Am i nuts - cheap cue is great

I believe that 90% of a cue is in the shaft wood and taper.

SC02GTP said:

I believe that 90% of a cue is in the shaft wood and taper.

Click to expand...

And the other 10% is in the tip

i don;t think you are crazy.

let me share my experience with you.

last year my team qualified for vegas. me and my g/f are at a pool hall holding a raffle drumming up money for the trip.

a friend wants to play me some and i say i don't have my cues. he says we can play with his. i decline saying i hate ld shafts " he plays with a predator".. he pulls out another cue and says use this one.

its an imperial sneaky pete. " cheap chinese cue". he picked up a dozen of them at southern classic for resale. my 1st rack playing with it was a break and run. i bought it off him right then and there.

i took it to vegas and played the best i ever have .

need less to say it has become my daily player. i have about 10 cues .... mostly mid to high range production cues. mc dermotts , vikings and predators. plus 1 custom cue. all of them are sitting in the closet.

I completely believe that when you buy an expensive cue, almost all of the cost goes into paying for pretty. I've bought plenty of them, and I've played with them all...it's still what I believe.

My player is a dufferin house cue conversion that I pulled off the wall and bought at the local pool room. I think it's older than I am. Scott Sherbine cut it and matched my predator shaft and it's the best hitting cue I've ever had. I chose that blank because the butt is slightly bigger which I like and it's a little back heavy. It's a custom cue for about $240 including the shaft ! It's just ugly as sin lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

High end

I'm still trying to figure out what is high end. I just
Ordered a new AE cost about 1600. I plan on it being
My shooting cue. They are in the business and not going
Where.

I also like buying an American made product. Hand crafted
It's hard to find quality like that any more.

Can't wait to shoot with it and to post pics.

Also the operator is in full control.

ceodynamo said:

I'm still trying to figure out what is high end. I just
Ordered a new AE cost about 1600. I plan on it being
My shooting cue. They are in the business and not going
Where.

I also like buying an American made product. Hand crafted
It's hard to find quality like that any more.

Can't wait to shoot with it and to post pics.

Also the operator is in full control.

Click to expand...

imo a high end cue don;t make you play any better. at least mine don't.:grin-square:

yea it generates some ooohhhs and ahhhsss when i pull mine out of the case but it don't win matches.

it did make me proud when i had mike massey sign one of my 3 shafts and he said it was one of the most beautiful cues he had ever seen. he also commented it must be a 4,000.00 - 5,000.00 cue cue. told him nope ...it just cost 3,000.00. :smile:

as i posted in that cheap cue thread ....this custom was my daily player until i picked up a cheap import cue that plays better than any of my other 10 cues i own.

For the longest time my best shooting cue was a nameless house cue that was long and had a nice taper and healthy tip. My current favorite high dollar cue shoots on par, save differences in weight and tip

I got my custom, a McDermott, and have had a couple different customs and schon. I still play best with a 30 dollar crest cue. Everyone always thinks it's a super expensive custom when I pull it out because it's fancy looking.

Looks like I'm not alone in my choice. Phew.

Nothing strange about the OP's finding at all. The feel and confidence produced by a particular cue really is an intensely personal thing, isn't it? While a big percentage of the playability is in the shaft and tip, that means different things to each of us. Large and small diameter, long pro taper or conical, hard or soft tip, balance etc., we don't all play our best with the same specs.

While a more expensive custom may have a higher likelihood of performing better because of the higher quality of shaft woods, the care and attention to detail put into the balance, tighter specs and tolerances, etc., it certainly doesn't mean ONLY a high priced cue will perform best for everyone. What it does usually mean is if you know what you want, you can have it made without going through the trial and error of finding it.

When you find "the one" don't over think it. Whatever you paid, it's priceless. :wink:

My 5 fixer upper GCue Budweiser and silver bullet Coors light butts play really good with my Mezz WX900 and Z2's w Kitech and Ultraskin Pros screwed on... ask anyone around here. I just bought another one yesterday off of fleabay... luv em... reminds me of my undergrad years in La paying my way thru my teen years. Aver cost < $16 for the butts- My rehab cues makes YOU smile in disbelief that someone shoots pool in public with one of these things ... Duct Tape these days is cool beans. :smile:

Randy

its all in the feel

I have found several great playing cues over the years that were less than 100 dollars ,

Recently I was in the Philippines and a local cue guy came in with several Taiwan made cues he was selling , the one I tried out played like glory , I did not care for the looks of the cue but it was well built and hit great , they were selling about 60 bucks apiece

