The Saw said:
I was sold on them at first and was on of the first room runners in the Central Ohio area to stock and really push them. I really liked Nubs ideas/design and he was sponsoring a few players locally, so I gave it a shot..... One major flaw came out immediately. When used for breaking, the thread insert/joint area of the shaft would explode, literally. I'm not just talking about players with "big breaks" but players just hitting a controlled and solid break shot. Not to be a gender basher, but a few of the ladies playing with them were breaking shafts.... The softer you hit them the longer it would take them to fail. But failing was inevitable.
Nubs did everyone right for a long while by replacing shafts and making changes to the design but after months of people going thru shafts, some as many as 8, the owners just got to the point they couldn't fade it any longer and either switched to Predator shafts or sold the butts to others who then put Predators on them. At one point I had 7 or 8 Nova butts in my office for sale...
Innovative design but bad in practice......
Saw
Hi Saw,
I've owned several over a period of eight years and have never had anything close to what you describe happen. I'm not saying it couldn't, but I certainly haven't had the same experience.
I didn't have many of the old styled shafts that he used phenolic inserts on. Mine were virtually all made of dymondwood, which he used in later years. Frankly, the dymondwood was so hard that I can't imagine it ever exploding. Was it the wood around the insert? Sorry your dealings with Nova sounded bad, Saw. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, though.
I always had great luck dealing with Nubs and wish he'd stayed in the business. I like the way his cues are balanced, nice and forward heavy. I consider his finishes to be one of the best around. I've used the top cue in the above picture as my primary playing cue for eight years and don't have a single ding in it. I've had a few instances over the years that would have definitely been a noticeable ding in most finishes, but not on this cue. I've played around with tips and ferrules, and the current combination I use makes it feel very much like a Schon on steroids. I'd take a Nova over a Schon any day of the week, though, and I'm a fan of Schon cues!
Regards,
Steve