Honestly, the worst part about buying a custom cue is dealing with the cue maker. Theyre usually slow to respond at best, sometime unresponsive altogether. If I could order a cue from someone who communicated and had less then a 6 month wait I'd be buying 2 cues a year just for the hobby of it.
I dont get your point, but thats alright.
you can make a 14mm tip whatever curvature you want
And i bet you a 14mm nickel tip feels more "point and shoot" than a sub 12.5 mm nickel tip does.
14mm is the allowed limit set by most pool organizations like the WNT, BCA and WPA.
Additionally there's no limit to how small you can make a shaft...so maybe they agree with bigger is better?
I have enough of my own anecdotal evidence to know what works for me...its is funny to listen to know it alls, especially when they bring up snooker. like comparing tennis to pickleball, or horseshoes to cornhole
I dont think you can go wrong with the vantage, I really like it. I used to use a Z3 which is just a touch lower deflection then the Vantage but the smaller diameter of 11.8 on the Z3 can and will punish you if youre not 100% locked in, but the Vantage is much more consistent for me as far as...
youre gonna get 100 different answers including the cliche "its the indian not the arrow"
But generally speaking, regardless of materials used, the larger diameter the tip the more forgiving it will be. 13mm is a good starting point.
I used a 13.25mm one time and it was very "point and shoot"...
I wont say jump cues ruined the game but they definitelt have changed it drastically. Used to be if your opponent made a mistake and hooked themselves you were likely getting back to the table, now you see players hook themselves and they just jump the ball and continue on with the run out. Now...