Opinions on this cue and what tip I should choose?

Sounds like you've put a lot of thought into it and are well ahead of the game than many at your age! Wish I knew everything you did what I was 15. $270 is a pretty good price for a cue, but honestly I would spend less for a 1st cue. You're going to learn about cue maintenance on your first cue and I wouldn't recommend anything expensive enough to worry about. Also, if you take care of your cue, you don't have to worry about warpping or any serious damage. I would suggest something around the $100 mark.

McDermott is a good cue that you will be happy with. You could probably get one off the Wanted/For Sale Forum, or pick up a custom sneaky pete for around the price you want the McD brand new. Everests are good tips, but I am a Sniper fan all the way so it is worth the money to me.

McDermott makes a good production cue, and they offer a nice maintenance package (though I'm not convinced that's that big a deal). I'll agree with keeping your 1st cue investment to a minimum since you will grow into your particular preferences as you go. Could you find a good cue for less money on the forum? ...yes. Would you like it better? ...who knows. What would happen if you asked opinions on what to get? ...you'd get so many, widely varied opinions that it'd make your head swim & provide little concrete help.
Everest is a very good tip. It's what I use as a matter of fact. There are lots of good tips out there.
Sounds like you've got a good plan for yourself, so work your plan. The tip comes free, on a "new technology" shaft. Give them a try before making a decision to try something different based on anyone else's opinion.
I'm just glad to hear of a young fellow with interest & an obvious good attitude.
If you can't make getting your McD work out for some reason - come back & let us know. Maybe we can help.

Welcome to the forum, young man. We are very glad to have you!

Find a cue tech, pool supplies dealer, etc, in your area to replace tips for you. You can damage your ferrule face to where it won't hold a tip effectively fooling with it yourself.
Other than that, just keep things clean (including your hands) & your shaft burnished. Try not to over fuss with it, and stay away from abrasives on your shaft as much as possible - you'll wind up with a toothpick. A good cue tech will change your tip & clean/dress/polish your shaft all in one motion. Once you have a good tip & it's well shaped - it will only need scuffing once in a while to hold chalk. Tips picks are good because they don't remove leather. Most good tips will hold shape once played in a bit. Scuff lightly - too much pressure can sometimes tear the leather layers in a tip.
There is an area of the forum called "Ask The Cuemaker". There are a lot of really good ones on here, and they are very forthcoming with help & advice.
And HAVE FUN!

Ask what people have for $100 in the classifieds here and you will be pleasantly surprised at what you get from a reputable seller. :wink:

There are two ways you can do this.
#1 Ask opinions on what to buy and you will get so many you now will be confused. Then when you do buy a cue it will always be in your mind "Did i buy the right one?" Major brain damage.
#2 McDermott makes a good solid cue. Buy it and get used to it and work on your game.
I have been playing for over 50 years and have had many cues and it is you that plays the game well not the cue.
I would opt for solution #2 and move on.

First - Welcome to the forum and the cueing arts!

Second - Don't spend a lot of money on your first cue because almost for sure it won't be your last. I have a lower end McD I use as a car trunk cue and it works fine. But I've got to admit, when I bought my pool table I also bought a few Action cues from Pooldawg for use as house cues for guests. Not as nice as the McD but for $35 with Irish linen wrap they're not bad at all. I gave my son one as his first cue. For $35 who cares if you want a new cue in 6 months? I think the most important thing about a first cue (assuming that it is straight) is that you are using the same stick every time you play so you have a consistency of feel as you are learning. Having said that, if you really like the McD enough to spend the money, go for it.

Third: If I were you I would start sucking up to the uncle with the Szamboti, especially if none of your cousins from that branch of the family tree play pool. :grin-square:

Break with it. Don't worry about it. It'll just make your tip compact harder faster. I played with a McDermott D21 that I had made thru their custom shop for years & never had a break cue for most of that time.
I can see this important to you, and I appreciate that.
Try not to over think it all. Hit balls. Practice. Study. HAVE FUN!
You're learning to play pool, not become an esp master

I would also check on the Poison line of cues. Made by predator they play and look nice. Mine was about $200 and has a leather wrap, etc. Get yourself a willard shaper. best $5 I have ever spent. Along with that a microfiber cloth $2 at walmart and then hit your local pool hall and I am sure you can find someone who can do tips.

