Katana LD shafts

I recently saw a for sale thread for a "Low Deflection" Katana shaft and figured I've tried everything else so why not?

I've used Predator, Lucasi, OB, McDermott i-shafts, ect... and with exception to the OB Classic shafts, none of them had the radial consistency, lowered deflection and offered the feel of a solid maple shaft. No foam and no hollow/filled front ends.

The Katana shafts are manufactured in China exclusively for CueStix and like a few other manufacturers, the quality/finishing is excellent right out of the package(each shaft has a sock that comes with it similar to Predator). The taper is a very long (18") and the ferrule size is 12.5mm. After measuring both the ferrule itself and the joint collar I can say that it is more modified pro-taper than euro but does start moving up in size after about 3". Total weight of each shaft was about 3.7oz and were within two grams of being matched exactly. I know that may sound lighter but keep in mind the diameter of the shaft is smaller.

Tiger has created a "Katana" tip for this brand that that quite frankly is garbage and needs to be replaced as soon as the shaft is received. I contacted Tiger and was informed that the tip most similar to this one is an Everest which I believe is like comparing apples to oranges. Another note is that the first 1/8" of an inch was impregnated with some sort of odd waxy substance that would obviously slide right off of the cue ball. JUNK

Pros:

• Super high quality manufacturing
• Price! You can pick-up a brand new shaft on e-Bay for less than $159.00 shipped
• Stiff hit even with a long taper and smaller diameter with great sound resonance
• Great Playability and excellent cue ball control with very little effort
• Very easy to adjust from solid maple to LD

Cons:

• Made in China (I would say the same about other brands)
• Tiger tip needs to be replaced immediately before playing
• Only one year warranty provided

This will be my personal shaft of choice from this moment forward.

Update!

I changed the factory tips to Tiger Sniper and the combo really, really works well together.

As far as the review is concerned, I tried so many different shafts my head started spinning and my game took a nose dive which was expected. However, I thought maybe my opinions would help people who had the same problems as I had.

I have one of the four shafts I had bought recently listed in the for sale section. It was used for 2-3 hours just to season the new Tiger sniper tip.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=347520

I'll report back now after playing with the shafts for a few months.

I read that someone thinks by holding the shaft in your hand it appears or feels to be lower quality? Maybe there was something wrong with the one you received because every single shaft I purchased was fantastic as far as fit and finish is concerned. The shafts were straight as an arrow and with the exception of the stock tip, perfect.

After a couple months the Katana shafts have done exactly what I needed them to do which is allow me to make the transition to OB Classic without feeling a shock of changing from standard maple to LD.