Paintjob: what paint changes, and what it does not
Updated: 3 hours ago
A paintjob does not change the way the racquet plays. Paint adds a few grams: they are weighed before and after and put back into the setup, so that balance, swingweight and stiffness return to where they were. That is the first thing to say, because it is the only thing that matters when you decide.
What it changes is the object. A frame whose figures are intact but whose paint has gone has no reason to be replaced — except one: you no longer want to take it out of the bag. That reason is real, and it can be dealt with.
Racquets are replaced too early
A carbon frame loses its paint long before it loses its characteristics. That gap is uncomfortable: the object looks finished while the tool is not. Replacing solves the appearance problem by throwing away the tool. A paintjob solves it while keeping the tool.
The discipline a proper paintjob imposes
Added mass is measured. A coat of paint weighs something. We weigh before and after, and correct the setup if the difference leaves tolerance.
Grip and buttcap come off, they are not masked. Paint that stops at the tape shows at the first regrip.
Grommets are inspected while the frame is bare: a split grommet cuts string long before anyone notices it.
No brand logo is reproduced. A paintjob is paint, not a counterfeit.
Gloss black, no logo, and why
The whole Matcheur range ships in gloss black with no logo. That is not a pose: an unbranded frame makes no promise before it is played. The same principle holds for a custom paintjob — you decide what the racquet says, and it says nothing you did not choose.
What gets painted, and what does not
Painted: the rim of the hoop, the throat, both shafts, the visible part of the handle. That is the surface a composition is drawn on, and it is divided into zones — the number of zones treated and the number of colours are what make up most of the work, and therefore most of the price.
Not painted: anything that gets replaced. The bumper strip and the grommets come off, they are not painted: they are wear parts, and painting them would mean painting a piece destined to leave. The butt cap likewise, for the same reason.
Never painted: a brand logo, its own or anyone else's. Paint that reproduces an official decoration is no longer paint, it is a counterfeit — and the player who takes it out of the bag no longer knows what he is holding.
How long paint lasts
Paint is a layer a few tens of microns thick, on an object that takes the ball, the ground and the net posts. It wears, and it wears first in the same places for everybody: the top of the hoop, which scrapes the ground on serve, and the sides at three and nine o'clock, where the racquet rubs against the bag and against other frames.
We say so plainly because it can be checked within six months. A clear top coat slows the wear; it does not prevent it. A good paintjob on a frame that is stored properly lasts several seasons; the same one in a bag where three racquets touch lasts markedly less.
What you will be asked before we start
Four things, and none of them is a trap.
The frame, with its model: the available surface and the way it divides into zones are not the same on all of them.
A sketch or a visual reference, however rough. We answer on what is feasible before you confirm, not after.
The finish: matt or gloss. This is not only taste — a matt finish shows fingerprints less and forgives wear better, a gloss one renders flat colour better.
The number of colours and zones. That is where the working time sits: each extra colour adds a full masking, a drying and an inspection.
When a paintjob makes sense
On a frame you intend to keep: a model you have played for years, a matched pair you do not want to break up, a frame whose repair shows.
In those three cases, custom paint is ordered online. The design is sent as a sketch before the order: we tell you what is feasible, and on which zones, before you confirm.
The racquet is sent to our workshop, in Normandy; shipping details are given to you when you order. Allow two weeks.
It makes none on a frame that does not suit you. Paint does not correct a geometry: there, it is the setup that needs revisiting, or the frame itself — the configurator answers that question in six.
Paint is done at the workshop, in the Orne, on the racquet you send in or bring — as with stringing, tuning and repair.
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