I played with this cue for several hours last Sunday, using the shaft that I had made for it (not the Meucci Pro).
The shaft is one of the smoothest and best finished shafts I've seen in a long time.
My normal playing partner didn't show up for some reason, so I spent most of the time playing half table. I put all 15 balls randomly on the rack-end of the table and practiced short shots moving the cue ball around without touching another ball. This shaft and tip control the ball very well.
Originally, I didn't like the Ultraskin Soft tip because it seemed to be "dead" or "non-responsive", but now that it is broken in a bit I'm beginning to like it more and more.
This cue may be the most "resonant" cue I have. I haven't gotten them all out to compare, but I don't recall any of them producing the amount of "vibration" this one does when you tap the side of the shaft or forearm. I mean that in a "good" way. The cue doesn't vibrate or act weird when you mishit, it still sounds and feels solid, but when you tap the shaft or forearm, you can feel the vibrations all the way to the butt end of the cue. It will hold the vibrations for quite a few seconds...kind of like a tuning fork.
I'm not sure if the "resonance" is from the G-10 pin or just the overall composite of the cue's construction.
Another thing I've noticed is that it is extremely easy to draw the ball with this cue. Once again, I don't know if it is the cue, the tip, or the combination of everything.
I've already had offers from others to buy it, but I have no plans to sell it anytime soon. I had it made as an "experiment" and now it turns out to be a "keeper". Now that I know how it reacts with its components and dimensions, I may have another couple made to resell.
Now that all is said and done, I'll say that the cue was made by Schmelke.
I purposely left that out in my opening post because some people are biased and don't consider Schmelke to be a "custom" cue maker or a "top quality" cue. I wanted to find out for myself. That is not the case. EVERYTHING on this cue was "made to my order"...from the tip to the butt bumper. I told them every combination of material to be used, the exact specifications for every dimension...shaft diameter, shaft taper, butt diameter at several points, balance point, over-all weight, etc. and they made it accordingly.
I'll say right now that I don't think you can buy a "custom" cue from anybody in the USA that will give you the product that Schmelke gives you for the price.
And their customer service is TOP NOTCH. From the very beginning, they answered every phone call I made and every e-mail. They readily accepted several changes I made along the way and gave me what I wanted. If you ever deal with them, please ask for Kim. I'm sure that the other personnel are equally customer-service oriented, but she is a sweetheart. I also talked with David Schmelke several times and he always answered every question I had.
For the price you pay for an imported production cue from China, you can get a quality "custom" cue made in the USA by Schmelke.
Try one, you may like it!