Andy Gilbert 16-8

Just finished playing with this cue for the past few hours. Will do a write up in the morning or whenever I wake.

In the meantime here are some pics.

Joey,

I am writing this review now. I will give you the details. In lue of this review while write it all I can say is get one and get one fast. JJ had a few others in stock. If the rest of his cues play like this one you will not be disappointed.

Here we go,

First the stats.

Andy Gilbert 16-8

Length 58" on the dot
Butt weight 14.9oz
Shaft A 3.4
Shaft B 3.9
Shaft diameter 13 Ish (don't have my micrometer handy for the give or take)
Joint 3/8 x10

Materials

Birdseye Maple ( best I can tell. I am not a wood specialist and some woods can look similar when used in small quantities)
Ebony
Mother of pearl on the barbell ends
Silver rings on butt and lower forearm
Elforyn joint and ring inserts/inlays
Leather wrap
Not sure about the ferrule material not a specialist in this department either



After spending 3 very long nights moving, leveling, recovering and all the implies, my table I was finally able to play with this cue after a 24 hour wait. Needless to say after all this my hands fingers and arms were sore. Not to mention I was a very tired puppy. So at 1am after completing the table and taking a few pics I chalked the cue (always have to decide which shaft I will start with as it will probably be the shaft I play from here on out). In this case since the cue weights in slightly less than I am accustomed to I decided to go with the heaver of the two shafts. Bringing the total playing weight to 18.8oz. The fit and finish is impeccable! The points are extremely sharp are very even (maybe within a 64th of an inch). I have no way handy to measure them so it's just by eye. Never the less I like a litttle deviation in this department as it adds character and shows that human hands are involved in the process. I struggle to find any flaws in this area. It really is a very well thought out cue. Now generally "orange" is not something that appeals to me but, it grew on me very quickly. I had a choice of 3 of Andys cues in this class. This cue was made in 2016. The other 2 where about $100 more. Before I was told the price I assumed wrongly that this was the more expense one. The balance on this cue should I be so bold to say is perfect (gulp). It feels very natural in my hands. Generally leather wrapped cues are not appealing to me. I am more of a traditional linen guy. This wrap feels really really nice! The first thing you look for on a leather wrap is the seam. It was slightly and I mean slightly visible when I took my first look at the store. After playing it, it completely disappeared at the bottom and it still very difficult to see with the naked eye. I rolled the cue about six times to find it and then put the glare of the camera right on that seam. Please see pics.

After the second shot I said "oh yea"! I knew I was going to be happy. This cue surprised me. Caught me completely off guard. I expected it to play well but, this well? The tone and hit of this cue is SUPERB! It has excellent feedback and makes you want to play with it. This is exactly what you expect from reputable cue maker. I was so happy with it that I let both my wife and son hit a few balls with it just to see there reaction. Now my son is just getting started but has access to my selection of cues. My wife played a little in our younger years so has some sort of an educated opinion. What's important obout these opinions is that if a non-player can notice the things I mention it adds to the validity of what I was feeling. My son got a big smile on his face and loved the sound of this cue. My wife said she thought she liked this cue more than my TAD I had just purchased. For which I was kinda offended at. LOL. As I mentioned, I was tired and sore. I started playing this cue at 1AM. I didn't stop playing with it till 4AM! I played till I was dead on my feet. I never reached for another cue in my stable. There was no point. This cue plays that well. I played the complete gamut of shots. 8' draw shots, draw with left, draw with right, follow, follow left, follow right, extreme left, extreme right. You name it and I hit it within my 3 hour review. It wasn't really a review at that point. I just didn't want to put it down. It played slightly stiffer than I am accustomed to but I had no problem adjusting immediately.

I cannot say enough about this cue. At $1600 MSRP I consider this to be a very under valued cue. Get one before Andy figures this out. I now want to get my hands on more of Andy's cues to see if they play as well. If the rest of his cues play even remotely close then I can't see how you can go wrong. This cue is a keeper and don't think anyone will pull this cue out my hands. I would sell one of my Rolexes before I sell this cue.


One last thing. This cue was and is being played with the stock tip. I am hesitant to change the tip on this cue as I am afraid of changing the hit although I know I need to since it is already mushrooming. I am going to try to reach out to Andy and ask him what he would recommend in this case so I don't adversely effect it.