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Bridgestone J40 Driver Review Thread

SuperStroke
Really wish that B-stone clubs (and Srixon) had more presence in the retail-o-spere. I have no idea where to go to try them. They're sweet looking sticks and sound like they're Joshzilla-friendly, but I wanna put 'em to the test!
 
Bstoner is a cool cat. I really enjoyed my round in Florida with him. The J40 has me intrigued. Is the J40's face as shallow as the J38?

Love the sound comparison of the J40 and the Hawk. I've heard one and if it's anything like that, it's a plus for me. Plus you add in a PX shaft and it's got winner written all over it for me.

I've got to get my hands on one to give it a few swings. Thanks for the feedback TC.
 
I love to hear stuff like that, TC. I wonder what a high launch head would be like for me in the J40. High launch and low spin could be the ticket to some great distance.
 
biggsy said:
Bstoner is a cool cat. I really enjoyed my round in Florida with him. The J40 has me intrigued. Is the J40's face as shallow as the J38?

Love the sound comparison of the J40 and the Hawk. I've heard one and if it's anything like that, it's a plus for me. Plus you add in a PX shaft and it's got winner written all over it for me.

I've got to get my hands on one to give it a few swings. Thanks for the feedback TC.
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When I hit it, didn't sound tingy but I didnt quite get a Razr Hawk sound/feel. The Hawk definitely feels more muted and one of those drivers you cant tell from the shot how long it is. The J40 when hit on the screws feels/sounds with more crackle and it's like you're destroying the ball.
 
Bstoner is a great guy to play with. He hit bombs before with the J38 so I can't imagine what he was doing with the J40. The 445cc head definitely intrigues me though

TC said:
I got to see this driver in person yesterday and was privileged enough to see it in action. I played with forum member bstonerjk yesterday and a real gem of a golf course (thanks for the invitation buddy) and it was his first time hitting this driver. Well, it didn't seem like it as he was hitting some absolute bombs. I've had the pleasure of playing with bstonerjk before this round, and yesterday was quite frankly, a driver display. His J40 had the Project X 6.0 shaft in it, which is the stock shaft, and no, it's not a made for shaft. I tried to really pay attention to the driver and there are a couple of things that really stood out to me about it.

First, the sound! The J40 sounds awesome. It reminded me a lot of the Razr Hawk. Not pingy or tingy but instead more of that muted "thump" or "twack". It just sounds like the golf ball is pounded. Second, the shape is very visually appealing. It's a 445CC head, so it's not as big as lots of drivers out there but it doesn't look small at all. It's shaped beautifully and this driver frames the golf ball very, very well. Last but certainly not least, I loved the design on the sole of the driver. It's so simple, yet not. Nothing stupidly distracting at all. Instead, this driver just screams business, and after watching it in action, it also means business. Honestly, if this driver was left handed, it might be the number 1 driver on my to hit/OEM list. I like every single thing about it.

Anyway, if you get a chance, do yourself a favor and experience this driver!
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That is awesome. I need to find one of these to demo.
 
Thanks for chiming in with your thoughts on this driver TC, I absolutely love my J38 and am as giddy as could be to try the J40. I love the sound you're describing, that "I just smashed the hell out that ball" sound is what I like to call it.
 
Chunkylover77 said:
Great thoughts TC. The J40 driver does have me intrigued. Sometimes I think the 460 heads are too big but I do love the forgiveness. If the J40 is forgiving enough this could be the perfect driver. I might need a different shaft though to give me some more spin
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I share the same thoughts as you Chunky. One thing I like about my current driver is the forgiveness out towards the toe, hopefully the J40 has that because that's my miss on the club face
 
TC said:
I got to see this driver in person yesterday and was privileged enough to see it in action. I played with forum member bstonerjk yesterday and a real gem of a golf course (thanks for the invitation buddy) and it was his first time hitting this driver. Well, it didn't seem like it as he was hitting some absolute bombs. I've had the pleasure of playing with bstonerjk before this round, and yesterday was quite frankly, a driver display. His J40 had the Project X 6.0 shaft in it, which is the stock shaft, and no, it's not a made for shaft. I tried to really pay attention to the driver and there are a couple of things that really stood out to me about it.

First, the sound! The J40 sounds awesome. It reminded me a lot of the Razr Hawk. Not pingy or tingy but instead more of that muted "thump" or "twack". It just sounds like the golf ball is pounded. Second, the shape is very visually appealing. It's a 445CC head, so it's not as big as lots of drivers out there but it doesn't look small at all. It's shaped beautifully and this driver frames the golf ball very, very well. Last but certainly not least, I loved the design on the sole of the driver. It's so simple, yet not. Nothing stupidly distracting at all. Instead, this driver just screams business, and after watching it in action, it also means business. Honestly, if this driver was left handed, it might be the number 1 driver on my to hit/OEM list. I like every single thing about it.

Anyway, if you get a chance, do yourself a favor and experience this driver!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliments, TC. I had a blast playing with you. Cliffs at Walnut Cove is no joke. Definitely one of the tougher tracks I've played this year. But proud to say we both would have broken 80 had some putts dropped. Nothing more frustrating than leaving 6 or 7 birdie putts dead in the jaws a couple inches or cm short. Take it for what its worth from a PR Flack and a completely biased source, but the J40 445 is the Real Deal. It was really hot yesterday and I can honestly say yesterday was the first time I ever hit the driver. In fact I peeled the plastic wrap off of it, the fairway wood and wedges on the practice range prior to our round. That's how new the gear was to me. I did like the J38, but for my swing (I generate a good bit of clubhead speed) the J40 with Project X 6.0 is a much better fit. The way the face frames the ball seems very similar to the way to the R9 Superdeep did. It has that type of a deep face profile appearance to it rather than the more shallow J38 face. As TC said, we are all really excited to a part of the Morgan Cup and can't wait til we start getting our players' feedback on the J40 line. Look forward to teeing it up again soon, TC.
 
biggsy said:
Bstoner is a cool cat. I really enjoyed my round in Florida with him. The J40 has me intrigued. Is the J40's face as shallow as the J38?

