Can anyone detail the differences between the vintage shafts? Legend, Vector, Apex…
Thanks!!!
I have not hit the legend shafts… but the Apex were the most popular shaft… and for the better players you would usually see the #4 stiff and on rare occasion the #5 x shaft. #5’s are very hard to find…
I think the #3 Apex are a bit too loose for what most of us would be after here with a hitting technique.
The Vector shaft was a short lived experimental shaft that Hogan himself had high hopes for. I have a set of them in my PC’s and I like the shaft. The shaft has a bubble a few inches below the grip that raised the flex point way up the shaft, and Hogan felt this would give the better players more control of the shaft and the clubhead. For me, this means a lower trajectory shot, and I love them on a windy day. One of the problems was they had to make a special grip for them because the butt end of the shafts would get quite large, so they had to make special grips that were thinner at the top of the grip to compensate. This gave the players a harder feel in their hands, and lot of the tour pros didn’t like that feeling. Personally I like the feeling, but it soon died out and they stopped production of them after I think just a few years. Interesting shaft for sure… I would like to find a set of Vector #5 shafts personally.
I don’t know about the Legend shaft… that might have been the lightweight shaft?
All of us in our “club” that is to say Dad and all the assistants,backshop,and competitive members at the course were playing Hogan Equipment in the late 70’s thru the mid '80s.From what I can remember we tried every possible Hogan offered combination and Dad being a Hogan staff player had access to whatever was going on.I will check his notes (memories) today and try to find out some neat details. One thing I do recall though and its funny, is that the Legend shafts were indeed a lite weight shaft…so much so that we all constantly were breaking the shafts and returning them to Hogan only to break more of them…it was a very dangerous time because they would usually bust in the middle resulting in the bottom half to go flying wherever!! We all thought it hilarious at the time but the members who had purchased these “new lite shafts” were pissed because Hogan could not replace them as fast as the broke! Needless to say it did not last…the Legend shaft was a bust…pun intended lol. I also remember the vectors being a wierd shaft that didn’t take off. The Apex was the best at the time…but even though the Legend shafts kept breaking,when they didnt they would feel and perform quite well.The shaft wall was just to weak to take the stresses of quality hitting.I think my father will get a laugh out of these lookbacks. Paulsy
I thought I’d take a picture of the Vector shaft for those who haven’t seen its unique stepping pattern.
Lag, does that mean that if I want to get new grips I’m going to have trouble with modern grips? Will a modern grip work, or does it need to be altered in some way?
Thanks.
I have a buddy who is bidding on some Hogan PC’s…The E bay seller says they are Apex 4 shafts (which is what we want) BUT
they have a silver label on them…most all the apex shafts I have seen have a red label…
Do you think the seller is mistaken? could they be vector 4’s?
I have E mailed the seller (no feedback yet), but i wanted to ask here as well…thanks in advance
bent
Bent,
I have a couple of sets of PC’s with the silver label Apex 4 shafts. If I recall correctly the explanation is that these were sort of an experiment on the part of the manufacturer of the Apex shafts (Brunswick or Royal Precision I believe) to duplicate the TT Dynamic Gold shafts that were popular at the time (mid-80’s). I think the silver label 4 shafts are a tad heavier and slightly stiffer than the red label Apex 4 shafts. The silver label probably has a “4D” nomenclature… the “D” representing “Dynamic”.
I have a couple of sets of PC’s with the red label 4’s as well. Both play similarly to me.
robbo
I like the Vector shaft… really fun to play. I think it works really well with a hitting action most of us are working towards.
I suppose it might feel odd with a dump and stall action, but you can really drive it through with them.
Anyone picking up a set of Vector’s let me know how they go. If anyone finds a set with #5’s in them… Santa’s address is…
Lag, you mentioned in a post above that the grips are different on Vectors. Will this cause any issue when getting new grips?
thanks guys (especially robbo)
I really appreciate the info—the seller did get back to me and they do indeed have the “D” on the label,
so they are exactly as described. My buddy had his first experience with the Apex 4 (red label) in the last month and has fallen in love LOL
so I think he will be patient and find the exact set up that he wants
thanks again guys
bent
Grip replacement;
After removing worn grip, I noticed that vector shaft had unique design that was flared (enlarged) end and the grip was specially prepared unique one. However, I carefully measured the dimensions of both shaft (grip area) and grip thickness. Then I got a hint that the thickness of wall of AMF Hogan grip is quite close to women’s grip size of L59. I attempted to install Golfpride’s New Decade MCC Lady (L59X) and the diameters of grip, almost any points, was very close to the original AMF Hogan grip. Actually it was 0.001" smaller than original at some points.
