Bridgestone J40 irons review

Bridgestone released their new irons about 2 weeks ago, and here's a quick review about the cavity back versions. First, some history. I was a die-hard mizuno fanboy. I believed that no other oem made better feeling/quality irons. Then i read some reviews about the B'stone J38 irons, and how people were raving about them. I found a good deal on a second hand set of the dual pocket cavity irons, so bought them out of curiosity. To cut a long story short, they instantly kicked my beloved MP52's out of the bag. Nothing i've ever hit can even compare. It feels amazing, sounds great, is forgiving, long AND consistent - i've used these for more than a year, and i've never had a "flyer". For those who don't know what i'm referring to, it's when you somehow hit the sweetest sweet spot on the iron and the ball goes 20m longer for no apparent reason.

Performance wise i think the J38's were perfect. My only gripes were that visually i found the heel to toe length a little too long, and these irons i had were standard spec, when normally my lie angle is 2* flat. So when i read the news about the J40's being released, i knew i had to get them custom ordered. From my understanding, the J40 Cavity Back irons are actually a re-badged model of an older Tourstage iron. Didn't really bother me, still placed my order. They arrived with the stock PX Flighted shafts, which i already knew i wouldn't like. First range session, i was sold. Everything i loved about the J38 DPC, plus what i had hoped to have. Only thing was that the PX shafts were giving me some gross high balls, so what remained was to pull the KBS C-Tapers from my J38s and get them installed in the J40s. Voila.... these are perfect. Played 3 rounds with them, and i couldn't be happier.

From what i see, the J40 dual pocket cavity version has only cosmetic changes from the J38 model so really no point upgrading and/or buying. Good deals to be had on those J38 DPCs now...

And yes, I confess, i'm now a die-hard Bridgestone fanboy.

Thanks for the review. Care to post some pics here for us to drool on?

Bridgestone J40 DPC. No review just yet as have not hit a single ball.

Nice set,just love those kind of simple design from Japan.

i was using the J33 true temper s300 and they were great. however, i wished they came in R200 shafts instead. tested the nike vrs irons with the R200 compared with the S200 and the R200 shafts were further by 10 yards for the 7 iron. Bridgestone clubs are generally pretty good.

Great review! Would love some pics

Beautiful set! Coupled with SF i95 shafts....Swwweeeee!

Des, how's the SF?

golfool2009 wrote:

Des, how's the SF?

y dun u ask me!!????

my views bery partial.....

cant guarantee cut 10 strokes....

but at least your wallet cannot close....

slinger wrote:

golfool2009 wrote:

Des, how's the SF?

y dun u ask me!!????

my views bery partial.....

cant guarantee cut 10 strokes....

but at least your wallet cannot close....

Oh....that's good enough for me.....anyway, no point asking you la....use tree branch also win by one stroke......

golfool2009 wrote:

slinger wrote:

golfool2009 wrote:

Des, how's the SF?

y dun u ask me!!????

my views bery partial.....

cant guarantee cut 10 strokes....

but at least your wallet cannot close....

Oh....that's good enough for me.....anyway, no point asking you la....use tree branch also win by one stroke......

helpful also tio suan....

haiz.... good guy hard to be





June 10th Sunday Kranji.....

u gamed for a round.....

if ok, i arrange, u just show up....

slinger wrote:

helpful also tio suan....

haiz.... good guy hard to be





June 10th Sunday Kranji.....

u gamed for a round.....

if ok, i arrange, u just show up....

No one said being a saint was easy......June 10 is good for me......I'd appreciate it if you don't shoot 74 again.....

Bro 2008, how much you paid for the new Bridgstone J40 DPC irons? They have the Players' looks irons and yet alittle more forgiving compare to Bladed irons I guess ...

golfool2009 wrote:

Des, how's the SF?

I fitted the SF on this new J40 DPC irons straight after unboxing the irons. So my review will not be accurate as I am not comparing the shaft with the same head. I was previously using KBS tour Stiff with blade. As with all users of SF, I am less tired now and my tennis elbow is not as painful as before. One thing I did notice is my ball flight for longer irons (5,6) is higher and easier to launch now. I would recommend it for people who want to play longer golf and maintain the accuracy of the steel shaft.

Your new driver must be damn good for you to ditch your trusty Ping, must arrange for a game soon.

