Why a new cue?

strmanglr scott · May 18, 2019

After reading through the lifetime cue thread it got me thinking. Why would I get a new cue?

I have two production cues, retail on one was about $225, that's my player. The other I pulled out of hock at the second hand store for a friend, he never paid me for it so its now mine, for $110 I got it and a break and case. That cue alone retails today for around $450, it's like new but I don't play it. I don't need the couple hundred I could sell it for, so it sits in its case and once in a blue moon I pull it out and hit a few shots w it.

I have no plans to get something else.

What made you buy a new player cue? Not another to put in the collection but a new player? Did you lose confidence in your current player, thought a new cue would help your game, better feel, etc?

Maybe I posted a question like this before, idk, but it always staggers me how much $$$ people put into cues and equipment. I understand the collecting part but not frequently changing out the player cue.

jimmyco · May 18, 2019

Because we can.

ThinSlice · May 18, 2019

For me personally...I am always looking for that ultimate playing cue. Fancy or not. Something that hits beautifully and is yet perfectly balanced for your personal style of play. Gives the feedback and sound that suits you. I have yet to find one that actually fits that description and out plays my current playing cue. That can just be the amount of time I put in on my player or it could be a real thing. I have only had 2 cues that I have played years on and they both were TAD’s and they both hit completely different. My original was a steal joint and my current player a big pin. I own about a dozen other cues and for the most part they play nice but not the same. That’s my 2 cents.

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Texas Carom Club · May 18, 2019

Ive found the 1 for pool and the 1 for carom that speak to me
No need spending more

PRED · May 18, 2019

I like '60 & '70 vintage era collectible cues.

HawaiianEye · May 18, 2019

strmanglr scott said:
After reading through the lifetime cue thread it got me thinking. Why would I get a new cue?

I have two production cues, retail on one was about $225, that's my player. The other I pulled out of hock at the second hand store for a friend, he never paid me for it so its now mine, for $110 I got it and a break and case. That cue alone retails today for around $450, it's like new but I don't play it. I don't need the couple hundred I could sell it for, so it sits in its case and once in a blue moon I pull it out and hit a few shots w it.

I have no plans to get something else.

What made you buy a new player cue? Not another to put in the collection but a new player? Did you lose confidence in your current player, thought a new cue would help your game, better feel, etc?

Maybe I posted a question like this before, idk, but it always staggers me how much $$$ people put into cues and equipment. I understand the collecting part but not frequently changing out the player cue.

Like I've said, numerous times, I have never bought a cue for "looks". I have always bought my cues to be "players".

I've played with my McDermott C-14, that I bought new, for more years than I have played with all my other cues combined. I sold my custom cue that Richard Black made for me when I got the C-14. The C-14 played circles around the Black.

The only reason I have more cues now is because I bought another cue to use when I sent the C-14 back to McDermott to be completely refurbished and another shaft built for it.

Since then, I've ran across many offers I couldn't refuse and have bought cues to "try out" just for curiosity's sake. All of the cues I've bought can be resold for more than what I paid for them.

There are a couple that I have no intention of selling, but I've been offered way more than what I paid for them.

I can get "used to" just about any cue if I play with it long enough, so I've sometimes switched up between my cues just to keep them from being "closet queens". Most of my cues are close to the same weight, dimensions, and have the same tips.

I have been using my Becue for a year, or more, and recently decided to break out a cue I got from CJ Wiley. It is the cue he used in the 1996 Million Dollar Challenge tournament in Dallas, back in 1996. This cue was a "prototype" made for CJ to use during the tournament while they were producing a CJ Wiley line of cues to later be sold. McDermott was one of the big sponsors for this tournament.

Earl Strickland ran 11 racks on the first day and claimed the $1,000,000 bonus, but CJ won the tournament with this cue. He beat Earl in the finals.

Since this wasn't CJ's "lifetime" cue (he used a custom Blud), it went into his closet until I got it.

It has been sitting in my closet for a long time, so I decided to give it some light and play. I use a custom shaft that I had built for it, rather than the original shaft that still has the same tip on it from the time CJ played with it in the tournament.

