Anyone have any idea how many are still using this joint configuration?
If it has gone up or down why do you think this is true?
Thanks
Kevin
If it has gone up or down why do you think this is true?
Thanks
Kevin
How many of today's pro players use solid stainless steel piloted joints
- Thread starter Kevin Lindstrom
- Start date
as i c it......
I think the future of piloted joints could be in question.
Personally, flat joints made of ivory feel the best to me.
On the other hand, flat steel joints create a thud, dead feel.
Piloted joints seemed to fit the bill until carbon shafts arrived.
With LD shafts being the big trend, having a flat face carbon shaft
connect and sit atop a flat cue joint, versus a piloted joint version,
just makes more sense. It’s easier to build and the cue shaft resonance,
i.e., vibration, is most effectively maintained to improve the overall feel.
There will always be players that resist changing over to carbon shafts,
like myself and many others on the Forum. Most readers might associate
that with the age of the player being the main factor why. I don’t know that
to be true but perhaps it is. Senior age players have used maple shafts
for such a long time that changing likely is more unappealing than it is
appealing. But even much younger players appreciate the features and
feel that original wood shafts offer. Besides, unless you are more concerned
about straight pool accomplishments,I.e., high runs, you only need to run the
table in 8, 9 & 10 ball & that is easily accomplished playing with original shafts.
The bottom line is steel joints are durable, cue-makers are wood craftsmen so
original shafts will always continue to be made as part of the cue-making process,
and carbon shafts increase the price of a cue order by adding hundreds of more
dollars to the cue order. So I’m pretty sure piloted steel joints will always have a
future but there will be a less made as carbon shafts consume more market share.
Matt B.
I think the future of piloted joints could be in question.
Personally, flat joints made of ivory feel the best to me.
On the other hand, flat steel joints create a thud, dead feel.
Piloted joints seemed to fit the bill until carbon shafts arrived.
With LD shafts being the big trend, having a flat face carbon shaft
connect and sit atop a flat cue joint, versus a piloted joint version,
just makes more sense. It’s easier to build and the cue shaft resonance,
i.e., vibration, is most effectively maintained to improve the overall feel.
There will always be players that resist changing over to carbon shafts,
like myself and many others on the Forum. Most readers might associate
that with the age of the player being the main factor why. I don’t know that
to be true but perhaps it is. Senior age players have used maple shafts
for such a long time that changing likely is more unappealing than it is
appealing. But even much younger players appreciate the features and
feel that original wood shafts offer. Besides, unless you are more concerned
about straight pool accomplishments,I.e., high runs, you only need to run the
table in 8, 9 & 10 ball & that is easily accomplished playing with original shafts.
The bottom line is steel joints are durable, cue-makers are wood craftsmen so
original shafts will always continue to be made as part of the cue-making process,
and carbon shafts increase the price of a cue order by adding hundreds of more
dollars to the cue order. So I’m pretty sure piloted steel joints will always have a
future but there will be a less made as carbon shafts consume more market share.
Matt B.
My new Cynergy shaft fits my old Schon just fine...best of both (old and new) worlds. 
Tim scruggs felt that his steel joint flat face played the best of all
the combinations he tried
Jerry Face prefered the flat face no joint just bands
I have seen Bustamonte,Efren and pthers going back and forth
I am currently playing a piloted steel joint by schon,
I always seem to play good with it
As to why one gains and loses favor over and again cylically,
I would suggest that if SVB starts playing a piloted steel joint,then we can expect
every tom ,dick and harry to play steel joint piloted
I am ordering steel joints from Runde,but also a flat face with a yellowmicarta
To sum it up,I don't really know the difference
the combinations he tried
Jerry Face prefered the flat face no joint just bands
I have seen Bustamonte,Efren and pthers going back and forth
I am currently playing a piloted steel joint by schon,
I always seem to play good with it
As to why one gains and loses favor over and again cylically,
I would suggest that if SVB starts playing a piloted steel joint,then we can expect
every tom ,dick and harry to play steel joint piloted
I am ordering steel joints from Runde,but also a flat face with a yellowmicarta
To sum it up,I don't really know the difference
I like steel joints because I like old school cues. I also like carbon fiber because I feel comfortable shooting with low deflection shafts and have an interest in modern technology. I spent the last couple days with a Becue Prime-M 12.0 on my Schön R10. I felt that it worked out well for me.
That said, I haven’t spent significant time with a Carbon Fiber shaft on a cue without a steel joint yet, so my opinion may not mean too much.
That said, I haven’t spent significant time with a Carbon Fiber shaft on a cue without a steel joint yet, so my opinion may not mean too much.
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Do pros really get to choose their equipment, or is it dictated by their sponsor's product line up? With that skill level, does it even matter? For the pros that aren't sponsored, I guess they have the freedom to use what the want.
A one piece cue still gives the best hit, and one day we will see pool players (just like snooker players do currently) walk in with a long case holding a one piece cue. That's my prediction.
Asking a sponsored pro to use your equipment, is like asking a hooker which mattress feels better on the back.
Or a cue with the big wood pin (Starkey), that’s as close to a one piece cue as I’ve found!
I still have an 18 OZ 1 piece Dufferin i bought in 97 or so for $25 that has about 1 hr of play. I love it but it was just too much trouble to lug around and too good to sell.
Closest to a one piece hit I've seen yet as well.
I'd like to have that cue. Dufferin made some of the best one piece cues ever. There is a one piece cue out there called a Cobra that also plays real good. I don't know who makes it.
My new Cynergy shaft fits my old Schon just fine...best of both (old and new) worlds.
Mine too!! And I actually like playing witht he new shaft better than my 314 Cat, and the Wood shafts. But phases are just that, phases.
Richard Black Thinks Otherwise........
Richard Black used a flat faced steel joint his first year making cues in 1975.
It was a not a good design and he abandoned using it and switched in 1976
to piloted 5/16x14 steel joints. As a cue-maker, he will build you a cue with the
joint you specify but flat faced steel was not a big hit with Richard and he quit
using it. Just FYI for any out there who might be uninformed or even undecided.
Matt B.
Richard Black used a flat faced steel joint his first year making cues in 1975.
It was a not a good design and he abandoned using it and switched in 1976
to piloted 5/16x14 steel joints. As a cue-maker, he will build you a cue with the
joint you specify but flat faced steel was not a big hit with Richard and he quit
using it. Just FYI for any out there who might be uninformed or even undecided.
Matt B.
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If it has not happened now, I don't think it ever will. And with after market shafts being more and more popular, i'd say there is even less change of that happening.