Semogue 620 Boar Discussion Thread
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Glad you have finally seen the light 
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- #3
Glad you have finally seen the light
Ha! I won't be ditching my badgers or anything drastic like that. The 620 is only one piece of the puzzle. It is playing an, until now, unfilled role in my rotation, and I feel the 620 is pretty unique for a boar. I had been pretty disappointed with boar until this brush came along.
-Andy
I think the brush looks fantastic and is a great size (not to mention great value)
I have the 1520 and used to have the 620 (which is the same knot, I believe).
Unfortunately, I've found the tips prickly - even after break-in, and even after a good soak before shaving.
The 2009 LE has much softer tips - and I've heard some Omegas are soft too.
Anyone care to comment on Omega brushes (or indeed other Semogues) vs. the LE 2009 tip softness?
Regards,
John
PS. I also found the handle on the 620 a bit short - the wooden 1520 handle is a more comfortable handle size (for me).
I have the 1520 and used to have the 620 (which is the same knot, I believe).
Unfortunately, I've found the tips prickly - even after break-in, and even after a good soak before shaving.
The 2009 LE has much softer tips - and I've heard some Omegas are soft too.
Anyone care to comment on Omega brushes (or indeed other Semogues) vs. the LE 2009 tip softness?
Regards,
John
PS. I also found the handle on the 620 a bit short - the wooden 1520 handle is a more comfortable handle size (for me).
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- #5
My 620 is scrubby, but it's definitely not prickly, even dry. I also have somewhat sensitive skin. That's just me, though. Apparently our mileage varies. 
-Andy
-Andy
Hmmm.... interesting!
Could be good old sample variation.... I've certainly had a lot of that with my badgers.
Could be good old sample variation.... I've certainly had a lot of that with my badgers.
My 620 is scrubby, but it's definitely not prickly, even dry. I also have somewhat sensitive skin. That's just me, though. Apparently our mileage varies.
-Andy
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- #7
Maybe that's it. I'm familiar with trimmed-badger prickly and pure badger scrubby, and this isn't anything like that. I'm interested to see what this brush will be like a month from now.
EDIT: I took a close look at my 620 and found 2 filament-like hairs that were about 3 times the diameter of the rest of the hairs in the brush. They had blunt ends and looked like those fiber optic lights you see used to light some synthetic Christmas trees or those flashlight toys they sell at circuses, carnivals, street fairs, etc.. If there are a lot of those in your brush, it would be very prickly/scratchy indeed.
-Andy
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Andrew, your Boreal 976 went to a very good home Now you're driving this reader crazy about the 620.
Now you're driving this reader crazy about the 620.
Wonder how come this thread dryed up??? Seems like a good thing to be talking about. Got my 620 in the mail yesterday and used it right off. The handle is shorter than I am used to and the brush is a bit stiff I'd say. Hoping it softens up a bit as it wears in. It'll be every other day to get it broke in, new 1305 also! If I continually feel the handle is too short, I'll glue on a wafer of sealed 1/4 inch birch plywood; did that to my tweezerman and made all the difference in the world! Face lathered from last tube of palmolive red and did just fine for two passes.
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Yeah, I don't know. I thought it was pretty brilliant.
Maybe this dried up because the 620 is somewhat scritchy. Anyway, my 620 is softening up nicely... to a point. Great backbone, somewhat prickly tips compared to, say, a Shavemac Finest, but that's not stopping me from using it every day in hopes of it softening more. We'll see what ultimately happens. My other brushes have seen zero use since this guy arrived. I really like it.As an aside, I have some anecdotal support for creating an 830 with a 50mm loft (as I've proposed in another thread). The complaint I've been reading about the 620 is it's "prickly tips", which I do not believe are necessary for lathering soaps, as Leon has suggested in another thread. I have a Custom 50mm loft Shavemac D01, which is the farthest thing from scritchy. It's the "anti-scritch", if you will. It murders all of my 17 hard soaps. So does my Custom 45mm loft Finest Shavemac.
I personally think a smart move by Semogue would be to replace the 620's hair with that used in the 830, leave the 830 with a 55mm loft and make the 620 with a 50mm loft. They'd sell a heck of a lot more 620's by using a softer grade, which they obviously have at their disposal. Why not use that and ditch the 620 bristle? Most folks aren't searching for a scratchy brush. Those that do want a scratchy brush can buy a 1520. I've been told loft doesn't matter with boar hair. I'll concede a lack of experience with boar on this point (but I still think loft may matter... I don't know for sure, though).
-Andy
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Not a bad idea, Andy, about another brush design. Maybe call it the 620-A or 620-8H. I'd buy one. Also glad to hear the 620 actually gets 'softer'. I was thinking, ok so the backbone is quite pronounced, but if the tips do soften up, it'll be unique on it's own!
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- #12
Or they could make yet another snazzy acrylic handle with a green (or blue... whatever) bit, fill it with 50mm loft 830 bristle and call it the 830SL (Short Loft).
I was hoping for mad backbone with rather soft tips (think Shavemac Finest) when I bought the 620. The 620 has the amazing backbone I was desiring. More backbone than my Rooney Super 1/1, by far. I doubt, however, that truly soft tips will ever emerge with the 620.
-Andy
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Andy, so you do find the tips prickly after all then?
