The never ending quest for the perfect cue (long, boring rant).

[Slick53]

I have a Bob Owen as well and another on the way. Two of my pool playing friends also have Bob Owens and love them. I agree with Matt, if you know exactly what you want with all those specs, Get a Great Custom Cue that will last you a lifetime!

 

[boogieman]

Like many on here, I've spent my entire playing life searching for that gem, the best possible pool cue. My first cue was an Adam. I loved that cue, but people kept telling me I'd get more spin with a Meucci. Like an idiot I believed them. I did get spin with the Meucci, but the cue would twist and squirm in my arms like a puppy that you've held too long. There was near zero feel on the soft shots and on the hard shots, the whole cue would vibrate, violently up and down and side to side. Needless to say, that got old. So I bought a Predator with a Z shaft. While the butts have been changing back and forth I've been going back to the Z shaft almost every time I get tired of a cue. It just delivers so much precision. Every mm of elevation makes the cueball do something different. When you are in dead stroke, I venture to say that no other shaft is better, but then there is the small matter of the 99.9% of times when you are not. And when you're really not, it's hell playing with that shaft. You seem to throw every long shot out of the pocket when making it matters the most. It's like the pool cue equivalent of the girlfriend that you remember fondly, but she is completely nuts. "Why oh why did I ever break up with her, shes perfect I should try one more time", then the dinner plates start hitting the floor and you remember..

I bought some customs that weren't quite right and sold them immediately..Then I bought a McDermott, which was pretty good but some guy offered a lot of money for it so I sold it. So I bought a Mezz. And frankly, the Mezz cue with a WD 700 shafts is probably the best allround cue I've ever owned. It does everything well, and everyone who tries it seem to like it, no matter what their playing style happens to be. But then the voices in my head started whispering again..."This shaft is too mellow, it hides your flaws". So I bought a conical taper cue that hit so hard it was like running face first into a brick wall. Then I bought another one just like it. And they made me miserable, even if I played ok...and then I went back to the Z and now of course I've come to the same realization I did EVERY time I did that, that this shaft is just too damned difficult to play with for mortal men. THen I start playing with 14mm shafts, house cues, garbage cues and I start playing well. I have no idea whats up with that? And then the inevitable crash comes...

So I'm back on the search again. Looking for a cue with perfect balance, with a shaft that is fairly thin, but not too thin, low deflecting but not too low deflecting, that has a hit that is not too harsh but not too mellow, with the right weight and wrapless...It's hopeless, I'll never find it, but I guess like always my preferences change as I train more. The better I play, the more I favour a hard hit, hard tips and unforgiving cues. But then I have a bad night and doubt creeps in...I train and train and tweek the fundamentals endlessly, but can't change the feeling that maybe, just maybe with a different cue...I know it's bs, but I can't help myself and neither can anyone else I know with this dreadful, lifelong addiction. We're addicts beyond any help or recovery, no program can help us. The dragons we chase are every bit as elusive as the other addicts' dragons, though they won't kill us, it's just as hopeless of a pursuit and perhaps even less comprehensible to sane people watching. "Just buy a cue and train, they say". What do they know, about the regret of selling your best cues and the triumph of finding the one, though it never ever lasts? The nostalgic journeys to the back of the closet, wandering through the small forest of shafts and cues (forest of shame and misspent money) and spending more time than any woman trying to decide what to take to a night out? Nothing, that's what!

Great write up. I find when this thought hits me, it's exactly that. A thought. Between the ears. It's fun to try different cues but once you find one you like, it's best to forget any other cue exists. There isn't a cue around that I can do more than what the cue allows. In other words, I've never outplayed a cue. I seriously doubt anyone has if we're talking anything well constructed, over wal mart level cues.

I bought a Diviney with a keilwood shaft earlier this year and it just does what I feel/imagine happening. It took a few weeks to get the feel for an ld shaft. Once I did I swapped the stock medium tip for a zan griphard. I love it. It does everything I tell it to but the feel and sound is now right. I prefer hard tips because they keep me from getting too wild. Soft tips end up with me hitting way to hard to get the feedback I'm looking for. I rely on the false sense of security of a soft tip instead of a stroke. The tip hardness doesn't matter, but I'll try to get wild with a soft tip because I feel I can get away with more. I can't but the lack of feedback makes me think I need to stroke it like superman. Misses result. Hard tip keeps the stroke pure and not trying superman.