The cue is a damn good player, so I haven't broke the Becue back out in a few weeks. Funny thing is that I was instantly able to play with the cue without consciously making any adjustments.

The cue is balanced differently, weighted differently, and made of wood rather than carbon fiber. The shaft is 13.25mm and made of wood vs the Becue's 12mm and being made of carbon.

Picking up the cue and playing with it seemed "natural"...and I haven't even thought about having to make any adjustments due to deflection, etc. I know the wood shaft has a bit more, but everything has came back to me through "instinct" and from playing with wood shafts for decades.

Maybe I will break out one of my other cues to play with tomorrow. I need to keep them from sitting idle in the closet.

MattPoland · May 18, 2019

For me it was experimentation (wanting to try a thinner and LD shaft) and vanity (wanting something more beautiful than I was using). Fortunately for me I caught that big at a time in life where I had the money for a pricey cue.

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couldnthinkof01 · May 18, 2019

In all the pool players I've met over the years I
only know one who has played regularly
over a long period who plays with the same
cues. Hes 60 something and is a very good
player. He has a McDermott thats 40 years
old.
Everyone else either has a bunch of cues or
goes bust or quits sells them off, then buys new
ones.
I have had about 9 in 20 years. Some I went
bust when I was younger and sold off.
5 I still have. The one I play with now has
been around about 2 years.
I suppose I see a new one that catches
my eye, hit a few, and decide to switch it
up. Sometimes the grass is greener, sometimes
I go back to a old trusty from the past.

hurricane145 · May 18, 2019

strmanglr scott said:
After reading through the lifetime cue thread it got me thinking. Why would I get a new cue?

I have no plans to get something else.

What made you buy a new player cue? Not another to put in the collection but a new player? Did you lose confidence in your current player, thought a new cue would help your game, better feel, etc?

I don't really collect cues. Not much of a collector of anything really. All my 5 or 6 cues are regular players.
I either just fell in love at first sight with them or borrowed one for a few shots and was super impressed and had to have it. A couple I got for almost nothing when someone needed the money bad. Right place, right time! A couple I sold and deeply regret it A Meucci bar cue, and a Roger Pettit bar cue with ebony handle/points and superglue finish. They were just awesome cues at least for me.

A Huebler H-11 from the 80's is something I have always wanted but more than I wanted to pay at the time or even now used. My favorite cue is a Rich Chudy Traditional I bought back in the mid 90's as I recall. One of the three shafts has the most awesome hit ever. I don't know why though. The other 2 shafts are just not the same.

If I were to collect cues, I'd want all the 15 early 80's Huebler catalog cues and I'd be a real sucker for any Hoppe style cues or especially conversions. I have one Hoppe cue but don't know who made it (no markings) or much of anything about it. I just like it!!

Fun story...When I bought the Rich Chudy I could only hit a couple balls without it being chalked but bought it and then headed to another place for a tavern 8 ball tournament. I scruffed the tip and chalked it to break my first rack. I got an 8 ball on the break and won the $40 pot for that. Later got another 8 ball break and eventually won the tournament for another $50. It was a good night with a brand new cue!!

HawaiianEye · May 18, 2019

couldnthinkof01 said:
In all the pool players I've met over the years I
only know one who has played regularly
over a long period who plays with the same
cues. Hes 60 something and is a very good
player. He has a McDermott thats 40 years
old.

Other than an A.E. Schmidt cue that I had made in 1973, my oldest and "most used" cue is the McDermott C-14 that I mentioned in the above post. It is from their 1980-84 catalog and I bought it new for 50% off from Jim McDermott, through a pool hall I used to work at as a kid.

That cue has thousand and thousands and thousands of games on it and I've broke more racks with it than lots of people have made balls with their cues. It still plays as good as new and, now that it has been refurbished, looks brand new. That it one of the reasons I've been reluctant to play with it as much as I used to. It looks too pretty to get dirty.

I don't think you can really beat the "old" McDermott C- and D-model cues for playability. I'm sure that none of them play exactly the same, but they all were well built and, IMO, better suited to me than the other lines of cues produced by other companies at the time.

