Do carbon fiber cue shafts make custom cues obsolete?

[JolietJames]

I play as well with the CF as I did with the maple.
I now can go play at any room I wish without that constant fear of my custom cues being damaged or stolen.
For me, the CF innovation has made my custom cues into collector's items or art that never leaves the house.
In a sense of usefulness, CF has make my maple-shafted customs obsolete -to me.
There will always be people who prefer one material or want others to know they are playing with an expensive cue.
I prefer the cue that allows me to play my best. The fact that it is much more difficult to damage, and completely and immediately replaceable if stolen, is the clincher.
If the CF shafts came in a maple color, I may buy one and bring out one of my more plain customs on occasion.

 

[Shooter08]

I play as well with the CF as I did with the maple.
I now can go play at any room I wish without that constant fear of my custom cues being damaged or stolen.
For me, the CF innovation has made my custom cues into collector's items or art that never leaves the house.
In a sense of usefulness, CF has make my maple-shafted customs obsolete -to me.
There will always be people who prefer one material or want others to know they are playing with an expensive cue.
I prefer the cue that allows me to play my best. The fact that it is much more difficult to damage, and completely and immediately replaceable if stolen, is the clincher.
If the CF shafts came in a maple color, I may buy one and bring out one of my more plain customs on occasion.

If you wear a glove you can get a Whyte c/f that looks like maple. No personal experience, but heard a glove is required.

 

[smiling_Hans]

I play as well with the CF as I did with the maple.
I now can go play at any room I wish without that constant fear of my custom cues being damaged or stolen.
For me, the CF innovation has made my custom cues into collector's items or art that never leaves the house.
In a sense of usefulness, CF has make my maple-shafted customs obsolete -to me.
There will always be people who prefer one material or want others to know they are playing with an expensive cue.
I prefer the cue that allows me to play my best. The fact that it is much more difficult to damage, and completely and immediately replaceable if stolen, is the clincher.
If the CF shafts came in a maple color, I may buy one and bring out one of my more plain customs on occasion.

You should see my buddy. He has a carbon shaft for this 10k Manzino.

I have thought of getting a cue build but I'm going to send a bunch of carbon and LD shafts to the maker and have him build off of them. We're at the point of building a butt around the shafts.

 

[Patrick Johnson]

We're at the point of building a butt around the shafts.

I had my shaft made with common threads so I could put it on lots of different butts. First one I tried was a cheap Joss castoff that almost matched at the joint - still using it 30 years later.

To me the butt could be a plain dowel if it weighed the right amount.

pj <- ain't tryna be pretty any more
chgo

 

[iusedtoberich]

Same here. there is so much functionality of the Apple Watch, that I find myself wearing it daily for the gym and then wear my Rolex on more special occasions.

there is a lot to appreciate in both pieces of tech in my opinion.

I'm been an Apple Fanboy since the 90's. But I can't get myself to even look at an Apple Watch and put one on my wrist. The Swiss watches are just so beautiful to me

 

[Still want to shoot]

I'm been an Apple Fanboy since the 90's. But I can't get myself to even look at an Apple Watch and put one on my wrist. The Swiss watches are just so beautiful to me

I agree with you, but my fandom started to slip when jobs passed, and it has been similar to the side of a mountain. Apple did so many things right in the beginning inventing and innovating. But every time i see a commercial now its just a purple spinning phone on the screen. They used to advertise new tech.
Earlier this year i got an apple watch to replace my fitbit. I was getting sick of the shitty charger connectors that they refuse to change with bad magnetic pins.
Maybe I'm getting to old to appreciate the watch and all its programming. but i feel like mostly what i have been doing for months is turning off notifications. it buzzes your wrist sooo much.
I'm sure some are gonna give me crap here, but these are just my opinions. thought id share -iusedtoberich
Dan

 

[Bavafongoul]

The has become my everyday watch, especially with the hot summer temps in Fresno.
Tried the CF thing…….didn’t care for it……still play with orig. cue maker maple shafts.
I’d like to get a Kielwood shaft but I want 3/8x10 or radial, flat faced, 12.75mm & 4.0 ozs.

 

[sammylane12]

I have a Rolex and multiple other mechanical watches that I wear on a nice night out but I generally wear my apple watch ultra all the time now lol at this point I expect my watch to do more then just give me the day and date lol but I’ll never stop loving mechanical watches. It’s hard to explain and I feel custom made cue butts will be the same.

