Players HXT 4 Feels & Plays Like 1968 Balabushka

islandracer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've always been curious about these high tech cues, I've seen one or two people who swore never to use one be pretty impressed when they actually try it.

I honestly bought my Bushka just to own one, I play better with my beat up helmstetter.

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Johnny9

Never say Never
Silver Member
I've always been curious about these high tech cues, I've seen one or two people who swore never to use one be pretty impressed when they actually try it.

I honestly bought my Bushka just to own one, I play better with my beat up helmstetter.

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Bingo! So Do I play better with one of my old Helmstetters. Richard Helmstetter, regardless of where his cues were made, has one of the best minds as it relates to physics, who has ever designed a cue, or for that matter, a golf club.
 

blbarnett03

Registered
Its funny to read this thread to me because just last night i was looking at some of the players cues and thought about purchasing one to see how it played. I do not own any of the fancy big named cues but do own a couple of custom cues (JD and Coker) and love the way they play and think i will get me one of these players cues just out of curiosity :D
 

islandracer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Its funny to read this thread to me because just last night i was looking at some of the players cues and thought about purchasing one to see how it played. I do not own any of the fancy big named cues but do own a couple of custom cues (JD and Coker) and love the way they play and think i will get me one of these players cues just out of curiosity :D

Hundred dollah - no hollah for the players...I have a pair of JD cues being finished for next month. Really itching to get my hands on them.
 

islandracer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I got my hxt shaft for the helmstetter and my hxt 15, unfortunately I sold the bushka the day before I got this players stuff. But I did take the bushka out for a last goodbye drive the day before. My conclusion was the helmstetter hit the best to me. The bushka second and honestly the players hxt 15 - there's not much I have to say about it, hits pretty crappy for me, it's officially for guests! I've never loved my bushka's hit, but that's just me. The older, better players in the room love it but I'm really happy with my helmstetter now with a new $70 shaft. I guess this just concludes, to each their own regardless of the value of the cue. I was surprised how solid the kamui soft tip feels (on the helmstetter butt at least), but I'm still not changing my order on my jd cues from kamui black med tips.

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Bill Yerd

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I got my hxt shaft for the helmstetter and my hxt 15, unfortunately I sold the bushka the day before I got this players stuff. But I did take the bushka out for a last goodbye drive the day before. My conclusion was the helmstetter hit the best to me. The bushka second and honestly the players hxt 15 - there's not much I have to say about it, hits pretty crappy for me, it's officially for guests! I've never loved my bushka's hit, but that's just me. The older, better players in the room love it but I'm really happy with my helmstetter now with a new $70 shaft. I guess this just concludes, to each their own regardless of the value of the cue. I was surprised how solid the kamui soft tip feels (on the helmstetter butt at least), but I'm still not changing my order on my jd cues from kamui black med tips.

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Is that the Helm with the HXT shaft?
I just played jam-up with my HXT4.
I beet the two best players in the area 9 out of 15 times today and I'm not in the top 6. I can do anything with my HXT4 that I could do with my Bushka accept worry about it. Ive been breaking awesome with the HXT4 too!
 

blbarnett03

Registered
Just got it in!!!

Just got the players cue in a few days ago and was very impressed with the quality of the "cheaper" sticks. It hit nice and my suggestions for people who don't want to hawk their case to practice is to try one. I liked the hit and enjoyed the fraction of the cost for just banging balls. I bought the hxt20? Not sure of the model spent 140 all together and enjoy have the cue to throw in the truck and go. Great stick in my opinion!
 

islandracer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It's the helmstetter with the hxt shaft, love the hit. Going to give the hxt 15 cue some more play time but I'm enjoying the hxt shaft on the helmstetter so much, I just don't want to put it down.

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islandracer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Remember I bought an hxt shaft for the helmstetter and a full hxt 15 cue at the same time. Same shaft on both, but the helmstetter butt just seems to give a much more solid hit than the full players cue.

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Bill Yerd

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Remember I bought an hxt shaft for the helmstetter and a full hxt 15 cue at the same time. Same shaft on both, but the helmstetter butt just seems to give a much more solid hit than the full players cue.

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Are both shafts the same threads?
If so, did you try both shafts on the Helm?
Where did you score the HXT shaft for $70?
Many players and cue makers say the butt section is a small percentage of the feel and playability of a cue. I think the shaft is most important but you have to like the way the butt section feels in your hand.
Wrap, no wrap, diameter. It might not be as much about the hit as it is just about the feel.
 

islandracer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I wanted to swap shafts but they're not the same thread, I was curious if the butt would make such a huge difference. It's def not the feel of the butt in this case but the hit. I got them both on Ebay from the same seller, the owner of the Ebay store told me he plays with a hxt cue and loves it. I play pretty well with the full hxt but the helmstetter just feels much more solid.

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flyvirginiaguy

Classic Cue Lover
Silver Member
Also remember you guys are comparing 30-40 year old cues to new cues. 30-40 years ago Bushka's were the pinnacle of cue making. And for the history of the sport are certainly not over-rated cues in the least... They still today play great (well the ones still in good original condition). Can't speak much on some that's been through the ringer. And some of them play better than others of course.
It is a testament to the build quality of a Balabushka that you even compare them to "modern" cues that have so much more advancement (or so they say).

The over-rated cues are many of those now that carry 6-20K on them for the name of the cue maker, while hitting no better than any other good cue maker can make.

I yet to this day see the dollar value in a Southwest cue. I have had many others in a lower custom range that play the same and or better in some of those cases. And I have played quite a few of them. I would take a 1-2K Tim Scruggs over most any of them.
Would someone really want to compare the knowledge of cue making in Tim Scruggs to those of SW? Come on, Scruggs was making cues before some were even alive here...
 
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