Tip Decisions... AZB Help me pick a couple to try Please. (and Thank you!)

[Flakeandrun]

Yep. Fantastic tips. $10 bucks a pop @ Seyberts. If you use discount code APARULES during checkout, you get an additional 5% off your order.

+1 for thoroughbred, one of the best recommendations I've had from this forum

 

[jlrowe]

I like my tips on viagra. I like them so hard it sounds like phenolic when you hit with them. But of course they got to hold chalk well. So i use Talisman Hard. The extra hard dont seem to hold chalk as well but when the hard gets down below half sounds like you are hitting with the ferrule and holds chalk well.

 

[Mensabum]

Hey AZB,

This is yet another, TIP advice request.

I've got both CF, LD & Regular Old School wood shafts, I've put various tips on them, and switch between playing with them all regularly. I've leaned towards the Kamui Tips for years now, but I have several that have other brands installed. (Ultraskin, Triangle, Pred Victory, G2. Kamikaze)

My Main LD Wood player = Tiger Sniper
CF#1 = Prev Victory (Med) - Not a fan, have one also on a wood shaft & just don't love either one.
CF#2 = Soon to be an Kamui Athlete.
Have a couple wood shafts with Kamui Blacks
Have 3-4 with variations of the Ultraskins.
and almost everything I only shoot with occasionally has a Triangle on it.

I like the Sniper, I like the Kamui's I think the Ultraskins are a good all-around tip, but I want to try something new, and after reading a lot of threads/posts & doing some youtube review watching, I was hoping to narrow down to installing (2) new tips on a couple of spare shafts.

What should I go with?
I've read some good things on the Caiden tips, HOW Titan etc...

If you'll pm me your address I'll send you a few Milk Duds.

 

[enimrac]

Hey AZB,

This is yet another, TIP advice request.

I've got both CF, LD & Regular Old School wood shafts, I've put various tips on them, and switch between playing with them all regularly. I've leaned towards the Kamui Tips for years now, but I have several that have other brands installed. (Ultraskin, Triangle, Pred Victory, G2. Kamikaze)

My Main LD Wood player = Tiger Sniper
CF#1 = Prev Victory (Med) - Not a fan, have one also on a wood shaft & just don't love either one.
CF#2 = Soon to be an Kamui Athlete.
Have a couple wood shafts with Kamui Blacks
Have 3-4 with variations of the Ultraskins.
and almost everything I only shoot with occasionally has a Triangle on it.

I like the Sniper, I like the Kamui's I think the Ultraskins are a good all-around tip, but I want to try something new, and after reading a lot of threads/posts & doing some youtube review watching, I was hoping to narrow down to installing (2) new tips on a couple of spare shafts.

What should I go with?
I've read some good things on the Caiden tips, HOW Titan etc...

I would suggest to stay away from the Caiden. I had one on for a few months and couldn't stand it. I had to scuff it multiple times while i was playing just for it to hold chalk.

 

[Rackaday]

Hey AZB,

This is yet another, TIP advice request.

I've got both CF, LD & Regular Old School wood shafts, I've put various tips on them, and switch between playing with them all regularly. I've leaned towards the Kamui Tips for years now, but I have several that have other brands installed. (Ultraskin, Triangle, Pred Victory, G2. Kamikaze)

My Main LD Wood player = Tiger Sniper
CF#1 = Prev Victory (Med) - Not a fan, have one also on a wood shaft & just don't love either one.
CF#2 = Soon to be an Kamui Athlete.
Have a couple wood shafts with Kamui Blacks
Have 3-4 with variations of the Ultraskins.
and almost everything I only shoot with occasionally has a Triangle on it.

I like the Sniper, I like the Kamui's I think the Ultraskins are a good all-around tip, but I want to try something new, and after reading a lot of threads/posts & doing some youtube review watching, I was hoping to narrow down to installing (2) new tips on a couple of spare shafts.

What should I go with?
I've read some good things on the Caiden tips, HOW Titan etc...

Do you know which hardness level you prefer? Many of these tips are marketed as S/M/H, but another question might be which tips are consistent? I believe this requires a durometer to even get close to accurate on hardness testing. I would bet a bunch of people have a good experience with one brand tip, but the next time the buy one, they have no idea if the hardness is less than or greater than the previous tip.

 

[Jaden]

Do you know which hardness level you prefer? Many of these tips are marketed as S/M/H, but another question might be which tips are consistent? I believe this requires a durometer to even get close to accurate on hardness testing. I would bet a bunch of people have a good experience with one brand tip, but the next time the buy one, they have no idea if the hardness is less than or greater than the previous tip.

I have randomly sampled my tips with a durometer and while they technically aren't defined s/m/h but are rather color coded to how hard they are. Silver, Blue, Green, Red. It would be overly cumbersome to test every single tip with a durometer.

 

[Rackaday]

I have randomly sampled my tips with a durometer and while they technically aren't defined s/m/h but are rather color coded to how hard they are. Silver, Blue, Green, Red. It would be overly cumbersome to test every single tip with a durometer.

I am aware that it can be done, but not having performed the test myself, how long does it take to get a solid reading? If it was only 10 seconds per tip (for example) and you had a regular who knew the hardness level that they preferred in a tip they bought from you, I would think as long as you were within a couple digits, that would be a selling point.

 

[Bob Jewett]

I have randomly sampled my tips with a durometer and while they technically aren't defined s/m/h but are rather color coded to how hard they are. Silver, Blue, Green, Red. It would be overly cumbersome to test every single tip with a durometer.

