who do you guys think is a better cue maker? ???? Tim scruggs or bill mcdaniel or wich one does it hits better? ?
I have owned a bunch Bill Mcdaniel cues and maybe 10 Scruggs cues. I have played with both alot.
No doubt in my opnion, Bill Mcdaniel. Bill's cues are more playable, and cues hit and feel are more consistent from cue to cue. Mcdaniel Custom Cues are put together so well.
Mr. Scruggs cues are very stiff and his cues are not a consistent hitting cue. Very few cues hit feels the same.
There difference is not discernible.....anyone thinking otherwise just has a skewed outlook.
When you get down to the really elite cue-makers.........McDaniels being just one of them and Tim Scruggs also being another.......the declaration of any genuine difference would be based more on looks and subliminal appeal rather than structural, i.e., playability or playing preference. To make any comparison would require two cues from the two different cue-makers with identical specs, i.e., ferrules, cue tip and tip shape, cue weight, shaft diameter and taper, cue joint, wrap, identical butt cap material (not Delrin vs Ivory). etc.
Well, that's never going to happen simply because of availability and selection and in all likelihood, any two cues compared would have some differences that could tangibly affect the player's impression and overall evaluation of the cues in question. I mean comparing a 18.8 oz flat faced ivory joint with a 19.6 oz steel joint cue is hardly a fair comparison as would comparing a steel joint cue with ivory ferrules that weighed 19 ozs with another steel joint cue with phenolic ferrules which weighed 20.3 ozs. The same applies to comparing cues with different shaft specs.....one cue has a shaft with a 12.75mm pro taper length of 13-14 inches vs another cue's shaft that's 13.05mm with a taper length of 8-10 inches. What if one cue had a medium layered cue tip dime shaped and the other cue being compared had a hard solid leather tip that was nickel shaped......another comparison point that's not fair.
Perhaps you tried a cue that wasn't yours but you didn't care for it. Maybe the cue was too heavy, the ferrules were melamine instead of ivory, the cue you tried had a different tip than what you play with or was shaped differently than what you have on your cues' tips, or maybe the shaft diameter or taper was different etc.
Unless you compare apples to apples.....same cue weight , materials, and especially the type of cue joint, then any comparison you render is admittedly flawed and probably influenced by your subliminal preference for the look and style of a cue as much as any actual difference in playability or overall feel.
McDaniels vs Scruggs.....a tie.....and probably the same applies when comparing McDaniels or Scruggs cues with cues made by Verl Horn, Bill Stroud, Dennis Searing, Pete Tascarella, Bill Schick, Ernie Guiterrez, Paul Mottey, Richard Black, Ed Prewitt, Joel Hercek, etc. .........Alright.....maybe I stretched a bit by including full splice cue-makers in with everyone but I don't think so.
The underlying fact is when you own or even just play with a cue that you like its design/look and the cue has the right specs just the way you prefer a cue to have.......you're going to admire and appreciate that cue a whole lot more than a cue by any other cue-maker, even Burton Spain or Balabushka or Gus Szamboti. And frankly, I think these last two cue-makers are over-rated with undue praise versus the cue-makers I mentioned. After all, old Gus and George were just buying blanks and only finished the cues and so I'd much rather have a Hercek cue over the work Gus and George did.
And yes, I have played with a Gus Szamboti and also a George Balabushka cue........never owned either......and both cues were just too heavy, the cue butts too big and hit just like my early Schon does. All of three cues had the same feel and I was able to do a side by side comparison with my Runde Schon, albeit that there was a few years gap involved with playing with a Gus Szamboti cue and a George Balabushka cue. I mean I wasn't impressed in the slightest with any discernible difference but again, as I earlier pointed out, the cues all had slight differences which IMO prejudices the final subjective comparison and evaluation of the cues.
Anyway, That's my take on the subject and I'm betting my views will be in the minority expressed on the Forum about this topic......but to each their own.
Az family these are two completely different cues. The Scruggs in my opinion is a true custom cue. They have sharp points, bills cues are cnc and more like production cues. That may be why they are said to have a more consistent hit but I do not agree. I will probably catch a lot of flack for this post. A friend of mine was a dealer of bills for a while. I owned and played with several from sneakies to high end cues. In my opinion the Scruggs played better, no doubt though there has never been anyone in the business that did better inlay work than bills shop. Also Tim was much easier to deal with!
The ironic thing about this question is that many Scruggs cues made a pass through Bill McDaniel's shop while they were being built. Bill was a partner in Scruggs Cues. Had been for many years from their early days.
I was always told mcdaniels made the first Black Boar cues, never knew he made Scruggs too.
Partners yes, many Scruggs cues going through Bills shop, not so much.
The first Black Boars were made as a collaboration between Tim, and Mike @ Scruggs and Bill's shop with Tony's group involved in finish work. Bill did not make Scruggs cues.
http://www.blackboarcustomcues.com/build/default.asp?CTID=213&IID=