I have an old predator pre cat 314. I like it but was thinking about trying something else. Someone offered to trade me a mezz cue with an alpha shaft, what do you guys think of this shaft compared to the pre cat 314
Mezz vs predator
- Thread starter jordan23042000
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i play with a mezz with an alpha hybrid shaft. im playin a set n tuping on my phone right now. ask what ever u want n ill answer tmrow
Have you played with a pre cat 314? How does the deflection compare? My only complaint about the predator is sometimes getting that hollow, not solid feeling when i use extreme english
i actually learned to play pool with a predator 314 (with cat but not the -2 version). i used the same 314 for about 3 years.
the mezz alpha shaft is advertised as low deflection. i'm not deflection guru. some guys can tell you everything about deflection and live and die by how much their shaft deflects. i just play with my equipment and do my best not top think too much about that stuff. anyway, the alpha shaft is definitely stiffer than the 314. the taper is noticeably but feels as long as the 314. that makes stroking through the ball really comfortable. I'd say it deflects more than the 314 but not a whole lot more. like others have said it deflects more than a 314 but less than a regular shaft.
it makes powering through the cb a lot easier. when i say that i mean pounding the cb to get the most out of a small angle seems way easier. i seem to get a lot more movement for way less effort. it also seems to make killing the cb and transferring english to object balls easier. i can't explain it that's just what i've seemed to notice.
nah that won't do the trick. the shaft may play better but it won't get rid of that hollow feeling. personally when i was using predators i grew to like that hollow sound/feel. when you get dialed into your cue/314 even with the hollow feel you'll get the same satisfying feedback, with a 314 than you would with a standard shaft, when you hit a shot well
^^^^ This is absolutely correct in my opinion. I also learned to play with a first gen 314 and in reality I did not know what people meant by "hollow" feeling. I always liked the way my cue hit and never felt what other people always said. Then came a time when I tried other cues and really found out what a "hollow" or dead cue felt like. This realization came when I was using a friends new Meucci, that thing had little to know feel to me but he liked it alot. Its all subjective, but I came to really like the way the pred hit and agree completely that you learn to like and look for the same characteristics in the cue you are use to.
I tried the mezz WD700.... it has a much better and stiffer hit than the predator 314-2 I own. The 314-2 has less deflection and I feel I can get more cueball action with it. In terms of feel the mezz shaft is much better, but in terms of performance I feel the predator is better. Imo.
wow that's way different from my experience. the WD700 i owned was way wippier than all but 1 314 i owned. i can get the same amount of action with either though.
i found that the WD700 is wippier than most other shafts that i've tried. all except the ob1. if they offered the shaft in sizes other than 12.5 i think it'd play better. i used a WD700 for a few months solid and learned to play with it. nothing wrong with the shaft. it can do anything any other shaft can it's just harder for me to adjust to the extra flex and the small tip size. when i'm shooting a long straight in shot for my cash i prefer a shaft that makes the shot a little easier for me.
you know they used to have those shafts available in 12.8 but you don't see them being offered in that size anymore. all the people out there that swear a smaller tip size makes spinning the ball easier has really made smaller tip sizes more popular. sure putting crazy spin on the ball looks cool but, really, what looks cooler than winning? i'm using the mezz hybrid alpha right now and imo it's way better. sure there's more deflection but that's just adjusting. since the shaft is stiffer it flexes less on softer and harder shots so there's less adjusting over all. its like shooting a rifle in the wind. sure it's harder if it's windy but if the wind is always the same it's no different than no wind at all
My 314-2 has an everest tip on. My cue is a predator SP4RJ with stainless joint. The cue I tried was a Mezz with wood to wood joint but I don't know what tip was on. I felt the WD700 was much stiffer than the predator. It's also true the feeling of a shaft depends on what type of joint and tip you have, so probably the feeling changes.
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yes correct, phenolic.
Hi-fi poolplayer, you have just spoken out my thoughts. I also found that WD700 is whippier than 314-2 but it has a lot more feel than 314-2. Being in 12.5 could be one of the reasons why WD700 is whipper. I wish Mezz made it in 12.8 as I feel uncomfortable with any shafts smaller than 12.8.
I don't know much about deflection but I can rate the performance btw WD700 and 314-2. 314-2 performs slightly better than WD700 but not much as hell and heaven, just a bit better like 8-10. The hollow feeling of 314-2 hooked sometimes me up on some shots that require exact position because I couldn't feel how much power needed for those shots.
I also tried Hybrid Pro shaft. Well, I have to say that it's really stiff, at least stiffer than WD700 and about the same as or lil bit stiffer than 314-2. But the diameter is 12.5 same as WD700 so yeah I hate it. Hybrid Pro performs way better than 314-2 IMO but it's kinda hard to control. It's like a wild beast and once you tamed it, you wudn't be afraid on any technique shots.
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only the HP2 is 12.5mm just like the WD shaft. but from what i hear they might come out of the factory closer to 12.65. the HP1 and the alpha both come at 12.8mm. you're right though the shaft is a beast. it's stupid easy to pound the cb around if you feel like it
Yup I meant HP2. A Mezz dealer told me that WD700 is actually 12.65mm even tho it is stated 12.5mm but I coudn't be bothered measuring it. I still feel uncomfortable even if it's actually 12.65mm like he said.
Btw, I don't know why those Mezz Dealers in my region are selling Mezz cues at stupidly high price.
mezz shafts are 1 piece solid maple shafts, pred's are laminated..... mezz's feel much more solid and give better feedback, many people say that predator's feel "dead".
i recently had a very well known pro try out my mezz wd700 and he said he loves it and has to get one, hes sponsored by pred right now and he loved the way the wd700 hit.
i recently had a very well known pro try out my mezz wd700 and he said he loves it and has to get one, hes sponsored by pred right now and he loved the way the wd700 hit.
My thoughts exactly.
I've had 314-2 first with Everest then with Kamui medium. It felt hollow and dead.
I switched to Mezz and never looked back.
I have owned a pre-cat 314 and currently own the Mezz Alpha Hybrid. Both are quality shafts. I believe the Mezz is a solid piece of wood opposed to the laminated 314. The Mezz feels and shoots like a hard maple shaft with a little less deflection.
ive owned 2 wd700 shafts brand new n they came right at 12.5. i met a guy whk had a 12.8 one though. mika winning the us open 2 years back to back with a mezz is what drove the price up
jacknguyen
Registered
First it made in japan, second the shipping fee cost like hell to our region, third they will sell based on retail price+tax+shipping cost