Any good American made cues under 400 dollars?

americanfighter said:
Hey guys I have Bern playing for a while now and have been using a players HXT cue The next cue I want to save up for is an American made cue. I would like to get an idea of 2 or 3 cues to shoot for while saving up. I would like to get something Under 400 dollars but if there is something around 600 that is just so much better to justify the price I may go for that but mainly I am looking for something under 400.

So first what is the best made in USA under 400 dollars? If there are any around 600 that I just that much better tell me.

I also plan on adding a low deflection cue.

Thanks

AF
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There are lots of them.

My first suggestion is JOSS. Hard to go wrong with that.

After that...many. Schon comes to mind. Funny enough I still see them the way I did in the eighties, a JOSS wannabe, but now actually more expensive but I really don't know why.


The used market is great. It's a buyers market out there. You could get a pretty decent custom.

Lastly, I have a hard time arguing with the wisdom of a good sneaky. Seriously. If you can't do some damage with a plain cue what is the sense of a fancy one?


.
 
Chopdoc said:
There are lots of them.

My first suggestion is JOSS. Hard to go wrong with that.

After that...many. Schon comes to mind. Funny enough I still see them the way I did in the eighties, a JOSS wannabe, but now actually more expensive but I really don't know why.


The used market is great. It's a buyers market out there. You could get a pretty decent custom.

Lastly, I have a hard time arguing with the wisdom of a good sneaky. Seriously. If you can't do some damage with a plain cue what is the sense of a fancy one?
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Thanks Joss seams like one I will take a serious look at.

Like i said this is something I am starting to save up for as I am going to continue to play with my players for a while now. I am getting much better and can do some damage beating some SL6 players in 8-ball at APA but i know I can be better. I am not going to buy this cue unless I am ready to step up to the next level and it will improve my game.

I love sneaky pete cues but I would like to have a low deflection shaft on my cue when I am playing in tournaments as my switch to a low deflection shaft has helped me a great deal when i picked up the players HXTE.
 
Michael-Hoang said:
You will have a ton of choices at the price range of $400, if you want to buy an American made cue.

Some popular brands are OB cues, Joss, Schon, Viking, Meucci, Jacoby, McDermott as well as many of your local cuemakers.

They will all play differently. I strongly suggest that you TEST HIT the cues first to see if it fits your game.

We are all built differently. What works for someone else may not work for you.

I find it amazing that most people will test drive a car before they buy, but very few will test hit a cue.
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I should have the opportunity to test hit the cue. I know a man who runs a pool store. He is very nice and gets me good deals all the time and is very knowledgable. He will let me test the cue if he has something similar in the store then I will order the cue from him.
 
americanfighter said:
I love sneaky pete cues but I would like to have a low deflection shaft on my cue when I am playing in tournaments as my switch to a low deflection shaft has helped me a great deal when i picked up the players HXTE.
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You can have a sneaky with an LD shaft if you like. No reason you can't.


.
 
I'd recommend two guys and they are active forum members as well,

1. Ryan Theewen (Rat cue on Mueller) ... he post on AZ as ratcues.

http://www.muellers.com/Rat-Custom-Pool-Cues.html

2. Larry Vigus .. he post on AZ as 63Kcode

I have both of these guys' cues. For the money, they are solid playing cues and they are solid people to deal with.

For $400, you may get solid PJ, no point cues from these guys for sure ... I think Larry might give you pointed cues for just a bit more.
 
Best deal of all !

Cuetec R 360

This is new low deflection shaft line of cues.

Shaft is spliced and laminated together for the latest low deflection advantages.

Pricing is great too. 170 - 240

Shane Van Boening uses one as they sponser him.

I like the way it hits also. Cuetec used to put out some junk, yes. But they changed to keep up with the rest of the pack. Just make sure you are looking at the R 360. DO NOT get anything else from them. They have a webpage cuetec.com i believe. or go to the AZ Market Place.
 
Take a house cue at random from the wall. If you can't run ten balls with it, no cue at any price will do anything for your game. Spend the money with an instructor.

Dave Nelson
 
hit is subjective and mostly a personal preference. you state you want to stay with an ld shaft . after owning a few cues with ld shafts i find i dont like them and quit playing with them. the one i liked most was a mc dermott with a g core shaft.

i think it will play closest to your players hxt. they come in a wide variety of styles in your price range.

i owned several players before i moved up to higher level cues. in my opinion they are a very good cue for the money and play just as good as most higher priced cues. had one i wished i had kept.

i love the fact that you want to buy american. if you are wanting to spend 400.00 just to buy a new toy, that is great also, i have bought several cues over the last few years just because.... no reason just because i wanted to.:smile:

just dont think because you buy a higher level cue that your game will improve, it wont. i have spent several thousand proving that fact:(
 
Been playing with Jerry Olivia sneaky just over two years. Less than $300.00 new. If I were for some reason unforeseen need to replace it would be with same. IMHO not a better value in the cue market.
 
