Opinions on characteristics of different butt woods/materials

Hoser

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I understand the many variables in cue characteristics such as shaft, pin, joint material. My curiosity is what opinions are on how different woods in the in the rest of the cue affect the feel. A few years back, I bought my son a Paul Dayton Sneaky with a purpleheart butt. It has the closest feel to my cousin's Kersenbrock of any other cue I've hit.Other than the other obvious variables, I have wondered what the purpleheart may be contributing to the nice feel. I realize feel is subjective but am curios what other have noticed or prefer from that end of the cue.
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I understand the many variables in cue characteristics such as shaft, pin, joint material. My curiosity is what opinions are on how different woods in the in the rest of the cue affect the feel. A few years back, I bought my son a Paul Dayton Sneaky with a purpleheart butt. It has the closest feel to my cousin's Kersenbrock of any other cue I've hit.Other than the other obvious variables, I have wondered what the purpleheart may be contributing to the nice feel. I realize feel is subjective but am curios what other have noticed or prefer from that end of the cue.
I've had cues in all kinds of woods, solid and cored, that played great. I'm not in the "this wood plays better" camp. Too many other things(taper, shaft, ferrule, tip,etc) that can affect a cue.
 

pwd72s

recreational banger
Silver Member
I dunno for sure, but seems to me that different woods, each with it's own unique cell structure would impart a individual feel. Doubtful many would be able to tell the difference, however.
 

jrctherake

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Worrying about what type of wood is IMO, far less important than how much the wood weighs.

In the end, the balance and weight and the ratio of shaft to butt weight is the only things that matter outside of tip/ferrule.

The shaft/butt balance is what makes the "stroke" all it can be. The tip/ferrule is what makes the "feel" people like.

Together, the balance/weight ratios coupled with tip/ferrule is were the rubber meets the road.

Jeff
 

Duane Remick

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Aren't all the best cues cored with maple anyway, these days?

A lot of cue makers core their cues-
A lot of different woods too....
I know I had A RAT Cue maple forearm. with purple heart core
Some , like Schon cues,
core their cues with a predator type laminated butt blank- 1 piece front joint to the but cap- and forearm and butt sleeve installed onto that 1 piece core material.
Mike Capone used to also use Purple heart ,
now I think Mike also uses the laminated wood for coring.
Eddie Cohen uses a darker wood for coring-Not sure what wood-something very tight grained and stable"
 

mikemosconi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The tip , the ferrule, the shaft taper, the joint material and construction, the overall weight and balance of the cue when screwed together is really 99% of a cue’s playability/feel/ “hit” - I doubt the type of wood used has much affect on how a cue plays- wood is wood.
 

HQueen

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
A good friend of mine, a top player in my area changed to the Revo a few years ago. Recently he told me he used to think the hit of a cue was 95% in the shaft, tip and ferrule. After trying several different butts on his Revo he now is convinced it’s the other way around, the hit is mostly due to the butt.
A conversation with Mike Lambros yielded the same conclusion. He explained about coring cues, different woods, etc.
just throwing this out there. YMMV.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
I understand the many variables in cue characteristics such as shaft, pin, joint material. My curiosity is what opinions are on how different woods in the in the rest of the cue affect the feel. A few years back, I bought my son a Paul Dayton Sneaky with a purpleheart butt. It has the closest feel to my cousin's Kersenbrock of any other cue I've hit.Other than the other obvious variables, I have wondered what the purpleheart may be contributing to the nice feel. I realize feel is subjective but am curios what other have noticed or prefer from that end of the cue.

Purpleheart bottom/points-handle accentuated the tone of the maple front .
 

HawaiianEye

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
After trying several different butts on his Revo he now is convinced it’s the other way around, the hit is mostly due to the butt.

I have tried the REVO, the Cuetec carbon shaft, and the Mezz carbon shaft and I own a Meucci Pro carbon shaft and a complete Becue (carbon shafts and carbon butt).

NONE of the carbon fiber shafts on wooden butts feel as SOLID in the hit as my Becue carbon shaft on the Becue carbon butt.

I'm not going to argue which shaft plays better, but there is a NOTICEABLE difference in feel and hit when both shaft and butt are made of carbon fiber.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
A good friend of mine, a top player in my area changed to the Revo a few years ago. Recently he told me he used to think the hit of a cue was 95% in the shaft, tip and ferrule. After trying several different butts on his Revo he now is convinced it’s the other way around, the hit is mostly due to the butt.
A conversation with Mike Lambros yielded the same conclusion. He explained about coring cues, different woods, etc.
just throwing this out there. YMMV.

My late mentor had a few experiments in improving the hit of birdseye maple cue. He settled on threading a much different wood by joint. Only about 3 inches long. It hits way differently than a plane maple cue.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
I have tried the REVO, the Cuetec carbon shaft, and the Mezz carbon shaft and I own a Meucci Pro carbon shaft and a complete Becue (carbon shafts and carbon butt).

NONE of the carbon fiber shafts on wooden butts feel as SOLID in the hit as my Becue carbon shaft on the Becue carbon butt.

I'm not going to argue which shaft plays better, but there is a NOTICEABLE difference in feel and hit when both shaft and butt are made of carbon fiber.

Maybe we should drill wood end to end then fill it with plugs,foam and weight bolts.
 

Hoser

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Purpleheart bottom/points-handle accentuated the tone of the maple front .

Yes, that is what I was trying to define. The resonant feedback and sound of the hit is so different from other cues. BTW I had spare shafts for all my cues made by Paul with the same taper and ferrule. As I said I in the OP I understand the importance of all the other variables but was curious why the tone was so different. I also question how much no wrap my be affecting the feedback in my right hand.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Yes, that is what I was trying to define. The resonant feedback and sound of the hit is so different from other cues. BTW I had spare shafts for all my cues made by Paul with the same taper and ferrule. As I said I in the OP I understand the importance of all the other variables but was curious why the tone was so different. I also question how much no wrap my be affecting the feedback in my right hand.
No wrap means your grip hand will feel the vibrations more.
 

JC

Coos Cues
Asking about the hit of the cue is like trying to figure out why fat and anorexic women are both in demand.

If I were building cues to send to Mexico I would shoot for about 25 ounces.
 

GaryB

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What in the world is the thinking behind a laminated core as opposed to a high toned piece of solid wood? I don't understand the desirability of glue.
 

Patrick Johnson

Fish of the Day
Silver Member
What in the world is the thinking behind a laminated core as opposed to a high toned piece of solid wood?
I always thought it was to "randomize" natural flexing/warping differences so they'd neutralize each other. I think it also allows the use of cheaper grades of wood.

pj
chgo
 
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GaryB

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I would never opt for laminated core. I agree with Patrick that it allows for the use of cheaper woods & I don't see where that would be desirable and the less glue in a cue the better. Why other than the use of cheaper woods would glue be desirable?
 
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