Turbo wrote:

Bro 2008, how much you paid for the new Bridgstone J40 DPC irons? They have the Players' looks irons and yet alittle more forgiving compare to Bladed irons I guess ...

I ordered the J40 DPC for USD $699.99 for 5 to Pw as World of Golf has not brought in the J40 model yet. Some of the ebay sellers are selling at USD$499 to $599 now.

The irons comes with PX flighted shaft as but I have it custom ordered in DG S300 with no upcharge. The set came with a lie angle 1.5* upright than I usually played (Pw was 64.5* as opposed to my lie angle of 63*).

Hi Bro 2008, can I check how did you ship your irons back? Always wanted to order clubs online but held back due to the shipping costs..

Thanks!

2008 wrote:

Turbo wrote:

Bro 2008, how much you paid for the new Bridgstone J40 DPC irons? They have the Players' looks irons and yet alittle more forgiving compare to Bladed irons I guess ...

I ordered the J40 DPC from Amazon for USD $699.99 for 5 to Pw as World of Golf has not brought in the J40 model yet. Some of the ebay sellers are selling at USD$499 to $599 now.

The irons comes with PX flighted shaft as but I have it custom ordered in DG S300 with no upcharge. The set came with a lie angle 1.5* upright than I usually played (Pw was 64.5* as opposed to my lie angle of 63*).

Thanks for your detail replied. Golfsmith also selling at $699.99 (5i-PW) with Proj X-Flighted shafts. I like the looks of the iron head. Why didn't you consider the J40 cavity back without holes (semi-muscled backed)?

I will definitely consider these irons if I decide to replace my irons ...

shimizu.toruk wrote:

Hi Bro 2008, can I check how did you ship your irons back? Always wanted to order clubs online but held back due to the shipping costs..

Thanks!

comgateway.com

I paid USD94 for shipping the set.

[quote="Turbo"][quote="2008"]

Turbo wrote:

Thanks for your detail replied. Golfsmith also selling at $699.99 (5i-PW) with Proj X-Flighted shafts. I like the looks of the iron head. Why didn't you consider the J40 cavity back without holes (semi-muscled backed)?

I will definitely consider these irons if I decide to replace my irons ...

The topline of the DPC is thin enough to please my eyes when addressing. I wanted something more forgiving and manageable even if I play up to 3 rounds of golf per week. I like the simplicity of the design.

2008 wrote:

golfool2009 wrote:

Des, how's the SF?

I fitted the SF on this new J40 DPC irons straight after unboxing the irons. So my review will not be accurate as I am not comparing the shaft with the same head. I was previously using KBS tour Stiff with blade. As with all users of SF, I am less tired now and my tennis elbow is not as painful as before. One thing I did notice is my ball flight for longer irons (5,6) is higher and easier to launch now. I would recommend it for people who want to play longer golf and maintain the accuracy of the steel shaft.

Your new driver must be damn good for you to ditch your trusty Ping, must arrange for a game soon.

After using my lightweight east-to-launch driver shaft, I'm considering moving to even lighter shafts than my NSPro 950 such as the SF........ though not sure there'd be a significant difference since i don't struggle to launch my irons unlike my driver where I really struggled to get it off the ground........can the SF give me 10-20m extra.....?.....haha......seriously, can it?

Maybe we will soon see u selling all your hybrids and start using 3-4-5 irons

2008 wrote:

shimizu.toruk wrote:

Hi Bro 2008, can I check how did you ship your irons back? Always wanted to order clubs online but held back due to the shipping costs..

Thanks!

comgateway.com

I paid USD94 for shipping the set.

I am sure Sg custom would charge you for the prevailing GST @ 7% since the total value is more than S$400 unless Amazon under-declared the actual value which I doubt so. I remember I have to pay 7% GST (thru' FEDEX) when I shipped something more than S$400 from Golfsmith.

guy013 wrote:

Maybe we will soon see u selling all your hybrids and start using 3-4-5 irons

But the set does not come with 3i & 4i ...

2008 wrote:

The topline of the DPC is thin enough to please my eyes when addressing. I wanted something more forgiving and manageable even if I play up to 3 rounds of golf per week. I like the simplicity of the design.

Absolutely! Most Jap designs like Mizuno, Miura, Tourstage, etc. have sleek and simple designs ...

Kinda surprised to see my old post being brought up... still loving these irons!

As requested by some, here are a couple of pics