High quality cue vs. Low quality cue?

I like cues, especially full-splice cues. Some people like other things, like watches...whatever floats your boat. To me, there's nothing like the hit of a full-splice cue (John Davis in avitar)...solid and comfortable, sensitive, full of feeling, just like a house cue, which doesn't cost a penny, if that's the criteria. That's why there's so many "conversions" around, not everybody can/does make a custom full-splice, some are better at it than others. It's the samurai and the sword.
 
When you first get a new cue you probably won't play better. It's just a matter of getting to know the cue. What it likes and what it doesn't.

A well built cue gives you only ONE thing that a cheap cue won't. Consistency.

Consistency is what makes a good player good. If you are consistent with a crappy cue then you will, likely, be even more consistent with a better cue. BUT, that consistency won't come in the first day.
 
I got to the pool hall early before a league match to get new tip put on. So I grabbed a house cue to warm up with while I waited. Shot really well with it - makes me wonder if my player's as good as a house cue:confused:
 
slach said:
I got to the pool hall early before a league match to get new tip put on. So I grabbed a house cue to warm up with while I waited. Shot really well with it - makes me wonder if my player's as good as a house cue:confused:
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BiNgO!!!
that's what I've been saying all along
 
Liitle more detail..

I guess i should explain in more detail. Im looking for a better hit on all shots, i have an onyx by tiger tip, IMO is the best hitting tip for me. But as i have a players sneaky the hit (when of centered) has a noise i do not like, but i can pocket balls very consistently. I played with a friends custom Carmeli and a also with an onyx, i ran a 2 pack with no effort, the feel was solid and a well rounded sound, it was sweet. Thats what got me, before that day i never shot with another cue other than my own or a house cue. So i believe you can get to a point where you "outgrow" your equipment:wink:, ie..my players sneaky...but as a side note i am gonna be breaking with the same players cue because i can squat the cue ball literally where i want it with sinking the wing, 1 and sometime 3 more on the break. Its not a very powerful break but it is as controlled as anyone.
 
Inferno said:
A well built cue gives you only ONE thing that a cheap cue won't. Consistency.
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I somewhat disagree. I would agree with you completely except for one thing I personally have experienced in cues. That is, if you go through enough cheap cues (I have seen this in house cues too), you will eventually find one that is of superior quality to any of the others you have experienced. I myself have a Players plain jane (decal, NOT actual BEM wood on the forearm/buttsleeve) that I installed a Moori medium tip on and let me tell you seriously, the cue plays as good as any I own or have ever owned. If it was 60" in length, it would see extensive playing time and probably would have saved me from buying at least one other custom cue.

Haven't you ever found a cue "off the wall" at the poolhall that just played so well that you wanted to keep it??? Ever wonder why that one cue plays so much better than the others? I have.

Every once in a while, even the cheap production cue companies get some of them right. It may be accidental, but some lucky purchasers get a nice suprise sometimes.

Maniac
 
i'd suggest trying out different cues and find the "feel" that you're comfortable with. as much as possible be conscious with your budget. it sucks to buy a high-end/priced cue and find out that your friend's "not-so-pricey" cue hits better when you try it on.
here's what i do though. i settle on a good custom butt, and just have the local cuemaker build a shaft for me. if i want to try a different type of hit, i can just have him build another shaft - with a different ferrule, taper, diameter, tip, etc.
the other day i just went to the cuemaker and ordered a 13.1mm with juma and an emerald that i pressed. that would be the 3rd shaft for that particular cue. :)
 
I think it's a waste of money, but this is only my opinion. People's opinions on hit and feel are all over the place and largely subjective. If you play well with your cue and like it... keep playing with it. As a few others said, it's the indian not the arrow! :thumbup:

dont fix what isn't broken! :rolleyes:

arps said:
i'd suggest trying out different cues and find the "feel" that you're comfortable with. as much as possible be conscious with your budget. it sucks to buy a high-end/priced cue and find out that your friend's "not-so-pricey" cue hits better when you try it on.
here's what i do though. i settle on a good custom butt, and just have the local cuemaker build a shaft for me. if i want to try a different type of hit, i can just have him build another shaft - with a different ferrule, taper, diameter, tip, etc.
the other day i just went to the cuemaker and ordered a 13.1mm with juma and an emerald that i pressed. that would be the 3rd shaft for that particular cue. :)
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Yes this does suck. I own a couple cues that have cost me several hundreds of dollars and I won a $40 Action brand APA raffle cue and gave it to my girlfriend to shoot with. Every once in a while when I show her a shot I use her cue to demonstrate and I REALLY like how this cue hits above all of mine :angry::angry::angry: I'm constantly in denial that I actually like the feel of the hit on this cheap Action cue compared to any of mine. I'll never buy steel jointed cues ever again! :mad:
 
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:shakehead:


I'm having a lot of trouble with this Indian and Arrow thing.

