Your pool cue thoughts before I make my Purchase

pt109 said:

A great cue doesn't MAKE you shoot better, it ALLOWS you to shoot better.
...or maybe you think Andretti could win the Indy in a Lada....

Do you think this man bought his instrument for $38 in a pawn shop?

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Does shanes cutec allow him to be the best player in America ?

lorider said:

Does shanes cutec allow him to be the best player in America ?

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Shane is the best player in America....but if he had a cue he wouldn't trade for a new car..
...maybe he would be the best in the world.

An inexpensive cue can be a magic wand..(I had a Dufferin snooker cue I turned down a
2,000% profit....it was worth much more to me)...so the key is, a great player needs a
great cue to beat other great players...sometimes a cheap cue is high end by the luck of
the draw.

I have seen a lot of evidence ignored on AZ about how finicky some great players are....
...Efren shows up at a tournament with 7 shafts and 3 butts...tries ONE shaft on three
butts before he's satisfied..........is given a 314...hits one shot and hands it back...says...
"I don't like where the cue ball goes."

Vern Elliot had ONE cue he would do 'the impossible bank' with for the cash.....
..Caveat...Vern didn't tell me that...but his friend did.

pt....Doc Holliday didn't go to the OK corral with a Saturday Night Special

I know you said you don't want a LD cue, but I recommend a Predator Revo. It is a great bar cue because the shaft won't warp and it is very hard to ding the shaft. Also, I think it is a cue you can play with for life. I own several custom cues and once I switched to the Revo, I won't go back to using those.

Heck, if you learn with a Revo and it last a lifetime, why wouldn't you want to use a LD cue.

Toughy

So let's start with playing in bars...
You could have a 5k southwest and nobody would know
You could have a 2k Schon and everybody would know and theft could happen
I have had cues from 100 dollars to 8k dollars and honestly they can play the same but,
Honestly playing with an expensive somewhat causes you to try harder because of the mental factor. Not that it's better but, you better not suck with that expensive cue losing to some dude with a 50 dollar Kmart special....lol
Are you looking for an investment or a tool to play with?

Will you keep this cue for 1 year or 10?

Are looks important or pure play?

Honestly if I could save a cue buyer I would suggest a simple decent raw predated with a milk dud tip. And never change

nevadarain said:

Well. I guess to answer ur question, a little bit of both.....no....a play cue..... But a decent play cue...... If im able to obtain a play cue that turns out to be an investment, then so be it.. But im mostly looking for a play. And Iexpect to keep this purchase for 6mos to a year, as this is my first purchase starter. And the suggestions have been very helpful.

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I had a completely different answer for you up until this post. So, I'll break my own rule, and I'll answer what you didn't ask. If you're already planning to get rid of the cue within a year, then get the Dale Perry eBay offering. I have one. I can't imagine any new cue owner wouldn't like it. You're going to get rid of it anyway within a year. And you'll figure out what you do and don't like about cues.


Freddie <~~~ turn the page

nevadarain said:

Well. I guess to answer ur question, a little bit of both.....no....a play cue..... But a decent play cue...... If im able to obtain a play cue that turns out to be an investment, then so be it.. But im mostly looking for a play. And Iexpect to keep this purchase for 6mos to a year, as this is my first purchase starter. And the suggestions have been very helpful.

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I still strongly recommend the Schmelke that I had written about as it will be very inexpensive, be very neutral to allow you to figure out what you like in a cue and can easily become your break cue once you get a custom cue

You sound like a beginner. I would not spend $1,000 dollars on a cue if I were you. I'd browse the local pawn shops. You can find some surprisingly good cues for a low price. Just make sure it rolls straight and then take it to somebody who does tips and have a tip installed.

After about a year if you still are playing then you will have a better idea what you want. If I was going to spend $1,000 I'd start at a local pool hall putting the word out. The counter man and regulars usually have a cue or two for sale or know somebody who does. That way you can hit some balls with it before you spend that kind of cash. I would definitely start at a pawn shop though.

Many very good suggestions here. Can't go wrong with many of them.

But if you are in Chicago, and want to work directly with a cue maker, go into Chris's Billards and ask for Dan. He is making some great basic cues with some nice woods.

Of course you can visit John Davis and have him build you a blank of your choosing and Prince or some other cue maker could finish it. This would give you a cue with a lot of input from you and therefore give you more of connection with your "weapon."

If you're playing in dive bars, forget the break cue. You can't hold two cues at once, so one of them will always be unattended and open to theft.