Probably not obsolete, you have to screw that new shaft on to something.

 

[iusedtoberich]

I’ve seen almost no younger players in the Philadelphia area with a custom cue (or just a custom butt) for what seems like 10 years now. In the 90’s getting a custom cue was something of an accomplishment as a player. Today, everyone is spending the same money, but buying higher end production butts to go along with CF shafts. Even I switched from custom to production butts when I switched from my 314 paired with a custom butt to a Revo shaft.

 

[garczar]

I’ve seen almost no younger players in the Philadelphia area with a custom cue (or just a custom butt) for what seems like 10 years now. In the 90’s getting a custom cue was something of an accomplishment as a player. Today, everyone is spending the same money, but buying higher end production butts to go along with CF shafts. Even I switched from custom to production butts when I switched from my 314 paired with a custom butt to a Revo shaft.

No one under 40 gives a shit about fancy customs anymore. At my local spot in tulsa i'd say 95% are production stuff. Me and a couple other fossils still have custom cues but even my daily cue is a Mezz production. They are flawless and priced right.

 

[Kim Bye]

Was reading a fb page for selling scruggs cues. Minimum of 2000 for a sneaky on up to 5000 or more for fancy.the hit of a scruggs is simply like no other they say
Now I have a nice sneaky by Jerry Powers. Jerico. Good cue , no complaints at all. How is a scruggs better than that powers cue?
What about the carbon fiber shafts? Many say the butt doesn't even matter. I do know the prices on custom cues is getting ridiculous.

Does the fact that you can buy carbon fibre guitars, violins and drums make wood instruments obsolete?

 

[RafaReyes]

Does the fact that you can buy carbon fibre guitars, violins and drums make wood instruments obsolete?

The topic under discussion is the fact that the introduction and further developments of carbon fiber shafts as a new technology is indeed replacing wood shafts. However it does not mean custom Cues will go away not at all since there will always be a market for customization and higher craftsmanship.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

 

[smiling_Hans]

I am about to order a custom cue and was wondering if I would offend them if I said no to their shafts. Any thoughts about this?

I was going to send them a few CF shafts and have them make a butt to it.

How much discount can I get without the shafts?

 

[slide13]

I think some builders would probably be cool with that and others maybe not so much.

Shafts can run anywhere from $150-300+ depending on the builder I think.

I would always get at least 1 of the builders wood shafts to have for the cue myself, would never completely skip out on them if ordering a custom cue

 

[Kim Bye]

The topic under discussion is the fact that the introduction and further developments of carbon fiber shafts as a new technology is indeed replacing wood shafts. However it does not mean custom Cues will go away not at all since there will always be a market for customization and higher craftsmanship.

Sent from my SM-S928U using Tapatalk

About 60% of my customers still buy wood shafts with their cue. I see sports like tennis and golf mentioned in the same breath as pool. I would say the advantages of composite materials in those sports are much bigger than in pool.

 

[DeeDeeCues]

About 60% of my customers still buy wood shafts with their cue. I see sports like tennis and golf mentioned in the same breath as pool. I would say the advantages of composite materials in those sports are much bigger than in pool.

... Or noticeably existent...

 

[iusedtoberich]

Whether advantageous to one’s game is irrelevant. The market has spoken, and just about anyone serious about pool is buying CF now.

In 10 years, I think the only people buying wood shafts will be bangers (for the cheap price), or the last remaining holdouts who grew up with wood shafts.

 

[iusedtoberich]

I think the custom butt matket will die too. The reason is instant gratification. The new generation is not going to wait 3 years for a custom.

They will pay the same money and have a super high quality production cue in their hand, that is pretty as all, the next day.

 

[Bluehammer]

I’ve been playing since I was single digits.…50 years old now. I’ve played on everything. From maple, to laminated/spliced wood, fiberglass and now in the past two years carbon fiber. That being said, i just dont like the stiff feel of CF. Going back to wood these days. My favorite now is Samsara’s True shaft. I shoot awesome with it. After that is my 314-3’s. I also want to try the Predator Vantage.

 

[Kim Bye]

the custom butt matket will die too. The reason is instant gratification. The new generation is not going to wait 3 years for a custom.

They will pay the same money and have a super high quality production cue in their hand, that is pretty as all, the n

The whole point is the reverse of the instant gratification. You get to see your cue being built and your ideas come to life in a physical object. I'm gonna go as far as saying that will never go out of style.