Hybrid Shafts.

I don’t know if it would distract me while shooting. But the look would nag at me. Like seeing the cue when I’m switching from my break cue to playing cue or when putting it together. The look would bother me enough that I don’t think I’d ever like the shaft. Could I get past that if the shaft played great? Probably not because I doubt it would play orders of magnitude better than other options. So I’d likely never get to where I really liked it.

Some is almost a subconscious nag. For instance, I don’t like shafts that don’t match the ringwork on the butt. It is common now for players to use a performance shaft with just a black collar or whatever that doesn’t match the butt. You don’t notice that when shooting but it bothers me to the point I don’t like it. Could I tolerate a backup shaft having a plain collar? Maybe, probably, but it would be a true backup. Like I said it is subjective. If the cue had a plain black collar, no problem. Likewise, I could tolerate a variety of shafts and cues with different looks, but if the look is something I really dislike or it nags me like the mismatch shaft rings, I don’t want it. The half and half shaft seems to fit in that category for me. But I haven’t seen one in person or hit with one.
Thanks for the feedback.
 
Best wood shaft i've ever hit is the Mezz HybridPro(1st version). It had a inner carbon tube, 12.8mm with a Schon-like taper. Hit really firm but was sorta medium-lo squirt. I had to sell the cue but i'm trying to get it back. The dude that bought it doesn't use it and its just a case queen to him.
 
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One thing about these, after buying a few gross of shaft blanks I found a lot of them were good for twenty inches, not thirty. This would let the more radical curves be in the wood taper and the straight of the shaft or single taper be in the carbon fiber. I haven't seen anyone do it yet but it seems like the thickness of the CF could be varied by altering the inside taper of the carbon fiber. This would be a huge advantage as a true zero taper pro taper shaft would be possible. A wooden zero taper wooden shaft flexes at the beginning of the increasing taper and plain sucks. Earl was rumored to be playing with a zero taper wooden shaft with sixteen inches of zero taper. With a gross of blanks I turned one like that. It did all the flexing halfway up the shaft and was unplayable. Only shaft I ever snapped, I didn't want it out in the world with my name on it!

I have considerd these hybrids, didn't figure I was the only one. I'll be watching. I have tried a few of the full CF shafts. All OK but some much better for me than others.

Hu
 
Best wood shaft i've ever hit is the Mezz HybridPro(1st version). It had a inner carbon tube, 12.8mm with a Schon-like taper. Hit really firm but was sorta medium-lo squirt. I had to sell the cue but i'm trying to get it back. The dude that bought it doesn't use it and its just a case queen to him.
Be nice to get that back in your hands eh??
 
Cuelees CF and wood.jpg

If you want hybrid, go full hybrid of CF inside maple at one end and just CF at other. Cuelees EX Solid appears to be maple at tip end with carbon fiber tube inside AND, at joint end, only carbon fiber.

AZer wrote
Cuelees Ex Solid: My favorite shaft ever. 12.2mm diameter (which is just perfect imho) solid maple with a carbon fiber core with a carbon fiber base. This shaft is just perfect. Very low deflection - extremely solid - lots of feedback - and great power. There is nothing on the market that I've tried that feels remotely as good. Won lots of matches and tournaments with this shaft.
:
 
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If you want hybrid, go full hybrid of CF inside maple at one end and just CF at other. Cuelees EView attachment 883388X Solid appears to be maple at tip end with carbon fiber tube inside AND, at joint end, only carbon fiber.

AZer wrote

:
All that does is increase the stability and stiffness, it would still require alternate means of reducing end mass to make it ld. This hybrid lowers deflection and increases stiffness. I considered doing the carbon core a decade and a half ago and just decided it wasn't worth the effort. My whole goal was to get the benefits of ld tech while having the feel of wood. Even the early wooden ld shafts had a hollow feel and feedback that I just didn't like.

My first LD shaft design was a standard wood, with the first several inches cored out to reduce end mass and squirt with a smaller center shaft dowel in the core and then mounted into the back of the ferrule. This still gave the center hit feel of a solid maple shaft with the lowered end mass of a ld shaft.
 
Dead stick.

Surprisingly deflection was very low. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the length or damper, or what, but the one I played with hit very well. Firm, perhaps stiff even, attributable somewhat to the extremely hard tip I put on it, but the feedback was like a maple shaft. My problem with CF is feeling the shot. I go long with CF bcuz of the dead stick component. Perhaps my game just sucks.🤣
I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it, bcuz I didn't want to going in.
I went to a tournament last night. I've tried carbon fiber, torrified maple, etc, and I keep coming back to my basic AVID (Cuetec) shaft.
Sometimes a product just "fits." Doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg...
🤷‍♂️
 
If you want hybrid, go full hybrid of CF inside maple at one end and just CF at other. Cuelees EView attachment 883388X Solid appears to be maple at tip end with carbon fiber tube inside AND, at joint end, only carbon fiber.

AZer wrote

:
That's not a true hybrid. That's a tubed clone of other companies copying each other.
A hybrid is maple base shaft with a CF head. No tubes or inserts or what have you. The quality of which is dependant upon whom you get one from.
 
