It never ceases to amaze me how people worship a nice butt.

[Inferno]

Whenever I see people showing off their cues I see pictures of the butt more than the shaft.

But the butt is really just a weight and guide for the shaft. Sure they are pretty but isn't a but just a butt?

When I see people selling cues they talk about the maker and construction of the butt. Very little attention is mentioned regarding the shaft taper, size or flexibility. Sure you might hear of the tip but the tip is changed easily enough.

When shopping for cues one needs to think of how the shaft will deflect when striking a ball. I shoot best with a thinner and longer shaft. Iv'e tried dozens of shaft combos and found this works best for me.
Some prefer a thicker more stout shaft.

If you took the same butt and put it behind different shafts it would shoot differently.
However you could apply two different butts behind one shaft and it's going to shoot pretty much the same.

Other than density, weight and balance is there any other thing a butt adds to a cue? Does an expensive butt really add that much more to your shot than a lesser priced cue?

 

[measureman]

I agree. The shaft-taper-ferrule-tip combination is probably 90 % of the hit and feel.
But we all like a pretty butt-don't we?

 

[pwd72s]

I'm a sucker for pretty butts...

Cues too!!

 

[seven_7days]

I agree. The shaft-taper-ferrule-tip combination is probably 90 % of the hit and feel.
But we all like a pretty butt-don't we?

Try taking your favorite playing shaft and mate it with a cheap...or even just a completely different butt and you'll see that % drop significantly.

 

[waylander]

The but is what makes the cue personal. Just like our clothes, cars... etc. If we all wore the same clothes, drove the same cars and used the same cue but it would be pretty boring...

 

[Inferno]

The but is what makes the cue personal. Just like our clothes, cars... etc. If we all wore the same clothes, drove the same cars and used the same cue but it would be pretty boring...

Right but does that justify the difference in cost between a $600 internet bought untested (by the buyer) cue and a $300 in person tested and shot cue?

 

[ENGLISH!]

Try taking your favorite playing shaft and mate it with a cheap...or even just a completely different butt and you'll see that % drop significantly.

I agree.

Bob Muecci made a comment about an Adam Ballabushka butt when he was doing his shaft defection testing. It was the best withe stock shaft & with the Muecci Black Dot Shaft.

The problem is we really don't have a way to test them ourselves except by feel.

Regards &

 

[pwd72s]

Right but does that justify the difference in cost between a $600 internet bought untested (by the buyer) cue and a $300 in person tested and shot cue?

Some cue makers are known for their consistancy of hit from one cue to another.

Hey, really...it's whatever floats your boat, cue wise.

 

[measureman]

The but is what makes the cue personal. Just like our clothes, cars... etc. If we all wore the same clothes, drove the same cars and used the same cue but it would be pretty boring...

No that would be Communism.

 

[Chopdoc]

Whenever I see people showing off their cues I see pictures of the butt more than the shaft.

But the butt is really just a weight and guide for the shaft. Sure they are pretty but isn't a but just a butt?

When I see people selling cues they talk about the maker and construction of the butt. Very little attention is mentioned regarding the shaft taper, size or flexibility. Sure you might hear of the tip but the tip is changed easily enough.

When shopping for cues one needs to think of how the shaft will deflect when striking a ball. I shoot best with a thinner and longer shaft. Iv'e tried dozens of shaft combos and found this works best for me.
Some prefer a thicker more stout shaft.

If you took the same butt and put it behind different shafts it would shoot differently.
However you could apply two different butts behind one shaft and it's going to shoot pretty much the same.

Other than density, weight and balance is there any other thing a butt adds to a cue? Does an expensive butt really add that much more to your shot than a lesser priced cue?

You're a shaft man...I'm a butt man.


To each his own I guess.



.

 

[Inferno]

You're a shaft man...I'm a butt man.


To each his own I guess.



.

Now now now... DOn't get me wrong.
I do admire a nice butt. It makes my shaft perform so much better.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Maniac]

I once knew a woman that owned a pair of cues made by the Gray Owl cue company. Whenever she brought them out of the case on league night, I'd always tell her "Hey Marcie, that's a damn fine pair of hooters you've got there".

