Welcome to back to our Top 5 Ties and Dyes, a weekly segment highlighting the best string ups and dye jobs posted on Instagram by stringers, dyers, players, and pros. Each week, I will be pouring over posts daily to bring the absolute best craftsmanship from the community for your enjoyment.
ECD DNA by @stnystrings and @smokinstringz
Our first Dye and Tie of the week is a monochrome brown ECD DNA from @stnystrings. STNY has become known for his monochrome series of heads, where he matches the dye color to the stringing materials and creates a striking single-color head from top string to throat. This one was his first ever monochrome brown head and due to the nature of the DNA’s Flex form plastic it ended up with a very cool effect that paired well with the choice to have it strung traditional. Making a return to our Top 5 Ties and Dyes, this all-brown traditional pocket is strung by the master trad stringer Taylor Smoke of @smokinstringz. I always love to see guys team up to bring us even more interesting and unique Ties and Dyes!
South Beach Maverik Tactik 2.0 by @lax_ties
Next, we are taking a trip down to South Beach with Jesse from @lax_ties. This Maverik Tactik 2.0 is dye with a bright yellow throat fade and paired with turquoise top and sidewall strings, as well as a neon pink bottom string. Strung with The Mesh Dynasty 9 Diamond Hexagon for a mid-high pocket, this head is definitely giving us some Vice City vibes. Jesse also joined me for #TuesdayTieUps back on March 2, make sure to check it out at our @lacrosseplayground Instagram page under IGTV episode series.
Minty Fresh Checkered ECD Mirage 2.0 by @clutchfanatic37
Josh, aka @clutchfanatic37, lands with us this week after putting out this minty checkered ECD Mirage 2.0 that deserves all of the flame emojis! Josh has been putting out tie and dye work for years and has had some of his gear used at all levels of lacrosse including NCAA play, the MLL, the PLL and even on the world stage during the World Cup 2018 in Netanya, Israel. Whether its checkerboard, houndstooth, Yeezy or some other pattern, Josh delivers striking dyes that really catch the eye. Josh is also the founder of Iconic Lacrosse which recently put out its Icon Pro 2.0 carbon shaft which I will be putting out a review for in the coming weeks!
Brine Guru Squad by @locknots_monster
The Guru Squad is coming in hot for all your stick trick needs. For those of you who were not aware of this early 2000’s icon, the Brine Guru was specifically designed to be the best stick for doing stick tricks like sidewall stalls. Even at the time of its release it was not designed to be regulation size for NFHS or NCAA play. Instead, the head was designed specifically to make catching the ball on the sidewall and throat easier to allow all sorts of interesting stick trick combinations. This collection is strung by the ever dynamic @locknots_monster. Jon is not only an incredible stringer, but also a Wall Ball Aficionado and Meme Master, putting out some of the funniest and insightful lacrosse memes on Instagram. Make sure to go check out his wall ball vids and meme posts between the incredible trads he's tying up.
Satained Glass ECD DNA Diamond by @cermak
Please take a moment to enjoy all of the angles of this incredible piece of art! This ECD DNA Diamond, dyed by John from @cermak, is quite honestly one of the coolest lacrosse heads I’ve ever seen. John has been experimenting with different techniques as to how he can apply dye to heads and when the DNA Diamond released it gave him the perfect opportunity to use those techniques to create a very cool stained-glass window effect. By mixing the dye with different ingredients to form a paste, John literally is able to paint designs onto plastic that have some of the most interesting results. I have had the opportunity to get to know him on Instagram and he is one of the most collaborative individuals, always willing to lend a hand and teach what he has learned through his experimentation. I’m sure this is most likely his first of many appearances on our Top 5 Ties and Dyes as he continues to innovate and push the boundaries of what is possible with the art of dyeing in lacrosse!
Thank you for joining me this week in celebrating these awesome pieces the "lacrosse maker" community is putting out. Be sure to check in each week for a new edition of Top 5 Ties and Dyes to see if you or your favorite dyer or stringer has their work featured. If you would like your tie ups and dye jobs to be considered please make sure to tag @lacrosseplayground and use #tiesndyes in your post so that we will be notified and spread the word so that as many great artists can be recognized as possible!