Your best playing cue

AK-Stick

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
OK this is similar to who makes the best playing cue but I am talking about the cue you have ( if you have one) that would be the cue you'd play if you felt you had to win. My self I have been fortunate enough to have had some cues commissioned by some of the greats, Gus which i played for 19 yrs Barry, Searing, Kikel, Bender, Schick, Gina, Perry Weston ( God rest his soul ), Southwest, John Bender, Eddie Farris, Jerry R, Fisher, and maybe one or two others. Of the above the only three that I didn't ever get comfortable with was the Fisher the Southwest and the Kikel. That isn't a knock on the cues either, the Fisher had the most solid hit i have experianced and was hell on braking the gentleman i sold it to changed the tip and loves it, I just could never get a precise feel of the cue ball with it, the same goes for the Southwest and I have a Southwest ordered. The Kikel was built to my specs and perfect but again I never got a feel of the cue ball with it but I BELIEVE that was due to my choice of woods. I usually and totally believe that musical woods make the best cues and the woods I sent Dave were not so no fault to him. But having said all this I can't narrow down one cue, I can narrow it down to 4. These 4 in no order Mike Bender, John Bender (who makes a hell of a playing cue , from the two i have owned, and should be considered by any one looking for a cue for day to day play) Bill Schick and the Dennis Searing which i am still crying over having to part with.
 

joemuffler

JoeMuffler
Silver Member
Of the dozens of pool cues that I have I keep going back to my Jim Pierce or my Bobby Hunter, I don't leave home without them.
 

Ratta

Hearing the balls.....
Silver Member
Well,

i played a lot of cues-
My custom cue built in 1990 by Dan Prather and H-J.Bertram in Co-Production was a dream. Unfortunatley sold it 1998/99 when i quit pool.

Now i m playing with a Keith Josey Cue (built in 2009, traditional style) which satisfies me completly- 1 inch overlength on shaft and butt- perfectly balanced. Wonderful player. Additional i let Keith built a Cocobolo Full-splice into beautyful figured BEM. Different construction....but also a great cue.
I just can recommend Keith and his wonderful wife Sherri. Perfect contact, and extremly nice :)

lg
Ingo
 

bbb

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
ive played with scrugss ss and ivory joint radial pin and gilbert ivory joint but
my chris nitti ivory jonit plays and feels the best for me
 

Tramp Steamer

One Pocket enthusiast.
Silver Member
Mine is a 2005 Martin.
It's balance and weight suit me well, and the Predator shaft is top notch. :smile:
 

cuesblues

cue accumulator
Silver Member
ive played with scrugss ss and ivory joint radial pin and gilbert ivory joint but
my chris nitti ivory jonit plays and feels the best for me


If I had to sell everything today, and keep one cue :eek:, it would be my Chris Nitti cue.
I've said the same thing about other cues, but I mean it this time.

Center cue

Nitti-Martinez-Durbin003.jpg


Nitti-Martinez-Durbin002.jpg


Nitti-Martinez-Durbin001.jpg
 

Kickin' Chicken

Kick Shot Aficionado
Silver Member
Subjectivity Alert!

Many of us are in what seems like the never ending quest to find "The Magic Wand" and starting right there, the characteristics that I'm seeking may be of less (or no) importance to the next guy.

With that said, like the op, I have had many cues in my hands and a lot of them were from some of the elite makers.

In no particular order, the three best playing cues I have ever played are an ivory jointed, big pin Tim Scruggs, a brass 3/8 10 pin, phenolic half-jointed Jeff Olney, and a 3/8 10 stainless jointed James White.

Worth mentioning is that I have had other cues by these same makers set up exactly as described above that for whatever reasons, did not play as spectacularly.

best,
brian kc
 
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DJordan816

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My Mike Durbin, i actually posted it for sale on here a couple days ago then took it off because i decided id rather be broke than part with that cue :thumbup:
 

Chopdoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
She's in my signature. My JOSS. Old school player...and as far as I have heard all of them from that era are top notch players in general for people that like that sort of play. Clearly not a modern cue though, so it will not generally appeal to the younger crowd.


My second best player is, believe it or not, a "cheap cue" that I discovered recently. (under $100) It was unplayed and in new packaging for about 15 years when I got it recently. And it turns out to be a lucky find...a stupendous player.

Just below that is my D series McDermott, which recently gave up the #2 spot in my case to the cheap cue......shit happens I guess.



.
 

poolhustler

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
My lifetime playing set are my Kevin Varney's.

If something happened to my KV's, my 6 point Jerry Rauenzahn would be next in line.
 

wambamcam

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Well,

i played a lot of cues-
My custom cue built in 1990 by Dan Prather and H-J.Bertram in Co-Production was a dream. Unfortunatley sold it 1998/99 when i quit pool.

Now i m playing with a Keith Josey Cue (built in 2009, traditional style) which satisfies me completly- 1 inch overlength on shaft and butt- perfectly balanced. Wonderful player. Additional i let Keith built a Cocobolo Full-splice into beautyful figured BEM. Different construction....but also a great cue.
I just can recommend Keith and his wonderful wife Sherri. Perfect contact, and extremly nice :)

lg
Ingo

I agree. I've plated with so many different cues, but my Josey has been the best.
 

henchmen3

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Vollmer, not may people even get so see these cues in person and less get to shoot with them, but its the cue for me.
 

CMD

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Keith Josey's missus gets more mentions on here than Gus Szamboti



It's probably due to affordability. I would venture to guess that was not the case 25 years ago.

I had a Josey built and thoroughly enjoyed the cue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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DallasHopps

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I suspect there are no right answers, but I'll say that I have at least 2 cues I'd rather play with all the time, as they are either fancier looking or extremely personalized and loaded with sentimental value...
and despite those feelings, I can't stop playing with a 6 point purple heart into ebony Bryan Mordt cue I bought while waiting for the personalized custom mentioned above.

I can do an adequate job on the table making a jackass of myself with any of my cues, but the BCM actually makes people think I know what I'm doing from time to time if they don't watch for very long.
 

hang-the-9

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The best feeling cue to me is my current one, a Ned Morris. Came with 3 shafts, they all play good and have a super fell to the hit.

What is odd is how many "high end" cues I tried that I did not like at all.

The saddest one for me was a Samsara, been wanting one since I started playing pool, finally got one, and hated how the shaft felt, was way too whippy, deflected a ton. But after a few trades, I ended up with my Ned Morris which I can't picture replacing outside of some bizarre crazy deal where I'm stealing. Like an Szam or something for it.
 
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