Looking to Purchase New Cue **Questions & Advice**

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jtothea

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***Update*** I made a Purchase, check out page 2 for pictures and let me know what you think.

Hi everyone, I'm looking to purchase a new cue soon and am looking for suggestions and feedback. I currently have a Players Professional Series that was a gift about 13-14 years ago. Plays good and has been well taken care of but Time for an upgrade!

Cosmetically speaking, I would really like a cue like this - birds eye maple, 4 points, preferably with some color, and a white/brown or white/black linen wrap is a must. (bushka style look i know). However, I've had a hard time finding any production cues that have this traditional look without breaking the bank. My budget is around $400 and I've seen several Joss cues that are very close to what I like, (most are flamed birch wood, or curly maple…etc with black points).

Are their any other production cues that would be a good fit? I stumbled across some Karella cues for around $200 and love the look, its exactly cosmetically what i've been looking for. But am skeptical about the quality as I've never heard of them before? Any advice on these cues or what brand they are similar too? or should I stick with a Joss (Jos45 is what i'm eyeballing but it more than twice as much as the Karella)

All feedback appreciated, Thanks!
 
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jtothea said:
Hi everyone, I'm looking to purchase a new cue soon and am looking for suggestions and feedback. I currently have a Players Professional Series that was a gift about 13-14 years ago. Plays good and has been well taken care of but Time for an upgrade!

Cosmetically speaking, I would really like a cue like this - birds eye maple, 4 points, preferably with some color, and a white/brown or white/black linen wrap is a must. (bushka style look i know). However, I've had a hard time finding any production cues that have this traditional look without breaking the bank. My budget is around $400 and I've seen several Joss cues that are very close to what I like, (most are flamed birch wood, or curly maple…etc with black points).

Are their any other production cues that would be a good fit? I stumbled across some Karella cues for around $200 and love the look, its exactly cosmetically what i've been looking for. But am skeptical about the quality as I've never heard of them before? Any advice on these cues or what brand they are similar too? or should I stick with a Joss (Jos45 is what i'm eyeballing but it more than twice as much as the Karella)

All feedback appreciated, Thanks!
Click to expand...


Take a look at used Schons. I use a Schon STL 7... it has the birdseye maple forearm with ebony points. They can be found for as little as $250 for a good condition all the way up to $2000 for the fancier ones. They have a good solid hit thet they're known for. All the production companies tout their cues as "having a Schon hit".
 
These are the Karella cues. The price point for the look is very appealing...
 

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The Captain said:
Take a look at used Schons. I use a Schon STL 7... it has the birdseye maple forearm with ebony points. They can be found for as little as $250 for a good condition all the way up to $2000 for the fancier ones. They have a good solid hit thet they're known for. All the production companies tout their cues as "having a Schon hit".
Click to expand...


I've never heard production companies saying their cues hit like a schon. If you find a stl7 for $200 PM me I'll scoop it up in a heartbeat and have it re finished.
I've played plenty of production cues and I find that Mezz hits better than most and when buying used they aren't overly expensive either.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
to the op:

this question comes up fairly often although you are being a little more specific on what you want aesthetically.

If I were you I would visit schmelkecues.com or maybe it's schmelkecue.com and follow up with a phone call to inquire about your specidics. These are great playing cues, made in the usa and extremely inexpensive for the great quality.

You said there is a Joss that you are considering; that's would be another great brand to go with.

The final 3 I would recommend and you might have to go used would be Mezz, Pechauer and Schon listed in no particular order. These 3 always win the top votes here on az for best hitting production cues.

Def give Schmelke a look.

GL

best,
brian kc
 
If you don't mind the rounded look of CNC points, that opens up a whole world of cues to you. But if you prefer sharp looking splice points, that changes things a bit.

Those Karella cues look pretty nice, but AFAIK they show their true quality level up close and are probably best avoided.

I don't know how you feel about used cues, but $400 will get you a really nice mid-level McDermott D-series splice point cue. Find one of those in decent shape and you'll be getting a collectible that will appreciate and has a long standing reputation for being an excellent cue. There are also so newer G-Core McDermotts around that used splice point stock, those are around $300-$400 when they come up for sale.

http://www.mcdermottcue.com/timecapsuled.php

The adams buska copies are pretty nice and also have a good reputation.

$400 should get you a nice used Espiritu cue with classic points, too.
 
Thanks for the input everyone. Any specific websites to find used cues? I check the for sale section daily along with ebay. Has anyone heard of those Karella cues? I understand that they will likely be a $200dollar cosmetic quality cue, but am also concerned about the playability and quality of the Karella cue overall?
Will definitely check out Schmelke.
 
jtothea said:
Thanks for the input everyone. Any specific websites to find used cues? I check the for sale section daily along with ebay. Has anyone heard of those Karella cues? I understand that they will likely be a $200dollar cosmetic quality cue, but am also concerned about the playability and quality of the Karella cue overall?
Will definitely check out Schmelke.
Click to expand...

the power of az:

while the karella cues may look nice in pics, I would want a lot of input from knowledgeable people who have had this brand and can provide reports. Therein lies the problem, imo.

You might find a couple of guys who owned this brand but to me, it wouldn't convince me like the comparative avalance of members who can vouch for the solid play and durability of schon, mezz, joss, pechauer, schmelke, etc.

The karella *could be* a decent cue, I don't know. The others listed *def are*. :wink:

best,
brian kc
 
jtothea said:
My budget is around $400
Click to expand...


Way I see it if anyone can push their budget up to about 500 or
so they can afford many maker's plane janes just fine.
Look at some of the RAT cues.
I'd much rather play cue like that vs a production cue.
Although of the production cues it wold be a toss between a
Schon and a Joss, for me.
But for 400 you can look at some of the custom makers and
see which plane jane you like.
That will probably give you a better hit than any production with
useless points and all that fancy stuff that means nothing.
At least that's what I would do.
 
Contact schmelke. They have 4 point 4 venner blanks that they can make to your specs and it should be under $400.
Or Adam Balabushka cues are good cues.
 
Second the suggestion for getting a Schon. Great hitting cue that you can get for around your price point and will last a lifetime.

Someone else mentioned RAT cues and I can say they make a very good product as well.
 
Update: Finally Made A Purchase!! check it out...

I decided to throw a curveball and go with a plain jane style cue instead of a 4-point style. I ordered a Pechauer and couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out (natural stain with white/brown wrap). Visually beautiful in my opinion! In the meantime I had my older Players rewrapped & retipped along with a good shaft cleaning/refinishing. To my surprise it plays incredibly better than before as well. Will upload some pics shortly.
 
New Cue

Here are some pics.
 

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