I bought a McD M63B as my first cue from McD's website in Jan. 2006. I didn't know anything about cues or different manufacturers, let alone the whole custom cue world. I picked McDermott because I searched for and read some good reviews, and I liked their warranty and maintenance policies. I picked the M63B simply based on looks, and I "customized" it by picking a black leather wrap and 12.5mm tip size. (I have no idea why I picked the tip size at the time, other than to have something I considered non-standard.) When I got it and started playing with it, I had a marked improvement in my game. Using the same cue every time I played helped tremendously.

I found the azbilliards forum probably six months ago, and a whole new world opened up. I've learned many, many things that never crossed my mind before - tips, different production cue manufacturers, the custom cue market and experiences, and playing/practicing techniques; the list could go on and on.

After reading all this information and checking out the cue gallery and reviews sections, I've thought many times about getting a "technology" shaft, or an altogether new cue. I've compared what posters have said vs. what the marketing spiels are, and I've really tried to think things over from many different angles in my head. So many choices and options out there, and just a click away (in many cases)!

My conclusion is "don't change what's not broken." I like my cue, I like how it plays and I'm still improving (never enough table time), so I don't have a reason to change to something else. Sure it'd be nice to have a custom (for aesthetics and/or bragging rights), but I don't know how to tell a cue maker what I'd like - balance point, taper, type(s) of wood, wrap choices, etc... Or if I get a new shaft, what if I don't like it, or something "better" comes along in a year? Do I replace it again and have X number of shafts laying around somewhere? The only thing I've replaced/changed is my tip, and that's because it wore out when I learned how to shape it. (Grinding it all the time isn't necessary!:smile

So I'd say go with the McDermott if that's what you like. While I haven't tried it, I've read good things about the G-Core shaft, and it's already an "upgrade" from McD's maple shaft. And I figure they picked the Everest as their stock tip for a reason, so it must be pretty good (subjective opinions aside).

I'm still happy with my McDermott after four years, and I'm sure you will be, too, if that's what you decide.

- Andrew

Pick a cue where you can get spare shafts within your budget. Start by trying different tips and different ferrules on the spare shafts while you're at it. You'll find what you like most eventually. Start with non-layered tips. Not everyone likes them, but who knows. I think the most widely used non-layered tip are triangle tips. They are also one of the cheapest. Some people like Ivorine ferrules or Aegis for non-ivory.

You are correc sir !

mhodar13 said:

. From what I've heard Mcdermott and Viking are apparently the way to go. I have two uncles that are very good pool players (one was I believe top 5 or 10 in the state at one time, both are one reason I am already a decent player; one uses a Viking, and the other uses a Szamboti), my one uncle was over on thursday for thanksgiving, we were shooting pool and he was saying viking and mcd are both great, as well as lucasi, but don't want to go that route b/c of the stories I've heard of the wraps and other things being cheap and coming off, plus mcd has free lifetime warranty and maintenance.

Stick with the Mdc or the Viking. Plus there are many other good American production cues around as well. Please check the AZ thread/posts on Lucasi cues. You don't want to go Chinese for a cue. I'm not going to spell it out here as I already did so in the Lucasi thread. My first cue was a Burton Spain at the tender age of 15. It is now worth $2000. I bought it used for $150 about 33 years ago. Yeah, got a little lucky, who knew Spain would be a hall of fame cue maker who use to sell his blanks to Balabushka !!
But I"m pretty certain the Lucasi is not going to be worth much in a few years when you are ready to trade up to something else. I'm positive they are never, ever going into the hall of fame. I had a Viking awhile back and it was fine and resold it a few years later for almost what I paid for it !!

PS: If you own a Lucasi, or some other Chinese cue please don't tell me how well it plays because I'm not saying they don't play well, just not the same quality as American made cues, nothing personal, I"m very glad you like your Chinese made cue.

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