Please help me selecting a carbon fiber shaft

msnicq said:

Hi all,

I hope I’m posting my thread at the right place. I really need some advice in choosing a CF shaft.
I am pay with Mcdermott cue with their i3 shaft, and I am planning to buy a different cue to play.
I want to buy a Meucci cue butt with a Revo/Meucci/Mcdermott CF shaft. However, I have couple questions, please help answer them. Much appreciated.
1) I heard that Meucci cues have poor quality. How about their cue butts? Are they bad as well? or mainly the shaft? (I like their cue butt design)
2) I have heard bad things about uni-loc joint, some people say the joint would loose during the game. Is it true? Is it good if I look for radial joint or 5/16x18 joint?

The most important question
3)It seems that only Revo, Meucci CF Shaft, and Mcdermott offers radial or 5/16x18 joint. Which one of the three would you recommend? Or any other brand with the joint that you recommend?
I am looking for a Low deflection carbon fiber shaft, and unfortunately, there aren't any shops around me that can let me try those shafts. Please help. Thanks

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What you are asking is the standard questions from a buyer looking to somehow ensure him or herself of buyer's remorse. Some of the questions don't have a right answer Uni-Loc, Radial, 3/8-10, 5/16-14 etc are all good joints and frankly it want matter that much.
Instead of hoping someone will recommend something you will like, why not ask to shoot a few shots with your opponents cues, that way you get to try stuff and atleast do some comparison of the types of cues, shafts and tips out there.
If your uncertain about what to choose - wait, do more reading, try more stuff, then buy a cue, preferably supporting a local cue maker

I'm a consumer not a builder, well something else maybe as I'm collecting wood and doing other woodworking things in anticipation that someday I'll have space, time, and money to try my hand at some ideas for cuemaking with hopefully sufficiently humble expectations.

Through that lens, I think I've learned that Bob Meucci is somewhat controversial but undoubtedly an important figure during a major advancement in the cuemaking industry -- well liked as an ambassador and innovator and respected in his individual work. And Meucci cues is a production cue company and this is the proper lens to evaluate from as a potential buyer.

Firstly, custom cues are judged and differentiated in ways that are far exceptional to a production cue but generally have little impact on performance as a tool to play pool.

Secondly, within quality cues there is significant variation in preference. There is no clear right taper, tip, ferrule, weight, balance, joint, resonance, etc. And much of the construction choices e.g. points, piloted joints, etc. once had important structural value but at this point in material/glue/equipment quality are just cosmetic. There is likely no cue out there which is inherently inferior in design based on these differences, even if an individual may have preferences.

However, there are differences in quality, and particularly in the production market this shows up. Less so that any one brand produces universally inferior products but that their individual quality control for wood selection, seasoning, grain orientation, tolerances in connecting parts, etc. are different. Here, you get what you pay for is a pretty good guide. If one brand seems to be 1.5x the cost for the same cue on paper, the difference is probably quality control.

That said, outside of mass market sub-$100 imports, there is no brand that generally doesn't produce a quality cue. You just might be more or less likely to get one with issues, minor or major, and that's true of highly regarded custom makers as well.

So personally I think trying a few things and buying whatever appeals to you most will get you something you're satisfied with, and it isn't a bad idea to know what can be done if you end up with issues or something that doesn't meet your expectations.

Well, you start off saying you want to try out one of the new CF shafts, but then you quickly state that you want to buy a new butt as well, so .. . .
If you change 2 things at the same time and you don't like the result, then you cannot know which of those two (or both) it is that you don't like. So I would suggest just changing out to a CF shaft on a butt that you already know and like. Then, you can determine if you like the new shaft or not.
My 2 cents,
Gary