Guido Orlandi measures all the tips he puts on with a durometer, and sorts them. He has found that the labels are not very precise. (or at least he did the last time I talked to him about this)

 

[Rackaday]

Guido Orlandi measures all the tips he puts on with a durometer, and sorts them. He has found that the labels are not very precise. (or at least he did the last time I talked to him about this)

For all the appreciators of what goes into cue building (looking at you attention to detail). Correct me if I am wrong, but the consistency required in your tool from shot to shot is a critical factor as well. Why not require a consistency in hardness when it comes to the tip on your shaft?

 

[Jaden]

I am aware that it can be done, but not having performed the test myself, how long does it take to get a solid reading? If it was only 10 seconds per tip (for example) and you had a regular who knew the hardness level that they preferred in a tip they bought from you, I would think as long as you were within a couple digits, that would be a selling point.

It doesn't take long, but it will leave a mark. Yeah marketing would likely have to change, tip printing would have to change, etc. As it is, you can discard the occasional one that's outside of parameters. That method, you wouldn't have to discard any but the biggest problem lies in retail. Sure for a custom cue maker or a repair shop, that could work, but for retailers. What retailer is gonna even have a durometer, let alone wanna bother with determining what the hardness is of a tip before they sell it?

 

[SSP]

Been using Bulletproof Recoil tips for the last year, tried dozens of different tips, I'm sticking with these

 

[sbrownn]

Very few things are more subjective, having said that…

Budget tip, Wizard. That's what Chris Nitti uses as his stock tip and for about four dollars it's impossible to beat!

About two years ago I bought a shaft that had a HOW medium tip on it and I liked it enough to stick with it.

@David in FL, which Wizard tips are you talking about as there seems to be at least two manufacturers making Wizard tips?

I see this one (from a seller that has seen mixed comments about their products, I've bought G3 USA tips from them (good but not as good as G2 tips from Japan) - $6.00 per tip unless you bulk purchase plus shipping, plus I've never seen a tip look this "frayed" new before:

Wizard USA Cue Tips

We manufacture these here and these are not the China manufactured Wizard tips we've all known through the years. We decided to bring the manufacturing home and make our own Wizard USA™ cue tip to fight the higher prices charged by the California importer who keeps raising prices for no reason...

cuecomponents.com

And I see this one (seems to be a darker color, still looks kind of "frayed") - $9.00 per tip unless you bulk purchase plus shipping:

Wizard Tips - Cue Man Billiard Products

Laminated pigskin tip that is very often compared to the Moori. Medium Hard. 14mm

www.cuesmith.com

Don't see any Wizard tip specs listed here: https://www.pooldawg.com/article/the-ultimate-pool-cue-tip-guide/

Do see the med and hard Wizard tip specs listed here: https://drdavepoolinfo.com/resource_files/tip_hardness_chart.pdf

@Anyone, if I currently play G2 soft from Japan, should I try a Wizard soft or medium next time given a G2 soft is just under 75 hardness and a Wizard medium is 76 hardness?

 

[maha]

i would suggest a slightly rounded one. and that's it.

 

[David in FL]

@David in FL, which Wizard tips are you talking about as there seems to be at least two manufacturers making Wizard tips?

I see this one (from a seller that has seen mixed comments about their products, I've bought G3 USA tips from them (good but not as good as G2 tips from Japan) - $6.00 per tip unless you bulk purchase plus shipping, plus I've never seen a tip look this "frayed" new before:

Wizard USA Cue Tips

We manufacture these here and these are not the China manufactured Wizard tips we've all known through the years. We decided to bring the manufacturing home and make our own Wizard USA™ cue tip to fight the higher prices charged by the California importer who keeps raising prices for no reason...

cuecomponents.com

And I see this one (seems to be a darker color, still looks kind of "frayed") - $9.00 per tip unless you bulk purchase plus shipping:

Wizard Tips - Cue Man Billiard Products

Laminated pigskin tip that is very often compared to the Moori. Medium Hard. 14mm

www.cuesmith.com

Don't see any Wizard tip specs listed here: https://www.pooldawg.com/article/the-ultimate-pool-cue-tip-guide/

Do see the med and hard Wizard tip specs listed here: https://drdavepoolinfo.com/resource_files/tip_hardness_chart.pdf

@Anyone, if I currently play G2 soft from Japan, should I try a Wizard soft or medium next time given a G2 soft is just under 75 hardness and a Wizard medium is 76 hardness?

Sorry, I honestly don't know. I just ask either Chris or his stepson David to put it on...

 

[Mensabum]

I would suggest to stay away from the Caiden. I had one on for a few months and couldn't stand it. I had to scuff it multiple times while i was playing just for it to hold chalk.

I don't enjoy dissing anything, but the caiden that came on a cue I bought is a turd. Terrible tip. I don't consider myself an expert on tips, but I have a bit more knowledge about them than most due to my interactions with actual tip makers and processors.
Take that for what it's worth add 4 bits and get coffee.

 

[loggerhead12]

It would be overly cumbersome to test every single tip with a durometer.

I believe Precision Tips is doing exactly this now.

 

[Jaden]

I believe Precision Tips is doing exactly this now.

You can do that, but not how has been discussed. You can do that to elmiminate outliers but to give a custom hardness to a customer would be too cumbersome. I could do it when building a cue or a shaft but not just selling tips.

 

[jtompilot]

+1 on Precision tips. They play great and are way cheaper than most of the other layered tips.

I bought 10 of them a couple of years ago. Unbelievable layered tip for $10.