I have had NUMEROUS offers to sell this McDermott. I turned down $1,500 for it just a couple months ago.

If, when, I sell all my cues, this one will be one or the last to go.

In edit: My "oldest" cue, in terms of age, is a cue I had made by Mike Pancerny, in Detroit, several years back. It is made from a 1950's Titlist one-piece cue.

strmanglr scott · May 18, 2019

couldnthinkof01 said:
In all the pool players I've met over the years I
only know one who has played regularly
over a long period who plays with the same
cues. Hes 60 something and is a very good
player. He has a McDermott thats 40 years
old.
Everyone else either has a bunch of cues or
goes bust or quits sells them off, then buys new
ones.
I have had about 9 in 20 years. Some I went
bust when I was younger and sold off.
5 I still have. The one I play with now has
been around about 2 years.
I suppose I see a new one that catches
my eye, hit a few, and decide to switch it
up. Sometimes the grass is greener, sometimes
I go back to a old trusty from the past.

I've been playing the same cue since I got back in the game about 10 years ago. Maybe I'll get there at 60 or 70 and still have a game.

megatron69 · May 18, 2019

At first, about 35 years ago I couldn't afford much more than about $150 for a cue, but I liked the game well enough that I knew I was going to be playing for the indefinite future, and I wanted something better than a bar cue. So I got what I could afford which was an entry-level McDermott.

Years later I played a buddy's Meucci and I thought I liked that better than the McD, so I saved up and bought an 84-4. I still remember that it took me months to get really comfortable with that cue, but once I did, so began my on-again off-again relationship with Meucci cues.

Soon I had three Meucci cues and a McD break cue, plus the first McD. And I thought I was done.

Until I saw "The Color of Money," and I realized that cues could be bought just for aesthetic reasons. By the way, if you haven't reached this point in your pool career, DON'T. It's a huge $$$ suck.

A long time ago I found that my desire to play was waning and I found peace with my collection, and sold off more than a dozen cues (almost 20?), a couple that I never played. One I never chalked.

Then a few years ago, after having not played league or a tournament in years, a buddy asked me to sub for one of his teammates. Well, that led to being a permanent player on the team. And that led to getting interested in cues again. In particular I'm considering 'retiring' my favorite player cue, as it's now nearly 20 years old. So I'm thinking I need to try to find a new player cue.

Which partly how I ended up on this site. And then I discovered the 'For Sale' section, and saw that damned Bob Owen Hickory burl cue. And so immediately rediscovered that I like owning pretty cues. Dang it.

Anyway, there's lots of reasons people want a new cue. These are mine.

Michael Andros · May 18, 2019

jimmyco said:
Because we can.

*This*. :yeah:

Michael Andros · May 18, 2019

HawaiianEye said:
Like I've said, numerous times, I have never bought a cue for "looks". I have always bought my cues to be "players".

I've played with my McDermott C-14, that I bought new, for more years than I have played with all my other cues combined. I sold my custom cue that Richard Black made for me when I got the C-14. The C-14 played circles around the Black.

The only reason I have more cues now is because I bought another cue to use when I sent the C-14 back to McDermott to be completely refurbished and another shaft built for it.

Since then, I've ran across many offers I couldn't refuse and have bought cues to "try out" just for curiosity's sake. All of the cues I've bought can be resold for more than what I paid for them.

There are a couple that I have no intention of selling, but I've been offered way more than what I paid for them.

I can get "used to" just about any cue if I play with it long enough, so I've sometimes switched up between my cues just to keep them from being "closet queens". Most of my cues are close to the same weight, dimensions, and have the same tips.

I have been using my Becue for a year, or more, and recently decided to break out a cue I got from CJ Wiley. It is the cue he used in the 1996 Million Dollar Challenge tournament in Dallas, back in 1996. This cue was a "prototype" made for CJ to use during the tournament while they were producing a CJ Wiley line of cues to later be sold. McDermott was one of the big sponsors for this tournament.

Earl Strickland ran 11 racks on the first day and claimed the $1,000,000 bonus, but CJ won the tournament with this cue. He beat Earl in the finals.

Since this wasn't CJ's "lifetime" cue (he used a custom Blud), it went into his closet until I got it.