I went to a tournament last night. I've tried carbon fiber, Torrified maple, etc, and I keep coming back to my basic AVID (Cuetec) shaft.
Sometimes a product just "fits." Doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg...
🤷‍♂️
Sure don't!!
I like my avid.
Hits pretty damn good for a lower end cue.
Does anybody know if that 10" hollow in the end of their shafts is foam filled??
 
Does anybody know if that 10" hollow in the end of their shafts is foam filled??

How do you know the Cuetec Avid tip end is hollow?

A three-year old Reddit discussion is the only mention I can find on that subject:

The first thing I noticed oddly enough is that this shaft has a different resonance than a standard maple shaft. The fiberglass bonding lets them maintain rigidity in the shaft while boring 10 inches into the underlying maple to reduce front end mass. This means the first ten inches from the tip of the sight plate is essentially hollow. If you have any friction when stroking the cue, it gives you a slight amount of vibration - almost like drawing a bow across the strings of a violin. You can also feel it if you kind of tap the shaft with your fingernail up and down the length of the shaft. I was concerned how this would feel when striking the cue ball.​
Turns out I had nothing to worry about. When attached to the butt this resonance dissipates and you are left with a very smooth and solid feel when you strike a ball. I noticed a huge difference especially when shooting over a ball or against the rail. These were the shots as an amateur that I could feel the largest difference between my old maple shaft and the AVID shaft. I used to feel like I was fighting the deflection on my old cue, while this one required almost zero effort to stroke through the point of contact on these types of shots.​
 
How do you know the Cuetec Avid tip end is hollow?

A three-year old Reddit discussion is the only mention I can find on that subject:

The first thing I noticed oddly enough is that this shaft has a different resonance than a standard maple shaft. The fiberglass bonding lets them maintain rigidity in the shaft while boring 10 inches into the underlying maple to reduce front end mass. This means the first ten inches from the tip of the sight plate is essentially hollow. If you have any friction when stroking the cue, it gives you a slight amount of vibration - almost like drawing a bow across the strings of a violin. You can also feel it if you kind of tap the shaft with your fingernail up and down the length of the shaft. I was concerned how this would feel when striking the cue ball.​
Turns out I had nothing to worry about. When attached to the butt this resonance dissipates and you are left with a very smooth and solid feel when you strike a ball. I noticed a huge difference especially when shooting over a ball or against the rail. These were the shots as an amateur that I could feel the largest difference between my old maple shaft and the AVID shaft. I used to feel like I was fighting the deflection on my old cue, while this one required almost zero effort to stroke through the point of contact on these types of shots.
I noticed this as well. With my AVID shaft, I feel like the cue-ball is traveling "straighter" with less effort, and much more confidence. I'm getting the benefits of "lower" deflection minus the "dead," overly stiff feel of either carbon fiber, or torrified maple. This shaft has all the attributes I want in a good playing shaft.
My search is over...for now.
(y)
 
Sure don't!!
I like my avid.
Hits pretty damn good for a lower end cue.
Does anybody know if that 10" hollow in the end of their shafts is foam filled??
I don't believe it is foam filled. I could be wrong. I believe the fact that the wood and fiberglass are acting in concert, allow them (Cuetec) to pull off the end construction of the shaft...
 
I don't believe it is foam filled. I could be wrong. I believe the fact that the wood and fiberglass are acting in concert, allow them (Cuetec) to pull off the end construction of the shaft...
Shipper needs to break one on PoolDawg, then we'll all know.

 
Shipper needs to break one on PoolDawg, then we'll all know.

I can tell you that if you didn't know the shaft was constructed this way, you wouldn't believe it. I'm amazed how solid the damn thing feels. At the tournament I played in the other night, I had an object ball deep in the corner pocket, cue ball was easily 4 to 5 feet from the object ball, straight as straight could be, and the 8 ball was resting close to the corner pocket on the opposite end of the table (This was not premium gear, table/cloth, etc). I pulled whitey back the full length of the table to get perfect shape on the eight, without even breaking a sweat. The amount of energy transfer I am able to get out of my stroke with this shaft, never ceases to amaze me. It (AVID) might not be for everyone, but I can tell you that I will use mine (stock 12.75mm) for the foreseeable future. They will be in my case for as long as they hold up.
 
I can tell you that if you didn't know the shaft was constructed this way, you wouldn't believe it. I'm amazed how solid the damn thing feels. At the tournament I played in the other night, I had an object ball deep in the corner pocket, cue ball was easily 4 to 5 feet from the object ball, straight as straight could be, and the 8 ball was resting close to the corner pocket on the opposite end of the table (This was not premium gear, table/cloth, etc). I pulled whitey back the full length of the table to get perfect shape on the eight, without even breaking a sweat. The amount of energy transfer I am able to get out of my stroke with this shaft, never ceases to amaze me. It (AVID) might not be for everyone, but I can tell you that I will use mine (stock 12.75mm) for the foreseeable future. They will be in my case for as long as they hold up.
Any idea what the shaft insert is made of, phenolic? I think I read somewhere it was something soft that may be difficult to replace but I may be misremembering.
 
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