Schon and predator 314 2 joint issue.

Hey guys so I just kind of want your opinion here. I recently purchased a Schon CX-03 along with a predator 314-2 shaft from pooldawg. This is the first high end cue/shaft I've ever owned so it was a little upsetting to me that the predator didn't quite fit right. Basically upon final tightening of the shaft it would become slightly askew, meaning that the seam between the butt and the shaft was kind of indented on one side and sticking out a little on the other side. Also when I would roll the stick on the flat surface of the table it looked straight but if i were to lay it perpendicular to, and up on the long rail(butt on the table, shaft up on the rail) and then roll it, the tip would wobble up and down. Someone told me this is a much better way to test if your stick is straight or not, I see why now. It didn't really make a difference in the play, but this is unacceptable right? I mean this was all in all a $900 investment for me. I sent it back a few days ago and they should be receiving it today.

I'm pretty sure I know what the issue is. The schon shaft itself fits perfectly but i think it is only because of the extra metal part that goes down INTO the collar. Shown here( http://www.zencues.com/schon_stl4/schon_shaft4.jpg) I think that the actual threaded screw on the butt is slightly off but that extra metal part straightens it out in the last couple turns. The predator I received has a metal part as well but it does not stick down into the collar. Shown here(http://cached.muellers.com/RS/SR/Product/22/314-2-14r_R.jpg)

Basically my questions are:
Is this normal?
Shouldn't the predator shaft have the exact same metal fitting as the schon?
Do you own a schon with a predator shaft? If so what are your experiences.

Thanks.

Luther Blissett said:

Yes it should have the exact same fitting. I have a Predator 314² and a Predator Z² shaft with joints suitable for connecting to my Pechauer butt, and the joint is flawlessly aligned in both cases. For 900 dollars you should expect nothing less, whatever the brand.

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That's how I feel which is why i promply sent it back(well after one night of shooting with it ) Why is it though in all of the pictures of a predator 314 2 5/16/14, such as the one i posted, the metal part at the connection is much smaller than the schon shaft? Everything that i saw shows a predator with a 5/16/14 joint to have a metal part that doesn't stick out as much as the original schon.

Just got off the phone with them and they are trying to give me the whole, "well shafts made by the cue maker are always going to fit 100% perfect blah blah blah", "we rolled it and it looks dead perfect blah blah blah" Well they are rolling it wrong, rolling it on a flat surface is only going to show you if there is Warpage, which in my case there isn't. When i rolled it while it was resting on the rail perpendicular to the rail the predator shaft wobbled up and down while the schon shaft didn't wobble a millimeter. Also it seems like seyberts has predators for schons with the Exact same connector, pilot included. Here is the difference in pictures. This one from seyberts has the large metal part(pilot) http://www.seyberts.com/products/Predator_Shaft_314_2_5/16_X_14_Schon_Logo-102231-10356.html. This one, which is like the one i ordered, does not: http://www.poolcuesexpress.com/bmz_cache/0/0d84b011f1427eb39ea3c64e71c977b3.image.400x400.jpg.

hang-the-9 said:

Those Predator joints were mainly made to fit Joss cues, a Schon joint is not a 100% match, make sure you got the right shaft. Plus the pin or the shaft thread could have been a tiny bit off.

I sold a Predator shaft to someone, he said it wobbled when he put it on. He put it on, it had a huge wobble, I took it, tighted it another turn, perfect fit. Make sure it's on tight.

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I am making sure its tight, in fact, its the last basically, quarter turn that makes it end up off center. I think if it had a pilot that went down into the butt like the original schon that would straighten it out. I honestly think that the schon would have the exact same problem if it didnt have that large very tight fitting pilot.

Does anyone think that maybe I should cancel the order and get the schon predator 314 2 from seyberts? It seems to have the EXACT same 5/16/14 joint as the schon itself does.

hang-the-9 said:

The issue is probably that the shaft was not made to be a fit for a Schon cue. Someone already linked to the right one.

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That was probably me. The schon 314 2 on seyberts seems to have the exact same joint as my regular schon shaft. So basically not all 5/16/14 joints are created equal is the issue right? They told me on the phone that they do not have a predator with the same pilot as the schon shaft. Should i then get a shaft from somewhere else?

TCo said:

Seems to be a "100% satisfaction" sort of issue. Did they offer to trade a shaft to make sure it isn't a defect from Predator?

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Here's the final update. So basically they realized, as did I, that the 5/16/14 from predator is not quite the right joint(as someone here pointed out). He tried all of the predator shafts they had in house and none of them fit quite right, so he gave seyberts a call to see if they had the schon 314 2 in stock. According to seyberts the joint on their schon 314 2's is actually put on by Schon themselves, so it should be a perfect fit. According to them they have never had a complaint in 10 years. So they are going to ship my schon back and have seyberts send me the correct shaft. I actually wanted to do my order through seyberts originally but they didn't have the cx-03 in stock. All in all I am a little disappointed that pooldawg didn't know what exact shaft to match up from the beginning and now i have to wait a while to have my finished product. With that said though, they have stayed in constant phone contact with me today and they ARE fixing the problem and paying the difference in price for the shaft from seyberts along with seyberts shipping fees. All in all their customer service has been good but perhaps seyberts knows what they are doing a little better.

Luther Blissett said:

Nice to see you're finally going to get the thing that thought you were going to get from the start.

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I know right? Well hopefully this thread will help anyone out that is thinking of getting a schon and a predator. Make sure you get the predator shaft that has the joint installed BY SCHON.