Anyone else struggle getting used to 12.4 revo?

I remember when predator first showed up with their revolutionary new shaft. Took some time ( 20 years...) and I got one. Couldn't hit those same shots the OP is having trouble with. Long thin cuts I would just whiff...right on by. The thing is, I can still play with a regular maple shaft, and I do when banging balls in the basement, but use my LD for everything else. It will be another 20 years to switch to CF. I have an aversion to change. But I am sure that they are better than my current LD.
What you cue you playing with these days?
 
How close to each other has the shafts made the cues play?

In other words, has the shafts made the cue butts and their builders irrelevant?

I mentioned in other threads these after market shafts may make it not matter who built your cue or the mystique of the cuemaker. The magic is now in the shaft.

They have certainly invented a market for themselves. There is no way those shafts are worth what they are getting for them.

A cuemaker takes many months laboring over shafts. Multiple turnings and many rejections trying to build a high quality shaft.

These CF shafts are mass produced and they get several times what the best cuemakers charge for a fitted shaft matched to your butt.

I'm trying to figure out what this all means. Does it mean forget waiting a year for a cue and paying $1500.00. Just buy any production cue for a few hundred, throw out the shaft and put on a CF shaft and your good to go. It certainly sounds like that.
I wouldn't say butts are irrelevant. I honestly can't compare the differences between the cues with their wooden shafts then using the cues with cf shafts. Since covid I pretty much sold most of my stuff and bought 10 new cues and have cf for them all. I haven't hit any of the new cues with wooden shafts only with cf.
 
the butts are not irrelevant as they have their own feel with regard to weight/ balance/ size/ vibration and energy transfer
that being said the shaft you use palys a big part in playability
so if you use a carbon fiber shaft and use the same brand shaft and size on different butts there will be alot of similarity and over lap in the way they play
same would be said if you use a maple shaft and do the same thing
 
I was playing with standard deflection 13mm cue since I got my table. Was making good progress especially on long distance shots. I figured going down to a 12.4 L/D wouldn't be that big of an adjustment. That has not been the case. Seem to purposely have to aim half a cue tip to the left also it feels front heavy.

Anyway I'll keep practicing with it I do like never having to worry about warping but def more an adjustment than I was expecting. I am missing some pretty easy shots I was not missing before etc.
with no spin shots, there is no difference in how you aim, an LD shaft may make mistakes a bit less forgiving since you may be shooting off center, actually "missing" but the deflection sends it back to the normal shot line. With an LD shaft, whatever side spin you hit will still send the cueball in a pretty straight line, so if there is a bit of english but you are aiming at the wrong spot, it will hit that wrong spot. A standard shaft will deflect into the line you think you are aiming towards. I guess you can say an LD shaft can expose more flaws with a stroke that one may not have know one had. Not saying that is why you are missing in your case, but if you are hitting center ball hits and missing, that may be why.

Standard shaft to LD shaft is a multi week process at least. As I said in another post about this, how long did it take you go get good with your current shaft? Don't expect to learn to play with a new shaft much quicker since you need to learn to aim different with all the spin shots you take, but it should be easier this time since you don't need to adjust, just shoot like it's a center ball hit pretty much.
 
Last edited:
the butts are not irrelevant as they have their own feel with regard to weight/ balance/ size/ vibration and energy transfer
that being said the shaft you use palys a big part in playability
so if you use a carbon fiber shaft and use the same brand shaft and size on different butts there will be alot of similarity and over lap in the way they play
same would be said if you use a maple shaft and do the same thing

With actually pocketing a ball, the butt does not matter, it only matters in the intangible things like hit feel and balance that is personal preference. The core performance of a cue, which is how you need to aim to make the ball with it, does not change at all with a different butt. It's like the color of a car or the interior design or leather seats in a car. If the cars all have the same core performance specs like tires, engine, transmission, weight, drag, etc... none of that makes a difference in how you can drive it on the track, but it does make a difference is the feel of it and wanting to drive it on a long trip.
 
with no spin shots, there is no difference in how you aim, an LD shaft may make mistakes a bit less forgiving since you may be shooting off center, actually "missing" but the deflection sends it back to the normal shot line. With an LD shaft, whatever side spin you hit will still send the cueball in a pretty straight line, so if there is a bit of english but you are aiming at the wrong spot, it will hit that wrong spot. A standard shaft will deflect into the line you think you are aiming towards. I guess you can say an LD shaft can expose more flaws with a stroke that one may not have know one had. Not saying that is why you are missing in your case, but if you are hitting center ball hits and missing, that may be why.

