Cuetecs?

demon627

demon627

Most know me as Branson
Silver Member
Is it odd to anyone else, or maybe its just me...but anyway...I was just looking around the internet and remembered that 2 of the top players in the world, pretty much the top female player, Allison Fisher, and arguably the best male player in the world, Shane V.B., play with one of the cheapest production cues on the market? I've never played with a Cuetec, but are we a bunch of idiots spending thousands of dollars on customs and special shafts, and ivory ferrules and 30 dollar tips with a cube of chalk worth a decent meal, when all we need is $200 cuetec? I mean if it works for them, and clearly its working, shouldn't it work for the rest of us as well? Anyone play with a cuetec that can talk about how they play?
 
True when saying they could probably play with about anything. And honestly, i've played with a wide variety of cues, but i've never really found a cue that i played bad with. In my opinion, as long as it isnt bowed in a question mark shape, and has a decent tip, im probably going to do well with it. In my younger days i won most of my money gambling with a 15oz Valley Supreme with an elk master on it. I probably played better with that back then than with any cue ive owned since. Granted ive never played with a 10k dollar boar, but unless you just like extravagant materials and looks, i dont see how playability could be that different from a $200 to a $10,000 cue. To me price is for time being built and the name on the butt cap.
 
Buy the Cuetec R-360 with the Cuetec 6" extend... both for under $175. IMO you can't beat the cue for that price. It has a good LD wood shaft also. I've had one for 3 years and love it. My $400 Viking sits in my rack now and I was a Viking man for 40+ years. Johnnyt
 
I think SVB is the only pro using a cuetec right now. Earl hasn't played with one in years, and I had the opportunity last month to meet Allison and she's playing with an OB these days.

However, Earl Alison and SVB could all be competitive pros with whatever you put in there hands. Shane swears he'd be playing with his cuetec even if he wasn't sponsored by them. He also says he's turned down an offer of $10,000 for the cue. I think he likes it.

The r360 is the difference. It is still a basic cuetec but that is fiberglass coated, which makes it very durable, but it has a nice maple shaft. I do own one and it plays very well. It does upset me, however, that a cue that sells for $180 plays just as nice as my custom lol. It makes for a great back up cue. I take it to the bars where I'm nervous about my main player getting damaged.
 
If I had thousands of dollars burning a hole in my pocket, I would not spend it on a single pool cue.

However, I have no opinion about what anyone else does with their hole-burning money.
 
demon627 said:
Is it odd to anyone else, or maybe its just me...but anyway...I was just looking around the internet and remembered that 2 of the top players in the world, pretty much the top female player, Allison Fisher, and arguably the best male player in the world, Shane V.B., play with one of the cheapest production cues on the market? I've never played with a Cuetec, but are we a bunch of idiots spending thousands of dollars on customs and special shafts, and ivory ferrules and 30 dollar tips with a cube of chalk worth a decent meal, when all we need is $200 cuetec? I mean if it works for them, and clearly its working, shouldn't it work for the rest of us as well? Anyone play with a cuetec that can talk about how they play?
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Do a forums search for Cuetec 360, there are a few threads about the playability of those cues and shaft. Also, watch the cuemaker discussion that is on TAR, basically the top cuemakers say the same thing, aside from build quality and the art factor and final construction quality of the butt, the main "playability" is in the "first 10" of a cue". That's a quote from one of the cuemakers.

I personally select my cues based on not just how I play with them but their design and quality and craftmanship. You can get $300 aluminum rims from a mail order shop, or $2000 rims hand cut by a guy in his shop, both hold tires but one will give you more satisfaction from owning and using them.

If I was a pro and all I cared about pool was how to make money with it, I would probably play with a cheap cue with a nice shaft and tip that would be picked only on how well I played with it. But those are also the guys that don't even talk to you unless you have a few 100s that you are trying to give to them. I don't want to be one of those guys.
 
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Straightpool_99 said:
You are forgetting Earl Strickland who played with Cuetecs forever winning every concievable title. The truth is that all of these players could probably play with a house cue and still be in the elite. No amount of money can buy a stroke or talent. Only hard work and genetics can.

Also, Cuetecs are in my opinion the most hated cue out there, but it is mostly undeserved. A friend of mine played with a Cuetech for many years and he kicked ass with it. I borrowed it all the time and I was able to play fine. I didn't particularly care for the hit of the cue, but I could play fine with it nonetheless, which is not true of all cues... I'm not an elite player by any standard (a C-player back then, and a low B now, I beat the 9 ball ghost on 4.5 inch pockets, but have difficulties with the 10-ball ghost) but I did run four racks of 9-ball with that cue... The biggest drawback was having to use a liquid to make the shaft glide through the fingers (due to fibreglass coating). The R360 shaft was not available back then, but it is a solid shaft i hear.
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Earl is playing with a Mike Gulyassy cue that is a Custom,,,,
 
Straightpool_99 said:
True. The "javelin" is a Gulassy. Before that he played with a Cuetec for many years. Before that I think a Meucci? In fact, when people talk about companies who do a lot for pool Cuetec should be brought up, with all the people they've sponsored through the years. Earl wasn't always happy with the Cuetecs however, and the sponsorship ended badly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stJqzaHMNZs
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I just heard a rumor he went back with Meucci... is that true?
 
