I am amazed you would buy an expensive cue, and not know what tip it has, or are not in on the choice of tip. You also need to be telling them, what weight you want.
Lepro used to be a soft tip, but Tweeten recently is making them harder than they used to be, it is a med tip single layer, out of date by a decade, its a tip most got off of, because they were failing a lot, installers report they could have 10-15 go bad, out of a box of 50. Today, it is rated med, with a durometer of 78, most pros are using a Moori M multilayered tip with a 74, many use the H with a 83. You might find, the Morri H, out plays and performs the Lepro, and it will not mushroom, and the lepro will. If you want a single layer tip, the Triangle with a 81, is a better tip and a better choice. Both are inexpensive in cost.
You will also find, if you don't let the installer put the tip on full, or fat, but cut it down about 30%, and don't dome it to a nickle, but to a dime, your spin and power will be better.
Red and black pads, are sold separately, and are dirt cheap. They were, and are only used today, to soften the hit, of an Ivory ferrule, which you never want to play with, they are seriously out of date, rock hard, and deflect badly. Chandiviert out of Paris, used to make a champion tip that was soft, that came with a red backing. They have been out of business now for years.
Sounds like to me, Pete is stuck in the past, and is not keeping up to date. But, he is making a cue, from the past, and from the 50's.
You covered a lot of topics there, but to be considered for the "Toll Post of the Year" award, I think you would've had to find a way to work a mention of CTE or TOI in there somewhere, too.
It was a heck of a try, though.
