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The S.A.B.E.R. GUILD: Saber Manufacturers => The S.A.B.E.R. Guild => Topic started by: Dave31416 on June 10, 2014, 02:07:45 PM

Title: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Dave31416 on June 10, 2014, 02:07:45 PM
Hello all.

I've been bitten by the saber bug for the first time in as a fortysomething Star Wars fan with more money than sense (as my wife might say :-). I've been reading through the forums and getting a feel for the outstanding work of those here in the SABER Guild and can't tell you how impressed I am that craftspeople like this exist in the world. Hats (and cloaks) off to all of you.

My query is this: I'd like advice on buying a saber, preferably not custom (not rich), but something a step up from the Hasbro line. Here are my main wishes starting with most important to least important:

1. Brightness: I've seen some of the sabers in person and have been underwhelmed with their brightness. Without burning out my retinas (no real lasers, please :-), I'd like a saber that has an intensely fire-like red-orange color to it, Flash-on-Clash color is less important, although yellow or white would work great. Something that would look bright in a well-lit room as well as outdoors in the dark.

2. Hilt - doesn't have to be a replica of a character's saber, but I would like something approximating the same thickness and dimensions. As much as I admire some of the more slender sabers out there (what a massive engineering job to get those electronics in such a small space! wow), I like the idea of "heft" in my hand. Something the thickness of a large Maglite, perhaps. I'm 6"3, 275 and have slightly bigger hands than normal.

3. Sound - loud and clear, but not complex. Basic on, off, power up, power down, clash, etc. are all I need.

4. Blade - while I don't *plan* on dueling, I'd like a blade that could be whacked, say, against a tree when I've had a bad day that 99 times out of 100 wouldn't break. No, I doubt I'll ever be whacking a tree that hard. But I'd like to know if I drop it on the ground while practicing tricks with the saber that the LEDs won't break.

That's all that strikes me off the top of my head. I really, really love the simple designs of the VadersVault Havoc, but if it were a wee bit bigger ... that, and I'd like something with a wide blade holder so it "feels" like the thumb and forefinger are "protected".

Do any of the master sabersmiths here possibly have something like what I've described "lying around" ready for ordering?

Thanks for all your help,

Dave
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Vercify on June 10, 2014, 02:12:29 PM
Check out the Malakyte and Commando lines from LDM custom sabers, and the Ascend line from Genesis Custom Sabers. There is also the Force Relics Bellator line. These are all economically priced, duelable, and offer numerous customization options that you can choose from. I have an Ascend and a Commando saber and I love them both. The Ascend might be more for you, as it has a bit of a heft to it, while still being super comfortable. You also might like the Malakyte, as the shroud gives the emitter more detail and profile.

Anyways, check those out to start, I will update with links in a bit if I get a chance :) Oh, and welcome to the forums! Its a wonderful place here, just not for your wallet!

Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Dave31416 on June 10, 2014, 02:15:09 PM
Thanks! I'll get over there right now. Have a few days of vacation here in the summer to plan for upcoming holidays. My wife's told me I might need to combine my anniversary, birthday, and Christmas presents all in one for a lightsaber, but hey, you only live once. :)
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: sithslayer1 on June 10, 2014, 03:25:42 PM
Dave, those are all great sources, but also check out Vaders Vault. They have an affordable battle class line that are loud, bright and very well balanced in the hand. They also have a mid line category that may offer some slightly larger diameter hilts. Check out their website. Great sabersmiths, great service,  and great people to deal with!
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Dave31416 on June 10, 2014, 05:08:25 PM
Hi Sithslayer and thanks for the input!

VadersVault was where I was initially going to order one, but then I saw a few of theirs alongside a Hasbro-sized Obi-wan. It seemed very thin (although *incredible* workmanship!). Maybe I'm wrong. Based on my clutching a MagLite, I'd say I'm looking for a hilt at least 1 1/2" to 1 5/8" in diameter.

Maybe a better question I should ask given how many sabers everyone here has is which models of VadersVault, Genesis, etc. are around that thickness? If anyone remembers what a 4 5/8 grip felt like on the old wooden tennis racquets, that might help. Heck, we could call it the Darth Borg if it's customized. :)
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Dave31416 on June 10, 2014, 10:24:07 PM
Something I've noticed as I've looked at various sabers in use in videos without special effects: some seem to be brighter closer to the emitter rather than evenly bright along the length of the blade. Is that an unavoidable trade-off when replacing the fragile LED strips with a brighter, single source LED? It's not super annoying, but it does seem more obvious in certain colors (e.g., red and orange).
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: E13azar on June 11, 2014, 05:09:30 AM
What you are probably noticing is what's called a corbin style blade it meant to flare at the emitter giving it a power core look. This also gives the fade up and down the blade effect but does make it duller as it goes up. I have had nicely even blades before without this style.