Standard shaft to LD shaft is a multi week process at least. As I said in another post about this, how long did it take you go get good with your current shaft? Don't expect to learn to play with a new shaft much quicker since you need to learn to aim different with all the spin shots you take, but it should be easier this time since you don't need to adjust, just shoot like it's a center ball hit pretty much.
Ya your spot on. Most of my shots I think I was shooting slightly off center going down to a smaller diameter requires more precision less forgiving. Been doing some drills to re-work some basic fundamentals. I had heard switching doesn't take long on some of the youtube vids I watched If you have very sound fundamentals I guess that is probably the case. I am still a newer shooter so it will take time. I will say for whatever reason my bank shot % has gone up quite a bit. All in all I really like the revo. I am glad I didn't go to 11.8 though.

Cheers
Brent
 
What you cue you playing with these days?
I am a fan of my Schon, I took another one in on trade which came with a Katana shaft. Hung up my OB-1 and been playing with the Katana for about 9 months now. It was a 31 inch OB, me being over 6 foot I thought hey, I can do that...but am not a fan anymore of having a unequal ratio of shaft to but....get your head out of the gutter...
 
I was playing with standard deflection 13mm cue since I got my table. Was making good progress especially on long distance shots. I figured going down to a 12.4 L/D wouldn't be that big of an adjustment. That has not been the case. Seem to purposely have to aim half a cue tip to the left also it feels front heavy.

Anyway I'll keep practicing with it I do like never having to worry about warping but def more an adjustment than I was expecting. I am missing some pretty easy shots I was not missing before etc.
I would say a big no. I won a big tournament about three months after getting my 12.4 Revo. I can’t even imagine going back to a regular shaft.
 
I'm trying to figure out what this all means. Does it mean forget waiting a year for a cue and paying $1500.00. Just buy any production cue for a few hundred, throw out the shaft and put on a CF shaft and your good to go. It certainly sounds like that.
Yes, it's exactly what it means. I played with the lowest end Falcon butt and a Z2 shaft for nearly decades.
 
I am a fan of my Schon, I took another one in on trade which came with a Katana shaft. Hung up my OB-1 and been playing with the Katana for about 9 months now. It was a 31 inch OB, me being over 6 foot I thought hey, I can do that...but am not a fan anymore of having a unequal ratio of shaft to but....get your head out of the gutter...
Oh come on! You gotta give us a chance!
 
I was playing with standard deflection 13mm cue since I got my table. Was making good progress especially on long distance shots. I figured going down to a 12.4 L/D wouldn't be that big of an adjustment. That has not been the case. Seem to purposely have to aim half a cue tip to the left also it feels front heavy.

Anyway I'll keep practicing with it I do like never having to worry about warping but def more an adjustment than I was expecting. I am missing some pretty easy shots I was not missing before etc.
Yes it took me almost a year to trust this thing… I played standard 13 then got a 314-3 (12.75) and didn’t have to adjust too much at all maybe a month to get a trustworthy feel for it.. Then I switched to Revo about 2 years ago and I’m finally at the point I will just leave my 314-3 at home.. I was so inconsistent with it I never played with it in tournaments or money games for the first year and a half.. I don’t know why but there was a 20% decrease in my game trying to learn this thing… but it’s so much fun I love it now and just get bored with anything else but I will say for me too it was definitely a long adjustment
 
I take to things pretty quickly lol if it feels right im good with it. I had been playing with the 12.9 revo since it came out when I got my predator tuxedo cue with a 12.4. I knew with in a few racks it felt more comfortable and I never looked back
 
Thanks for your message. I don't think it was off subject. I have two cues I play with. They both have the same joint. Regardless what butt I use I play with the same shaft. I can put that shaft on either cue an I'm happy.

My thinking is, while there may be some differences in butts, for the most part if you become accostom to a CF shaft the butt will not make that much difference as long as it is to your likings weight, wrap etc.

These shafts "ARE" game changers in the cue industry. Like in golf, tennis, fishing rods, archery and so on, equipment evolves. Pool was due and I think it is here.
I'm ready to take a shot and give it a try, just a matter what one to get?
I feel the same way, but before I pulled the trigger, I did this.
Years ago when I was on tour, I had Kikel make me a 5'' extension that I would leave on my second shaft.
Being 6'6'' + 1'' shoe sole, I never had to use a bridge, I'd just uncork/change shafts.
But with those excessive years of play (about 30 hrs + a week) I wore down the shaft ends, of the aged 1979 shaft wood with excellent grain, that were in play in 89 till I quit in the late 90's.
Because of upper shaft wear, I cut back the shafts 5'' installed new ferrules.... that stiffened em up nicely, inserted the 5'' extension to the shaft, removed the weight bolt from the butt handle and I like it, + it cost me next to nothing to put two ferrules on and the shafts are Stiff.
 
Not an issue with the Revo, going to any LD shaft from a standard one you are used to for many years is an adjustment. Usually months of play before it's comfortable. One of the biggest mistakes people make is equating LD shafts or expensive cues or shafts as an automatic "upgrade". It's often not. You should use whatever you are comfortable and can play best with, which is often one and the same. Many of the best players I see are using simple cheaper cues they used for years. A player in my area I have seen play with the same cue for over 10 years, going from a D to an A player with the same cue.
 
Back
Top