Hi guys. Can we have a little discussion about these damas? KendamaUsa told me they will restock the shift soon, but the Squab will also go live monday. I want to buy one of these, but the analog is almost half the price. Do you think the squab can compete with the shift? Maybe someone has played both and can share his opinion?
Haven’t used both but squab is amazing for everything, best ken I have ever used, amazing balance, throw a cushion clear on there and u have a setup u can learn any trick 10 times faster. And taking price into account u can’t go wrong with it. And the nest is insane, now keep in mind life hack get a knife and u can make ur own nest that still looks some what normal.
I’ve only played with the craft shift and I think that it is the best ken I’ve ever had. But if everything is true about the squab, buy that. The price is much more affordable.
If you have the money, I'd probably recommend the Shift or one of the new Slims. The Squab is definitely a good shape for hitting a lot of tricks, but you can't argue with the quality of the higher end KUSA damas. It's also a huge benefit to the community when players put their money towards damas that are being intentionally crafted and well produced. Nothing wrong with a Squab, but if you have the money it makes sense to me to buy the highest quality kendama you can and support a company that you know is giving back to the community.
I have a birch shift and a ash squab. Both dama's are amazing but I would defently recommend the shift over the squab. The shift stall points are better and it just feels like a higher quality kendama. The squab is a great kendama but I think the shift is better. The only thing that the squab is better at is luner balance but that is because the balance hole.
Craft Shift: Made in USA! Quality wins out. (I can't find any info on where the Squab is made, but at $35, my guess is China)
I'm not overly enthusiastic about my Squab ...I bought an ash one and its a good kendama and all but it's nothing to write home about. I can't really put my finger on what I don't like about it but like @htimSxelA said, its probably made in China...sometimes you just feel the Chicom wafting off a product.
I played an ash ken at a jam. I was very excited to play it and was considering buying one. But, it didn’t seem fantastic at much besides slingers. I’d prefer a pop, prime, shift, or dwi v2. It seem like it was made in China too. I was just expecting more.
My craft slim maple came in yesterday. I really love it. Paired it with one of the new kaizen tamas and its definitely my number one dama now
I only have a bamboo squab and a rosewood one on the way now.. but I can say as others did that paired with a cushion clear Tama the stalls and tricks just seem easier. Was able to start sticking axes and underbirds easier and even doing some light eclipses with them too.. they lock in pretty well but it may be my honed Cush clear Tama that is helping more. Anyways will be trying a Craft soon and see which I like better and will compare
Honestly, its just a preference. I would chose shift because I gravitate more towards KUSA over analog, but some analogs like the "unicorn" and "EMP" look really cool and have a uniqueness factor that would make me chose over a Kaizen shift. But beech vs beech, I'll take the shift