Use a house cue to break (unless you like playing with hard tip, then use your playing cue) and position your playing cue where you can keep an eye on it while breaking.

Another good cuemaker is Schmelke cues. Lots of styles, shaft choices, great prices and service.

robertod said:

Many very good suggestions here. Can't go wrong with many of them.

But if you are in Chicago, and want to work directly with a cue maker, go into Chris's Billards and ask for Dan. He is making some great basic cues with some nice woods.

Of course you can visit John Davis and have him build you a blank of your choosing and Prince or some other cue maker could finish it. This would give you a cue with a lot of input from you and therefore give you more of connection with your "weapon."

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What is Dan's info? Love to get cues from upcoming cue makers

Shawn Armstrong said:

LOL. Could you tell me which ones want their cues to hit like a Predator?

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lol...............

a simple advice : try the cue before to purchase .

then buy the cue you feel the most confortable , the balance you prefer, or the hit you prefer... it will be your cue, so.... it's like a shoes purchase, best is to try them first...

another little advice : if you can, try to buy a cue with an usual joint pin & pin size. To be able to easily buy/try a different kind of shaft in the future... try to avoid proprietary joint pins, if you can..

I bought a Dale Perry and was suprised at the quality $100 can buy in todays cue market.
The two things thing I did not like was the tip and the shaft taper ... to stiff for me.
Easily sanded down to something a bit more flexible and tip is replaceable.

Finish was almost flawless, joint fit was not perfect but very acceptable, hit was good after tip change.
(I have played with very expensive cues that hit worse)
Thinking about what work is needed to build a cue like this,
I dont know how Dale Perry can offer so much value for so little money.
Inlays take time ... just no way around that.

WilleeCue said:

I bought a Dale Perry and was suprised at the quality $100 can buy in todays cue market.
The two things thing I did not like was the tip and the shaft taper ... to stiff for me.
Easily sanded down to something a bit more flexible and tip is replaceable.

Finish was almost flawless, joint fit was not perfect but very acceptable, hit was good after tip change.
(I have played with very expensive cues that hit worse)
Thinking about what work is needed to build a cue like this,
I dont know how Dale Perry can offer so much value for so little money.
Inlays take time ... just no way around that.

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just a guess that he buys the blanks from china and just finishes them here?
McDermott did that a few years back with a few of their models.
And they were the models proudly built in the USA.

I feel for the poor guy who asked about a new cue.
The Pechauer he was looking at is a $290 cue. When I see people recomending Revo shafts at $600 a pop, or a custom cue with 6-10 months lead time, I'm wondering what goes on in these peoples head.
Pechauer are nice cues. I have one reservation, that is rheir proprietary joint, making it harder to try different shafts, than if you had a 5/16-14, 3/8-10 or Uni-Loc joint.
If you can try before you buy, I highly recomend you do that.

Kim Bye said:

I feel for the poor guy who asked about a new cue.
The Pechauer he was looking at is a $290 cue. When I see people recomending Revo shafts at $600 a pop, or a custom cue with 6-10 months lead time, I'm wondering what goes on in these peoples head.
Pechauer are nice cues. I have one reservation, that is rheir proprietary joint, making it harder to try different shafts, than if you had a 5/16-14, 3/8-10 or Uni-Loc joint.
If you can try before you buy, I highly recomend you do that.

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His original post said absolutely nothing about a pechauer. He simply said he had $1000 to spend on a cue.

Sounds like you have made up you mind, but I will give my .02 cents.

First LD or no LD, don't get to wrapped in that conversation. You will compensate for that automatically with time. Most say LD has a shorter learning curve than standard, but my opinion is that each shaft has is own a advantages and disadvantages.

With your budget, I would get a decent case, As someone else suggested can't go wrong with a JB case.

As far as setup goes, with your budged . Case JB (my recommendation), then two cues, one for breaking and one playing, get a cheap break cue but make sure the joint pin on the break cue and and the playing cue are the same that way you can interchange shafts, when you are playing somewhere that damage is a concern to your cue, you can use the break cue and the 2nd shaft from the player.

My son used to race BMX the track moto was, "Its not the bike, it the rider.". With that I do believe, practice/lessons are more valuable than a cue as far as playing goes.

I have owned many cues Schon, Lucasi, Huebler, Colorado, Josey and many more currently play with Jacoby.

Final thoughts FROM experience, if its within your budget get what makes you happy, if your not you will spend more in the end.

Can't go wrong with your first choice. Pechauer is good stuff. I just got a JP02-N myself last week