Abel
We’re incredibly thrilled to bring you the latest instalment in our featherweight organics design line.
Meet Abel.
SPECS
Dia 54.3mm
Width 48.4mm
Weight 63.2g
Material 6061 AL
The Abel is easy to introduce.
Its antecedent, the Noah, began as a project in making an unapologetically light and round, blank-canvas organic that leaned fully into characteristics of the form factor. It had no bias for rim weight, a bubbly-wide and comfortable frame, and an incredibly fun lightness.
The Noah took off in ways we didn’t imagine, and became one of our own favourites.
The Abel extends that project of making our version of a fundamental, purist’s organic, and takes another step towards simplicity.
It has endless curves, and lines only where strictly necessary.
The most obvious difference is that the Abel isn’t compatible with Side Effects, a design feature that is core to the Noah.
It’s not really addition via subtraction here; the Abel isn’t intended as an upgrade over the Noah. It’s more of a 1a) and 1b) sort of deal.
Some players deeply enjoy customisation and control over the way a yoyo plays; some others enjoy the ease and intuitiveness of playing it as they come, and find tuning an additional effort.
The Noah is for the tinkerer; the Abel is for the player who doesn’t need to fiddle.
On that note, the Abel is one of the smoothest designs we’ve manufactured. This thing is just glass.
The Abel is machined out of 6061 aluminum bar stock, a switch from the 7068 alloy that the Noahs used.
We apportioned some of the extra material along the cup to give it an even, if slightly center-biased distribution.
We also added a tiny nub in the center of the cup – a homage to Flat Caps and the original Side Effects compatibility of its forebear – that many observed.
We enjoyed its subtle disruption of the otherwise unbroken curvature of the hub. It’s similar to the little “halo” groove that marked our initial line of organics, beginning with the Cloudberry and most recently in the Goji – an understated, light touch that we enjoy.
This nub is also featured on a few designs we have in the oven, and we can’t wait to show you more in due time.
The Abel clocks in at 63.2g, which is less than a gram heftier than the Noah in its lightest configuration.
The Abel’s weight distribution sits between a Noah with AL Ultra Lights installed, and another fitted with AL Flat Caps. It plays that way, too. It’s got a bit more body and presence than a Noah at its most featherweight form, but retains every bit of its light touch.
The Noah was originally designed as a miniaturised blend of the Goji and Pomelo (anyone who has played these two would understand this comparison), and the Abel shares that lineage. It’s endlessly boppable, light, and 63.2g of relaxed fun in a midsized frame.
The name Noah refers to a sense of restfulness and calm that we hoped to capture in its design and play. Abel translates to breath and vapor – a fitting name, we think, that encapsulates a sense of airiness and tranquility.
The Abel comes with a matte, ceramic-like blast that allows the colors on these to pop.
We masked the inmost portion along the schmoove step to keep it entirely unblasted and smooth, so as to reduce friction between the string and the matte surface. We also hand-process each Abel with various fabrics to further mute surface friction.
A handful of Abel prototypes were sent out to a list of friends and supporters of Atmos earlier in the year, as a way of expressing our gratitude for the incredible support we’ve received, and also to ask for feedback on the Abel. It was a wonderful exercise in testing on a scale we had never done before.
The Abel is the Noah’s slightly reserved but self-assured twin brother.
Smooth, airy, and easy, and it does everything with a light touch.
You know what you’re getting every single time.
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The Abel is powered by premium hardware in Zipline string’s CS50s, Type I Concave bearings, and atmos x rso Saturn Pads.
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august 2022
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