Maniac (been wantin' to wrap my hands around them hooters ever since )

 

[EddieBme]

Cue butts

Whenever I see people showing off their cues I see pictures of the butt more than the shaft.

But the butt is really just a weight and guide for the shaft. Sure they are pretty but isn't a but just a butt?

When I see people selling cues they talk about the maker and construction of the butt. Very little attention is mentioned regarding the shaft taper, size or flexibility. Sure you might hear of the tip but the tip is changed easily enough.

When shopping for cues one needs to think of how the shaft will deflect when striking a ball. I shoot best with a thinner and longer shaft. Iv'e tried dozens of shaft combos and found this works best for me.
Some prefer a thicker more stout shaft.

If you took the same butt and put it behind different shafts it would shoot differently.
However you could apply two different butts behind one shaft and it's going to shoot pretty much the same.

Other than density, weight and balance is there any other thing a butt adds to a cue? Does an expensive butt really add that much more to your shot than a lesser priced cue?

Other than weight, balance etc, doesn't a solid cue butt have a different feedback, (or feel) to it than a spliced butt?
Curious?

 

[Baxter]

The butt is the direct connection between you and the cue. Everything you feel when you hit the ball comes through the butt. The differences in the materials and the quality of butt construction is big part of the hit of a cue. Take the same shaft and put it on two different butts to see for yourself.

 

[Inferno]

The butt is the direct connection between you and the cue. Everything you feel when you hit the ball comes through the butt. The differences in the materials and the quality of butt construction is big part of the hit of a cue. Take the same shaft and put it on two different butts to see for yourself.

I have. Hence the original post.

I found that the shaft made more difference than the butt.

True, the feel of the butt is important but the shaft makes the shot.

 

[naji]

Whenever I see people showing off their cues I see pictures of the butt more than the shaft.

But the butt is really just a weight and guide for the shaft. Sure they are pretty but isn't a but just a butt?

When I see people selling cues they talk about the maker and construction of the butt. Very little attention is mentioned regarding the shaft taper, size or flexibility. Sure you might hear of the tip but the tip is changed easily enough.

When shopping for cues one needs to think of how the shaft will deflect when striking a ball. I shoot best with a thinner and longer shaft. Iv'e tried dozens of shaft combos and found this works best for me.
Some prefer a thicker more stout shaft.

If you took the same butt and put it behind different shafts it would shoot differently.
However you could apply two different butts behind one shaft and it's going to shoot pretty much the same.

Other than density, weight and balance is there any other thing a butt adds to a cue? Does an expensive butt really add that much more to your shot than a lesser priced cue?

Bad news, it is not the shaft either.

 

[Black-Balled]

I have always been a butt man.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

I'm quite fond of the butt I've got. Not overly ostentatious, but not exactly plain, either. :smile:

 

[Chopdoc]

I have. Hence the original post.

I found that the shaft made more difference than the butt.

True, the feel of the butt is important but the shaft makes the shot.

In general, yes.

But try the same shaft on two very different butts. This is easiest with a shaft with a more traditional thread like a 14. Try it on a modern cue. Then try it on an old heavy fat butt with a substantial rear weight bias. It will feel and play very differently IMHO.


If this was not true I don't think we would have seen the evolution of the dimensions, weight, and balance that we have seen over the last forty years or so.

At the moment that the tip is in contact with the ball the ONLY thing that matters is the tip/ferrule/shaft in that order. But that moment is in fact the smallest portion of the human experience of actually playing a shot. The greatest portion of the human experience involves all of the other aspects of the cue.

So...the butt is in fact important...but in different ways.


If one really wants to get picky and say only one part is important then the shaft isn't even it...it would be the tip only. Obviously the matter is more complex than that.

.
.

 

[CreeDo]

Think most people who go cue shopping are in it for the looks. Hence the picture of the prettier part of the stick.

I don't know how much of AZ breaks down into newbies vs. more experienced players but I bet the majority of us already own a stick. If they were really concerned with 'playability' they'd just use their existing cue for 20 years until its 'playability' went through the roof.