But really if we're honest with ourselves it's very rare for a cue to be the cause of our problems. It's usually a case of us not wanting to adapt to the reality of the cue in our hands. That's why I like the Diviney with a hard tip. It does what I think without having to try some BS to get the CB to do what I see. See the shot, feel the shot, shoot the shot.

 

[dirtvictim]

I've had many different makers and liked different things about them. There is a perfect cue for everyone and it will be different for everyone. My favorite always has been SW but they are in rolex money territory now so I'm out on those. The 6 point AE I have is an amazing player and my plain Jane espiritu has a great feel.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

I've had many different makers and liked different things about them. There is a perfect cue for everyone and it will be different for everyone. My favorite always has been SW but they are in rolex money territory now so I'm out on those. The 6 point AE I have is an amazing player and my plain Jane espiritu has a great feel.

Actually as I have friend who works in jewelry industry Rolex is pre sold about 10 years out. Of course some dealers are making killing charge 2-3 times list price for a New Rolex.

Think if you want a New Southwest, from secondary market it will be easier to find then a Rolex.

 

[tomatoshooter]

314-3

I wanted to like mine but didn't get the accuracy I needed. Got a Viking Siege CF, similar LD to the 314-3 but I can cinch shots now.

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

Well the one thing to remember everyone has different like & dislike in how a Cue feel to THEM.

Plus there are many regional Cuemaker who will never be at SBE Show, or BCAPL thing in Sin City.

These people fly under many people radar, but their Cues have those people who love them.

We got local retired guy in next City over, he build up no nss as me CF Shafts, does Tips, Build’s Vue to Customers wants, and specifications.

His nitch in is happy customers, and very reasonable prices.

 

[xX-Wizard-Xx]

well it sounds like to me the cue isnt the problem. you have tried custom cues production cues cheap cues.... maybe its something your doing differently when you a playing well. i do this from time to time... start playing bad aftr shooting lights out then a break for a while and am playing well again.

 

[xX-Wizard-Xx]

i dont settle on a single cue... i usually make it a point to use different cues and find i can usually play just fine with what i pick up after a game or 2

 

[FeelDaShot]

Like many on here, I've spent my entire playing life searching for that gem, the best possible pool cue. My first cue was an Adam. I loved that cue, but people kept telling me I'd get more spin with a Meucci. Like an idiot I believed them. I did get spin with the Meucci, but the cue would twist and squirm in my arms like a puppy that you've held too long. There was near zero feel on the soft shots and on the hard shots, the whole cue would vibrate, violently up and down and side to side. Needless to say, that got old. So I bought a Predator with a Z shaft. While the butts have been changing back and forth I've been going back to the Z shaft almost every time I get tired of a cue. It just delivers so much precision. Every mm of elevation makes the cueball do something different. When you are in dead stroke, I venture to say that no other shaft is better, but then there is the small matter of the 99.9% of times when you are not. And when you're really not, it's hell playing with that shaft. You seem to throw every long shot out of the pocket when making it matters the most. It's like the pool cue equivalent of the girlfriend that you remember fondly, but she is completely nuts. "Why oh why did I ever break up with her, shes perfect I should try one more time", then the dinner plates start hitting the floor and you remember..

I bought some customs that weren't quite right and sold them immediately..Then I bought a McDermott, which was pretty good but some guy offered a lot of money for it so I sold it. So I bought a Mezz. And frankly, the Mezz cue with a WD 700 shafts is probably the best allround cue I've ever owned. It does everything well, and everyone who tries it seem to like it, no matter what their playing style happens to be. But then the voices in my head started whispering again..."This shaft is too mellow, it hides your flaws". So I bought a conical taper cue that hit so hard it was like running face first into a brick wall. Then I bought another one just like it. And they made me miserable, even if I played ok...and then I went back to the Z and now of course I've come to the same realization I did EVERY time I did that, that this shaft is just too damned difficult to play with for mortal men. THen I start playing with 14mm shafts, house cues, garbage cues and I start playing well. I have no idea whats up with that? And then the inevitable crash comes...

