About two months ago I purchased an Audrick Custom Cue off Ebay, mostly to satisfy what I euphemistically call the "I need something different" blues. I had heard a little about Pilipino cues, and saw an opportunity to try one out without putting a rather large hole in my budget. Long story short, I won an Audrick custom cue for less than $200 USD, including an extra shaft, the Moori III tip upgrade, joint protectors all around, including shipping costs ($40). Audrick cues come standard with a 13 mm shaft, and I asked for the first shaft in that measure. I requested the second shaft to be 12.75 mm. I also asked that the second set of joint protectors be of a different color than the first. The cue arrived in less than ten days exactly as specified.
Cosmetic notes:
The cue features six points of palmwood, two veneers in holly and ebony per point. The forearm is ebony with a nice grain and ranges from jet black to a dark chocolate. There are three rosewood rings; one above and one below the wrap as well as one between the buttsleeve and buttcap. I cannot feel any of the ringwork. The ivorine and reconstituted turquoise diamonds are all of equal size and even. In fact, all the inlay work is as good as any of my Meucci Originals. The wrap is black with blue spec, double pressed and appears/feels as good as the wrap on my ?90s Joss or my Meucci Original DH-2. The stainless steel joint is piloted and the pin measures 5/16-18. The balance point of the cue is 19.5 inches ahead of the end of the buttcap, or about 2 inches forward of the wrap. The finish has a high shine, almost wet-looking. Overall, the cue looks and feels as good as any American-made cue I've ever owned.
The shafts, on the other hand, were not as smooth as those that came with most of my other cues when brand new. They weren't rough, but they weren't to the same standard as say one of the Mcdermott's I've owned over the years. However, I was somewhat prepared for this after reading a review I found on Ebay concerning these cues. A little elbow grease and some 1200 grit finishing paper I picked up at the local hobby store took care of that. Also, the shafts were not paper white. Instead they were a very light blond, which I actually prefer over white shafts. There were no sugar marks and the grain appears tight.
Shooting Impressions: (Day 1-3): My first impression of the cue was that it felt surprisingly well-balanced. The cue weighs 19.5 oz which is actually almost two ounces heavier than my regular shooting cue, but over the table it didn't feel that heavy. The hit itself is firm. My opinion is that the cue hits somewhere between a Joss and a J. Pechauer. In fact, I could have been shooting with my Joss. There was also negligible vibration associated with the hit. I found that this cue felt as solid during the stroke and at impact as any production cue I've played. It definitely is not a cheap hit.
The shafts are regular (non-laminate) shafts with a 10-12 pro-taper. I haven't measured them yet, but I think mine are both a bit more than 12 inches. After nearly a decade of shooting exclusively laminate shafts, I was pleasantly surprised at the performance of these regulars. I actually found myself wondering if I should maybe switch back to regular shafts from my "low deflection" laminated shafts. On Day 3 I even played my league games with it ( I went 6 of 8). A note about the Moori III tip: My first thought after getting a look at the tip was, "wow. That sucker's pretty thick." These are the first Moori IIIs I have seen so probably this is just normal. I resisted the urge to grind them down with my willards tool. They play just fine. I found no difficulty imparting whatever English I wanted. Overall, the tips seem to perform as well as the Mooris and Snipers and Wizards on my other cues.
Interval: 5 days
SI: (Day 4-5): Finally got another chance to play this cue. I took the cue to my local hang out and decided to put my ability to hold my table on the Audrick. Well, I would like to say that I defeated all comers, but reality was a little different. I did lose some games (7) but out of close to 30, that's not bad in my book. The cue played well, I think I just had some trouble adjusting from light/heavy cues as well as laminate/non-laminate shafts. Note: several players asked about the cue; who made it, how much, etc. Comments about appearance were all favorable. I allowed several people to shoot a few with it with likewise positive comments. Two players wanted to know exactly how I came by mine.
Interval: 2 days
SI: (Day 6): Took the cue to a friend's housewarming party as I knew there would be several of my pool-playing buddies there to try out the new table my buddy got the day before. Most of these guys play at least high-end production cues (Schon, Joss, Meucci, Viking, etc.) More importantly, most of them are higher-rated players than me and I wanted their unvarnished (sometimes brutal) opinions about my new cue. Over the course of the evening comments about the cue ranged from," nice," to "sweet," with only one player that was indifferent. One of my buddies, a BCA 9 who has a fair-sized cue collection (playing cue is a Schon) offered to buy the cue for nearly twice what I paid.
Interval: 3 days
SI: (Day 7): I feel fairly confident with this cue, so I took it to a small, 7-and-under tournament I like to play now and again. I played average for me and ended up in third. More importantly, at no time did I feel limited by my choice of weaponry. This cue played as competently for me as my Joss ever did.
Conclusions: This experiment/evaluation started with me just wanting to try something different. In the beginning I told myself that this cue could be a terrible player and a waste of money. Of course, I have only had the cue for around two months now and only played it for 13 days total. Also, I don't know yet how the cue will hold up over time. By this time next year it might be warped or the inlays might pop, etc. And as an investment there is no way of telling. The cue might never be worth more than the original purchase price even if it does hold up over time.
However, strictly as a playing cue, the Audrick has performed better than my initial expectations. And frankly, the cue plays easy. There are no quirks or surprises. This cue just performs capably, with no fuss.
Further, if you have an interest in the more flamboyant Pilipino style of cuemaking then this cuemaker can satisfy that itch. In other words, Patrick Hermans of Audrick Custom Cue can produce a looker that can play as well as most any production cue I have ever had the opportunity to play.
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Actually hadn't planned on selling anything right now, but according to a certain someone, I am very close to a limit, so you never know.
