Shaft/Tip Advice

[Kskelly]

I recently went and hit a few shafts and it was recommended KBS stiff flex 120 with soft tip. I had just ordered a used set of MP-18 SCs which happen to to have KBS Tour 125 S+. I asked the person I ordered them from what the tip is and he said 

They have not been tipped, but KBS says that these are a mid-high launch/low spin shaft.
My experience is that they play similar to the DG X100, but higher launch, better feel and not quite as heavy.

I don’t know much about shafts and tips. I basically understand what the tips do, the stiffness, flex etc but what does he mean the shafts have not been tipped how does that work? 

What is boils down to is if it’s gonna make much of a difference if I keep what is coming on them. 

Thanks in advance 

[Vinsk]

35 minutes ago, Kskelly said:

I recently went and hit a few shafts and it was recommended KBS stiff flex 120 with soft tip. I had just ordered a used set of MP-18 SCs which happen to to have KBS Tour 125 S+. I asked the person I ordered them from what the tip is and he said 

They have not been tipped, but KBS says that these are a mid-high launch/low spin shaft.
My experience is that they play similar to the DG X100, but higher launch, better feel and not quite as heavy.

I don’t know much about shafts and tips. I basically understand what the tips do, the stiffness, flex etc but what does he mean the shafts have not been tipped how does that work? 

What is boils down to is if it’s gonna make much of a difference if I keep what is coming on them. 

Thanks in advance 

@Adam C is your guy. Sorry Adam....I send you a lot of referrals lol.

[Adam C]

Are you sure they didn't say soft step? That would make more sense to me at least. What the seller told you was right, the shafts have not been tipped b/c they are taper tip meaning you can not tip (aka cut) them. Soft stepping refers to taking the shaft that is pre designed to fit into say the 6 iron, and instead install it in the 7 iron, and so on through the set. This gives you slightly softer and higher launch compared to the standard install.

I would try them and see what you think of the shafts. Everything they told you is more or less correct. I don't like when shaft companies try to say they have high launch/low spin shafts. Spin and launch go hand in hand, if you have higher launch, you will have higher spin. That's just how golf balls work. You could always pull the shafts and soft step them after, would just have to butt trim them down after to get the length back to where you want it. Would only do that however if you felt you wanted a bit more height.

11 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

@Adam C is your guy. Sorry Adam....I send you a lot of referrals lol.

No problem. I appreciate the vote of confidence. 

[Club Rat]

Just to add to @Adam C mentioned, Club fitters also use trimming technics to obtain frequency match when building custom clubs.
Most builders prefer parallel shafts as they are better suited for tip trimming.

Tip trimming is done in very small increments and tip and butt end weighting is common when building custom sets. 
Soft and hard stepping shafts has been common for club builder for years.

[Kskelly]

Is this what you mean 

On 6/30/2019 at 11:33 PM, Adam C said:

Are you sure they didn't say soft step? That would make more sense to me at least. What the seller told you was right, the shafts have not been tipped b/c they are taper tip meaning you can not tip (aka cut) them. Soft stepping refers to taking the shaft that is pre designed to fit into say the 6 iron, and instead install it in the 7 iron, and so on through the set. This gives you slightly softer and higher launch compared to the standard install.

I would try them and see what you think of the shafts. Everything they told you is more or less correct. I don't like when shaft companies try to say they have high launch/low spin shafts. Spin and launch go hand in hand, if you have higher launch, you will have higher spin. That's just how golf balls work. You could always pull the shafts and soft step them after, would just have to butt trim them down after to get the length back to where you want it. Would only do that however if you felt you wanted a bit more height.

No problem. I appreciate the vote of confidence. 

is this what you mean by Taper Tip? It has the groves tapered down the shaft? I’ve attached an image. 

Thanks for the replies ! 

[F2YGolf]

Taper tips have a slight narrowing of the shaft at the tip, going from .370 to .355. You’d have to pull the head and measure with calipers if you don’t know what type your club accepts. Although I think you can pull the grip on a KBS and use the serial number etched in the butt end to tell as well...Dave

[Adam C]

21 hours ago, Kskelly said:

Is this what you mean 

is this what you mean by Taper Tip? It has the groves tapered down the shaft? I’ve attached an image. 

Thanks for the replies ! 

 

Like F2YGolf said, you can't really see the taper unless you hold a .355 next to a .370 and look at the very tip. It's just something you have to measure or you just know like here, Mizuno alway use .355 taper. What you're referring to is the stepping on the shaft. Basically how the shaft maker reduces the diameter from the butt to the tip. Each shaft will have slightly different step patterns (the spacing, the number of steps) and some shafts will have no steps (like a Project X shaft). This helps determine how the shaft bends and feels.

[Kskelly]

3 hours ago, Adam C said:

Like F2YGolf said, you can't really see the taper unless you hold a .355 next to a .370 and look at the very tip. It's just something you have to measure or you just know like here, Mizuno alway use .355 taper. What you're referring to is the stepping on the shaft. Basically how the shaft maker reduces the diameter from the butt to the tip. Each shaft will have slightly different step patterns (the spacing, the number of steps) and some shafts will have no steps (like a Project X shaft). This helps determine how the shaft bends and feels.

Gotcha, thanks. many previous set had Project X which is why I noticed these were different. thanks for the responses!!