. I just need to do that in game. :P My slapshot velocity is about the same as other sticks but getting it up takes a little more effort with this stick compared to others even with the same blade profile. 9/10 Durability: My first X:50 lasted about 10 months of 2-3 games/scrims a week before the crack in the bottom of the blade made the stick unplayable for me. 9/10 Conclusion: The X:50 is a great stick at a great price point. Durability was very surprising and refreshing. I highly recommend. I'm on my 2nd one now and don't plan on deviating from the Vapor line anytime soon.

I just added a custom telecaster to the stable. What a fun guitar. It can really twang. It can also growl quite a bit as well.

Nice ESP's. Also gotta love the Jackson Rhoads! He was my hero/inspiration when I was a kid. RIP.

I love my v-twin. I like that it even has jacks for using a channel switch pedal or something like a rockman midi octopus.

My main guitar is a Musicman Silhouette Special. By far the best playing neck I've ever played. Not cheap, though! I haven't swapped any pickups yet. The bridge hummer is pretty anemic for anything heavy, but it does the job for non-heavy stuff. I just use a different guitar if I want heavier. How have those other pickups sounded? Drastic change? I'd love to get the older model Steve Morse. I played a neighbors and I couldn't believe how many different sounds that thing could generate. The Eddie V.H.'s are awesome, too but I"m not about to fork out that much cash for a guitar any time soon. (close to $2k or more for those not in the know.) Have you guys seen these? http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Transatlantic/transatlantic-TA-15.html There's one for sale locally on CL for $700. I am sooooo tempted.

Wow. Thanks for the offer. I'll pm ya and we can discuss.

The PRS looking thing is an early 80's Washburn. Apparently it was PRS's first foray into major production/distribution. I don't know the whole story of his time with Washburn, but he did a couple of lines and then split. It's got passive EMG's that suck @ss. The fretboard is carbon which is pretty different. I've been planning on dropping in some Seymour Duncan's but haven't gotten around to it. I had a Washburn rep tell me that they're collector's items, but I can't see why other than for "historical" reasons since the thing isn't worth anywhere near the original sticker price. These were $1k guitars back in the day. I got it off of ebay for $80 and put about $100 in to it to get playable again. Below is a pic of the hollow body my buddy took.

Valvestate's sucked. Have you guys tried hybrids that have a tube power amp section instead of the tube pre/solid state power? Personally, I think it's a lot better. Crunching the power tubes is what gives the compression sound/feel. I've always that lacking with the pre-tube/solid state power type hybrids.

Here's a pic I took of my stuff when I was packing it all up and moving to a new apt. The pic doesn't do the finish on the hollow body justice. That thing is a piece of art.

I loved mine. I used them for almost 10 years. Had duct tape holding it all together. Amazingly, the palms never wore out. I ended up losing one and figured it was time to move on. I've still got a pair. used them for maybe 10 minutes. Decent enough, but I liked a rocker on my inlines. What? That thing sold tons of units and they were tanks. Yeah, I loved mine, I wish they still sold them. My wish is for the TriCore to make some kind of return. I loved the square shaft version. I love the tricore. I picked up a genesis here at modsquad. Paid a hefty price though, but well worth it.

Where is that located? tiny rink. The other team only had 3 players? way to run up the score on 'em. We always went with 3 if the other team only had 3. The rink is located in Bangor, Northern Ireland and yes it is tiny. The game itself was an NIIHA league game and the Badgers had arrived late. As per league rules if a team arrives late they must serve a 5 minute bench penalty to begin the game, hence why they only had 3 players at one stage. ah. ok. bench penalty. how many teams in the league? I think I'd go nuts on a rink that small.

Where is that located? tiny rink. The other team only had 3 players? way to run up the score on 'em. We always went with 3 if the other team only had 3.

That kicked ass. Thanks for sharing.

Shooter Jennings