Ever have 2 different cues from same cuemaker that played differently?

Ken_4fun · Dec 11, 2017

We used to see pretty often someone selling a cue and it "hits a ton". While I havent seen that phrase lately it does always make me smile.

My question is have you ever bought a cue that played great, and then got another one from the same maker and it played......well....not so great?

I will share this experience. I bought a plain jane Tad years and years ago and it was a playing son of a gun. In fact, it was my playing cue for a couple years (and for cue flipper like me that is a LONG time). I liked it so much I bought another one, and it played like a log. While it was fancier, and was great to look at, it played terrible.

I am not a cuemaker, but I would expect that this would be the exception, but I have seen it with some other cuemakers.

Anyone else have this experience?

Ken

Kim Bye · Dec 11, 2017

Why would you expect them to play the same Ken?
I agree that you should expect similarities, given the cuemaker hasn`t changed his shaft taper, ferrule material, butt taper, joint collar pin and so on.
But wood is a natural material and variations will occur.

pwd72s · Dec 11, 2017

This explains why if you ever find that "just right" cue....

You'd better hang on to it!

Celophanewrap · Dec 11, 2017

I always liked that - "Hits a ton", Don't they all hit a ton?
If they didn't hit a ton I'd love to see an ad - This cue hits like shit, but I need to sell it....

Anyways, most cues are made from wood - an organic material, and I suspect they're like
anything else that's organic. Wood from two different trees parked right next to each other
might be entirely different in structure or make up. Like different years of a wine from the
same vineyard, same wine maker.
There's a cue maker here locally. I've been fortunate, my cues from him all feel very similar
to me. A buddy of mine bought one of his cues and I can't think of one thing I like about
that one.

Something interesting to do sometime would be to get a pair of Revos or a couple of
graphite cures, something besides wood and see if they also feel different.

Maybe a different pin, different time of year, the wood dried longer for one cue, a different
finish. I imagine it could be just about anything

JolietJames · Dec 11, 2017

I wondered this as well. I own four cues from the same maker and they play nearly identically. Two are 58", two are 60", and yet they play eerily similar.
I am considering a new custom cue from a different maker since the maker of my cues is no longer with us.
I was going to ask him, (since he's local), if he had a recently made playing cue with which I might hit a bit -just to see of the hit suits me. I wonder if this would even help.

Ken_4fun · Dec 11, 2017

Kim Bye said:
Why would you expect them to play the same Ken?
I agree that you should expect similarities, given the cuemaker hasn`t changed his shaft taper, ferrule material, butt taper, joint collar pin and so on.
But wood is a natural material and variations will occur.

Exactly why I thought they would play the same.

Ken

mikemosconi · Dec 11, 2017

I have experienced two cues from the same well known custom maker playing very good and not so good- will not name the maker here as that would be unfair. One thing that i do remember however, is "George the Greek" -well known player and former owner of HI Pockets in White Plains NY telling me that he only liked to promote Scruggs cues because he felt that every one of them had a very consistent feel and hit. this was back in 2000.

Baron · Dec 11, 2017

Interestingly, I've found basically every Tad I've hit with (I think I've had four) to play exactly the same. All were the 1-M model, birdseye plain janes with ringwork in the bottom.

I've had two cues made by Pete Tascarella, and they do play very differently. But they're also physically very different - one was 58", weighed 18.7oz with a fatter butt, 13.25mm shaft, made in the 80's and my current one is 60", 12.7mm shaft, weighs 19.4oz, made in 2016. They're just different cues and as such they do hit differently. But my buddy had one made back in the 80's and it plays better than either of mine I'd say.

I've also had a number of Lambros cues, all of which played well but one of them played just fantastic. Head and shoulders above the others, maybe the best hitting of any cue I've owned. I sold it because I'm stupid.

I will say I've found Diveney cues to each play just about exactly the same as the next. They're consistently really really good.

