3Yo3 Bass Line
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
July 25, 2010
Introduction
Landon Balk exploded on to the scene back in mid-2009 with the debut of his first acrylic yo-yo, the Cosmo. This freshman effort was praised for its amazing look and overall fun play even though some (ok, it was me) felt that it lacked a level of play necessary to be a true beast in the competition world. Even so, the Cosmo was recommended for its killer looks and fun factor making it a hit. Instead of resting on his laurels Landon knocked out an impressive amount yo-yos in various shapes and materials to cater to the wants of the community. At the time of writing this review it has been a little over a year since the introduction of the Cosmo and Landon has created a staggering eight different yo-yos, including a rocking collaboration project with friend Ernie Kaiser of General-Yo. What is even more impressive is that each acrylic and Delrin yo-yo is hand turned by Landon himself instead of injection molded or machined by a computer, showing the true skill of Landon’s years of practice modding yo-yos. Today we are looking at 3Yo3’s first foray into the world of metals, the Bass Line. Like Crucial, who recently released their first production metal, Landon has decided to drift from his medium of choice and step into the world of aluminum. Now we get to see if his craftsmanship and design prowess translates well in the world of CNC work. Being as how Landon is based out of Florida, we now get to see if the Bass Line deserves a trip to Disney World or if it needs a nice drop into the murky Everglade swamps.
Specs
- Diameter: 56.40mm
- Width: 41.18mm
- Gap Width: 4.1mm
- Weight: 66.4 grams
- Response: Flowable Silicone
- Bearing: Pre-Cleaned C-Bearing
Construction
The Bass Line arrived in a clear plastic box with a simple 3Yo3 sticker on the top; a subdued packaging choice for this beautiful looking yo-yo. I have to admit, while I find the H-Shape and V-Shape yo-yos fun and exciting, I am the biggest sucker for a good looking, organic, classically rounded, butterfly shape. With the Bass Line you get just that. The profile shows just the faintest hint of a flat rim. The catch zone is a classic bell shape with a decent sized gap. Switching to the cup of the yo-yo we have a deep recessed area with a slight plateau in the middle topped off with an ever so slight nub in the middle. The raised plateau houses the digital LED font 3Yo3 and Bass Line logo on one side, on the other there is an inverse sawtooth wave pattern and square wave pattern. The rims are not very thick but do contain a slight IGR. The coating is a combination of shades of blue and clear, making for a gorgeous looking yo-yo. Landon sent the Bass Line to One Drop for a Pyramatte finish that feels velvety smooth to the touch. One unique feature of the Pyramatte finish is that it gives the yo-yo a shimmer when hit by direct sunlight. I noticed an ever so slight dancing of the light on the surface of the Bass Line when it spun on the string while sleeping. Over all this a gorgeous looking yo-yo with a striking, minimalist aesthetic.
Photo Courtesy of www.LandonBalk.com
Weight
The weighting on the Bass Line is unique in the fact that it feels 100% evenly distributed. It does not feel like the mass has been collected in the center or pushed to the rims, but instead it has been spread out over the entire body of the yo-yo. Being such a large yo-yo with a weight just over 66 grams means that this thing has a mean float to it. It feels like it is gliding through the air like a paper airplane catching a good breeze. I am a fan of some float in my yo-yos so this was right up my alley. Even though the rims are not the hulking beasts that are becoming commonplace in the industry, the Bass Line still gives decent spin times without the worry of spinning out.
Response and Bearing
Extending his meticulous expertise to the response, each 3Yo3 comes with a perfectly applied flowable silicone response on each half of the yo-yo. The response gives the snappy binds that I expect out of it and is not overly grabby.
The bearing is a standard steel bearing that has been pre-cleaned for maximum spin time. In that respect, it does its job well and did not give me a single issue. It is always a welcome change when I don’t have to clean a bunch of junk out of a bearing in order to get a decent level of play. There have been times when I have received a yo-yo with a generic bearing that feels like it had been lubricated with mucus. Thank you Landon for taking the time to clean the bearings so I don’t have to.
Playability
On the first throw I was impressed with the level of play that the Bass Line offered. Even though it is a large yo-yo it was a great mix of fast and floaty on the string. It moved with the speed of an undersized while maintaining the float of a Peak. The feel is dead smooth on the string with not even a glimmer of vibe to be seen or felt while thrown. Above all, like all of Landon’s other yo-yos, the Bass Line is an easy throw. What I mean by that is that you don’t have to fight the Bass Line to keep it stable and it recovers quickly from a bad throw. I have always liked that feel from the 3Yo3 line. They are just a joy to play. During the play testing of this yo-yo I decided to learn the trick Pac-Man which requires a tricky pass through a triangle formed in between your throw hand middle finger and thumb. The Bass Line’s large size was slightly tricky to get through the triangle at first but after opening it up a little more I found there were no issues to be had and the stability and quick recovery from grazing a string actually aided in learning the trick. The Pyramatte finish developed by One Drop allows me to throw a strong sleeper, pop the yo-yo up into the air and onto my palm, turn my hand a full 180 degrees under the yo-yo and release it again without it losing spin time. I would say a perfect finish to be paired with the Bass Line. The only trouble I had with this yo-yo came with thumb grinds. While it does have a subtle IGR I found that it could sometimes be slippy and fall off my thumb. It took a little extra compensation by angling my thumb in order to keep it level during a thumb grind.
Final Thoughts
After playing this yo-yo for a week straight I have come to the conclusion that Landon misspelled the name of this yo-yo. It should be the “Base Line” as in base line standard. This will become THE standard that Landon has to meet for any and all future yo-yos from his company. I have been spoiled by this yo-yo and am now expecting every 3Yo3 from this point forward to play with the level of smoothness, performance, and fun that the Bass Line gives. It is an awesome metal yo-yo and I am happy that Landon took the chance to work with aluminum. I am looking forward to seeing what else Landon can do with metal and I wonder what new materials he is going to use in the future.
