Dale Perry Cue Review

Player Rick said:

I'm not sure, but what SEEMS to have happened to DP cues is this. (this is purely conjecture from an amateur collector). He bought a huge overpriced CNC machine (their ad states that Dale Perry a world class cuemaker uses their machine) which allowed him to pump out cue after cue each slightly different in a very short time. Since his CNC cues weren't as well made as his older pantos, the price began to fall. My ex uses one of his early CNC models. It was made better than the one I bought for $110 and is much prettier. Instead of returning the machine, or trading it for a better model, (Custom CNC machines for cue making are expensive), he panicked, began pumping out loads of even cheaper cues, which again caused a further drop in value. I'm assuming he's making the payments on it, but its unfortunate for his reputation, and his old fans,

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DAVE_M said:

First off, let me say that I have read all of the previous threads on AzBilliards pertaining to Dale Perry cues and decided to buy one myself. I knew going into it it was a gamble.

I won the bidding at $100 even with $15 shipping. When the cue arrived, I was quite amused. The shaft was poorly made, the rings and collar were different diameters. The cue butt was off center to the pin, so the shaft and butt were slightly misaligned. Hardly what you would expect from a "custom maker". The cue was garbage, so it became my bar cue. I have been playing off and on with it for the past few weeks and it finally broke.

Pics to follow.

Edit-

I was using it as my break cue for a few sets of 9 ball. On the fourth set, I broke and the forearm split at the joint.

As you can see, there isn't much wood going into the phenolic sleeve/stainless sleeve. The stainless sleeve was only 1/32 thick, so the entire joint was phenolic other than a sliver of wood. Once it snapped, I threw the butt on the floor... Then this happened.

The butt sleeve portion snapped off like a twig. What I found, astounded me. A good two thirds of the butt is hollow and threaded for the weight bolt, which is only 2 inches long. I'm surprised it hasn't broken earlier.

Looking into the butt sleeve (you can see the weight bolt).

Looking into the handle (notice how deep it's hollowed out).

Conclusion:

Spend your money on something with better quality. To say this is a "cheap china cue" would be glorifying this piece of junk. I've seen better quality control on $20 Viper cues from Academy. If Dale Perry cues were once $1,000 works of art, they are far from it now.

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Billiardbills said:

Hello,
I am trying to be as completely UNBIASED as possible as the fact that I personally like Dale Perry and all of my interactions with him were all positive as well as the fact that I like playing with his cues that I have.

I agree with most of what you are saying (above this post), however cues are meant to be used one way, to hit the ball with a linear forward tip stroke and when used otherwise any cue can be as delicate as glass when impact occurs in other fashions (throwing it on the floor).

I have bought 6 cues from Dale in the last 4 months and have only had one issue, which oddly enough is the same exact issue where the butt broke exactly at the same point, where the thick weight bolt ends directly at the end of the wrap. However that happened in shipping by FedEx and I had insurance that covered the incident. Again I am trying to be completely unbiased, the shaft and butt were in an inexpensive 1x1 vinyl covered oval HARD case and the shaft was fine... It is a little discouraging seeing your pictures and seeing mine in front of me sitting here on my desk as a decoration now. IT IS THE SAME EXACT break point.

My thoughts on the way these cues are built/engineered unfortunately tells me that 3/8" of maple surrounding the weight bolt and the fact that where that weight bolt ends, would absolutely be the weakest point in the cue. That being said, baseball bats also break at a certain point right above the handle when they are not hit with properly all of the time. It is wood and weird things can happen depending on usage.

If I were the cuemaker and if it were my decision (which it is not), I would highly consider other methods of adding weight like a thinner longer bolt like Pierce, Olivier, Josey and a lot of the other custom cues are made. I think this adds a lot more "meat" on the cue and would result in a stronger built cue.

Otherwise, my Dale Perry spalted cocobolo cue (which I own 2 of the 3 he made with this precious wood he had) is one of my favorites in my personal collection to play with and look at.

I do overall like the radial shaft I ordered with my DP as well as the Stage IV shaft. My only thoughts on the shafts are that I like a little more of a pro taper as well as my preference for 12 mm ferrule tip which I will turn down myself sometime soon when I have time.

So all in all, my opinion would be in the middle with DP. We know what they say about opinions, they are just like a**holes, we all have one, so form your own from more than one experience, not just a horror story of one, because I guaranty there is a nightmare story/experience from someone from every cuemaker out there including whomever you consider to be the best...

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DAVE_M said:

First off, let me say that I have read all of the previous threads on AzBilliards pertaining to Dale Perry cues and decided to buy one myself. I knew going into it it was a gamble.

I won the bidding at $100 even with $15 shipping. When the cue arrived, I was quite amused. The shaft was poorly made, the rings and collar were different diameters. The cue butt was off center to the pin, so the shaft and butt were slightly misaligned. Hardly what you would expect from a "custom maker". The cue was garbage, so it became my bar cue. I have been playing off and on with it for the past few weeks and it finally broke.

Pics to follow.

Edit-

I was using it as my break cue for a few sets of 9 ball. On the fourth set, I broke and the forearm split at the joint.

As you can see, there isn't much wood going into the phenolic sleeve/stainless sleeve. The stainless sleeve was only 1/32 thick, so the entire joint was phenolic other than a sliver of wood. Once it snapped, I threw the butt on the floor... Then this happened.

The butt sleeve portion snapped off like a twig. What I found, astounded me. A good two thirds of the butt is hollow and threaded for the weight bolt, which is only 2 inches long. I'm surprised it hasn't broken earlier.

Looking into the butt sleeve (you can see the weight bolt).

Looking into the handle (notice how deep it's hollowed out).

Conclusion:

Spend your money on something with better quality. To say this is a "cheap china cue" would be glorifying this piece of junk. I've seen better quality control on $20 Viper cues from Academy. If Dale Perry cues were once $1,000 works of art, they are far from it now.

Click to expand...

DAVE_M said:

Lol, that's funny. What's funnier is I was going to bid on the same one you bought too!



If it weren't for reviews on AZ, I would have bought 2 or 3 Dale Perry's by now. Given the reviews, I chunked the cue in the trash and didn't bother contacting him.



Woah Woah Woah! Before you start jumping all over me, I will explain in depth what happened. Fast forward to after the joint split.

I turned around 180 degrees.
Cue butt in my right hand, joint section in my left.
I tossed the cue, side armed and it struck the floor as if I had tossed a dirty shirt off my back onto the laundry room floor.
The floor, in which it struck, is solid concrete. That's how the entire bar/pool room is. I can take pictures if you don't believe me.

I walked to the bar and got a beer. The guy I was playing the sets with, came up to me and said "Man you destroyed that thing."
I said, "Yea... the joint snapped in half."
He replied, "And the butt too!!" *handing me the destroyed cue he had picked up from the floor*

Go look at those pictures again... You see any huge marks like I was abusing it? NO! You don't...

Mind you, I broke about 30 racks with it before it snapped. That's 30 times it was slung 25+ mph into a cue ball. That's 30 times it did not snap.

Do I need further proof for you when just a few posts above, another cue broke in a similar manner from shipping. FROM SHIPPING! It was in a cue case...

(The short while I did get to play with my DP cue, I thought it had a decent hit for a cheap cue, but that's what it was... cheap)

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