TOPIC: ASP Graflex, Ep4 screen version, Warrior Tier

ASP Graflex, Warrior Tier
I actually received the ASP Graflex last month but it took me a while to get around to write this review. Got too many sabers to play with and no motivation to write. Sorry

Time line:
Pledged, confirmed, email parts list to SF: 6/15
Confirmed by SFCS: 6/16
Pre-Shipment: 6/17
Shipped: 7/07
Delivered: 7/09
21 days for an Warrior tier hilt.

Adaptive Saber Parts
http://www.saberparts.com/#/configure?code=4.128.1.0-3.108.1.22-2.62.4.0-1.20.1.0-7.152.9.0-6.149.3.0-5.143.0.0

Parts
ASP . Graflex Pommel . Standard
ASP . Vengeance Body . Standard
ASP . Graflex Switch . Black
ASP . Graflex Emitter . Standard
ASP . Led 12W+ . Light Blue
ASP . Blade Plug 4 . Silver
ASP . Blade 32'' . null

At first, I wasn't too drawn to the Graflex. Yea, it's Luke's first light saber But I liked the thin neck sabers better. So the first acquisition of my light saber collection was the Redeemer. Then I discovered the Vengeance and it was love at first sight so that was to be the 2nd saber in my collection. But on the day of placing the order for an ASP saber, I got the Graflex instead. Why? because it's Luke's first saber!!
The unboxing.



The Toblerone box arrived pristine. Not bent, not crushed, the corners are not dented. It was perfect. Inside, The phoenix stand, The baggie with the LED, the battery holder and the battery. Blade plug #4 came installed in the emitter. The switch, that was the grief of the other ASP Graflex thread, came per-installed. Which is good new and bad news for me. Good news, I didn't have to worry about installing the switch in the control box. Bad news, I can't use the electronics in the Vengeance as I had planned. One thing that struck me as odd was the hilt came with both a Covertech wheel and a D-Ring. Then I remember the Covertech is on the Vengeance body to be swap with the Graflex body on my Vengeance hilt so it wasn't odd after all.




Assembling the hilt and installing the electronics was easier than I thought. The plug and play nature of ASP is truely remarkable. When it works , it works well. The ASP Graflex did have its share of challenges. First I did not find the LED retention screw. There were screws that held the bunny ears, the red button, the glass eye and one for blade retention but only the blade retention screw protrude into the hilt enough to hold anything in place. The other screws just held the greeblies in place. So I went to the hardware store and bought a pack of 8X32 X 2/8 inch button head socket cap screws that looks just like the screw below the red button. I replaced the factory screw with the one I bought and It fit almost perfectly. I filed about 1mm off the tip to make the button head sit flush with the hilt while it held the LED in place and I have a LED retention screw.
I did some research on the orientation of the control box on the Graflex. Except of ANH, all of the movies has the Control box oriented to the right of the hilt when looking down the rabbit ears. ANH has it sitting to the left of the rabbit ears, which  for me, is the more comfortable way to hold the Graflex. Without shims the control box sits on top, inline with the rabbit ears. So I experiment with the timing shims and found 1 thick and 1 thin places the box to the left of the rabbit ears, where I like it.



 So following the instruction in the "Photo Tutorial - ASP switch & electronics install"
https://saberforgeforum.com/forum/adaptive-saber-parts/11400-photo-tutorial-asp-switch-electronics-install
First, I installed the blade plug so it's flush with the blade holder. With the blade plug in place I know how far up to placed the LED by resting it against the blade plug inside the emitter. I curled the LED wires into a pig tail to save space. The body and the switch section are then screwed together. The wires from the battery holder was snaked in through the body, past the switch and out the other side. The battery holder is pushed inside the body. From the emitter end of the switch section, I plug the battery-switch QC into the switch QC and the battery-LED QC into the LED QC. The emitter is then screwed on to the Switch section and the LED retention screw tighten. I check my work by pushing the bubble card and the LED came on nice and bright. Easy Peasy.



Observations
The graflex is a shorter hilt. Combined with the deep blade pocket, a 32” blade makes the over all saber seems short. It wheels okay but it just don't look right. I ordered a 37” day blade to see if that makes it look better. As with most of the hilts with a control box, the box is sharp and can scratch the crap out of your hands. I took a file to the edges and corners then 0000 steel wool to round it off a bit which made handling the saber more pleasant. Light the other reviewer said, the fins on the handle is made of aluminum but it is pretty comfortable to hold. But during dueling the dominate hand grabs the smooth handle part of the emitter above the control box so the fins don't really interfere with the control of the saber. Since I received both the Vengeance and Graflex hilts, the ASP shop has come on line. With the new pricing structure, we have found out these two hilts are two of the most expensive hilts in ASP. You can say because the graflex is a highly sought after model or all those fins and greeblies add to the cost of the saber. Either way, they are $100 more than the other hilts and well worth the cost.



Since this hilt has greeblies like the rabbit ears and the control box that makes dueling problematic I have decided to put champion electronics in it. So stay tune for the conversion from Warrior to Champion.

Would love to see more photos of the Vengence body on the Flex if you don't mind?
I always assemble it like that on the ASP builder as I like the look of it.

Here you go.

This is basically my Vengeance with the Graflex emitter.

Messing around. The Super Graflex

Not sure what to call this monstrosity, a short staff? two headed saber?

awesome.
Thank you kindly, I must say. I really like the look of it with the Vengence body.

I am really liking the concept of modular hilts. The whole plug and play really makes this hobby more flexible. I can build a screen similar hilt for display. With timing shims I can have the control box and the left or the right side of the hilt. I can switch out the switch section and have a hilt that is more duel friendly. I can change parts to make a saber that is based on the original saber but more aesthetically pleasing to me. after playing with the graflex for a month. I feel that the pommel is utilitarian but ugly. It just ends. I like my butts tapered. Last night when I was cramming the champion electronics in to the graflex body i realized the body has barely enough room for the chassis. when I screw in the pommel it's touching the speaker and distorts the sound. So I'm going to ditch the graflex pommel and put in either pommel #10 or the Gladius pommel, which will give the body 1/2 to 3/4 inch of room to give the speaker more room and make the hilt look less stumpy.

Very nice.

Great and informative review! Did you have much problem with the timing. I have a graflex emitter, a switch and body and BOTH needed 3/4 degree turns so I needed a LOT of timing shims (the thicker ones).

Thanks for the write-up, I enjoyed reading your experience of it. Glad to see it all came together nicely!

I like the look of a streamlined graflex!