I like earl, and always have. But you cant really expect a cue manufacturer to carry on with a sponsorship when you break one of their cues on a televised event.
 
Straightpool_99 said:
True. The "javelin" is a Gulassy. Before that he played with a Cuetec for many years. Before that I think a Meucci? In fact, when people talk about companies who do a lot for pool Cuetec should be brought up, with all the people they've sponsored through the years. Earl wasn't always happy with the Cuetecs however, and the sponsorship ended badly.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stJqzaHMNZs

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=55351
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Cuetec was also a sponsor of the WPBA when it was hot I believe. Johnnyt
 
Straightpool_99 said:
True. The "javelin" is a Gulassy. Before that he played with a Cuetec for many years. Before that I think a Meucci? In fact, when people talk about companies who do a lot for pool Cuetec should be brought up, with all the people they've sponsored through the years. Earl wasn't always happy with the Cuetecs however, and the sponsorship ended badly.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stJqzaHMNZs

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=55351
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One reason Earl plays with a Gulassy because it's free and Earl gets 28 shafts a year...just in case he damages some. :smile: Johnnyt
 
demon627 said:
Is it odd to anyone else, or maybe its just me...but anyway...I was just looking around the internet and remembered that 2 of the top players in the world, pretty much the top female player, Allison Fisher, and arguably the best male player in the world, Shane V.B., play with one of the cheapest production cues on the market? I've never played with a Cuetec, but are we a bunch of idiots spending thousands of dollars on customs and special shafts, and ivory ferrules and 30 dollar tips with a cube of chalk worth a decent meal, when all we need is $200 cuetec? I mean if it works for them, and clearly its working, shouldn't it work for the rest of us as well? Anyone play with a cuetec that can talk about how they play?
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:smile:


Years ago when playing with a Cuetec, it was like trying to drive a Mack truck around a city. Like it had no power steering or brakes. Maybe the shafts were too fat?



Todays Cuetecs are nice. Nice long tapered shaft and real easy to pocket balls. Cutting a ball up a long rail seems real easy compared to using a different cue. Cuetec has come a long way and play nice now.


Back in the old days though, all the Cuetec one piece house cues were the best. They played real good.:ok:
 
Icon of Sin said:
I just heard a rumor he went back with Meucci... is that true?
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Earl wrote that on Facebook a few months ago, but I haven't heard or seen anymore about it.

Maybe he was just trying to get people talking...I don't know but it worked.:smile:
 
Straightpool_99 said:
I don't want to bash Earl, there are hundreds of threads doing that. That cue breaking thing though..it's pretty unheard of. Can't imagine what would have happened if Tiger Woods had broken his golf club like that. The backlash would have been huge or even of epic proportions. Law suits, dropped sponsorship, disqualification, you name it.
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I don't know about that. Look at tennis, racquet breaking isn't exactly uncommon and nobody loses sponsorship over it.

Now, to the point of this thread, I think many sub-$200 production cues play at a level that would not hinder any player. You will not play better with a more expensive cue unless it's a purely mental thing, I think. But...there are other reasons to spend money on custom cues. Appreciation of the craftsmanship that goes into them, having something unique, and potential change in feel/feedback. I think there are probably some high end custom cues that do feel better than cheaper production cues, but I also think you can find a really great feeling cue for a pretty reasonable price (sub-$500 for sure from some great makers). Some people will appreciate these other factors and those are the custom cue buyers....other people will not and if there is no performance gain they don't see the point in spending the money, for them production cues are as good as they could possibly need to be in a lot of cases.

I've never hit the r360 that everyone talks about but I hope a get a chance to sometime, sounds like a killer playing cue for the money. Don't think I'll ever want one myself as I don't like the looks of it at all...but I respect that it is a great playing cue from what I've heard.
 
Does anyone remember the Wilson Sporting Goods Jimmy Conners model tennis racket? It was the first "metal" racket.

Conners won title after title with that racket, so zillions of amateurs bought one. The amateurs soon found out it was the most uncontrollable, worst racket ever made. The ball would go flying anywhere unless your stroke was absolutely perfect.

When asked about it in an interview, Conners said, "The pros on the tour could play with a two-by-four and in wouldn't make any difference."

Wilson Sporting Goods was not happy :D but Conners was telling the truth.
 
demon627 said:
Is it odd to anyone else, or maybe its just me...but anyway...I was just looking around the internet and remembered that 2 of the top players in the world, pretty much the top female player, Allison Fisher, and arguably the best male player in the world, Shane V.B., play with one of the cheapest production cues on the market? I've never played with a Cuetec, but are we a bunch of idiots spending thousands of dollars on customs and special shafts, and ivory ferrules and 30 dollar tips with a cube of chalk worth a decent meal, when all we need is $200 cuetec? I mean if it works for them, and clearly its working, shouldn't it work for the rest of us as well? Anyone play with a cuetec that can talk about how they play?
Click to expand...

If you want to try a new Cuetec, let me know and I'll swing a deal your way. I deal directly with Imperial, the parent company of Cuetec.
 
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