Ever have 2 different cues from same cuemaker that played differently?

When you guys talk about different feel of two cues by the same maker , are you sure you really don't mean shafts? I alternate 4 different identical(?) shafts by the same maker on my player and I can find subtle differences in hit and sound of the hit between all four. It depends on how I feel that day which shaft I use.

I've purchased multiple cues from the same makers, none of them played the same. Had one cue that played very different depending on shaft.

Now joss and schon cues feel really close across the cues, and even decades apart.

that's nothing

I purchased cues from quite a few very good players and after I got
them they didn't play anything like they did when they had them.
Talk about inconsistency.
jack

Cue sticks are like snowflakes, no two are alike.

EVEN IF everything on the cue stick was man made you stand a good chance of them being very similar.
Notice I didn't say exact? Even in a man made process there are minute variations in mixtures, material densities, % of glue in a joint, etc., etc..

"... and that's how it is."

Keith Josey cues, based on my experience, are the only cues I've ever played with that all felt the same regardless of joint, wood type, and differences in design. Which is why Josey cues are probably the only cue I would ever purchase as a personal player without first hitting a few balls first. That being said, my current player is a Sugartree. I haven't hit with many different Sugartrees.

Dave

I had a Mottey one time that played terrible
i took it back in trade and it was the best playing cue i ever had

then one day i had a big bet and the cue started dogging it
I quickly sold it to Dennis Glenn the collector

He gave it to Efren Reyes who used it to win the Galveston tournament

he beat Shannon in the finals with it

Talk about an inconsistent cue

deanoc said:

I had a Mottey one time that played terrible
i took it back in trade and it was the bes playing cue i ever had

then one day i had a big bet and the cue started dogging it
I quickly sold it to Dennis Glennn rthe collector

He gave it to Efren Reyes who used it to win the galveston tournament

he beat the doughboy in the finals

Talk about an inconsistent cue

Click to expand...

Few possibilities "started dogging".
__Always the chance the joint became loose without you knowing it.
__ODDLY you may have never squarely hit an air bubble in the glue under the tip. (Doubtful in your situation)
__Cue-tips sits on the wood center and on the edge the Ferrule. Wood is porous and soaks up the glue producing micro air pockets or a thinner layer of glue. In time these little pockets creates a larger loose area. (see air bubble)
__Ferrule might have started to come loose on one side.

I've done repairs have have seen all these and more but these are the main culprits.

I'm not sure if this qualifies.

I have a friend who plays pool professionally.
Now, his custom cue maker sponsor brings him like 12-14 shafts to try out.

For like 2 hours, the pro tries out the different shafts on the pool table.
He used only one butt for the entire shaft testing.

With each shaft, he tries various types of shots.
And repeats the same type of shots for each and every shaft.
This went on like forever.

After shooting, I noticed that he separated 4 shafts from the set
and put it on another table. He then shot with these again,
repeating the process - shooting different types of shots on each and every shot.

From the four, he narrowed it to two (2) shafts.
He then approached his custom cue maker sponsor and tells him
that he likes these two (2) shafts, including the reasons why.

The custom cue maker asks him more questions about his selection.
And I learned from the custom cue maker, (which he also told the player)
that these two (2) shafts belong to the same wood, which came
from this specific place. Only these 2 shafts came from that batch!

Imagine that! The pro could actually tell the difference in feel -
and narrowed the 12 dozen or so shafts to two (2), which actually belonged
to the same wood from the same place! Now, that is something! And I kid you not!

And the custom cue maker surely knows his woods! WOW!



AK

Ken_4fun said:

We used to see pretty often someone selling a cue and it "hits a ton". While I havent seen that phrase lately it does always make me smile.

My question is have you ever bought a cue that played great, and then got another one from the same maker and it played......well....not so great?

I will share this experience. I bought a plain jane Tad years and years ago and it was a playing son of a gun. In fact, it was my playing cue for a couple years (and for cue flipper like me that is a LONG time). I liked it so much I bought another one, and it played like a log. While it was fancier, and was great to look at, it played terrible.

I am not a cuemaker, but I would expect that this would be the exception, but I have seen it with some other cuemakers.

Anyone else have this experience?

Ken

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Does not the word "CUSTOM" in custom cue infer that each cue is different and unique, and would therefore, look, feel, and play differently. This is one reason I find it difficult to purchase a cue merely by a photo. Each shaft wood, shaft taper, ferrule, and tip combo can effect the feel of the hit, and it would be almost impossible to reproduce exact copies year by year by anyone.

