I know there are some strong opinions on both sides. I have formed my hypotheses based on the information given, but it could still be tested more thoroughly.
Here's a good story that Freddy the Beard (rip) posted in one of his books. He tells of a big tournament with being held back in the 60's or 70's that used Gandy tables and off brand cueballs. Every player and their mother swore up and down that these balls did not play as well as the blue circle balls they were used to playing with. Complaints of skidding and sliding were rampant, and all the players wanted to change cueballs. Freddy was elected to speak with the Gandy CEO who flew out to meet with them. After explaining to Freddy the in depth process of cue ball manufacturing, it turns out that the only difference in the two types of balls were the color of the inlay. They were made from the same facility out of the same materials to the same specs, but players could swear they could tell the difference. After this information was released, the ball suddenly stopped skidding and acting so weird!
Perception is a crazy thing. I would suggest checking out James Randi and Darren Brown who are magicians who both debunk and explain some of the strange phenomena that people claim they experience. It's very strange how a large number of people can come to believe something that is completely fabricated.
I know I lean more to the "no discernible difference side", but I would truly be interested in seeing the results of a well thought out experiment on this subject.
Agree with you on James Randi. I've always enjoyed his exposes, though as I recall, he's mostly exposed those who thought they had psychic powers, rather than feel. But, good point.
Onto cues, a few things you probably weren't aware of. I've examined why my Jerry -R- cues with steel joint, 5/16X14 pins had a more dampened sound hit than my Tim Scuggs cues, same joint, shaft size, taper, and probably density. Jerry's cues were newer, but used old 80s wood for the shafts, so my comparison was probably pretty good. Same weight and specs. The only major difference I could see was the compression shaft fit with Jerry's cues.
I will admit to another difference. Tim did the old-style ivory ferrules with no tenon exposed at the end. Jerry does his the modern way, with a very small wood tenon exposed, presumably for expansion of glue. Almost none of the currents do it the way that Scruggs, Janes, and Stroud did it in the old days. I'm not sure it's significant, but it is a bit of a difference in my testing. But I could still feel that Jerry's shaft hit had a more dampened sound. I've already said same tips, pads, and glue.
This may be misleading to some that think they know it all. Dampened is not necessarily more solid, or quieter. A "ping" sound can be the same loudness as a "thud" sound, but it sounds different, if you have good hearing, like mine. If your hearing is average, or less, you might not hear what I do. And I think the difference is more in the sound than the feel with cues.
Since you gave a cue ball comparison, I'll give you another. I knew Babe Cranfield in the 70s, and he gave me an account when Victor Conte, who did billiard supply sales in Utica, New York, sent new Centennial Blue Circle cue balls that the Albany Billiard Ball Company had made, along with the current model, to both Babe, and Irving Crane, of Rochester, NY, to see if they could tell the new production from the current. According to Babe, both could tell the difference and reported, and they did not confer with one another, as they were not on speaking terms anyhow. This happened in the early 70s, according to Cranfield, who relayed this account in 1978, years before the billiard ball manufacturing went to Belgium. Although the rest of us are not Cranfield and Crane, don't discount the ability to feel a difference.
Your response is reasonable; I don't know why someone else thought he had to speak for you a couple times. I have no problem debating this subject, however, I have no patience for people who claim to have "THE" definitive knowledge, and all other opinions be damned. Agree with you that a further test would be great. But don't expect anyone to hand over a compression shaft to have the pilot cut down. Sometimes you have to do you own experimenting and use your ears. If they're still good.
All the best,
WW