Love the sound comparison of the J40 and the Hawk. I've heard one and if it's anything like that, it's a plus for me. Plus you add in a PX shaft and it's got winner written all over it for me.

I've got to get my hands on one to give it a few swings. Thanks for the feedback TC.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Biggsy. I felt the same about our Florida round. You just mash the ball. I think you'll be impressed with the J40 445. As I said above, the profile is much deeper face, as opposed to the shallow face of J38. It is an absolute bomber.
 
Bstone,
I left this question for TC in another thread since he played with you but I will ask you as well. Does B-stone anticipate left handed offerings any time soon?
 
bstonerjk said:
Thanks, Biggsy. I felt the same about our Florida round. You just mash the ball. I think you'll be impressed with the J40 445. As I said above, the profile is much deeper face, as opposed to the shallow face of J38. It is an absolute bomber.
Click to expand...


Did someone say deep face? Well colour me intrigued.
 
Doug the lefty said:
Bstone,
I left this question for TC in another thread since he played with you but I will ask you as well. Does B-stone anticipate left handed offerings any time soon?
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Doug, thanks for your interest. As I told TC, nothing on the horizon anytime soon, but if the popularity of Bridgestone clubs grow in the U.S. and thus gain more distribution outlets throughout North America, the company will certainly consider lefty clubs in the future.
 
bstonerjk said:
Doug, thanks for your interest. As I told TC, nothing on the horizon anytime soon, but if the popularity of Bridgestone clubs grow in the U.S. and thus gain more distribution outlets throughout North America, the company will certainly consider lefty clubs in the future.
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bstone,
Thanks for the response. Glad Bridgestone is on board for the next MC 2.0. Really looking forward to hearing the feedback from the staffers.
 
bstonerjk said:
Thanks for the compliments, TC. I had a blast playing with you. Cliffs at Walnut Cove is no joke. Definitely one of the tougher tracks I've played this year. But proud to say we both would have broken 80 had some putts dropped. Nothing more frustrating than leaving 6 or 7 birdie putts dead in the jaws a couple inches or cm short. Take it for what its worth from a PR Flack and a completely biased source, but the J40 445 is the Real Deal. It was really hot yesterday and I can honestly say yesterday was the first time I ever hit the driver. In fact I peeled the plastic wrap off of it, the fairway wood and wedges on the practice range prior to our round. That's how new the gear was to me. I did like the J38, but for my swing (I generate a good bit of clubhead speed) the J40 with Project X 6.0 is a much better fit. The way the face frames the ball seems very similar to the way to the R9 Superdeep did. It has that type of a deep face profile appearance to it rather than the more shallow J38 face. As TC said, we are all really excited to a part of the Morgan Cup and can't wait til we start getting our players' feedback on the J40 line. Look forward to teeing it up again soon, TC.
Click to expand...
I like the fact that J40 is deeper than it's predecessor. I watched the video again and you can see the depth. It's a good point in a driver from a forgiveness standpoint. Glad to hear you've had some early success with it.

bstonerjk said:
Thanks, Biggsy. I felt the same about our Florida round. You just mash the ball. I think you'll be impressed with the J40 445. As I said above, the profile is much deeper face, as opposed to the shallow face of J38. It is an absolute bomber.
Click to expand...
I'm going to make a trip to the golf store and take some swings with it. I'm loving the deeper face...a lot! Knowing your mash factor with a B330, I trust your judgement and feedback. You can strike the crap out of a golf ball.

Glad you boys had such a great time.
 
Having seen this driver in play I agree with everything in your review. It's the complete package. It looks great, it sounds great, and best of all, it puts balls in the fairway! I can't speak highly enough of a driver I've never hit but I would recommend this one to a lot of people based on what I saw. I really hope this driver and Bridgestone's equipment finds homes in lots of golf bags in 2012.
 
I really enjoyed this write-up JB as this is a driver that we don't see much about due to availability. Penetrating flight with reduced side spin sounds completely ideal for me. The PX standard shaft is a plus IMO as well. Some MC 2.0'ers are going to have some success with this driver I believe.


Tappin' from my iPad!
 
great review, definitely looking forward to trying this out. Spin Killer has me excited.

Also, just a quick note, "The Project X line of golf shafts are incredible popular" should be incredibly

in case the bridgestone folks are reading...great review
 
I know you said that the 445cc was more forgiving than the other model. How does that forgiveness compare to other drivers on the market?
 
Great review JB, thanks. Enjoyed reading through that one.

This driver definitely sounds like it could be a revelation for some. The shaft offering is also impressive. I'd love to be able to give it a swing, even though it doesn't sound like it would be ideal for me.
 
blugold said:
I know you said that the 445cc was more forgiving than the other model. How does that forgiveness compare to other drivers on the market?
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Comparably to many popular choices out there. I would not put them at the same forgiving level as some and just as forgiving as others. In my opinion similar forgiveness wise to the R11 and/or 910D2
 
I am really interested in this driver. I'm not sure spin killing is right for me but I want to try it to see. Real deal PX is sweet.
 
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