Playing pool with a carom cue

S

sneakynito

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey everyone,
I recently discovered 3 cushion, and i'm absolutely fascinated with the game. I'm looking to buy my first cue, and i was wondering if you guys could spare some advice. I play pocket billiards far more often than 3 cushion, just because decent 3 cushion tables are about four hours away from me. I want a quality cue, but i'm a student and i can't afford to buy two cues right now. So i was wondering how a carom cue would fare playing pocket pool. Is it something i could just adapt and cope with? Could i possibly get a carom cue and use a different shaft for pocket billiards? I kind of have my heart set on longoni, but if anyone has any suggestions for a more ambidextrous cue, i'd welcome your advice.
Thanks!
 
C

chicagopolice05

New member
I too recently discovered 3 cushion billiards. I had a cue made by Ron Kilby out of Medford, Or. Generally carom cues are a little shorter and have a smaller dia. tip. If you're going to try to play both games with one cue, I'd say get a pool cue that hits stiff.
 
billiardshot

billiardshot

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
sneakynito and chicagopolice05. First Let me say Welcome to AZBilliards Forum and the Carom Billiard Section.

sneakynito, what cue are you presently using? you might check out Schuler Cue or CrownCues. But there are Many Cue to pick from. It all depend on your price line.

For now play with your cue and try other players carom cue when opportunity rise. Enjoy the game, that all it is!!!
 
Last edited:
3kushn

3kushn

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Billiardshot has the best idea if there's any carom cues available to play pool with try them out. I'd expect they'll be too stiff for the lighter balls.

You could get a Longoni but you would have to choose a carom butt then purchase the Pro 9 Maple pool shaft with the wood pin. As mentioned above carom cues are usually shorter.

Dieckman, Crown, Kilby, Schuler would probably be a better solution as they are not mass produced and they'll pay personal attention to your needs which is to make a few minor compromises ie joint diameter, balance point... Plus they all know how to build a carom cue, not to say that Longoni doesn't but you'll need to go through a middle man and have trust that your info is all understood.

By the way my Dieckman 3C cue was ordered with a modified Euro. taper and is a possible solution to your problem.
 
zensteve

zensteve

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just want to reiterate my suggestion. 1butt two shafts. I am not recommending a brand or discouraging you from buying a certain brand.The other brands others have suggested should also be considered.
 
C

carom king

Registered
If you go to ebay and type in carom cues,you'll go down and see a cue with two shafts for 89.60.I wouldn't advise on buying a high dollar cue just to see how it plays pocket billiards.I sometimes still use my mcdermott to play 3 cushion and it plays great.Good luck.
 
billiardshot

billiardshot

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nothing wrong with those carom cue sold/auction on ebay. They have a weight bolt, most are in the 20oz weight. The butt might be larger dia., thicker than your normal cue.

ProfessorQBall's Carom Cue shaft will match up to a McDermott Cue Butt. I believe he might sell the shaft for under a $100.00, but then you need to ask ProfessorQBall to be sure.

Again, it only a game, enjoy it as that. Here a Lasting thought, Were the Cues of Hoppe and earlier 3C Champion a Pool Cue or a Carom Cue as we know today.

Good Game, Good Friend, Good Food, enjoy it!!
 
S

sneakynito

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thanks for all the great advice guys. This forum is an awesome resource, I'm very glad I happened upon it. To clarify, I don't currently have a cue. I have to resort to bumming off friends and uncles, so i've mostly played with mcdermotts and a few custom cues out of Houston, of whom the maker's name escapes me. I've never actually gotten to shoot with a carom cue. The only places I play are Vietnamese rooms; and while they are very friendly I, i was unsure how they'd react to me asking to use their cues; i should probably suck it up and ask though, couldn't hurt i guess. To a few of your suggestions: A custom cue sounds very nice for my particular situation, but they are out of my price range. A butt with two different shafts sounds like it would work best for me. I was wondering if someone could explain the differences in shafts to me. I know carom cues have a small diameter, and a shorter ferrule; what is the difference in tapers, and what effect does that have? That cue with two shafts on ebay seems like a pretty solid idea, and i'm starting to lean towards that. I put the link at the bottom of the post if anyone's interested, i dont really know how to use this that well and i couldn't figure out how to embed it in a more friendly fashion. Anyhow, this seems like a good, cheap, way for me to just see how a carom cue plays and if it would work for me, before getting a high dollar cue. Any thoughts? I didn't see anything about the details of the shafts that come with it, though, would they be the same? I sent them a message, so i should get a response soon. I know the cue is not devastatingly important for a starter like me, and in the end i'm just eager to have something of my own to get out there and play with. Once again, thanks for all the help.

here's the link if anyone's interested
 
3

3c4ever

Registered
Hey Sneakynito!!

I discovered 3C game 3 years ago and i love it too. Beautiful/exciting game to play.

I strongly recommend you this and you're gonna love it:
Buy a Ray Schuler Carom cue for Three Cushion with a CONSTANT Shaft as the first one, and a PROFESSIONAL shaft as a second one for pool.
Make sure the Butt is for carom and weight is no more than 19 ok?

Here are the links:
Three Cushion Cues:
http://schulercue.com/carom.html

3C shaft (CONSTANT) and pool shafts (PROFESSIONAL):
http://schulercue.com/schulershafts.html

Billiard lover
 
kilby

kilby

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My cues were mentioned by a number of folks here, my website is www.caromcues.com. We can exchange emails and come up with a cue for you, carom and pool shafts, desired weight and decoration, and hopefully a price that is within your budget. Welcome to the game (3-C)!
 
3

3c4ever

Registered
Sneakynito,

I had some years of playing pool and i know quite well the different between the games (pool/3c), and of course the cue/shafts as well.

So here's somethinng you should know:

3C: shaft is about 27", 2 inches shorter than pool of 29". Much stronger taper to sustain the hit of 3c balls cuz they're heavier. Tip diameter are around 11.8 to 12 mm instead of pool 12.8 mm. 3C but is a littel bigger than pool in diameter for control and ....These are some characteristic of shafts.. they are customize like that for good reasons...
 
Black-Balled

Black-Balled

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
kilby said:
My cues were mentioned by a number of folks here, my website is www.caromcues.com. We can exchange emails and come up with a cue for you, carom and pool shafts, desired weight and decoration, and hopefully a price that is within your budget. Welcome to the game (3-C)!
Click to expand...

This is the best advice you are going to get. A cuemaker who has dealt with your situation before, too many times to count. And he is aware of your needs before he extends the hand. Forget that ebay stuff. There is a chance you end up with pure junk.

No junk chance with Ron Kilby.
 
Rethunk

Rethunk

Snooker pimp
Silver Member
List of cuemakers

3c4ever said:
I strongly recommend you this and you're gonna love it:
Buy a Ray Schuler Carom cue for Three Cushion with a CONSTANT Shaft as the first one, and a PROFESSIONAL shaft as a second one for pool.
Make sure the Butt is for carom and weight is no more than 19 ok?

Here are the links:
Three Cushion Cues:
http://schulercue.com/carom.html

3C shaft (CONSTANT) and pool shafts (PROFESSIONAL):
http://schulercue.com/schulershafts.html
Click to expand...

This is essentially what I did: bought a Schuler with a carom Constant shaft, played pool with the carom shaft for over half a year, then bought an American taper shaft for pool.

That said...

Definitely look into Kilby cues. Ron's cues are praised by a number of people in the 3C forum. Mazin Shooni, a U.S. national champ (and a good instructor), recommends Kilby cues.

http://www.caromcues.com/about.htm
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top