Unless you are talking about a real compression pilot joint, it won't make any difference without the nipple as far as how it feels when you play. Some would even argue that even a compression pilot can't be told from a flat face.
I occasionally use flat faced shafts on some of my cues that take a pilot with their "stock" shaft and honestly I really don't think I can tell there is no pilot.
The pilot is really a vestige of old time construction when it functioned more in locating or centering the assembly I believe.
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