Bigb'scues · Dec 11, 2017

I feel this is why SW cues receive the reputation they do. They all have a very consistent playability...perhaps that’s why they don’t stray too far off their standard design..just a thought

Pushout · Dec 11, 2017

Bigb'scues said:
I feel this is why SW cues receive the reputation they do. They all have a very consistent playability...perhaps that’s why they don’t stray too far off their standard design..just a thought

My first SW was an Indian Rosewood butt. The second straight grain Maple. To me, the Rosewood cue hit/played better than the Maple one. The hit was close, it just seemed to me that the one was a bit better than the other and it's why I've regretted selling that one and not the Maple one.

Island Drive · Dec 11, 2017

No two pieces of wood are every exactly the same.

JoeyInCali · Dec 11, 2017

Island Drive said:
No two pieces of wood are every exactly the same.

And the handle has a lot more to do with that hit than people realize .
If the handle is made of a dull-sounding wood, it will likely have a dull hit .

pinkspider · Dec 11, 2017

Even synthetic stuff like the carbon fibre Revo shafts will have some noticeable variation. Wood just varies too much. Some cuemakers narrow the variance between cues by design or by judiciously selecting materials to spec, for example, but generally, it's not realistic to have two cues play the same. As one poster mentioned earlier, hang on to the ones you really love.

JAMSGOLF · Dec 11, 2017

Yes I have. Both were bought on the secondary market (used). Both were from Andy Gilbert.

At the time, I was playing with a SS 5/16x14 joint on my playing cue...and had played with that type of joint for most of my playing days up to that point.

The Gilbert that was a cocobolo 3/8x10 wood to wood joint was one of the BEST playing cues I've owned...still regret getting rid of it.

I also had a Gilbert 4-point inlaid 5/16x14 SS joint cue that looked fabulous...but I couldn't stand the hit of that cue. Something just felt "dead" while I was playing it.

Granted, I can't remember if I put my standard "milk-dud" tip on the SS cue...might have made a difference...

(This was several years ago, and I'm now playing with a radial pin on my playing cue...same milk-dud tips from pooldawg8 here on AZ.)

Bavafongoul · Dec 11, 2017

My post is based upon having four (4) custom cues made by two cue-makers (two cues each).
The cues are listed in my Az signature and the cue-makers are Bob Owen & Jerry Rauenzahn.

It's likely because I had these cues made with identical specifications that all four cues play alike.
The butt weight, shaft weight, shaft sizes, ferrule & joint material, thread type, etc. are all the same.

I did this thinking it should make switching cues relatively easy to do & I was either right or got lucky.
Well, my Scruggs & Prewitt cues have similar specs.& switching to either of those is just seamless..

Rather than attribute my experience to being lucky, I am very confident it was my cue-maker choice.
Both Bob Owen & Jerry Rauenzahn have mastered the craft of building absolutely superb pool cues.

If it wasn't for the CA ivory ban, both Bob & Jerry would be making me another custom cue and I have
two new designs in mind that I'd order & I bet the new cues would play the same as my other four cues..

Matt B.

JC · Dec 11, 2017

Wan't to dramatically change the hit of your cue? Put a dramatically different tip than you're used to on it. With all the construction variations and different woods, this tiny piece of leather does as much as any of them to define the hit.

JC

Grantstew · Dec 12, 2017

The two that stand out for me are Sugartree and Arthur cues.

I have had some lovely players from both makers, and some absolute dogs.

sonny_burnett · Dec 12, 2017

Wood grain is like fingerprints. And it's properties are forever changing. If you get a cue or even a shaft that you love, you best ride that pony while you can. Proper care can greatly extend its life.

hurricane145 · Dec 12, 2017

Interesting thread!
I have a Rich Chudy custom cue with three of his shafts. One shaft hits like it was made by God Himself!
The other two are really just more average. The really good shaft has some "sugar" in the grain and the grain runs more parallel with the shaft than the others. The hit in the good shaft puts the other two shafts to shame. The difference has always confounded me!

cuesblues · Dec 12, 2017

Yes, I have that right now.
There are quite a few variables, but if I had the cue in my hands I'm pretty sure I could diagnose why there is a variance in the hit.

Ever have 2 different cues from same cuemaker that played differently?

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