the two arsenal thing is a supriseingly good idea. i agree with the wood eating up balls. i had little specks of my twisted come off the other day. wasnt real bad but wood does eat'em up really fast. and my twisted doesn't work to well on synthetic. but thats a good idea if you go different places all the time. i like to go to different houses and should find something that goes to different places. good idea though. go with both. and see which works best where and when. would be intersting to see thats for sure.

I think that would be an interesting idea. Lane Masters seems like that since they don't have a lot of equipment, they're probably a little more pricey... I know here they would be. Actually to be honest I don't think I've even seen a Lane Masters ball in person. I would look into doing something like that if you could afford it.

You can do the "two arsenal" thing without having a hole herd of balls. I bowl in two houses, house shots and sport patterns at both, one all wood with screaming back ends, and the other all synthetic that tends to play tight. The key to versatility is to find a great benchmark ball, and then to go from there. My benchmark is a Twisted Fury at 1000 Abralon and polished, and it goes with me to both houses along with my White Dot. When bowling on synthetic, my Storm Passion at 1000 Abralon is added to the bag and is the first ball out until breakdown. On wood, my Power Groove Dry/R takes the Storm's place and it comes out when the Twisted starts to over-react or check up early. I've got options and can play most parts of the lane through a night's transition, and with only four balls.

I was just thinking about it and I think that the Roto-Grip balls would perform better on the house shots there, and I wouldn't need to get all balls I listed in the Roto arsenal that I put up. And the Lane Masters it seems, would handle better in tourneys and on sports shots from what I've seen, heard and researched about them. The houses that I bowl at I would need to get maybe 1 or 2 new balls if I wanted to use only Roto-Grip.

I don't understand this distinction, House vs Tournaments. The Roto-Grip Cell and SD 73 are both heavy oil balls and other balls, like Illusion and Venus, in the line are for medium oil. Similarly, the Terminator, Conqueror and Black Pearl from Lane Master are heavy oil balls and the Buzz and Hornet are medium oil balls.

Within each line, you have a range of balls for different conditions. You can't just say the Ball Company Name as the difference.

I will say this again, you have to match the ball to how you bowl, and what lane conditions you bowl on.

Regardless of the Ball Manufacturer, softer coverstock will require more maintenance, as they absorb oil faster. Roto-Grip Cell, Brunswick Scorchin Inferno, MoRich TS&A, Ebonite Infinite One, all absorb oil faster than a polished or pearlized coverstock. And, some of these have been known to die faster too.

There is much more to buying a ball than just the Company name.

I don't understand this distinction, House vs Tournaments. The Roto-Grip Cell and SD 73 are both heavy oil balls and other balls, like Illusion and Venus, in the line are for medium oil. Similarly, the Terminator, Conqueror and Black Pearl from Lane Master are heavy oil balls and the Buzz and Hornet are medium oil balls.

Within each line, you have a range of balls for different conditions. You can't just say the Ball Company Name as the difference.

I will say this again, you have to match the ball to how you bowl, and what lane conditions you bowl on.

Regardless of the Ball Manufacturer, softer coverstock will require more maintenance, as they absorb oil faster. Roto-Grip Cell, Brunswick Scorchin Inferno, MoRich TS&A, Ebonite Infinite One, all absorb oil faster than a polished or pearlized coverstock. And, some of these have been known to die faster too.

There is much more to buying a ball than just the Company name.

I have only one ball that is not a Brunswick and I hate it. So its Brunswick or nothing for me. Besides I have a deep seeded hatred of Ebonite products and they have their grubby hooks into just about everything now.

I was just entertaining an interesting idea. I might or might not do it. But from what I can tell the Lane Masters balls seem to handle better on more volumes of oil, that's why I would be alright with getting them for tournaments and sports shots. And I do very well with Cell on house shots and I'd probably get two balls from Roto-Grip that would work just fine for the houses that I bowl at.

However the voice in my head is saying that this route might not be the best way to go. I think if I were to go with one of them I'd still be better off. If I went with Lane Masters I think I would have to get used to the different coverstocks on the balls (definately a major learning experience), whereas with the balls I want from Roto-Grip I would only have to get used to one.

Still undecided and leaning towards Roto-Grip.

My 2 cents and then I'm out.

If a ball company is not paying me to use their balls, I will never be exclusive with a company. What if you were Lane Masters only before the Cell came out? That ball would not be able to own one, because you are trying to shoehorn yourself into a single slot. What will the next amazing ball be? Something by Ebonite? Brunswick? The Global 900 Break Pearl got a 10 rating from BTM for a medium house shot by Tweener, the only 10 I've ever seen. That might be my next ball. That would bring the total number of ball companies I own up to 4 - 2 Ebonite, 2 Brunswick, 1 Roto, and 1 Global 900. They all have their place in my arsenal. I have a hole right now in the strong pearl category, which is where that ball, or possibly a Storm release - because they do that kind of ball well - would fit perfectly.

The second a ball company decides to pay me, or even give me equipment for free, I'll jump on it. Till then, I will buy the ball that fits what I am looking for, no matter who makes it.

Alright I think I know where this will eventually end. So what if I said that I decided to keep an open mind and have different balls from different company's just more from Roto-Grip. Would that sound like a decent solution, allowing for versatility, and not allowing myself to be forced into throwing one company and one shot.