Soft hitting custom cue maker cues?
- Thread starter CeaseLess
- Start date
CeaseLess
Active member
I've tried that. I have soft or super soft tips on all my cues. I'm looking for a softter hitting shaft not just a soft tip.
CeaseLess
Active member
I'm not into crisp feedback, I like a more subtle response. Along the lines of OB and meucci, just looking to see what other options are out there.
What tha what, now?!
Don’t you want it to cut through the din?
You don’t listen to a soaring guitar solo and think that you wished it would wash out with the mids of the rhythm riff.
CeaseLess
Active member
You like what you like. Plenty of people like a softer hit, which inherently, is not on the higher end of the spectrum of crisp.
Xdecemberguy
New member
McDermott Defy shaft...feels muffled with the technology incorporated into the shaft.
do you know how to taper a shaft, if not, take one of your shafts to a good cue man and explain what you want to him/her.
new taper and perhaps new ferrule and esp tip will get you there
i'd say get a new "old stock" Meucci shaft and have the female portion of the joint switched to your joint pin, however, this may not be viable because at .825+- Meucci joints ran at a min .015 smaller than most other cues, or.............................................wait for it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, buy a Meucci. They had a change in ownership about a year ago, if you go this route be sure to specify "old" stock
Once you get your equipment the way you like it and hit 100K balls your game will go up at least a ball
InsertCleverNameHere
Well-known member
I'd reach out to Todd Carpenter. Guy is an absolute wizard at delivering the hit you want. His cues are typically very stiff but he knows all the tricks to dial it in how you want. You might get stuck on the phone for 30 minutes though!
Any competent cue maker can build you a cue that meets your requirements but remember none are mind readers.
Have you ever played with a cue that you felt was a soft hitting cue? If not, are you just looking for the Golden Fleece?
Maybe you haven’t played with a sufficient number of different type cues? Notice I did not say brands or cue makers.
Do you have a good grasp & understanding of pool cue anatomy, i.e., component terminology? Do you know how a cue is constructed and what’s glued versus bolted? What about joint type, ferrule composition, taper, shaft weight, tip hardness. single vs. multi-layer, weight bolt? How do these fit in with cue construction and tactile feel of your pool cue?
Any good cue maker can build what you want if you give them your input on what you want aside from build me a soft
hitting pool cue. But relying on them to build a cue that will fulfill your expectations without providing that cue maker
meaningful input about what you want besides an obscure reference to soft hitting, then you are relying on a coin flip.
Maybe the cue maker gets it right or perhaps it isn’t quite what you had in mind and you expected something different
than what the cue maker built. But it could have been perfect if you only knew what you wanted & communicated it
to the cue maker. You also could shop for a cue in the resale market if you knew what you wanted. You need to find out.
There are six cues in my case that are all alike. Four were built to my specs and are the same. The other two are from the resale market; I shopped for cues with the specs I wanted. So essentially, all the cues in my case are very similar.
I know that any cue built like the ones I have would be absolutely terrific …..for me…..maybe not you. Sure, the cue
maker decides the workmanship quality, beauty, quality of cue components, design arrangement, artistic symmetry.
Just like any great food recipe, don’t screw it up or under/overcook and the food and it will turn out as you hoped.
Exactly follow the recipe like Grandma taught and you won’t go wrong. Build a cue the way you want it is the same.
You can’t go wrong regardless of the cue maker. Your challenge is figuring out what you prefer besides soft hitting cue.
Have you ever played with a cue that you felt was a soft hitting cue? If not, are you just looking for the Golden Fleece?
Maybe you haven’t played with a sufficient number of different type cues? Notice I did not say brands or cue makers.
Do you have a good grasp & understanding of pool cue anatomy, i.e., component terminology? Do you know how a cue is constructed and what’s glued versus bolted? What about joint type, ferrule composition, taper, shaft weight, tip hardness. single vs. multi-layer, weight bolt? How do these fit in with cue construction and tactile feel of your pool cue?