With bad arrows, you will starve and not win against an equally good opponent with good arrows.:nanner:



This Indian would shoot any body in the world if they used a Sportcraft Cue with a hard, flat srcew-on tip and a piece of sportcraft chalk.:rotflmao1:

On a nine foot table, you'll see a good Indian might be able to pocket some balls but will never move the cueball around to where he needs to be.:lol:
 
I agree..

poolguy4u said:
:shakehead:


I'm having a lot of trouble with this Indian and Arrow thing.

With bad arrows, you will starve and not win against an equally good opponent with good arrows.:nanner:



This Indian would shoot any body in the world if they used a Sportcraft Cue with a hard, flat srcew-on tip and a piece of sportcraft chalk.:rotflmao1:

On a nine foot table, you'll see a good Indian might be able to pocket some balls but will never move the cueball around to where he needs to be.:lol:
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I totally agree with the 9 foot comment:thumbup:, on a barbox or 7 foot diamond i cant tell really, its those long shots that really start shinning the light on the quality of the cue on a 9 footer:angry:.
 
poormanintexas...Please try not to take offense, but if you play even 30% as good as you talk, you should be playing the pros, and holding your own, if not beating them (on occasion). Not trying to talk down to you, but as others have said, equipment is only marginally important. Real skill holds it own, regardless of what you play with. You call yourself an A player...moving up to AA (whatever that means). Have you played in any of the TX events in Austin, Houston, DFW, etc.? As a professional instructor, with 30 yrs teaching experience, I find it's rare when a student doesn't overestimate their actual skill at the table (sometimes WAY overestimate)! Just sayin...:grin:

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com



Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

poormanintexas said:
I guess i should explain in more detail. Im looking for a better hit on all shots, i have an onyx by tiger tip, IMO is the best hitting tip for me. But as i have a players sneaky the hit (when of centered) has a noise i do not like, but i can pocket balls very consistently. I played with a friends custom Carmeli and a also with an onyx, i ran a 2 pack with no effort, the feel was solid and a well rounded sound, it was sweet. Thats what got me, before that day i never shot with another cue other than my own or a house cue. So i believe you can get to a point where you "outgrow" your equipment:wink:, ie..my players sneaky...but as a side note i am gonna be breaking with the same players cue because i can squat the cue ball literally where i want it with sinking the wing, 1 and sometime 3 more on the break. Its not a very powerful break but it is as controlled as anyone.
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I appologize..

Mr. Scott Lee,
I definately respect you and your opinion on this subject since you do have 30 years under your belt. espcially as a master PBIA Master Instructor. The point of my thread isnt to brag about my ability at the table by no means, it is to discuss opinions on cue quality. Im sorry if i come across as a boaster, like everyone else i have flaws in my game, but i do play all the better players here in Temple, Tx. And yes you did brush on the major tournaments i would love to attend (this year god willing), I have not played in any of them yet, i need to work on my game flaws first. Maybe even with an instructor in my area.
 
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Inferno said:
Originally Posted by slach
I got to the pool hall early before a league match to get new tip put on. So I grabbed a house cue to warm up with while I waited. Shot really well with it - makes me wonder if my player's as good as a house cueBiNgO!!!
that's what I've been saying all along
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Well. if I may include my two cents,
I currently play with a custom ordered Jerry Rauenzahn that set me back just under a Grand.
Before that my daily shooter was a custom ordered Jacoby that set me back around $750.
then a $750 Carolina Custom,
Before that was a $600 dollar Schon,
then a $300 Olivier (new in 95)
and a few other cues here and there.

The point is all cues were great cues, and I must say the Schon may have been my favorite. Of course it's hard to say since I don't have it anymore to compare to the others, BUT! one cue that has always stood out as a solid great player was my sons 52" action cue I ordered for $27. The solid feel when contacting the ball, the ease to draw and apply English to the CB has always impressed me. It's even made me question my cue purchases. Unfortunatley my love for Art and four point cues may have clouded my better judgement. Who knows? Does anyone?
All I know is, I prefer nice Cues!
 