Here is a video example
CF Clan Style Saber w/ Corbin Style Battle Blade: CF Clan Style Saber w/ Corbin Style Battle Blade - YouTube (http://youtu.be/ohy3jb-OoXk)

And link
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/LED-Corbin-style-Battle-blade-1-OD--P198.aspx (http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/LED-Corbin-style-Battle-blade-1-OD--P198.aspx)
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: LUMINARA UNDULI on June 11, 2014, 06:51:08 AM
Dave, as far as our sabers, only the Combat Class have the slim 1.25" outer diameter as they were really made specifically for dueling in mind :).  All of our Champion Class hilts and many of our customs, do have thicker outer diameters.  If you want, shoot us an email at sabersmith@vadersvault.com and I can share with you some preliminary pics of our newest Champion Class saber which will be released on the site shortly after our upcoming move :D.
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Dave31416 on June 11, 2014, 06:59:56 AM
E13azar: Yes, that must be it. It's a gorgeous effect. Does seem to be more obvious (to this amateur's eye) in the blue/green end vs. orange/red. I could be totally wrong or that could be an artifact of video compression or a million other things I know absolutely nothing about. LOL. But thank you for the link. That was very helpful.

LUMINARA UNDULI: I will indeed shoot you an e-mail. Love to see the work. Like I say, I can't see my fortysomething bulk doing much dueling (if I did, it'd be like Vader in Ep. 4 doped up on tranquilizers holding a saber in one hand and a sub sandwich in the other ... not pretty ... is there a Form -2? :-), but I'd like something that would last through inevitable drops as I learn cool tricks to show my dubious spouse or absorb a little punishment if I want to show off for my envious friends. :-)
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: LUMINARA UNDULI on June 11, 2014, 08:44:57 AM
Buy your spouse a saber too and they will be less dubious :)).  Chasing my husband around with a saber is one of the pleasures in life :)).
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Dansamir on June 11, 2014, 11:53:48 AM
Heya Dave
Welcome to the forum! Am myself fortysomething Star Wars fan who just recently was smitten by the saber frenzy. In less than a year I have acquired 4 sabers. To some (read my nephew and niece) it is plain cool. Too most I just seem to have confirmed their prejudices about me, which can be summed up in one word: FREAKnNERD (or was it Frankenerd?).

I might step on some toes here on the forum (very sorry if that's the case) but maybe check out (in no special order)

-Makoto-tsai sabers (http://www.facebook.com/makoto.tsai?fref=ts (http://www.facebook.com/makoto.tsai?fref=ts)). He makes strip based (ie with scrolling effect if that is your thing) super bright blades. He offered me to buy a Luke V2 like saber with sound for ~500 $. Havent bought anything from him but am considering. Maybe ask around here on the forum before you make a decision...

-There are other companies out there with nice enough sabers. Sabers which were relatively cheap, with good quality (ie duel-capable), decently bright LED. Service from some of the companies out there were not the best mind me... or the hilt I bought were a bit too toyish for my taste...

- Havent bought anything from JQsabers nor Vaders Vault but the little communication I have had with them I get the feeling they are supernice and really going out of their way to help out both with tech info and tips and tricks on sabers and in finding a saber suitable for your needs and desires.   

-The custom saber shop if you want to try build something yourself.

-And of course check this forum! Plenty of good offers. Have bought two sabers at this forum. Both of the members I bought the hilts from have been super-friendly and really helped out with questions/issues long after delivery.
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Dave31416 on June 11, 2014, 10:37:36 PM
Buy your spouse a saber too and they will be less dubious :)).  Chasing my husband around with a saber is one of the pleasures in life :)).

lol

Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, eh? I like that sales model. :)
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Dave31416 on June 11, 2014, 10:41:09 PM
Hi Dansamir.

Wonderful list. Thank you. Good advice, too. As for people thinking me odd or nerdish for being a fortysomething lightsaber owner, I just point and laugh at their next tailgating party. Tell me, I ask them: what looks more ridiculous: a slightly pudgy grown man with a cool sword? Or a slightly pudgy grown man with a giant foam finger on his hand?

I choose the former. :)
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Evol on December 26, 2014, 11:29:47 AM
Hi :)


So, did you find what you were looking for ? I'm asking you that because I looking for the same kind of lightsaber than you are :) :

- Really bright one, that looks like a real one during the day and the night (so, like a real one xD).
- With basic sounds, like the real ones, or no sounds :)
- Well finished ones.
- Doesn't have to be a replica of a SW's character but with approximating the same thickness and dimensions.

