My new bat

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Posted By: Mike H

Hi All. I picked this up for $8 yesterday in a junky antique mall. It's a pretty nice bat with great knob and patina. Here is what I would like your input regarding tape. Over the years I have removed tape and had bats restored. In other instances, there were no hidden cracks and all was well. Do you leave tape on or remove and restore? What are your feelings regarding taped handles (this one is cracked)?
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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Nice pickup Mike....Looks like you are finding some great stuff lately. In all the years I've been picking up bats I've NEVER run across a Zinn Beck. As far as tape on the bat goes I always leave it as is. I've cleaned some bats up before, but I've never restored one and I wouldn't even know how to do it.

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Posted By: Mike H

If you ever find a very high end bat that is in rough condition, sending it to Fred Lowman is a very good investment. He is extremely talented.

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Posted By: Clint

Mike, nice bat the dark patina looks great. I usually leave the tape on my bats as I think it compliments the wood. If the tape is falling off or ratty looking then I'll remove it. Is Fred Lowman able to fix initials carved into bats. I've got a bat that I would love to get restored.

Clint

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Posted By: boxingbaseballgolf33

I usually leave the tape on depending on the bat and leave alone. There is always another bat in better condition with or without tape the comes around anyways - good buy - black bats are not as easy to find

Take care

Jimmy

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Posted By: John Harrell

Mike,

I have picked up a number of old bats with tape. If the bat is cracked for sure and needs repair, I usually remove the tape. If the bat is solid, I leave the tape, unless it is really ratty. Removing the tape means a further step, like removing the old tape adhesive (alcohol and elbow grease normally works), and then you face the issue of discoloration under the tape or uneven patina. All things being equal, you're probably better off leaving the tape alone.

John

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Posted By: Mike H

Thanks for the advice all. I know this bat is cracked, but the value of it repaired doesn't justify the expense imo.

Regarding Fred's ability to remove initials. It probably depends. Here is the link to his site. Many many advanced and novice bat collectors have used him for years.

http://www.geocities.com/brettlowman/batrepair.html

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Posted By: John Harrell

Mike,

I neglected to add that your Zinn Beck 400 is very scarce because of the black color. I have two Zinn Becks, one bark brown (Hornsby model) and an ash finish (Schulte model). I'm not sure that I've run across another black Z-B.

John

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Posted By: Greg Theberge

Not to pour fuel on a fire here, but I guess my question would be why would anyone "restore" a broken bat by repairing a crack, adding a piece of wood to a missing section, removing nails, etc. as seen on that website. The crack was part of the game.

NOT that I'm comparing repairing bats to altering baseball cards (I think grading and paying money on minute grading differences is insane - that's why I'm thankful I collect memorabilia), but I'm probably comparing the process more to restoring antique furniture. If there's historical significance to a piece, the flaws are part of the piece's history. If you intend to use that old chair to sit in, and it's not historically significant, go ahead and restore it. If you aren't, or it's worth money as an antique, you've ruined it by taking away the original finish or adding missing parts. I'm thinking the same can be said for an original bat. I'm quite certain a cracked game used Babe Ruth bat in it's original condition would be worth more than one that someone did major repairs to (Maybe I'm wrong?).

Just like there's nothing wrong with maintaining an original wood finish for furniture, I don't think there would be anything wrong with giving the bat whatever it needed to preserve the integrity of the wood.

Just some food for thought.

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Posted By: Mike H

Greg, you would only restore non-gamers. Store model bats are sometimes restored for visual appeal because there is no historical significance to the player who used it. The better the condition, the greater the value, within reason. For example; I had a Hanna Batrite J Foxx with a completely shattered handle and large chip off the knob. I paid $3 for it. I had Fred completely restore it. I disclosed completely what had been done and sold it for $1,500. That is why you restore a bat.

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Posted By: Greg Theberge

Sounds like a good reason to me, Mike

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Posted By: Clint

Mike, I think restoration is accepted in the game used world as well, as long as it is noted. I wouldn't remove tape, nails or anything placed there by the original user. The problem I have is with a game used bat that had initials carved by someone other than the original user. I don't want to ruin or make the bat look worse however.
Clint