Yes. I switched to pressed lepros about 3-4 years ago. I've tried to play with elk-masters that were pressed, but I can't get them to the performance of the pressed lePros. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but the Lepros are good enough for me. I feel it gave more predictable spin, it's cheaper and I like the feel. For some reason, I find that I get less unwanted spin on the ball when I use LePros. It doesn't make sense, but I've gone back and forth so many times now that I have become completely convinced. When shooting long shots on the snooker table at speed, my performance with the lepro is superior in every way to even the most expensive layered tips. Also, if for some reason I don't like the tip, I cut it off and put on a new one without a second thought. The new layered tips cost as much as 20-30 dollars here. A lepro costs 1-2 dollars. When I press them, they last almost as long, some last even longer.
Since I play all cue sports that are available, and lately mostly snooker and UK pool, I've been using C8b cues for US pool which are more like the cues used in these sports. They're handmade and do not have any fancy ld technology, and I have an ash one (like a snooker cue) and a maple one. The only "high tech" thing they have are carbon fibre ferrules. I don't like the brass ferrules for the larger diameter cues, but I do have brass ferrules on my snooker and UK pool cue. The carbon fiber hits more similar to the brass than other materials.
I have some ld shafts still. I can use them, because I still remember the offsets for sidespin etc, but I rarely do. I also sometimes play with a completely traditional pool cue with the big ferrule and everything. In some ways I think it hits better than the C8b cues, but I find it tougher to then transfer back to a snooker cue, which is why I rarely use it now. In the later years I've gotten used to the response from a conical, non-hollow shaft. It's a "harsh" hit, but it's very revealing of bad cueing. In the English cue sports there is a great emphasis on "positive" cueing. That is hitting the cueball in an accellerating fashion. The conical shafts hit lets me instantly know if my stroke is on or not. To me, a pro-tapered shaft sometimes masks flaws, for better or for worse, usually the latter. If carbon shafts can somehow become more lively and less dead, there may come a time when I switch to them.
Since I play all cue sports that are available, and lately mostly snooker and UK pool, I've been using C8b cues for US pool which are more like the cues used in these sports. They're handmade and do not have any fancy ld technology, and I have an ash one (like a snooker cue) and a maple one. The only "high tech" thing they have are carbon fibre ferrules. I don't like the brass ferrules for the larger diameter cues, but I do have brass ferrules on my snooker and UK pool cue. The carbon fiber hits more similar to the brass than other materials.
I have some ld shafts still. I can use them, because I still remember the offsets for sidespin etc, but I rarely do. I also sometimes play with a completely traditional pool cue with the big ferrule and everything. In some ways I think it hits better than the C8b cues, but I find it tougher to then transfer back to a snooker cue, which is why I rarely use it now. In the later years I've gotten used to the response from a conical, non-hollow shaft. It's a "harsh" hit, but it's very revealing of bad cueing. In the English cue sports there is a great emphasis on "positive" cueing. That is hitting the cueball in an accellerating fashion. The conical shafts hit lets me instantly know if my stroke is on or not. To me, a pro-tapered shaft sometimes masks flaws, for better or for worse, usually the latter. If carbon shafts can somehow become more lively and less dead, there may come a time when I switch to them.
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