If anyone having trouble in finding replacement, please check the method above if it would be of your help.
hiro
This is true, and the main reason the Vector shaft failed to gain popularity. The shaft was larger at the top, and required the unique grip that Hogan had customized for them. The pros at the time felt the shafts felt too hard in their hands and didn’t like that feeling for the most part.
Knudson would have liked them because he was quoted “I like the feel of steel”
The Vector is a very good shaft and fun to play if anyone else comes across them… have a go and report back!
I stumbled upon a real nice hogan 4 wood with a legend shaft recently. Regripping I found out it also has a very large butt end and I couldn’t fit a normal sized grip in. Do you guys think the same trick will work for this as for the vector?
Edit: Found this thread: viewtopic.php?f=41&t=1623 Seems I’m out of luck.
You might want to give these grips a try: they are quite similar GP Tour wraps and are very easy to install.
The good thing is that they are much too wide when you take them out of their package but they shrink to fit in a couple of days. I’ve used these on large diameter butts with success in the past.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsRbaJxJxSc[/youtube]
I bought a set of Hogan bounce sole plus 1’s on ebay. There were no shaft labels but they felt a little whippy and were too short so my intention is to reshaft them. The problem is that I now see that the original shaft was a small diameter taper tip. I measured it roughly at 8mm (+/- 0.32"). Does any one know what shaft this was likely to have been. Do you think it will be OK to re bore these so that I can fit a .370 shaft or will this reduce their structural integrity given how much material must be removed. A further problem is that I destroyed several of the original shafts trying to remove the hosel pins so replacing the old shafts is now no longer an option. Do I now have 8 pieces of scrapmetal?
Any advice would be appreciated
It’s probably just a regular .355" taper tip shaft. You should be able to identify the shaft based upon the tapering pattern and height. I don’t like to rebore so I just buy taper tip shafts from ebay.
Hope this helps!
That is what I was hoping but this is .31" or .32". I tried a .355 shaft and the tip does not even fit into the opening.
Did you abrade the shafts properly, and did you clean out the hosel?
I had a similar issue with old hogan heads and all it took was grinding a little more chrome from the tips using a belt sander while turning the shaft.
Feel free to PM me if you need more help with this.
Not quite ready for Santa…but today I received a very mint condition set of Hogan Apex II irons-- 2-PW…with Vector 4 shafts…club faces and shafts look in great/very great condition at a great price
Grips are a little slimy from being in someone’s storage I assume…I read earlier here that someone mentioned the Vector shafts were thicker and the grips were thinner in size at one end…
what would be the ideal grip of today to try get on these if the original grips don’t clean up with some soap and water and I need to regrip them?..(besides the brand in that video above)
You might try a leather wrap on one if you can’t get a grip over the butt end. You could try cutting a piece of dowel wood as a plug and then screw in a vintage end cap. Put on a few wraps of tape to build it up just a bit, and then one strip of double back carpet tape to hold the leather wrap. You can bind it at the bottom with some electrical tape.
It might work really well.
I am lucky enough to have acquired a 3 wood “Speed Slot” with the Vector 4 shaft. Wonderful club. Like Lag says in the quote you can really drive that club through the impact arena, and it just feels so solid. The club feels very heavy at impact and beyond. I replaced the Apex 3 wood I used to have in my vintage bag with this one. It belonged to my friend Bentshaft. He brought it to the range a few weeks ago. After I hit it a few times and started raving about the feel, he gave it to me.
The grip is in fairly good condition, a full cord with rib. It is a lot larger than I’m used to, probably because of the shaft thickness at the butt end, as discussed in another equipment thread. I like the shaft so much, I’ll just live with the thicker grip feel.