So i just bought a rojo gt1 ken and i was wondering if gt raw ash tamas are really all they are hyped up to be. Ive heard they grab lunars and lighthouses better than any other natty tamas.. is the hype true?
Yes it's true, I have a French press gt-1 barely broken in and I can hit lighthouses and lunars easily
The combo between a GT-1 Spec and a raw ash tama is an awesome combo. The raw ash tama will have a ton more grip than most natty tamas; so it should make stall and balance tricks more forgiving (I would not say easier in the sense that it still has a lot to do with the player's ability on whether or not they can land tricks and how cleanly). Rubbing the tama with your hands (especially if they are sweaty) or rubbing the sweat off your forehead and then onto the tama will help give the tama more grip (this will prove to be more helpful in areas that are extremely dry, versus places that are very humid). Enjoy the GT!!!
Yesss so worth it. Once you break it in and get some sweat on it, it can honestly get grippier than a painted tama. If you watch any of the GT team's IG clips or YouTube videos, they're almost always using a raw ash tama.
Specs have a weird yet amazing relationship with raw ash tamas. Honestly I wouldn't pair it with anything else. Just the way the spec grabs the grain of the raw ash is something you cant explain but just have to experience. Hardwoods definitely break in raw ash tamas differently. You would have to give it a good sweat and sesh to break them in nicely. But overall, raw ash over painted. ESPECIALLY on spec kens.
My current raw ash started super grippy and has actually become less grippy as I break it in more will the grip return?
I would say so. I've heard other people experience the same thing, but you just gotta sesh it more. When raw ashes get super jammed and broken in, that's when they get honed