Prof Yoshimoto - faux location somewhere in Scotland (apparently haha) It's all part of the storytelling & marketing
Yeah it's quite unusual but I threw it on a natty gt maple that I scuffed up the surface with a 100 grit sand paper and this is pretty funny kendama definitely brakes in well as the texture of the thing kind of changes
Hi guys! A dude on FKC (Jeremy Menethee) bought a Ghost ken. Here's what he said about it: "The lunar balance on it is crazy (I still suck at landing them though), and the material is wild. It kinda feels like raw birch/ash had a baby with... gravel? It's got this pebbly surface texture, but the material feels toothy and grips your fingers The cups are decent sized, almost identical to my Next Gen HG in rim circumference, but the Ghost's cups are noticeably deeper. I'm really liking it so far. It's got a very unique sound to it, almost like a "twang," and it plays very well. Feels a lot like a Craft Slim or Sweets Prime in dimensions (slimmer and taller). It also has an interesting flex to the material that hardwoods don't. I feel like this thing is going to take beatings and not flinch."
Mine came in today, it feels unlike anything I've ever played. The sound and feel are completely independent of other damas, even a rez. All tricks are amazing, except any kind of cup spin unfortunately. The bottom cup is self-explanatory but the other cups are unfortunately too deep to reliably do turntable type tricks. Maybe I just need to get used to doing them on it but the cup depth does make them harder to do. Edit: The texture of the material feels like those candy cigarettes in a very good way, and it sounds like porcelain. If you hold it lightly and tap it with a tama or do a fast kenflip, you can feel it resonate. It is very pleasing to the touch and to the ears. The sound is deceiving however, as it does have some flexibility to make the loons slap!
About $70 USD after shipping. It's amazing for lunars, I even got my first ever lunar barrel roll on it!
Seems like the initial reception on this is generally favorable. Hopefully this company gains more traction! P.S. I just saw the Ghost's basecup hole. Super unique!!!
Sooo I sold mine. Not because the ken itself was bad. The material and playfeel was great and fun to switch up the wood buuuut the shape was too slim for my liking (also I had to get my BH funds up lol) If they ever come back and drop a beefier shape I'm back to cop @the first possible drop
I played a Ghost ken with a GT Roku tama at the local jam yesterday for about an hour and I was very impressed. Good balance and the cups “catch” super well. When the tama or ken lands it seems to absorb a lot of shock and the spike is slim and very sharp. I am a beginner player and I felt like I could just play better and do things a bit more consistently that would be “hit or miss” with wood. Hard to explain the subtle difference in feelz... but if wood were an “analog” material with warmth and varying weights and grains and friction properties ... Ghost is more “digital,” efficient & precise. Definitely worth checking out!
I got to play the Ghost ken for another hour or so yesterday. I really enjoyed the ceramic like "clink" when the spike touches the tama and sometimes the cups. It sounds great. The ken is very precisely weighted and balanced, flips really good and catches great too. There's a "high tech" feel to the material when compared to grainy wood of varying weights and densities. After comparing it to about 8 other kendamas side-by-side, I don't consider it a revolution or a "game changer" but it's really nice. I would recommend it to any serious players who are particular about their materials and the subtle properties, who can afford to drop $75 on the latest developments in the game.