Predator vantage shafts

poolguy4u said:
:slap:


Just go to the Atlas website and pick out what you need.

$30 will be all you need to make a good shaft as long as you have a lathe, glue, and a couple hours.

The rest is easy.


:woot:
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there is a big difference between $30 in materials and $30 to make one :shakehead:
 
Actually laminated production shafts do have the advantage of being more consistent and replaceable than custom and/or solid maple shafts. I feel that is an advantage and why I like them. The lower deflection is a plus because if you do hit a bit more left or right than you intended to...your shot will still be off, but not as much as if you hit the same shot with a solid shaft.


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9Ballr said:
Really you think so?
That's surprising considering I was just looking at some McDermott G-series and you can get a great cue at about 230 bucks. For less than one month worth of car payment you can get a whole cue that will last a lifetime. That's a whole cue vs. just a shaft.

http://www.billiardwarehouse.com/cues/mcdermott/G-Series4.html

I personally don't find it that expensive considering all the material that's there, wood, tip, ferrule, joint, wrapping, etc etc.....plus of course the labor.

Think that's more than fair.
What more do you want?

The prices on all of the LD's is just out the window crazy......but people are buying them so.....why not?
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That's a pretty good looking page for someone looking for a budget cue, long lasting cue, well-made cue, and a cue with a low-deflection G-Core shaft as well as a worthwhile warranty.

I like the G203, the least expensive of the bunch at $217. also G204, G206.

Up a notch in price, with some good looks ins the dark stain is the G209 at $233.75

These various wood forearm and sleeve choices look very classy for only:

Choices are Rosewood, cocobolo, bocote, birdseye maple, Genuine Irish linen wrap Dark brown Lizard-embossed leather wrap, German brass & Italian pearl rings, G-Core shaft. All at $254.15.
G222-G222C - C223 - G224 - G225 - G226

BTW, I bought my first $200 McDermott D-4 cue back about 1984, when $200 was worth a lot more that it is today. That fifty-year-old D-4 cue and its original shaft are still strong and straight and a good shooter. It was sent back to McDermott in 2008 for a new tip and shaft cleaning, total cost to me was just $22 to cover shipping one way, they paid the return shipping. How good is that? Pretty darn good, I think.
 
9Ballr said:
Yes



Fact



Better feel. Less hassle in the long run. And I can play any custom cue and adopt quickly.
Why is it that most custom cue makers are still selling their cues with regular shafts? And many are people who are making cues that are thousands of dollars. Do you really think they can't make the same or ....'better'... LD shafts that the LD makers.
Or do you actually think that if LD's were indeed superior to traditional shafts that they wouldn't sell it with their cues???
They do it because the solid wood shafts give far superior feel, play much better, (masse's, moving an object ball around another ball that's in the way, and most action in general) and are simply better in every aspect.
Another side bonus, has nothing to do with quality, is that one certainly doesn't have to worry about this bs about a "better" shaft that "I just gotta get" coming out every 3-4 years.




No.
Those are two traditional shafts and neither is, in my opinion better than the other.

shanesinnott said:
If so, why and how do you prove it?
[/QUOTE

They are both at about the same quality.



That's an exaggeration if there ever was one.

I can also throw out some words like that too and say that there are hundreds of thousands of pool players who buy LD shafts and then you see 90% (heck let's make it 99% since we're making stuff up on the spot) of them on sale three months later because they're going back to traditional shafts.
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Everything you're saying is absolutely ridiculous. Custom cue builders don't put predator shafts with their cues simple due to cost. A custom cue solid maple shaft wood blank may cost $5-10 before it's turned down and very little labor and materials to finish. The predator shaft cost to dealers is closer to $200 +/- and if purchased for a blank will need to be threaded & ringed.

As far as feel is concerned, that is entirely left as an open opinion to the end user. Who are you to label someone that prefers anything other than what you use as wrong?

I played with solid maple shafts for twenty years before trying anything low deflection. I can shoot with anything you stick in my hands but that doesn't mean you could pay me to use your solid maple again.

Imagine if the greatest golfers from the past 100 years all had the same technology...

What about hockey sticks? Would you use solid maple and fiberglass over Kevlar, and carbon fiber?

The questions are rhetorical so they don't really require an answer.
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:eek:



If anyone was wondering about the new Predator Vantage shaft.......

I bought one and I will not even chalk it.


I believe it will be Predators biggest mistake ever.

The tip is just under 13mm but the shaft taper is like

a $30 dollar J&J break shaft. It is too fat to play with-----

for me anyway.


So...if you like a fat shaft, there you go.:rotflmao1:
 
From my experience the Z-2 deflects about one ball +/- on a 9ft table with a medium but solid stroke. That is shooting from the head spot to the center diamond at the other end of the table.