I figured as much .. out of respect for their work and contribution to the game, I didn't use my :rolleyes: emoticon with my previous remark :grin:
 
Cue

You can get a very well made sneaky pete cue from Bob Frey for close to 400.

Someone mention Lambros, but I am not sure you can touch his cues for <400.

Leon Sly is also great buy and bang for your buck. He is also active member of this site. Buy direct from him.

Tell you the truth I think everybody in Maryland knows how to make cues, Ha.

Pat Diveney can be in that price range.
 
americanfighter said:
Hey guys I have Bern playing for a while now and have been using a players HXT cue The next cue I want to save up for is an American made cue. I would like to get an idea of 2 or 3 cues to shoot for while saving up. I would like to get something Under 400 dollars but if there is something around 600 that is just so much better to justify the price I may go for that but mainly I am looking for something under 400.

So first what is the best made in USA under 400 dollars? If there are any around 600 that I just that much better tell me.

I also plan on adding a low deflection cue.

Thanks

AF
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:smile:

If you live in or close to south central PA, you can come and try out American made production cues.

I don't know if you want the best made cue...or...the best shooting cue.
Meucci might or might not have defects, but they shoot real good for eight ball, nine ball and 10 ball. In these games you need to move the cue ball around.

For straight pool a Joss works for me since I only use half the pool table. With a Joss I have nice control of the cue ball and every shot is a nice solid hit.

With a Meucci, I can do Earl's favorite shot.:smile: With a Joss, I can't.:frown:

After all this...if you know someone with a Mike Erwin cue, try it out. Mike makes a nice hitting cue...really need to tell him what shaft diameter though.

Most cues, you need to use them and get used to...but if you can find that one that hits like a Magic Wand, that is the one. You'll know when you use it.:lovies:

It would be too confusing to list all the good cuemakers. I'm just putting in my 2 cents.

I have very little experience with custom made American made cues.
 
lorider said:
hit is subjective and mostly a personal preference. you state you want to stay with an ld shaft . after owning a few cues with ld shafts i find i dont like them and quit playing with them. the one i liked most was a mc dermott with a g core shaft.

i think it will play closest to your players hxt. they come in a wide variety of styles in your price range.

i owned several players before i moved up to higher level cues. in my opinion they are a very good cue for the money and play just as good as most higher priced cues. had one i wished i had kept.

i love the fact that you want to buy american. if you are wanting to spend 400.00 just to buy a new toy, that is great also, i have bought several cues over the last few years just because.... no reason just because i wanted to.:smile:

just dont think because you buy a higher level cue that your game will improve, it wont. i have spent several thousand proving that fact:(
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I have heard a few people say they dislike low deflection cues. What do you not like about them? The reduction is squirt has helped me make some shots that i would not be able to make with a regular shaft.
 
All LD shafts that I know of are made in China. This includes Predator and OB shafts anyway. I would look for a custom cue that is made by a well respected cuemaker. Stay away from production cues and your resale value will be higher a few years down the road. You are looking at a plain jane cue @400 if you do this. You might want to watch the used market or save a few more hundo and shop for a new cue around $600.00. something that is truely a custom cue is the way to go.
 
Shaft

americanfighter said:
I have heard a few people say they dislike low deflection cues. What do you not like about them? The reduction is squirt has helped me make some shots that i would not be able to make with a regular shaft.
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The first five years of playing the game, I used a hard rock maple shaft. The second five years I used a Z2 shaft. I liked it, but didn't love it. For the past year I have went back to a maple shaft. I will not go back to a low deflection shaft for the rest of my pool life. The feel (with a LD shaft) just isn't there.

I've used many different diameter shafts.....from 11mm-13.5mm. I'm happy with the 12.75mm range and can't really tell that much of a difference in "deflection" with my maple shafts that I'm currently using. I have a cue that Larry Vigus, aka..63Kcode, made. It's American made in the great state of Texas. If you want a good solid and well constructed player look into some of his cues. Price should be discussed with Larry, of course. I guess it all comes down to personal preference on the cue you choose. These are just my experiences. Good luck in your cue search. It took me 10 years to find the "perfect" cue.
 
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Chopdoc said:
You can have a sneaky with an LD shaft if you like. No reason you can't.


.
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yeah but that would take away from the Sneaky aspect of the cue (which is what i really like) because of that big black joint at the bottom of the LD shaft. Is there a good LD shaft out there without compromising the "sneaky" look of the sneaky pete?
 
americanfighter said:
I have heard a few people say they dislike low deflection cues. What do you not like about them? The reduction is squirt has helped me make some shots that i would not be able to make with a regular shaft.
Click to expand...

there are 2 things i dont like about ld shafts.

1.believe it or not they threw my aiming off. at my age i dont want to learn aiming all over again or take the time to adjust my aiming.

2. ld shafts feel dead. especially 314 and z2 shafts. mc dermott i2 or i3 are not as bad as predator though. the g core feels most like a standard maple shaft to me.
 
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