Masonh's Merry Widow review.

BlowFish said:

Backgrounder:
This cue was ordered on Jan '08 when Masonh posted a Cambodian Rosewood/Quilted Maple cue. I contacted Masonh and asked if I can get a cue made with Cambodian Rosewood and BEM handle. At some point of the exchange in PMs, I settled on an Olivewood handle. The exchange continued when Mason has questions for me. Masonh kept me posted when it was necessary.

Masonh contacted me near the end of March that the cue is completed and he needs me to decide on which taper for the shaft I would prefer. Told him that I like crisp and firm hitters with a barrel on it. The cue arrived HK last Sunday(April 6). I opened it slowly within the next 48hrs to acclimatize in this high humidity levels (in the 90's) of HK.

Last nite (Friday, April 11) I finally had the chance to hit with this cue and the other cue(Viattorre). I was with a fellow AZB poster Roy (aka: troyroy78). Here goes...

Woods:
Forearm: Cambodian Rosewood
Handle: Olivewood
Butt: Cambodian Rosewood

Specs: (my own measurements)
Lenght: 57.50"
Weight: 18.60oz (Shaft: 3.6oz, Butt: 15oz)
Balance Point: 18.75"

Tip: Pressed LePro
Ferrule: 0.75" (Masonh's Micarta)
Pin: G10 3/8 x 10

Diameter:
Shaft: 12.70mm, 21.00mm (0.500", 0.826")
Butt: 21.00mm, 31.75mm (0.826", 1.250")

Ringwork: Masonh's Trademark Rings @ A, B and E.

Finish:
The glossy finish on this cue was done well. Not too thick, but not too thin as well. It was just right. I was hard pressed to find a flaw. (note: After playing last nite, I did notice a tiny-winny finish chipped off the side of the butt cap. Nothing major as this is normal ware and tear from being played.)

Woods:
The woods used for the butt has the character that I like. The figure is a natural piece of fine art. The way it was put together makes the figure flow from the forearm, to the handle and down to the butt. Masonh knows how to pick his woods and a line them properly.

The shaft wood is superb and super-white. It glows when light shines upon it. GPI is around 12 to 15 and the lines are very straight from Joint to Tip end. I can find very minimal sugar lines. It's a sign of a top grade quality shaft. Being white is just a plus, playability is more important and the shaft plays good.

Straightness:
The cue is very straight together and apart. Whether you sight at the cue against the light while being rolled or roll it on the table, it doesn't show any noticable taper roll and/or warpage.

Balance:
The weight of the cue feels very good when stroking. A feel that I am used to, which makes adapting to the cue relatively easy. I was shooting after 5mins and testing how it will play.

Playability:
The cue hits firm and crisp. Not stiff, just right for my taste. It's very easy to get used to. The playability is almost the same as the Viattorre that came in at the same time and the Albrecht cue that I also have. Of course it is uniquely different as the taper, lenght, weight, balance point, woods and construction techniques are different.

It's hard to writeup a review without sounding sales pitchy like. All I can really say is that this cue feels very good and shoots very well. This cue is well worth the price I paid for it.

Masonh, I can't thank you enough for making me this cue. I'm saving some more and will order another one as soon as I can. Thanx for the trust.


Link for my masonh cue -> http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=95117

Link is masonh's cue -> http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=94294

Note: This cue is not for sale. I was offered money rightaway in the same manner as the Albrecht cue. Told the people involve to get in touch with AZB'ers masonh and nbll01. One already did order and the other will do so soon.

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troyroy78 said:

I met up with my friend Juhn last night to test out some of his new purchases, FYI Juhn is a real woods man, he loves cues with great cue figure over heavily inlayed cues. He has a nice collection of plain jane's and like to experiment with exotic woods.


Now when Juhn mentioned to me that he had a new cue coming i was slighty sceptical on how well this cue would perform as i have tried most top cuemakers ranging from Black Boar to Kersenbrock.

Anyway the cue.

Weight
Considering that the cue was in the 18oz range, i was surprised oh how good the balance was, making it feel very much an extension of my arm.

Balance
From my judgement i would say that this cue is balanced at 18 -18.5" from the butt cap, perfectly executed and it also feels that mason is using a compound butt taper for this cue.

Shaft
The shaft was extremly snow white and played very well. It's taper reminds me very much of a DPK taper, its very responsive with a clean crisp hit, able to put lots of spin on the cueball & actually has quite Low Deflection qualities too.

Ferrule
When i saw this cue, i thought it had a old Micarta ferrule, until juhn told me it was Mason's own reciepe. Now this ferrule had some magic in it and reminded me of a jerry Franklin Purpleheart i tried a while back. It was very responsive in hit and gave a clean hit, it wasn't as sharp in feedback when compared to LBM, and the color was an off white, able to see the weave in the pattern. It was very chalk resistent and polished up very well.

Tip
The tip was a pressed Le-pro, it was quite hard but i was able to adjust to it within 10 mins. The tip was something else, have never really been much of a fan of Le-pro's but this tip really had my interest, after a 4 hrs playing it was still the same shape with no mushroom and playing strong. It was hard but it really managed to grip the cueball well and you could really get some spin on the ball to when needed.

Butt
The cue had some of the craziest grained wood i have seen for a while, the figure had nice knots in the wood showing all the beauty of the woods used. The ringwork was also something that was really nicely executed.

The cue had great feedback and i fell in love with it very quickly, you kind of know when you get a cue that just fills all of your expectations and some more. THIS WAS IT!!!

I am that impressed with this cue i am going to contact Masonh, and get something made up for myself, as his cues really do play well on par or even better than some well know cuemakers.

Downside
The only negative aspect that i saw on this cue was the slight grittyness on the Rosewood when looking at the grain closely. It looked like it could be preped a little better for a smoother finish and then apply finish. But this is nothing major, however, this was the only fault i could find on the cue.

I fully enjoyed playing with the cue, and expect to have one of my own soon.

Juhn, i think you struck GOLD with this cuemaker, as i am very impressed and feel the "Cue hits like God"



Roy

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