Any good cue maker can build what you want if you give them your input on what you want aside from build me a soft
hitting pool cue. But relying on them to build a cue that will fulfill your expectations without providing that cue maker
meaningful input about what you want besides an obscure reference to soft hitting, then you are relying on a coin flip.
Maybe the cue maker gets it right or perhaps it isn’t quite what you had in mind and you expected something different
than what the cue maker built. But it could have been perfect if you only knew what you wanted & communicated it
to the cue maker. You also could shop for a cue in the resale market if you knew what you wanted. You need to find out.
There are six cues in my case that are all alike. Four were built to my specs and are the same. The other two are from the resale market; I shopped for cues with the specs I wanted. So essentially, all the cues in my case are very similar.
I know that any cue built like the ones I have would be absolutely terrific …..for me…..maybe not you. Sure, the cue
maker decides the workmanship quality, beauty, quality of cue components, design arrangement, artistic symmetry.
Just like any great food recipe, don’t screw it up or under/overcook and the food and it will turn out as you hoped.
Exactly follow the recipe like Grandma taught and you won’t go wrong. Build a cue the way you want it is the same.
You can’t go wrong regardless of the cue maker. Your challenge is figuring out what you prefer besides soft hitting cue.
Basically all piloted steel joint Schon cues of alike weight and shaft size have a similar hit, i.e., firm.
Bob was known for workmanship, i.e.,meticulous construction. I have a custom Schon he built in ‘84.
p.s. My Scruggs is a radial pin and it plays like a cue you wished you could own and then I realize I do.
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Capone cues without a SS joint play softer. Older McDermott cues play softer- pre 2005. Vintage Scott Gracio cues with ivory joints play softer.
Its also worth remembering the kind of ferrule you use, will also have an effect on the way it feels.
Take a melamine for example is going to hit way harder than juma. The feedback you get, will be completely different.
Take a melamine for example is going to hit way harder than juma. The feedback you get, will be completely different.
I can't help myself here because I love this topic.
So, I always thought I preferred softer hitting cues. But after a lot of time at the table and way too much cash, what I figured out was that I like a relatively stiff shaft but quiet hit. I ordered a Samsara new from them around 25 years ago. Holy hell... Any hit even slightly off center make the most god awful (to me) "PING!" or "PLINK!" sound. The cue moved the ball around very nicely and felt great in my hands. But that sound drove me nuts. So I ended up changing the melamine ferrule and Sumo tip to an ivory ferrule with a Moori tip. That made all the difference in the world. It went from "PING!" or "PLINK!" to a noticeable but satisfying "Dink." (That looks ridiculous in words. But I bet most of you know what I'm talking about.) And the taper didn't change so it was still stiff and moved the cue ball around beautifully. That cue is the only thing I've ever regretted selling.
So, I always thought I preferred softer hitting cues. But after a lot of time at the table and way too much cash, what I figured out was that I like a relatively stiff shaft but quiet hit. I ordered a Samsara new from them around 25 years ago. Holy hell... Any hit even slightly off center make the most god awful (to me) "PING!" or "PLINK!" sound. The cue moved the ball around very nicely and felt great in my hands. But that sound drove me nuts. So I ended up changing the melamine ferrule and Sumo tip to an ivory ferrule with a Moori tip. That made all the difference in the world. It went from "PING!" or "PLINK!" to a noticeable but satisfying "Dink." (That looks ridiculous in words. But I bet most of you know what I'm talking about.) And the taper didn't change so it was still stiff and moved the cue ball around beautifully. That cue is the only thing I've ever regretted selling.
Folks the joint/pin have NOTHING to do with soft/firm hit. I've hit steel joint cues that were really soft and flat-face big pin wood-2-wood that were stiff and almost harsh feeling. The taper/ferrule/tip have WAY more to do with hit than any specific joint type.
Yep. The tip/ferrule combo have a huge effect on what we call 'the hit' of a cue. The joint? Not much if any.