It has been sitting in my closet for a long time, so I decided to give it some light and play. I use a custom shaft that I had built for it, rather than the original shaft that still has the same tip on it from the time CJ played with it in the tournament.

The cue is a damn good player, so I haven't broke the Becue back out in a few weeks. Funny thing is that I was instantly able to play with the cue without consciously making any adjustments.

The cue is balanced differently, weighted differently, and made of wood rather than carbon fiber. The shaft is 13.25mm and made of wood vs the Becue's 12mm and being made of carbon.

Picking up the cue and playing with it seemed "natural"...and I haven't even thought about having to make any adjustments due to deflection, etc. I know the wood shaft has a bit more, but everything has came back to me through "instinct" and from playing with wood shafts for decades.

Maybe I will break out one of my other cues to play with tomorrow. I need to keep them from sitting idle in the closet.

I gave my 73 Meucci I bought in 78, to a cue-maker friend to refinish it in spring of 16.
4 months later I still did not have it back so I bought a new Joss ( the Meucci was the only Cue I had owned since I bought it in 78 ). I didn't particularly like the way the Joss hit balls ( but, since, I had the shaft turned down and now I like it just fine ) so I ordered a completely custom cue from Bob Meucci. For whatever reason, it was made not to my specs so they made me the one I actually ordered and gave me the incorrect one ( cause it hits balls *sweet* ) at a fairly substantial discount. So at that point I had 3 Meuccis and a Joss. Last fall I found a Tad here and, as I've always wanted a Tad, since the early 70s, and I can afford it, I bought it. And I'm glad I did. Then I found Dave Brainard cues, found he would make me a Titlist conversion ( Rambow replica ), to my specs, for a ridiculously low cost, so I had him make it for me @ 3 months ago. And I couldn't be happier with it. It hits balls **phenomenally** and is the prettiest cue I've ever had ( pretty and SIMPLISTIC, i.e. NO inlay of any kind. It looks almost exactly like a standard Rambow ).

So, I don't "collect" cues. And I don't really feel the need to have multiple players. I just do... and, by and large, I use all of them, though I use the Dave Brainard and the 73 Meucci more than the others.

cubswin · May 18, 2019

I buy them because I like cues. I like trying them out, turning a profit helps.

I’m not playing to be a champ, I play because it is a interesting way to pass the time in winter months. New cues adds to my interest.

I’ve had 200+ cues, rarely do I change playing cues. Just enjoy the buying, trying, selling aspects.

Texdance · May 18, 2019

About 1985 I bought a D4 McDermott from a guy at a pool hall. It was like new, and though it was my player for several years of league play it still looks like new, except for a small ding near the butt. That cue has served me for very many years with just an occasional new tip. I hate the look of ground-in chalk, so very early on I started using turquoise or tan chalk, chalking just the tip and not the ferrule. The lighter color chalks made it much easier to keep the shaft clean. I like the magic chalk, too.

One day in late 2007 two things happened - I got a nice bonus at work, and I saw what I thought was the most beautiful cue I'd ever seen. It was the McDermott Cue of the Year for 2007, model M79A. I bought an extra shaft, their new "I-2" low deflection model, to go with it. It was instant love both in the way it played and the way it looked.

I like that new I-2 shaft very much, so I bought a 3/8x10 pin version to go with my other McD cues. For some reason it fit too tight on my old D4, so I decided to find a newer butt to use it on. There was an Ebay seller offering a D16 Retro/P702, a new cue built using an old D16 full splice forearm in dark rosewood, very beautiful and with a lizard leather wrap. That's where the other I-2 lo-deflection shaft stays now.

I always liked the inlaid-turquoise look of the M14-D Portico from McDermott, and it used the same McD QR shaft as the 2007 COTY. I set a price for myself, and when one showed up on Ebay at my price I bought it. Shortly after there was another McD QR cue available for a good price, so I bought that, too, just for the spares.

I bought a few other Ebay cues, some better or worse, all plenty good enough for a stealth cue, but none costing more than $100. I bought them on spec, intending to break even or make a couple of dollars selling them at a local bar, which is what I eventually did.