So I'm back on the search again. Looking for a cue with perfect balance, with a shaft that is fairly thin, but not too thin, low deflecting but not too low deflecting, that has a hit that is not too harsh but not too mellow, with the right weight and wrapless...It's hopeless, I'll never find it, but I guess like always my preferences change as I train more. The better I play, the more I favour a hard hit, hard tips and unforgiving cues. But then I have a bad night and doubt creeps in...I train and train and tweek the fundamentals endlessly, but can't change the feeling that maybe, just maybe with a different cue...I know it's bs, but I can't help myself and neither can anyone else I know with this dreadful, lifelong addiction. We're addicts beyond any help or recovery, no program can help us. The dragons we chase are every bit as elusive as the other addicts' dragons, though they won't kill us, it's just as hopeless of a pursuit and perhaps even less comprehensible to sane people watching. "Just buy a cue and train, they say". What do they know, about the regret of selling your best cues and the triumph of finding the one, though it never ever lasts? The nostalgic journeys to the back of the closet, wandering through the small forest of shafts and cues (forest of shame and misspent money) and spending more time than any woman trying to decide what to take to a night out? Nothing, that's what!

These are the ramblings of a complete mad man. You will never be satisfied with a cue because you put too much stock in a cue's performance. Cue's don't really perform at all, you do! As long as the cue is relatively straight and has a good tip, it's not holding you back in any way. All the stuff you say about one cue being able to do something that another cue can't is just nonsense. Stop it!

Go buy a half way decent cue and never change it again. Respect the cue. Take care of the cue. And for the love of god, stop blaming the cue for your poor performance. Once you play with the cue for long enough you will fall in love with it and it will feel more comfortable than any cue you can possibly own.

There is absolutely no need to be buying and selling your playing cues all the time. Consistency is key.

 

[Straightpool_99]

These are the ramblings of a complete mad man. You will never be satisfied with a cue because you put too much stock in a cue's performance. Cue's don't really perform at all, you do! As long as the cue is relatively straight and has a good tip, it's not holding you back in any way. All the stuff you say about one cue being able to do something that another cue can't is just nonsense. Stop it!

Go buy a half way decent cue and never change it again. Respect the cue. Take care of the cue. And for the love of god, stop blaming the cue for your poor performance. Once you play with the cue for long enough you will fall in love with it and it will feel more comfortable than any cue you can possibly own.

There is absolutely no need to be buying and selling your playing cues all the time. Consistency is key.

Haha, I can't dispute that! I always take everything to 11..It is and will always remain one of my biggest character flaws, as well as trying too many things and overanalyzing. I spent days charting out every shot in Mike Sigels 150 ball and out run, once, and wrote notes, too. It's insane, I know it's insane. Fortunately that notebook, as well as another equally insane one about aiming and whatnot got lost in a move years ago. I thought I'd come up with a numerical/geometrical system of aiming based on cut angles with numbers for tip positions. I'd dread reading it, might have had to commit myself. The only thing I'd dread more is a friend of family member finding it, looking through it with absolute horror in their eyes like that secretary in American Psycho finding his deranged drawings.

I think I'm slightly more sensible now. I like to think that...

 

[FeelDaShot]

Haha, I can't dispute that! I always take everything to 11..It is and will always remain one of my biggest character flaws, as well as trying too many things and overanalyzing. I spent days charting out every shot in Mike Sigels 150 ball and out run, once, and wrote notes, too. It's insane, I know it's insane. Fortunately that notebook, as well as another equally insane one about aiming and whatnot got lost in a move years ago. I thought I'd come up with a numerical/geometrical system of aiming based on cut angles with numbers for tip positions. I'd dread reading it, might have had to commit myself. The only thing I'd dread more is a friend of family member finding it, looking through it with absolute horror in their eyes like that secretary in American Psycho finding his deranged drawings.

I think I'm slightly more sensible now. I like to think that...

Hahahahahaha, at least you're dedicated to improvement! No one can deny that lol

 

[middleofnowhere]

I haven't really read any of the comments because I just basically wanted to make a comment. When I was younger I was like a nut I got cues from anybody and everybody from Ginacue to Szambodi and everybody in between plus most all of the production cues.

I was always kind of jealous of people who liked their cues. I knew Steve Cook pretty well and he played with the same cue for so many years and getting a new cue was just never on his radar. I used to think it must be nice to actually like your cue.

 

[bbb]

Confucius say
"its the indian not the arrow stupid"
just sayin

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

Confucius say
"its the indian not the arrow stupid"
just sayin

DITTO.

 

[Ratta]

Confucius say
"its the indian not the arrow stupid"
just sayin

ofc it s true-- but i can just speak for myself. I ve had "a few cues" in the last decades (cough). But i would lie if i would say, that i feel comfy with any other cue as i am with my *normal* player- and yes: in this direction i am a "pussy". Best cue ever played in this setup. Some things "seem" to go easier.