I gave mine a fair bit of use along with the 1520, and it just didn't soften up. Which is a shame, as the backbone is awesome.
I've sold all my Semogues and gone with an Omega 10005. It's amazing - really good backbone but really soft too. A great combo.
John
I gave mine a fair bit of use along with the 1520, and it just didn't soften up. Which is a shame, as the backbone is awesome.
I've sold all my Semogues and gone with an Omega 10005. It's amazing - really good backbone but really soft too. A great combo.
John
I haven't tried the complete array of brushes out there, but I bought an Omega #31064 a few weeks back. I've used it every day since, including shampooings the first week, to get it broken in. At this point, I feel I'm just about there, and I find that I don't want to grab any other brush!
I've got a new Semogue #830 coming, but it will have to be pretty nice to displace this Omega!
I've got a new Semogue #830 coming, but it will have to be pretty nice to displace this Omega!
Hi Guys,
I've been a lurker for a while as I'm fairly new to DE shaving so I wouldn't have much to contribute but here goes for a 1st post
I bought a 620 around new year to go with my BLK4 & as others have said I found it quite prickly to begin with. Although using a BLK4 for 6 months before hand may make anything feel prickly.
I've been quite religious on my (daily) break-in with the 620 & its only been in the last few days that I feel that its changing, most of my tips have now split into 2's & 3's & I definitely feel on the face that the brush has lost that jabbing sensation.
What I do wonder is as Semogue seems to be a small operation that there may be huge variations on the batches of hair there using per run of brushes, I may have been lucky & had some 2009 LE's end up in mine.
Just a though & as you like to say here YMMV
One other thing for Leon if he reads this, could you ask the factory to at least make an attempt to put the sticker's on straight, mines looks like they were sliding downhill when they applied them
I've been a lurker for a while as I'm fairly new to DE shaving so I wouldn't have much to contribute but here goes for a 1st post
I bought a 620 around new year to go with my BLK4 & as others have said I found it quite prickly to begin with. Although using a BLK4 for 6 months before hand may make anything feel prickly.
I've been quite religious on my (daily) break-in with the 620 & its only been in the last few days that I feel that its changing, most of my tips have now split into 2's & 3's & I definitely feel on the face that the brush has lost that jabbing sensation.
What I do wonder is as Semogue seems to be a small operation that there may be huge variations on the batches of hair there using per run of brushes, I may have been lucky & had some 2009 LE's end up in mine.
Just a though & as you like to say here YMMV
One other thing for Leon if he reads this, could you ask the factory to at least make an attempt to put the sticker's on straight, mines looks like they were sliding downhill when they applied them
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- #16
Andrew, your Boreal 976 went to a very good home
I'm glad you're still enjoying the Boreal! Those are great brushes, but the handle and knot were larger than I prefer. It sounds like you can't really go wrong with the 830, unless you're looking for something scrubbier (620).
It's not prickly, but it is definitely a scrubby brush. My EJ Pure Badger travel brush is scratchier and the Tweezerman I used to have was definitely prickly (needle-like tips). I wouldn't recommend this for someone looking for a luxuriously soft brush or someone with overly sensitive skin. Some guys like a scrubby brush, and this is definitely that. I only shave every other days, so we'll see if this softens up more in another couple weeks. If not, I'm fine with that.
Welcome to B&B! I would imagine there could be a little variation, but I don't know how tightly they control their bristle grades. It seems like Semogue are serious about using different types of bristle, so I get the impression that they're pretty good about making sure the same type of hair ends up in a particular model.
-Andy
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Second shave with my new 620 today. Face lathering I found it helped when I bore down a bit more than normal, my mind is saying it done good to get the bristles to spread out. Made much better lather when I did this! Brush produced good second pass lather. Maybe ya just gotta get to know this little jewel!
Im liking my 620 more and more. Like the 2009 LE it is taking a while to break in. glad I stuck with it.
I have been using my Semogue 620 for 2 weeks now and I am truly amazed at this little thing! It is a 50mm loft and 22mm knot boar brush and boy is it dense. It holds enough lather for my 3 full passes plus touch-ups plus I squeeze out enough lather for an extra pass while cleaning it.
The tips are now so soft, it is so comfortable to face lather with and it hasn't shed any hair in the last week or so. I am really happy with this brush, after having used all grades of badger and a few boars, this one is by far the best in all aspects, including looks, it looks and works great!
The tips are now so soft, it is so comfortable to face lather with and it hasn't shed any hair in the last week or so. I am really happy with this brush, after having used all grades of badger and a few boars, this one is by far the best in all aspects, including looks, it looks and works great!
I have a 620 and it did take a while to break in. Compared to my Omega Pro 49, it was much slower to break in and never did get as soft. I think the Omega has higher quality bristles, but never the less, I prefer the 620 because of its size. I like smaller brushes.
I like the 620 well enough to keep it in my rotation but appreciate the luxury of my Rooneys when their turns come up.
Think of the 620 as a sports car with a tight suspension, rough but fun to drive, and the Rooney more like a sporty touring car: better shocks and more comfortable in the long run.
I like the 620 well enough to keep it in my rotation but appreciate the luxury of my Rooneys when their turns come up.
Think of the 620 as a sports car with a tight suspension, rough but fun to drive, and the Rooney more like a sporty touring car: better shocks and more comfortable in the long run.