There was one more nice cue, a McDermott M43B "Tempe". It was a plain-jane cue but I really liked the way the wood looked, and the way it played. It cost $85 delivered, including a sturdy case, so it was a bargain.

I'm done buying cues, I think, unless a $100 Black Boar with a look I like crosses my path someday. I owned Heublers and Meuccis back in the 70s, and none suited me as much as the Tad I owned back then, nor as well as the D-4 McDermott I bought in the 80s. Experience has shown me that McDermott cues offer me the playability, durability, beauty, and convenience I desire. I have had no worries about the lead time when buying from a custom builder, or worrying if he might decide to go out of business in the middle of my build, or whether or not that expensive custom cue would feel right after spending big bucks on it.

OK, I spent $729 on my M79A McDermott, plus an extra $185 for the I-2 shaft, but after using my M79A for a dozen years I know it was money well spent. So far no McDermott cue that I have owned has let me down, and all have been good value for the money.

So that is how one person, a league banger mostly, has bought cues over a very long period of time. The motivators were always a bit different. From 1968 until 1984 I bought various cues, not knowing really what I was looking for, but knowing I had not yet found it. In 1985 I bought my first McDermott, and since then I have tried other production cues, but only kept the McDermotts.

This year I am 68. I know there are better and worse cues than my McDermotts, but at this time in my life I have plenty of quite satisfactory cues, so I don't intend to buy any more. Unless I find a great bargain, of course.

HawaiianEye · May 18, 2019

Texdance said:
About 1985 I bought a D4 McDermott from a guy at a pool hall. It was like new, and though it was my player for several years of league play it still looks like new, except for a small ding near the butt. That cue has served me for very many years with just an occasional new tip. I hate the look of ground-in chalk, so very early on I started using turquoise or tan chalk, chalking just the tip and not the ferrule. The lighter color chalks made it much easier to keep the shaft clean. I like the magic chalk, too.

One day in late 2007 two things happened - I got a nice bonus at work, and I saw what I thought was the most beautiful cue I'd ever seen. It was the McDermott Cue of the Year for 2007, model M79A. I bought an extra shaft, their new "I-2" low deflection model, to go with it. It was instant love both in the way it played and the way it looked.

I like that new I-2 shaft very much, so I bought a 3/8x10 pin version to go with my other McD cues. For some reason it fit too tight on my old D4, so I decided to find a newer butt to use it on. There was an Ebay seller offering a D16 Retro/P702, a new cue built using an old D16 full splice forearm in dark rosewood, very beautiful and with a lizard leather wrap. That's where the other I-2 lo-deflection shaft stays now.

I always liked the inlaid-turquoise look of the M14-D Portico from McDermott, and it used the same McD QR shaft as the 2007 COTY. I set a price for myself, and when one showed up on Ebay at my price I bought it. Shortly after there was another McD QR cue available for a good price, so I bought that, too, just for the spares.

I bought a few other Ebay cues, some better or worse, all plenty good enough for a stealth cue, but none costing more than $100. I bought them on spec, intending to break even or make a couple of dollars selling them at a local bar, which is what I eventually did.

There was one more nice cue, a McDermott M43B "Tempe". It was a plain-jane cue but I really liked the way the wood looked, and the way it played. It cost $85 delivered, including a sturdy case, so it was a bargain.

I'm done buying cues, I think, unless a $100 Black Boar with a look I like crosses my path someday. I owned Heublers and Meuccis back in the 70s, and none suited me as much as the Tad I owned back then, nor as well as the D-4 McDermott I bought in the 80s. Experience has shown me that McDermott cues offer me the playability, durability, beauty, and convenience I desire. I have had no worries about the lead time when buying from a custom builder, or worrying if he might decide to go out of business in the middle of my build, or whether or not that expensive custom cue would feel right after spending big bucks on it.

OK, I spent $729 on my M79A McDermott, plus an extra $185 for the I-2 shaft, but after using my M79A for a dozen years I know it was money well spent. So far no McDermott cue that I have owned has let me down, and all have been good value for the money.