poormanintexas said:
Hello, I was wondering if it really matters when shooting with a high or low quality cue? For example I shoot with a players sneaky pete with a Tiger onyx tip and love it but Im wondering if im selling myself short by not having say a Joss, Predator, Or an Ob cue. Do you guys think it makes a huge difference? A little background may help, I have been playing for 18 years and i have always shot with a sneaky pete of the lower quality, first i had a 95-1 Meucci, then my current cue i purchased 10 years ago. I am a B+ to A player, 8 out of 10 times i have a clear shot i have the run out. I am thinking very hard about buying a Higher quality cue because i think it may make a difference, what do you think?
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No matter what cue you get, house cue, or $1000.00 cue, there is no difference for center ball hit, for english shots you have to spend time trying to learn it at slow, medium, high speed, and very hard , rolling, and stun cue ball all kind of english. Follow through on every shot- very critical for learning the cue.
 
poormanintexas said:
I totally agree with the 9 foot comment:thumbup:, on a barbox or 7 foot diamond i cant tell really, its those long shots that really start shinning the light on the quality of the cue on a 9 footer:angry:.
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Actually the shorter shots with english that gets you in trouble at times because the swerve factor that straighten the squirt for longer shots is not a factor, so cue with high deflection, squirt becomes dominant, very evident on shots that are up table and cue is about a diamond to 2 diamonds apart. Obviously, if you hit CB extremely hard all the time, for longer shots CB squirts proportional to distance.
 
Hey, I wasn't bashing him (please note how I prefaced my remarks). He stated that he runs out 8 out of 10 racks, on a regular basis, in some posts. The top pros on Earth don't do that with regularity. He also stated that he squats the CB, makes 1-3 balls on the break (perhaps sometimes, but certainly not regularly...again look at what the pros do). If you watch top pros in tournaments there are plenty of matches where neither player runs more than 2-3 racks. The other games are blends of safety play, misses, etc. I realize he wasn't "boasting" about his skill...but rather speaking (in his mind) matter-of-factly. To which my response was whether he had actually gone out and played any of these guys. He said no, but that it was a goal for the coming year. BTW...his questions (on this thread) were about equipment, and I, along with most others, recommended that equipment doesn't matter much.

Scott Lee
http://poolknowledge.com

SpongebobFreak said:
I agree that there are plenty of people that will get on here and boast and brag about their game. I did not see this post as one of those. He was simply asking for advice and the wonderful AZ community decided to chime in and start bashing him. You said if he played 30% as good as he says he should be beating pros......so 30% of 8/10 is 2.5 racks ran out of 10. If the pros can be beaten by someone that runs 2.5 out of 10 then i guess this game just got much easier and you should see me winning every pro event in the near future. :thumbup:
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I'm not sure if anyone here has heard of the cue brand Aska. Among Filipino pool players/enthusiasts, this brand is popularly known as a low-level bulk-production house cue made in China. Real cheap cue, about 500 pesos ($12).

Now there's a story about this Filipino who beat a lot of players in money games using his Aska cue. He even made it to top 32 of the WTBC. Unfortunately, he lost in this event to Wu Chia-Ching in a hill-hill match. Predator cues was impressed with his performance so they gave him a nice Ikon cue. Too bad though, he did not perform well and was losing on money matches with the new cue. So he went back to his cheapo Aska, and he started to play brilliantly the way he did before.

Lesson: Find a cue that fits the feel and hit that you are comfortable with. Play with it for long hours and stick to it. If it's a cheap cue, then good - you'll save money. If it's a fancy cue, it's still ok - at least you look good even if you lose. :D
 
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arps said:
I'm not sure if anyone here has heard of the cue brand Aska. Among Filipino pool players/enthusiasts, this brand is popularly known as a low-level bulk-production house cue made in China. Real cheap cue, about 500 pesos ($12).

Now there's a story about this Filipino who beat a lot of players in money games using his Aska cue. He even made it to top 32 of the WTBC. Unfortunately, he lost in this event to Wu Chia-Ching in a hill-hill match. Predator cues was impressed with his performance so they gave him a nice Ikon cue. Too bad though, he did not perform well and was losing on money matches with the new cue. So he went back to his cheapo Aska, and he started to play brilliantly the way he did before.

Lesson: Find a cue that fits the feel and hit that you are comfortable with. Play with it for long hours and stick to it. If it's a cheap cue, then good - you'll save money. If it's a fancy cue, it's still ok - at least you look good even if you lose. :D
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Fine example, nicely stated. In the same regard, a Predator Ikon cue is likely to provide the magic that another player will find as the just the right combination of qualities. I own several cues whose prices range from $18 to ~$7000. While I might prefer one or two, I would gladly spend the day playing with any of them. I have also played with many cues of varying price points that I would not give 2¢ for. Cues play differently to meet the expectations of players with different tastes and needs. I do not share the opinion that all cues are alike. Finding what is right for each player requires effort and experimentation. There are no absolutes or easy ways out.
 
I can put a ld shaft on a broom handle and play as good as i can with a 2000 dollar custom. the first half of the stick is the key.
 
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