Bling don't make balls.

tony frank said:

Having played pocket and 3 cushion billiards for many years at a high skill level, I've been searching recently to replace my recently damaged primary cue with that "absolutely perfect once in a lifetime" GEM. After trying all sorts of HD / laminated / standard shafts with 2 different butts that are very primo that I own, I 'm amazed that, after extensive time and setups with the same tip on all, the best feel / touch / etc.etc. that satisfied me was from a $40.00 Dufferin stock off the shelf cue / shaft. HUHHH ? Anyone else have a similar experience ? How could this be ? One thing very noticible to me is a very high quality canadian maple shaft Grade AA - close to AAA, Otherwise just a nothing special sneaky - made in Canada - before they went to China. HMMMM

Click to expand...

You're not crazy. Two of my cues that I play best with other than my main player is a $100 Hurbler SP and a $39.95 Nitro (by McDermott).

Freddie

tony frank said:

Having played pocket and 3 cushion billiards for many years at a high skill level, I've been searching recently to replace my recently damaged primary cue with that "absolutely perfect once in a lifetime" GEM. After trying all sorts of HD / laminated / standard shafts with 2 different butts that are very primo that I own, I 'm amazed that, after extensive time and setups with the same tip on all, the best feel / touch / etc.etc. that satisfied me was from a $40.00 Dufferin stock off the shelf cue / shaft. HUHHH ? Anyone else have a similar experience ? How could this be ? One thing very noticible to me is a very high quality canadian maple shaft Grade AA - close to AAA, Otherwise just a nothing special sneaky - made in Canada - before they went to China. HMMMM

Click to expand...

All depends on who do you play with, if you are playing players that you can afford to miss two or three shots in a game and still win, a broom stick will do; if you are playing someone where you miss one shot and he clears the table, then you need not only good stick, but lots of practice. Stick with a stick that meets your expectation when you shoot with extreme english with 99% consistency, during practice and during matches, if you find yourself avoiding english shots, back to the drawing board. Sorry for being basic, i do not know your skill level..

I have sunk many-a-9ball with my Budweiser cue. High end cues don't make you better; they just make your wallet thinner.

My high run in straight pool is 70. I did it with a cheap Dufferin Wallabushka that I own.

bflojosh said:

My player is a dufferin house cue conversion that I pulled off the wall and bought at the local pool room. I think it's older than I am. Scott Sherbine cut it and matched my predator shaft and it's the best hitting cue I've ever had. I chose that blank because the butt is slightly bigger which I like and it's a little back heavy. It's a custom cue for about $240 including the shaft ! It's just ugly as sin lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Over the years I've had three of them made for bar hopping. I didn't use them as a sneaky pete because of the maple leaf on them. I used them because they played great, couldn't kill them, and were cheap. All three were stolen...imagine that. Johnnyt

My opinion only !!, I am also just a amateur ranked player, but have a long history of being solid player as I have two 30-zip and one 50-zip VNEA awards to show it other than a state championships and seven state championships besides international top three awards. So, I am not a pro, but, have had a blast playing this game for many years as well as selling cues for thirty + years. So, not to just post something to sell cues, my opinion is, sometimes you shoot so good you lose ( if you just can't finish and sometimes, you shoot so bad you win, lol ) as previous responses has eluded to. I mean if your opponent just can't finish and leaving you open tables, just about anything in your hand should finish the deal on a open table, however, my opinion is: Friday night bar banger night is good for just about anything your shooting with, but, if your wanting consistent performance at a high level, it's just not going to happen with a cheap cue, don't matter in my opinion. To be consistent day in and day out, or shooting in races greater than one or two games, the confidence you need to strive forward is in a quality product. Yes, once you spend X amount of dollars for a consistent hitting cue, then, above that mark, your paying for extra's, but, you still need to get to that mark for a cue that is going to deliver consistent results time after time. Everyone has just a little different stroke or how they approach certain shots, but, end result, finding a cue that is top performing for them is key. I have sold excellent top cues to folks who just can't learn to let the cue do some work for them, they still force bang everything and just can't let their instincts feel the cue, let the Friday night hammer throws of a horrible stroke let go into a smooth transition. I have taken back $ 500.00 to $ 900.00 cues and then sold them $ 90.00 Mcdermott's as deep down, it is what it is. Again, I understand that people are comfortable with the cheaper banger situations, but, to me, there is a large difference in consistent performance.