ModFather Freehand 2
Reviewed by Chris Rhoads
December 1, 2010

Introduction

At the moment there is no shortage of high quality modders in the community that are taking the ordinary and turning them into interesting one of a kind yo-yos. I have had the good fortune to have met several of them in person and talked to quite a few in the forums as well. Today I am finally getting to review a mod from Perry “ModFather” Prine. His work, like many of the higher end modders in the community, range from simple response recesses to elegant one off reshapes. Over the past several months Perry and I have talked back and forth on the boards about doing a review of one of his yo-yos but time constraints on his end and forgetfulness on my part have kept the review from actually happening. That all changed this past October when we met up at one of Duncan’s Heritage Tour stops in Cleveland, OH. After picking through each other’s respective yo-yo collections Perry pulled a sample of his latest work from his pocket, tossed it to me, and told me that is use to be a Duncan Freehand 2. I was impressed with the level of work done to the yo-yo, it barely resembled the original that it was cut from. Now we finally get to see if a total reshape can enhance and improve on the original experience and I finally get to put one of Perry’s mods through its paces.

Specs

• Diameter: 50.8 mm
• Width: 38 mm
• Gap: 3.43 mm
• Weight: ???
• Response: Recessed Silicone Sticker
• Bearing: A-Sized Bearing

Construction

As I said above, this yo-yo barely resembles the original FH2 that it was based on. The most noticeable change comes in the diameter, which has been reduced by almost 8 millimeters. A close second is the dramatic redesign of the catch zone which morphed from a flowing butterfly shape to a much more aggressive, flat rimmed, V shape. With all of the cutting involved, I was very impressed with the blemish free finish. The plastic has been polished to a translucent glass shine that allows you to see every mold and weight ring inside the cups. The cups themselves are covered with Custom “ModFather” caps that protect the weight rings underneath. One thing I was worried about was that the reshape would affect how comfortable the yo-yo was in the and. The stock FH2 is a large but comfortable yo-yo to hold. With the hard edges and flat rims on the mod I was afraid that it would hit wrong on returns. I am happy to say that it did not hurt the comfort level. If you have thrown a One Drop M1 then you will have a good idea of what this one will feel like when it returns to the hand. As far as the looks are concerned I am impressed with the work overall. The cuts are clean and the polish makes the yo-yo look like it could have come stock from the factory, especially with the professionally printed caps.

Weight

I do not know the exact weight on this yo-yo and neither does Perry. That being said I can tell you that the weight is mostly in the rims of the yo-yo thanks to the weight rings underneath. Playing with the rings installed gives it a nice bit of heft while keeping it fast on the string. Without the rings installed the yo-yo is too light to be playable.

Response and Bearing

The response and bearing are the only things that remain stock on the ModFather Freehand. I was kind of disappointed by this. I have seen some impressive mods by Perry using Crucial spacers and C-Bearings and I think this yo-yo could have benefited from the larger gap that comes with a large bearing.

The Duncan bearing that came installed has been deshielded and cleaned giving a long spin time and unresponsive play.

The stock response is a single pad installed in a single side recess. I was happy to see only one pad had been installed. Normal FH2s are a little too responsive with two pads installed.

Playability

It should go without saying, but this is a completely new experience when compared to a stock FH2. It plays quite a bit faster and is very unforgiving on a throw. The unforgiving nature is not necessarily a bad thing because it will force you to throw straight or else suffer from a severe tilt. I did find it had a slight bit of vibe on the sting but it was quite a bit less than that of its stock brother. The reshaped catch zone is easier to hit thanks to the wide-open V-Shape. I did find that the small gap bogged down under multiple string wraps and there were a couple of times when it grabbed the response giving me a good crack on the knuckles. As far as grinds are concerned, it is a polished plastic with caps so the grinds are nonexistent.

Final Thoughts

Over all I found that Perry’s reimaging of Duncan’s proven design enhanced the playability of the yo-yo. It has improved my play due to its absolute requirement of an flawless throw. While the mods themselves are perfect I would have liked to see Perry push this yo-yo to its absolute limits by switching out the guts. As is, I would still recommend it to anyone looking for a good plastic. That being said I would like to revisit this mod in the future with a large bearing and maybe a flowable silicone response. Right now it is great, with those tweaks I think it could be perfect.