I have still been dragging my feet in making a purchase and since you mentioned Pechauer, I am interested in how you would compare the two in quality and playability.
I would rather buy an American made cue.
The Pechauers are made well enough but a little plain. A lot of people like them and until I got those two Lucasi cues, I had kept a Pechauer as my playing cue, selling off Mezz and Vikings. I think they're slightly back-heavy but that was easy to fix and delivers a nice solid hit, if a bit traditional. That said, for the price they aren't exactly packed with technology, if that's your thing, and they also don't approach the feel or feedback of Mezz or DP cues.
The pins are proprietary. You will almost never find an aftermarket shaft already tapped for them, except from Pechauer themselves. And my experience with buying the P+ Lite laminated LD shaft from them was frustrating, the wood of the shaft was too soft, the grain opened up and quickly got caked in tons of dirt and grime, got nicked and dented within weeks, and within a few months had warped beyond playability. Very good action from the shaft, though, could masse the piss out of the ball with my eyes closed, but the warping just got out of hand.
Maybe I just got a bad example, and playing long late nights in a rough bar hastened the shaft's demise but that was still disappointing. As you can imagine I was not encouraged to stick with buying Pechauer because it required me to be married to Pechauer-made shafts. However, I put the standard maple shaft back on and used it as a break cue and it really worked well for that.
For US-made cues, if you want a ton of high-end craftsmanship for your money and like a more traditional maple shaft, try out Dale Perry cues. I
think they're radial pins although DP calls them something special, they have a great feel, and excellent wood selection, the wood feels very alive, in a way you really only saw in older cues - that quality of wood is hard to find in modern shafts.
Edit: I suppose I should mention - your stroke style will likely have a lot of influence on what a cue feels like to you. I found the Pechauer worked better when I loosened up and took more of a flowing motion, experimenting with SVB-style cue delivery. A guy on my team has a big relaxed stroke and works his Pechauer very well. Using that same stroke on something like the LHT87 would probably be frustrating without a lot of practice, my own stroke is snooker-ish and minimalist, I guess Feijen would be a good comparison, which is not what a lot of American players opt for.
