What's going on with McDermott's asymmetric rings?

I'm cue shopping and wanted to share an annoyance with somebody.

I like a number of McDermott's designs except they often have inconsistent decoration above and below the wrap. Here's an example:

http://www.mcdermottcue.com/g222.php

There's a ring right at the top of the wrap, but not right below. To me it looks like they forgot to finish the wrap at the bottom.

I know it's a design decision and they obviously did this on purpose and it's a question of taste, blah blah blah.

But I've also looked at a bunch of cues from other manufacturers and so far they've ALL put their rings right above and below the wrap, none of these "floating rings" near one side of the wrap and not the other.

I probably would have bought this cue in the link already if it wasn't for this dumb ring.

Thanks for listening.

DaveM said:

I think it's a nice looking cue, but I do agree with you. I noticed the rings as well and thought it odd. The spacing does match the bottom ring and butt cap though, so I think that's the idea.

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Cool, thanks guys, glad it's not just me going crazy.

seven_7days said:

I have an older, unused Mcdermott Velocity with the sticker price still on it and guess what?
Someone forgot to put their famous clover logo on at the butt cap area. It's blank!

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I've been playing with a McDermott Velocity Plus (same as Velocity but with a wrap) for the last 5 years. It was the first cue I bought. Unless you count a Sports Authority cue I bought for $20 and used twice.

If I'm being honest, the McDermott has not been great. It came with a ton of lacquer all over the shaft that made it virtually impossible to shoot with. It would just stick to your hand. People asked me if it was fiberglass or what. I showed it to a local cue repair person and her response was, "huh, must have been some kind of mistake at the factory" before she sanded it off.

The tip it came with was rock hard and very thin, so that you could hardly shape it. Some more experienced players explained that I had to get the lacquer sanded off and the tip replaced, so I did that within a few weeks of receiving the cue.

Within 3-4 months of owning the cue in a temperate climate, the shaft swelled such that it was almost impossible to screw on to the butt. I was worried I would crack the wood. The same cue repair person had to bore out the shaft.

There's a lot of vibration along the length of the cue when you hit anything. I don't know what would cause this but it makes it difficult to get any spin with the cue. Expert players have played with my cue and looked at it in confusion, wondering why they can't get any draw with it (this is despite switching shafts and tips a few times over the last 5 years).

On the plus side, the cue has always been very straight, and the fit-and-finish of the butt is excellent.