hmm i recently got a chad carter ' 05.
4pt bem on coco.
3/8-11 phenolic joint.
plays not bad, offers quite a lot of spin.
the taper is stiff, but im not sure what taper is it.
hits slightly harder than what i like, but do-able for me.
i was surprised that his shaft grains are actually quite straight, so that itself impressed me on his quality of his woodstock.
feels stiffer than a falcon definitely.
all in all, carter makes good cues.imo.