Jeff Olney cues are a funhouse experience. Every single cue plays differently. There are several cuemakers that offer a "unique experience" with every cue they build.

Coring, consistent handle selection, consistent shaft grades and tapers, consistent tips and ferrules will make similar cues in terms of playability

We have been either joking ortalking about differences so much
that we forget that most South West cus play almost the same
unless of course they built it to play different with the choice of thin taper or pro taper


i have hit over 100 south west cues and they play remarkably the same



I have discovered that I like triangle tips,practically every cue i get plays good with these tips

without these tips,i have trouble playing

I always liked Schon cues ,back when Runde or Evan were there
they played pretty much the same unless Evan was experimenting

He actually told me that the Hoppe style and tributes that he made for me
were made slightly different and were great playing cues

I thought he was jiving me,but to this day I get request for more,
which I can not get

but people like them,I would love to get some back

in only half jest, it might better be asked if you ever had two cues from the same cue maker that played the same

Schon

I bought a Schon cue from a dealer years ago and it arrived with 2 warped shafts. I called the dealer who called me back and said to send the shafts to Schon and Evan would send 2 more shafts. I tried the warped shafts out before the return call and ran 37 balls with one and 44 balls with the other. I was afraid to send them back because they played so well, but did send them back. Evan said he would send 2 "matched" shafts back and they both played equally well so I never bothered to try to pick a favorite.

I had a plain Omen with a 5/16 14 joint and traded up to a big pin Omen with some inlays. I wanted the plain one back... I now have a Chudy with one shaft I love and one I don't. One shot tells me which shaft I've got on.

deanoc said:

We have been either joking ortalking about differences so much
that we forget that most South West cus play almost the same
unless of course they built it to play different with the choice of thin taper or pro taper


i have hit over 100 south west cues and they play remarkably the same



I have discovered that I like triangle tips,practically every cue i get plays good with these tips

without these tips,i have trouble playing

I always liked Schon cues ,back when Runde or Evan were there
they played pretty much the same unless Evan was experimenting

He actually told me that the Hoppe style and tributes that he made for me
were made slightly different and were great playing cues

I thought he was jiving me,but to this day I get request for more,
which I can not get

but people like them,I would love to get some back

Click to expand...

I have heard Southwest players saying that their favorite hit comes from an ebony nose or purpleheart nose. Doesnt this imply that different woods have different hits?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

deanoc said:

We have been either joking ortalking about differences so much
that we forget that most South West cus play almost the same
unless of course they built it to play different with the choice of thin taper or pro taper


i have hit over 100 south west cues and they play remarkably the same

Click to expand...

This is remarkably different feedback from the players around the world who use Southwest cues. I spoke with a pro who uses one, and he tried out many Southwest cues from a dealer because they all hit so differently. He purchased the cue that he liked the best. He stated that he was not the only player to go through this selection process.

Most of the tested cues had ebony noses.

I think "hit" is so subjective that these talks end up getting distilled down to "it's all personal preference, find what you like"

Ken_4fun said:

We used to see pretty often someone selling a cue and it "hits a ton". While I havent seen that phrase lately it does always make me smile.

My question is have you ever bought a cue that played great, and then got another one from the same maker and it played......well....not so great?

I will share this experience. I bought a plain jane Tad years and years ago and it was a playing son of a gun. In fact, it was my playing cue for a couple years (and for cue flipper like me that is a LONG time). I liked it so much I bought another one, and it played like a log. While it was fancier, and was great to look at, it played terrible.

I am not a cuemaker, but I would expect that this would be the exception, but I have seen it with some other cuemakers.

Anyone else have this experience?

Ken

Click to expand...

My theory is it starts at the tip and works backward. Did you try putting the shaft from the first cue on the "log"?

All the time...

You make a GREAT ARGUMENT for synthetic shaft materials. :smile:
JoeyA

P.S. You forgot to add in "Taper roll" which can occur weeks, months or years later in a shaft.

Kim Bye said:

Why would you expect them to play the same Ken?
I agree that you should expect similarities, given the cuemaker hasn`t changed his shaft taper, ferrule material, butt taper, joint collar pin and so on.
But wood is a natural material and variations will occur.

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