So, basically, a lightsaber like a real one :) Can have some extra lights but no useless extra sounds or light effects.


After some research on the Internet, I ended up with those manufacturers:

- Parksabers: Look really nice, and have no sounds. But I wonder if the blade if bright enough, and if it's not too thin and flexible.
- Vader's Vault: Look also very very nice, but I wonder if the blade if bright enough, and has it not too much extra useless effects ?
- Makoto: Look very nice and very bright (maybe too much ? xD). Dont know very much, so need more informations on those ones :)

I also found those ones:
-Saberforge
-JQsabers
-TCSS
-Genesis Custom Sabers
-LDM custom sabers
-Force Relics

But didnt find real informations about them, so if you could help me :)


Ths guys, merry xmas ! :D
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: sithslayer1 on December 26, 2014, 03:21:16 PM
I'd say right now, for a reasonably priced saber with sound and capable of medium-heavy dueling, your top choices are:

GG/LDM Custom Sabers (Malakite line)  Genesis Custom Sabers (Ascend line), Vader's Vault (Battle Class)- I have purchased from all three, and you couldn't find more talented and honest people to purchase from! They all offer some beautiful mid range designs at what most consider very reasonable pricing!

Force Relics are also quite good (Bellator line), but you will be hit with an import tax on top of the price, as they are in Europe.
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: BEN KENOBI on December 26, 2014, 04:27:11 PM
 8)

   Good luck on your choice!!I for one just turned 55 and I carry a light saber lol.
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Onli-Won Kanomi on December 26, 2014, 04:53:24 PM
JQ sabers is also in Europe [UK] and like Force Relics they also do fine work and are another great choice for European saberfans.

TCSS does not produce completed sabers but they make excellent parts to build one yourself like a 'real' Jedi/Sith, if you have the knowledge to do so, or are willing to learn [the TCSS forums have excellent tutorials] and TCSS parts are used by many top pro sabersmiths - they are the 'gold standard' for saber parts.

Makoto and Parks sabers use a LED-string in blade technology similar to those used by Master Replicas/Hasbro Force-FX sabers rather than the high-power LED in hilt technology used by most custom sabersmiths nowadays. Those can be quite bright compared to FFX but are more vulnerable to damage under dueling impacts since they have components inside the blade which is why most sabersmiths now use in-hilt LEDs.

Vaders Vault, Genesis Custom Sabers [Madcow], GG/LDM are top-of-the-top among pro sabersmiths for a reason; they have pioneered many of the 'industry standards' and 'best practices' in the saber hobby/business and their sterling reputations for superlative quality and performance are well known and deserved.

There is one you have mentioned Evol that I have not..that maker also has a reputation, also for a reason, and I can say no more due to rules here but look and you will find your own answer.

One thing you should be realistically aware of is that modern LED technology cannot yet produce saber props as bright in full direct daylight bright sunlight as the depictions onscreen in movies or in videos where the physics of camera function make saber props usually appear brighter than they do to the human eye. This is not meant to discourage you at all but to inform you so that you will not be disappointed and think there is something wrong when your find your custom saber prop isn't as bright as a noonday sun in the tropics or on Tatooine. ;)

Which is a good thing really - for one of our saber props to look as bright in real life as they do in the movies on a bright Tatooine summer day they would have to be bright enough to OUTCOMPETE THE SUN's brightness which can BLIND one to look directly at eh? A saber prop 'bright enough' to do that would be TOO bright for safety [consider that the fictional lightsaber is basically a 10,000 degree hot meter-long plasma cutting torch - real world welders have to wear special dark lensed helmets to protect their eyesight from much less intense cutting torches...maybe in FICTION Jedi/Sith can somehow protect their eyes with the Force ? from their lightsabers brightness and people around they wince away from looking directly at them as IRL we do from looking at the sun but in real life an illuminated saber prop that "looks like a real one during the DAY and the night" would be DANGEROUS to oneself and bystanders even without being able to cut anything lol].

That is not to say our prop sabers cant be QUITE bright - in the decade I've been in this hobby our sabers have become MUCH brighter and the present generation of multiple-Rebel/multiple-Cree emitter stars are very very nice and bright indeed and products using them by any of the fine sabersmiths in the Guild or MC here can be MUCH brighter than the MR/Hasbro force FX sabers but PLEASE just have realistic expectations they don't/can't look like the movies in full daylight bright direct sunlight and wouldn't be safe for mere humans to own if they could.

MTFBWYA, Happy Holidays and best of luck with your choice.
 


Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: EXAR KUN on December 27, 2014, 01:08:31 PM

One thing you should be realistically aware of is that modern LED technology cannot yet produce saber props as bright in full direct daylight bright sunlight as the depictions onscreen in movies or in videos where the physics of camera function make saber props usually appear brighter than they do to the human eye. This is not meant to discourage you at all but to inform you so that you will not be disappointed and think there is something wrong when your find your custom saber prop isn't as bright as a noonday sun in the tropics or on Tatooine. ;)

Which is a good thing really - for one of our saber props to look as bright in real life as they do in the movies on a bright Tatooine summer day they would have to be bright enough to OUTCOMPETE THE SUN's brightness which can BLIND one to look directly at eh? A saber prop 'bright enough' to do that would be TOO bright for safety [consider that the fictional lightsaber is basically a 10,000 degree hot meter-long plasma cutting torch - real world welders have to wear special dark lensed helmets to protect their eyesight from much less intense cutting torches...maybe in FICTION Jedi/Sith can somehow protect their eyes with the Force ? from their lightsabers brightness and people around they wince away from looking directly at them as IRL we do from looking at the sun but in real life an illuminated saber prop that "looks like a real one during the DAY and the night" would be DANGEROUS to oneself and bystanders even without being able to cut anything lol].

That is not to say our prop sabers cant be QUITE bright - in the decade I've been in this hobby our sabers have become MUCH brighter and the present generation of multiple-Rebel/multiple-Cree emitter stars are very very nice and bright indeed and products using them by any of the fine sabersmiths in the Guild or MC here can be MUCH brighter than the MR/Hasbro force FX sabers but PLEASE just have realistic expectations they don't/can't look like the movies in full daylight bright direct sunlight and wouldn't be safe for mere humans to own if they could.

MTFBWYA, Happy Holidays and best of luck with your choice.

^^^^^ The most important part!!
Well said, buddy
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Evol on December 29, 2014, 11:27:42 AM
That kind of answer is quite useless for me...
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Iggy on December 29, 2014, 12:30:48 PM
That kind of answer is quite useless for me...

Wow. He answered quite clearly IMO.

The question isn't between smiths or saber builders, it is between blade and LED technology used.
High Power LED
String Blade
Plasma
EL

Parks blades will be less bright than the others. More bright than a MR, but less than these other options. The ladder he uses in the blades he has cuts out some brightness. Depending on the String blade, and the LEDs used, they can be blindingly bright. Makoto has shown this in his revisions over the years. Slothfurnace has also made some very impressive string style blades. High Power LEDs (rebel, luxeon, etc) will be bright, but not necessarily as bright. Sunrider has done some impressive work with even higher power LEDs, but there is a cost...you need more energy, better heat regulation, etc.

Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: QUI-GON JINN on December 29, 2014, 05:28:18 PM
That kind of answer is quite useless for me...
Sorry,  but the laws of physics come into play here,  and no saber builder on earth can build you one bright enough to compete with the sun.
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Onli-Won Kanomi on December 30, 2014, 01:14:03 AM
*cues Queen music*

"I want it all, I want it All, I want it ALL...and I WANT it NOW!"

It's always good to know what you want. It's also good to try to listen and learn something when people who know more than you do explain why you can't have what you want want want rather than thinking if you simply repost your 'wants' on another thread because you didnt like the answer you'll somehow get a more 'useful' answer telling you what you want to hear rather than what is real and true.

Sorry you found a detailed explanation "useless"...perhaps a more ADHD-twitter-twit length version would be more 'useful', if not to you then to someone else who might read this with more realistic sensibilities:

"like a real one" impossible and would = you go to hospital, sabersmith goes to court. NEVER gonna happen.

So sorry to be "useless" again...perhaps you can find someone unethical 'somewhere' who will happily take your money while promising "like a real one" brightness then laugh when you get it and whine it isn't bright "like a real one" in full daylight...

...but I would bet everything I know about the saber hobby that it wont be any of the fine ethical professional sabersmiths in the Guild or Mining Colony here who would be quite happy to build you an excellent saber that will live up to REALISTIC expectations but wouldn't lie to you about what those are and should be.

But don't listen to useless olde me what would I know after a decade...listen to Master Caine on your other thread or Master Qui Gon on this one...they are telling you the truth also.

MTFBWY
Title: Re: First Time Saber Buyer
Post by: Evol on January 02, 2015, 03:32:22 AM
I already did a lot of research, and I'm expecting real answer, I dont need someone to teach me lessons about physics, I'm not a 3 years old kid. Everyone can understand that I'm looking for the best blade I can find, close to real ones, obviously not a real one.

I guess you can understand that some answers from frustrated people who are not answering your question but trying to teach you a lesson can be unpleasant.

No offense.

Anyway, thank you all for your answers, it will definitely help me a lot.

Happy new year !