I'm using 314-2 with a long pro taper @ about 12.5mm. It deflects just under 2 balls using the same firm stroke.
 
Your answer

plhlolelnlilx said:
From my experience the Z-2 deflects about one ball +/- on a 9ft table with a medium but solid stroke. That is shooting from the head spot to the center diamond at the other end of the table.

I'm using 314-2 with a long pro taper @ about 12.5mm. It deflects just under 2 balls using the same firm stroke.
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One ball +/- ,, Sorry I do not understand your answer.

I measure the deflection on my shafts some what the same, 3/8 of a inch on 9 footer.
With a solid maple shaft.

Why does it (sound ) like my solid shafts have less deflection then a LD shaft ?
Am I measuring deflection wrong ?
 
mortuarymike-nv said:
... Why does it (sound ) like my solid shafts have less deflection then a LD shaft ?
Am I measuring deflection wrong ?
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What you are seeing over a long distance is the net of squirt and swerve. If one tester is hitting at a certain speed and a certain amount of back-end elevation of the cue, and another tester is hitting with a different speed and elevation, the results are not comparable.
 
The cue is as close to parallel with the table as possible and using maximum left or right hand english. Maximum as defined by three or more tips outside of center. A solid maple shaft will be well outside of three balls if your cue is level and you're hitting with speed.
 
What does that mean ?

plhlolelnlilx said:
From my experience the Z-2 deflects about one ball +/- on a 9ft table with a medium but solid stroke. That is shooting from the head spot to the center diamond at the other end of the table.

I'm using 314-2 with a long pro taper @ about 12.5mm. It deflects just under 2 balls using the same firm stroke.
Click to expand...



I do not know how much plus or minus one ball means ? please explain this.
I am not trying to be a pain, but If you don't mind exact internationally known units of measurements works for me.
Ball widths with plus or minus added to it is far from a usable measurement.

Here lets speak Greek My arm is exactly one Royal Egyptian cubit. plus or minus one RE Cubit. did that make sense < maybe but it sure didn't give a precise number did it... and that is the question, precisely how much deflection does the shaft you shoot with have......at a 2 speed or what ever speed you shoot to measure the deflection.

I have 5/16 to 3/8 of a inch deflection on a 9 ft table rail to rail at a 2 speed shot .

If I am using extreme right English my aim point is 3/8 of a inch to the left of where I actually want the cue ball to strike the Object ball . < this I can understand >
and that is how I adjust for deflection.
 
A z2 will deflect on average about 2-1/4" if hit over and over and over by one or multiple people that can deliver a straight stroke. My 314-2 is very close to 3" of deflection. You will never hit the same exact measurement but it's going to be damn close.
 
mortuarymike-nv said:
I do not know how much plus or minus one ball means ? please explain this.
I am not trying to be a pain, but If you don't mind exact internationally known units of measurements works for me.
Ball widths with plus or minus added to it is far from a usable measurement.

Here lets speak Greek My arm is exactly one Royal Egyptian cubit. plus or minus one RE Cubit. did that make sense < maybe but it sure didn't give a precise number did it... and that is the question, precisely how much deflection does the shaft you shoot with have......at a 2 speed or what ever speed you shoot to measure the deflection.

I have 5/16 to 3/8 of a inch deflection on a 9 ft table rail to rail at a 2 speed shot .

If I am using extreme right English my aim point is 3/8 of a inch to the left of where I actually want the cue ball to strike the Object ball . < this I can understand >
and that is how I adjust for deflection.
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Is your cue level with the table? If not, the cue ball will swerve back.
 
You have me confused

plhlolelnlilx said:
Is your cue level with the table? If not, the cue ball will swerve back.
Click to expand...

I don't know how it could be possible to have your cue level if you are shooting the cue ball from inside the kitchen ????????
As you said earlier your test, you where shooting from the head spot on a 9 ft table......................................................................................................

No my cue isn't level with the cue ball and either is anyone else's it is not possible...if you are shooting from the kitchen .... in less the cue is about 18 inches long.

The only time my cue is level with the table is when there is enough room.

If you or I have enough room to make the cue level then how are you going to shoot a ( 9 foot ) extreme English shot, that is not even possible on a snooker table.

Nine time out of ten the butt of the cue will be elevated or not level on all shots ..........

On a snooker maybe there is more times where there is enough room to shoot with you cue level .

And I guess it would depend on what game you re playing and the size of the table.
 
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I suppose I should say as level as possible but I was assuming you would know there are rails that make it impossible to be "perfectly" level unless reaching across the table to the point that the butt cap can literally touch the table. Extreme side English with an elevated cue can cause cue ball swerve that is more severe the higher the angle of your cue in relation to the horizontal surface of the table. I have a suspicion that you're very familiar with everything that I've explained.
 
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