So that is how one person, a league banger mostly, has bought cues over a very long period of time. The motivators were always a bit different. From 1968 until 1984 I bought various cues, not knowing really what I was looking for, but knowing I had not yet found it. In 1985 I bought my first McDermott, and since then I have tried other production cues, but only kept the McDermotts.

This year I am 68. I know there are better and worse cues than my McDermotts, but at this time in my life I have plenty of quite satisfactory cues, so I don't intend to buy any more. Unless I find a great bargain, of course.

Some snobs will turn their nose down at McDermotts, but I think the old McDermotts (and maybe the newer ones) are some of the best playing cues made.

I have never tried one that I thought hit "bad"...even the cheaper models. However, I'm talking about the ones that were made in the USA. I don't know how their cheapest lines that are made in China play.

Both of my McDermotts have solid-wood shafts and I haven't tried their newest hi-tech shafts to see the difference in play.

My C-14 has been playing for almost 40 years and it is still as good as new...both in looks and play.

skins · May 18, 2019

HawaiianEye said:
Other than an A.E. Schmidt cue that I had made in 1973, my oldest and "most used" cue is the McDermott C-14 that I mentioned in the above post. It is from their 1980-84 catalog and I bought it new for 50% off from Jim McDermott, through a pool hall I used to work at as a kid.

That cue has thousand and thousands and thousands of games on it and I've broke more racks with it than lots of people have made balls with their cues. It still plays as good as new and, now that it has been refurbished, looks brand new. That it one of the reasons I've been reluctant to play with it as much as I used to. It looks too pretty to get dirty.

I don't think you can really beat the "old" McDermott C- and D-model cues for playability. I'm sure that none of them play exactly the same, but they all were well built and, IMO, better suited to me than the other lines of cues produced by other companies at the time.

I have had NUMEROUS offers to sell this McDermott. I turned down $1,500 for it just a couple months ago.

If, when, I sell all my cues, this one will be one or the last to go.

In edit: My "oldest" cue, in terms of age, is a cue I had made by Mike Pancerny, in Detroit, several years back. It is made from a 1950's Titlist one-piece cue.

Old McDermott cues played terrible.. IMO. That's my experience... I played with many in the 80's and early 90's and still own an 90' merry widow I bought for my wife because she loves the color purple and that was it... They were production cues trying to compete with Meucci and IMHO lost because Meucci's played MUCH better but even those were still not like some customs I had the opportunity to try out. That's why I went custom and that was in 82 when I ordered from Schon.

So you think old McDermott's are the cats meow and I think they're junk.... I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

HawaiianEye · May 18, 2019

skins said:
So you think old McDermott's are the cats meow and I think they're junk.... I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

Everybody who has hit with my C-14 has liked it and commented on how well it plays.

So much that I have been offered much more than I paid for it, many times.

The cue sold new for something like $260 in the early 80s and I just turned down $1500 for it a couple months ago when a guy picked it up for the first time and hit a few balls with it. I have been offered well over a $1000 for it on multiple occasions, yet I still have it. What does that tell you?

Has anyone offered you $1500 for any of your old 80s production cues that cost less than $300 originally?

When I bought this cue new, I was using a custom cue that Richard Black made for me. I bought the McDermott for 50% off and my intention was to sell it for a profit once I got it in the mail. I was living in Japan at the time and I had ordered the cue while I was on a trip to the USA mainland. When I got the cue and played with it, I found that it played way better, to me, than my custom cue.

I sold the Richard Black and used this cue as my playing cue for decades and still have it.

I have several custom cues still, but I think the McDermott will play as well as any cue made.

It may not be your cup of tea, but to each, their own.

FWIW, this is how the cue looks today. Looks like it was made yesterday.

jrctherake · May 18, 2019

There isn't much a person can claim about the reason they buy a particular cue other than:

To play with......(they like it better than current player)....

To collect.......(not to resale).....history...emotional ties...etc...etc....

To resale for profit...........(yep, all you flippers out there) 99.9999% of everyone that buys a cue.

Me? I dont buy cues often. My last cue was an anniversary gift from my wife. Before that, I had not bought another cue in at least 25 years.....

Why a new cue?

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