I played on the GC7 last night at the Expo. I was on it a good hour around midnight. I'll cut right to the chase... it plays like a Gold Crown, not a Diamond! Thank the devil!
The cushions are Artemis, and they have a large round nose radius, like the Diamond do. But they play zero like it!!!! According to the interviews posted last year, the cushion was custom made for the GC7. With my eye, and the cushions covered in cloth, the cushions did look exactly the same between the GC7 and the Diamond.
When the ball hits the rail, some speed is noticeably scrubbed off of the ball. This is the opposite of Diamond where sometimes it seems to the eye the ball even picks up speed. (Yes, I KNOW that is impossible).
Playing the CB 4 rails up and down from the spot without bouncing just barely got to the 4th rail with a slightly above center hit. With a slightly below center hit it got there. The cloth was brand new, and the "high karate" had a big effect, so tip placement was crucial. On the Diamond 20 feet away, the CB went about 2 diamonds further on the same hit.
The rebound angle was much different than a Diamond. I played the corner 5 system, and shot THRU diamond 3 on rail 1, with a bit of high outside. On the GC7, I actually pocketed the CB a couple of times! The other times the CB was a couple inches from being pocketed on the short side. I've never seen that outside of a carom table! On the Diamond 20 feet away, the same shot took me about 1.5 diamonds from the corner on the short side.
Both tables had brand new cloth. The Diamond had Simonis, unsure if 860 or 860HR. The GC7 IDK what it had, I assume Brunswick's own brand.
I may go back tonight and try to record some shots back to back on the two tables and make a video out of it.
I'm happy
I hope this table takes over!