Dont let that hear my students, LOL. Indians of course most important part- no question. but if you feel uncomfy with a cue....then you have a problem,

 

[terpdad]

A lot of us go through this. In my case, I just like to try new things. It sounds like the Mezz was your favorite. Pick that up again.

 

[philly]

I play with my player.
I have 4 identical hard maple shafts for it which I rotate.
I am fine with it.
It's just comfortable for me, a part of me.
Done searching.
I'm an Indian not the arrow guy.
As I have said may times before, a lights out player will
take a stick off the wall and beat everyone in the room.
We all know at least one player like that.
I guess if you had his equipment you would play just like him.....not.
Anyhow, I realize some players just like to buy new things and the search is part of the fun.
I get that, just not me.

 

[David in FL]

Analysis paralysis.

Grab stick. Play pool.



But that’s for you. You can’t take my Nitti away from me!

 

[Matt_24]

Like many on here, I've spent my entire playing life searching for that gem, the best possible pool cue. My first cue was an Adam. I loved that cue, but people kept telling me I'd get more spin with a Meucci. Like an idiot I believed them. I did get spin with the Meucci, but the cue would twist and squirm in my arms like a puppy that you've held too long. There was near zero feel on the soft shots and on the hard shots, the whole cue would vibrate, violently up and down and side to side. Needless to say, that got old. So I bought a Predator with a Z shaft. While the butts have been changing back and forth I've been going back to the Z shaft almost every time I get tired of a cue. It just delivers so much precision. Every mm of elevation makes the cueball do something different. When you are in dead stroke, I venture to say that no other shaft is better, but then there is the small matter of the 99.9% of times when you are not. And when you're really not, it's hell playing with that shaft. You seem to throw every long shot out of the pocket when making it matters the most. It's like the pool cue equivalent of the girlfriend that you remember fondly, but she is completely nuts. "Why oh why did I ever break up with her, shes perfect I should try one more time", then the dinner plates start hitting the floor and you remember..

I bought some customs that weren't quite right and sold them immediately..Then I bought a McDermott, which was pretty good but some guy offered a lot of money for it so I sold it. So I bought a Mezz. And frankly, the Mezz cue with a WD 700 shafts is probably the best allround cue I've ever owned. It does everything well, and everyone who tries it seem to like it, no matter what their playing style happens to be. But then the voices in my head started whispering again..."This shaft is too mellow, it hides your flaws". So I bought a conical taper cue that hit so hard it was like running face first into a brick wall. Then I bought another one just like it. And they made me miserable, even if I played ok...and then I went back to the Z and now of course I've come to the same realization I did EVERY time I did that, that this shaft is just too damned difficult to play with for mortal men. THen I start playing with 14mm shafts, house cues, garbage cues and I start playing well. I have no idea whats up with that? And then the inevitable crash comes...

So I'm back on the search again. Looking for a cue with perfect balance, with a shaft that is fairly thin, but not too thin, low deflecting but not too low deflecting, that has a hit that is not too harsh but not too mellow, with the right weight and wrapless...It's hopeless, I'll never find it, but I guess like always my preferences change as I train more. The better I play, the more I favour a hard hit, hard tips and unforgiving cues. But then I have a bad night and doubt creeps in...I train and train and tweek the fundamentals endlessly, but can't change the feeling that maybe, just maybe with a different cue...I know it's bs, but I can't help myself and neither can anyone else I know with this dreadful, lifelong addiction. We're addicts beyond any help or recovery, no program can help us. The dragons we chase are every bit as elusive as the other addicts' dragons, though they won't kill us, it's just as hopeless of a pursuit and perhaps even less comprehensible to sane people watching. "Just buy a cue and train, they say". What do they know, about the regret of selling your best cues and the triumph of finding the one, though it never ever lasts? The nostalgic journeys to the back of the closet, wandering through the small forest of shafts and cues (forest of shame and misspent money) and spending more time than any woman trying to decide what to take to a night out? Nothing, that's what!

I've known a lot of great players (Joshua Filler for example, and many you've never heard of) that play GREAT POOL with that Z shaft and love it. I think Orcollo uses one...I know Mike Davis has used one for years. Just find a butt that balances well with your z and stick with it. Easy/Peezy.

 

[George]

It’s different for everybody I think, I went through over 100 cues when I was searching. Back in 1996 I bought a simple four point cocobolo with a Birdseye maple forearm Tim Scruggs with two shafts for $600, I have not played with any other stick since.