Ohhhhh....this conversation is near and dear to my heart. As a former cuemaker with Tony at BB we probably had this conversation every day for ten years straight and we always joked about "banks of lathes to do one process and only one process." So, in my humble opinion here is the crux of the situation. In manufacturing on a production line a finished product SHOULD come off the line at a time equal to whatever is the slowest element of that entire process. So, if the single longest process of making a cue takes, let's say, one hour, then for all intents a purposes in a perfectly set up "factory" a finished cue should come off the line once every hour. This is how the mass producers of carbon fiber cues build them. It's a factory. A full blown factory with a separate machine for every facet of building the cue or at least doing two or three things simultaneously. That's how Jim McDermott built his cues. Every aspect of the cue was designed to minimize any hands-on actions. The first lathe in his system had sort of a guillotine that formed every nuance of the blank in one pass. 30 seconds.....done. There's nothing wrong with that; it just is what it is. From what I've gleaned since the inception of carbon fiber cues the vast majority of the production and/or raw materials is produced in China. Across the board......China. I venture to guess that the overhead of producing a cue like that is pennies on the dollar as compared to building it here. I saw not too long ago an ad for carbon fiber shafts....completed.....for ONE dollar each. To prove I'm not full of crap here is the website:
https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...rlist.normal_offer.d_title.c5a54f00nmYP0Z&s=p They range in price from $1.00 on up depending on the quantity. Sooooo what did that extra Predator shaft cost? $500 what it?
The profit margin for these things is astronomical but by the same regard I know a gent who builds similar shafts one at a time from a Chinese blank and they're terrific plus being significantly less than the more name-brand versions. To use the high end watch metaphor, many people can't tell the difference between a genuine Rolex and a Chinese knock off but is it the same watch? Is every single piece of it identical to the original? Short answer. No. It's not even close. When some little old dude at Rolex laps together two pieces of metal meticulously so they're as perfect as perfect can be.....what's that worth? On to the performance: again, in my humble opinion......I recently started playing again after a significant hiatus and wanted to test these carbon fiber shafts. So, since I didn't want to spend a small fortune and since I generally know the cost of producing such a thing I didn't want to pony up a ton of bucks just to try one for a month or so. What I found is that basically, they're not for me. Let me see if I can explain this: to me, playing with a custom cue like a Black Boar is an experience. It's not just pocketing balls or JUST playing pool anymore than playing a Stradavarius is just fiddling around on a violin. Stradavarius violins have been tested and the sound HAS (for the most part been duplicated) by technology but I'm pretty damn sure playing one vs. a carbon fiber violin isn't the same experience. The musicians who've played those Stradavarius violins have said the same thing....."Yeah. It kind of sounds the same but something about it isn't the same." And, that's also true of the sound. A finely tuned ear to a musician can differentiate between both instruments. I can't. They can. However, back in the day and I kid you not, I could tell who was playing with a Black Boar the minute we walked into a pool room. I could literally hear the difference. As well, I'm sure you've all seen this too: ever seen a pool player steer balls around on the table with the edge of his shaft? Knock the cue ball up table with the side of his shaft? You would NEVER see this back in the day of pure wood shafts as it was highly taboo in that you can dent the shaft. You would never see a Black Boar or a Szamboti or Balabushka owner smack a ball with the shaft. You would NEVER see a player drag his cue around on the floor going from shot to shot while chalking the tip and yet, I see this all the time nowadays. Yes, high end pool cues can be and pretty much have always been a status symbol however I also personally believe you play better with a custom cue and I mean that "mentally." I believe you're in a better frame of mind with a custom cue that you helped design and you saw get built personally, that you tracked the progress of and you know the history of every piece of material that went into it. You also know the person who built it and that he did so with love and attention to detail that is unrivaled by any mass produced cue on the market. The custom cuemaker gets to know you personally and can alter the cue to your personal likes and dislikes.....fine tune it....thin out a shaft......change the ferrule material.....change wraps etc., inform you on what materials make for a better combination based upon your game and your goals and your personal preferences..... Can ANY of the mass produced companies do that? What would you pay to a guy who has a shop with an sky-high overhead who spends every day for a year or two focusing on YOUR cue? A guy who knows intimately every nuance of every material that is going into that cue? How much would you pay him to do that? What I absolutely disliked most about my carbon fiber experience was that the "hit" although highly subjective had NO feel to it. NO personality. It just felt bland.....dead. I know that sounds rather "spiritual" for lack of a better word but playing pool at it's very best is exactly in the realm. If you're simply not "feeling" it....you can forget it. I personally believe playing with wood shafts and other wood materials, much like that Stradavarius produce the greatest state of mind, for me, within which to play. I've handed my personal cue to very good players and their immediate response is always one of reverence much the same as a person who climbs into a Ferrari for the first time. He know and "feels" that this piece of engineering art.....Ain't a Ford and his entire state of mind changes. On a final note I respectfully disagree that a $10,000 watch is the same as a $100 watch. I saw a video on YouTube where the gent compares a knock-off Rolex with the real thing. God as my judge I could NOT see the difference until he started dissecting the two. Under a microscope the lap marks, the machine marks, the quality and fit and finish were dramatically different. But, that's what you're paying for. You're doling out your hard earned bucks for yes, a watch that simply tells time, but moreover for a finely tuned machine that is likewise a piece of art. In my opinion there is a difference between hamburger and Wagyu beef. Yep.....they're both beef but they're also dramatically different. Henry Ford once said, "You can order any color of car you want so long as it's black." I think that kind of sums up the differences between mass production and custom cues. Try asking a mass produced carbon fiber cue company to make adjustments to the cue, to change the wrap or change the ferrule material or ask him (or her) why this cue plays different from this one and see if they have an answer. Tony and I once chatted with Allen Hopkins and gave him six or seven different shafts to hit with. He could literally tell the difference between a shaft that was .502 and a shaft that was .503 and we tested him to see that he was correct. He was. I would switch them up.....hand him a shaft.....which one is it? He nailed it every time. If you want a carbon fiber shaft that ISN'T precisely what the manufacturer makes.....well.....good luck with that. And now.....I'm stepping off my soapbox.
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