Thanks for the replies! I had a thought (this rarely happens).
I've played with that same McDermott almost exclusively for the last decade and a half. I'm sure the extended pro taper (thanks for clearing that up) has quite a bit of deflection that I've just naturally adjusted to over the years.
Cut to yesterday when I'm shooting with a 12mm Schon with a much stronger taper, I'm rattling shots and I just don't feel as comfortable. I think that maybe that shaft has less deflection, so may just be throwing me off that little bit.
Now, I wonder if I should just adjust to it, get the Schon shaft retapered, or get a new low deflection shaft with the taper I like and focus on adjusting to that...
Decisions.. I've been reading about low deflection shafts, and it sounds like the adjustment may be more than I anticipated.
I'd get the Schon shaft re-tapered. IMHO, Schon has exceptional quality control and their shafts are among the best "production" solid maple shafts you will find available. And since you're already used to maple shafts, I think that is the cheapest and best option that won't mess with your game.
For the better part of the last 25 years my primary playing cue was a McDermott D-26 I had ordered back in '88 with two extended length shafts (red cue at left in my avatar). I left one of the shafts standard and the other was turned down to 12.5mm and retapered for me by Wayne Gunn. I pretty much used that shaft 99% of the time when I played regularly into the mid 90's. For the last 15 years my playing time cut back considerably as career, family and other hobbies dominated my time.
When I started playing regularly again last year I decided to change up cue case. I rationalized my new cue purchase with the reasoning that I didn't want to put my precious, almost mint McDermott D-26 at risk of theft. As much as a McDermott fan as I was, I have always liked the way Schon cues hit and look as well, so hunted one down. The Schon I ended up with is an older version of the CX-3 with black ebony points and grey diamond inlays, which came with a 13mm standard Schon shaft (2nd cue from right side of my avatar). And although it hit great from the onset the diameter felt a bit fat to me and I eventually had the shaft turned down to 12.5mm and the taper slightly modified to match the specs of what Wayne had done to the upper 16-18" of my McDermott back in the day.
The Schon is my daily player now and I haven't looked back. The hit feels just a tad stiffer than the McDermott D-26 with same diameter/taper shaft, but I think the extra 2" on the McD shaft make more of a difference than anything else. Both shafts have similar looking tight straight wood grain, and both have milk dud tips installed which came from the same source.