What’s the worst cue you’ve ever bought?

When I was 13 and dead set on being a pool pro, I bought my first cue from WalMart haha. I think it was a minnesota fats graphite stick. Damn thing was worse than a mop handle.

I still have that cue somewhere, but it's played maybe 2 games it's whole existence.
 
straightline said:
The Boy's Club had 'em in all colors. I would always be disappointed if they were in use.
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First cue I owned. Won in a tournament 1974 Valdosta Ga. Never use it, so it never disappoints. Lol
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Trying to keep it relative but letting fly too...had a Jeff Olney cue which had almost no tone to the hit, cue looked great and the shafts were top grade, but I think it had a cheap handle.

Have had a few other customs by good makers with a super pingy, metallic sound. I like some ping but those were just too much for my ears.
 
KAP1976 said:
After much thinking, it would have to be the Players jump break cue I got about 12 years ago. Hit the rack just fine and jumped okay, but the damned weight bolt would never stay screwed in tightly. It reached a point that I carried an Allen wrench in my case because damn near every time i played, you felt it rattle loose. A year and a half later, I finally gave in and bought a McDermott Stinger at Super Billiards Expo.
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I had the same issue with mine. I ended up using plumbers tape on the threads of the bolt.
 
Worst cue was a Meucci I bought in about 1985 or so.
The cue played great, but the ferrule cracked and it warped with in 6 months and I never let it get too hot or cold.
Another poster complained about a Schmelke cue being terrible, my Schmelke is perfect.
 
jtompilot said:
Back when I was a kid I bought an aluminum cue🤣

Worst cue for the money category, Southwest. OMG it was like a broom handle. Can’t hardly believe that I’ve wanted one for 40 years and when I finally got one I absolutely hated it.
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I could have told you that.😉
I had chance to buy a couple Southwest cues back in 1990. Price was very good but they hit so bad i wasn't interested at almost any price.
 
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7Baller said:
About a year ago I ordered a cue from a fairly well known Filipino cue maker. The butt has warped badly and I now own an $800 house cue. Before he started building I checked to make sure it would be cored and he assured me it would. I’m tempted to cut it in half to check if it really was cored.
What is your worst buy?
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I make cues, and I'd be extremely interested to hear / see what's inside if you do cut it apart.
 
iusedtoberich said:
That reminded me I had one too from the Phillipnes about 20 years ago. It was quite fancy and about $315 on ebay (new). It came all warped and messed up. I returned it for a refund minus about $75 in shipping. Lesson learned!

More recent was Schmelke. Total pos. Pin only centered on the shaft it came with. Finsh was garbage. Pin came loose a month later, I don't even think it was glued. Butt had some necking down near the joint. Another lesson learned.
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Unfortunately Schmelke has kinda always been hit or miss with quality control.

I love David and the Schmelke family and what they provide cue makers / players, but I won't say everything has been perfect with them.

But, I never let good be the enemy of perfect. They're a GOOD business, and good people. I quantify this by how they've righted wrongs in the past for me, their extremely prompt communication and replies, and no questions asked returns / replacements when I've requested.
 
Birk1 said:
A Verl Horn back in 1997 - it was beautiful, I went to Mooreland and bought it from Verl. The cue was full tuxedo cue like he is famous for. The cue literally played terrible. I ended up trading it away to a collector in Dallas a year or 2 later.
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Wow - I never played with one of Verl’s cues but I always liked his ebony/ ivory designs- I wonder why it played so bad - could just be the wood on that cue.
 
A late 80s Mali with points and linen wrap that came undone (horrible hit after using the big pin cues I own now and before) and a custom requested DP cue with points and a leather wrap (again, horrible hit).
 
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