When these "I hate snobs" type of posts come up, a few specific items seem to always get mentioned. And then, because of those items, the groups gets branded as snobs because of our collective negative experience with those specific items. I think that's really it.
I.e.,
Meucci cues.
Meucci cues get bashed on a weekly basis. Not just here, but every other board on the internet. And Meucci Cues can retail into the thousands. They generally don't get bashed at the local pool hall, or the local league. But, the average person who buys a Meucci cue doesn't buy another cue to compare. Many of the posters on this board do buy other cues to compare. In my personal experience, I would have been happy as a pig in $hit to stick with my Meucci Cues. I've owned four of them. Today, each of those four had quality issues. Three of them, the inlays and points popped. The other one, the shaft warped horrible and upon close inspection, the wood simply sucked. Other than metal in rings, I do not own another cue that has a single pop of anything. I have cues that the metal rings have raised, but not popped. One cue that has a metal ring that popped: Cuetec (see below). If I never owned another cue other than Meucci, I would have thought it was normal for the "witness lines" to develop stronger as the years go by. Newbies call this "bashing" and "snobbery." The rest of us will call this "passing on experience."
CueTec Cues.
We don't bash on CueTec Cues because they're cheap. We bash them because they're cheaply made. I own a Cuetec. I thought I'd try to break with it. It remains the only cue that I've owned that lost it's collar. And when the collar came off, you could clearly see just how pitiful the workmanship is. And, I might be the only person out there whose Cuetec fiberglass-clad shaft warped.
In my town's league area, there are a lot of Cuetecs sold. I had a team that there were five or six Cuetecs. Three of them had joint collar or shaft collar problems. The metal rings on some of the shafts have completely popped and have separated from the shaft. I can only assume that the other three also had problems, but I never looked at them that closely.
Is that snobbery? Bashing? No, it's reporting.
The only other cue that has "fallen apart" on me was... my Meucci when the buttcap fell off when I was changing the weight bolt. I can understand the delrin buttcap falling off, I guess, but the rings went too.
Low end mass-produced cues
What about other low dollar cues? Dufferin? Anyone want to be a snob against Dufferin? Doubt it. Low end Joss cues? Anyone? They're cheap. They're produced in high-volume. Anyone? Probably not. Or not many complaints. Cue mechanics may disagree. One of my favorite playing cues is a Huebler Sneaky Pete. I've yet to find one person who didn't really like the way this cue felt.
It's not the dollar amount. And it's not the fact that these cue are mass-produced. It's the fact that Meucci and Cuetec repeatedly have negative feedback in terms of quality. For some, they were surprised how sticky Cuetecs felt in the summer. Newer Cuetec shafts aren't so bad. And some Cuetecs will not have some of the quality issues and will play very well for a fortunate percentage of buyers. I think it's the constant negative feedback on these two that mostly give us a bad reputation for being "equipment snobs."
Yes other low-end mass produced cues have received negative posts, but it's not a constant thing. Some custom low-volume cuemakers also have received some negative posts. They all will have a problem here and there. It's the nature of producing and fabricating.
Gloves.
Let's face it. Gloves look silly and are going to be a point of ridicule no matter what you do (pool or otherwise). Especially since the gloves in pool are half-split that look like someone's fashion failure. But look at that post that someone asked "Do any real pool players wear a glove." Was there a single person who denied that many real pool players including several professionals where a glove? I wear one in the summer and in humid rooms. And I ridicule them. They look funny. Goofy. Down right hilarious. Especially if the color doesn't match with the rest of your outfit. What a faux pas. Is that snobbery??
Fred <~~~ needs a pink and black glove
I.e.,
Meucci cues.
Meucci cues get bashed on a weekly basis. Not just here, but every other board on the internet. And Meucci Cues can retail into the thousands. They generally don't get bashed at the local pool hall, or the local league. But, the average person who buys a Meucci cue doesn't buy another cue to compare. Many of the posters on this board do buy other cues to compare. In my personal experience, I would have been happy as a pig in $hit to stick with my Meucci Cues. I've owned four of them. Today, each of those four had quality issues. Three of them, the inlays and points popped. The other one, the shaft warped horrible and upon close inspection, the wood simply sucked. Other than metal in rings, I do not own another cue that has a single pop of anything. I have cues that the metal rings have raised, but not popped. One cue that has a metal ring that popped: Cuetec (see below). If I never owned another cue other than Meucci, I would have thought it was normal for the "witness lines" to develop stronger as the years go by. Newbies call this "bashing" and "snobbery." The rest of us will call this "passing on experience."
CueTec Cues.
We don't bash on CueTec Cues because they're cheap. We bash them because they're cheaply made. I own a Cuetec. I thought I'd try to break with it. It remains the only cue that I've owned that lost it's collar. And when the collar came off, you could clearly see just how pitiful the workmanship is. And, I might be the only person out there whose Cuetec fiberglass-clad shaft warped.
In my town's league area, there are a lot of Cuetecs sold. I had a team that there were five or six Cuetecs. Three of them had joint collar or shaft collar problems. The metal rings on some of the shafts have completely popped and have separated from the shaft. I can only assume that the other three also had problems, but I never looked at them that closely.
Is that snobbery? Bashing? No, it's reporting.
The only other cue that has "fallen apart" on me was... my Meucci when the buttcap fell off when I was changing the weight bolt. I can understand the delrin buttcap falling off, I guess, but the rings went too.
Low end mass-produced cues
What about other low dollar cues? Dufferin? Anyone want to be a snob against Dufferin? Doubt it. Low end Joss cues? Anyone? They're cheap. They're produced in high-volume. Anyone? Probably not. Or not many complaints. Cue mechanics may disagree. One of my favorite playing cues is a Huebler Sneaky Pete. I've yet to find one person who didn't really like the way this cue felt.
It's not the dollar amount. And it's not the fact that these cue are mass-produced. It's the fact that Meucci and Cuetec repeatedly have negative feedback in terms of quality. For some, they were surprised how sticky Cuetecs felt in the summer. Newer Cuetec shafts aren't so bad. And some Cuetecs will not have some of the quality issues and will play very well for a fortunate percentage of buyers. I think it's the constant negative feedback on these two that mostly give us a bad reputation for being "equipment snobs."
Yes other low-end mass produced cues have received negative posts, but it's not a constant thing. Some custom low-volume cuemakers also have received some negative posts. They all will have a problem here and there. It's the nature of producing and fabricating.
Gloves.
Let's face it. Gloves look silly and are going to be a point of ridicule no matter what you do (pool or otherwise). Especially since the gloves in pool are half-split that look like someone's fashion failure. But look at that post that someone asked "Do any real pool players wear a glove." Was there a single person who denied that many real pool players including several professionals where a glove? I wear one in the summer and in humid rooms. And I ridicule them. They look funny. Goofy. Down right hilarious. Especially if the color doesn't match with the rest of your outfit. What a faux pas. Is that snobbery??
Fred <~~~ needs a pink and black glove
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