Has anyone got a opinion of these brushes specificly the silver tip ?http://shop.starshaving.com/Silvertip-Badger-Hair-Shave-Brush-0011.htm is link to a U.S distributer and does anyone have any personal experiance with this vendor ? Seems way cheap for a brush ... looking for a a review from a long standing member as i have seen a lot post on other shave sites with accusations of shilling.
I have one silvertip in 23mm and one in best, which more like a pure, but with very soft white tips in 24mm. Both with acrylic handles. Perform flawlessly. Have a bit of a badger stink at start, but after about 10 shave the odour disappears. Here is a post on Larry's blog, where he says that cannot get a decent lather with it - http://leisureguy.wordpress.com/2010/10/20/frankly-my-dear-i-dont-give-a-damn/ Lather seems to fade away. See Bruce's posts about FSB: http://www.bruceonshaving.com/2010/09/03/more-on-frank-shaving-brushes/ I must agree with Larry on lather issues. But I continue using it. And even ordered another - a "monster" brush from Ian. Both brushes lost under five hairs at start and from time to time I see one or two left on my face I would get one. It is not as luxurious as top-level Shavemac or Plisson, of course,but they will give you great experience. I would recommend to go with silvertip.
By the way, you may want also to look at New Forest Brushes: http://newforestbrushes.blogspot.com/ They are a bit more of bucks, but also have gained good feedback.
Another thread on SRP: http://www.straightrazorplace.com/forums/brushes/59770-frank-shaving-brushes.html
I have 4 Frank Shaving brushes; 1 silvertip, 1 best, 2 finest. The silvertip is very soft but has enough backbone to work well with both soaps and creams. The finest are soft tipped, densely packed (at least mine are), will lather anything well and are my favorites. The best is a little scritchy but does work well. I like these brushes alot. I have a couple of Rooney brushes, a couple Vulfix, an Omega and Vie-Long. They have been gathering dust since I got the Frank's. They are not the best brushes in the world but I feel they're pretty darn good. And I don't think you'll find a better bargain out there. You get a lot for your $$
I contacted Ian (via an ebay auction) to ask him for a best, short loft, in a different handle style. He was very nice and said it would take a few weeks to complete - it's been about 2 weeks. I plan on getting 2 maybe even 3 (one of each) when they are ready. I asked for the short loft based on Bruce's review. Ian also has reasonable shaving stands I am considering.
I picked one up used over at B&B (where it is much maligned). Not sure which one it is but I find it to be a fantastic brush, well worth picking up if the opportunity presents itself. The previous owner thougt it was a bit scritchy but I haven't found that at all.
I have one silvertip and two finest brushes from Frank's. They are in my rotation and I feel that they are a good quality brush especially when factoring in the price. Two of the brushes have the butterscotch acrylic handle and one has a beech handle stained to look like rosewood.
Thanks guys!! Based on the your responses I think I will give it a shot ,,Shaver j you mentioned you have a way to contact Ian directly? What type of hair ,handle and loft did you get , and how was price refelcted with changes ? This will be my first badger. ( my 1st brush is a boar i dont like , maybe Im still breaking it in ) I like the fact it is silvertip but maybe a shorter loft will make it less floppy ... Can you clear it with Ian to either pm me his info for custom order or see if he would mind his info on this thread for custom orders ?( might be good for him to make it easier to custom order , but dont want to overwhelm him and he stops custom orders. )
