SS360/2 Review - Bob Danielson Shaft

B

bshrestha19

Registered
I received my BD Shaft SS360/2 couple of months ago. When it first arrived, I had a problem with the diameter of the shaft. It was around 13.2 mm. When I played with it, the deflection was very high. I'm used to playing with a solid maple shaft and this new shaft played similar to my maple shaft.

I contacted Bob about this issue, and he agreed to pay for the work that the shaft needs to reduce the diameter to approx. 12.6 mm. He was very professional about it, and I appreciate that. Finally, I was able to test the reduced diameter shaft a few days ago with a new ultraskin medium tip. The deflection was much lower than what it was previously.

The hit is a bit softer than what I'm used to (I play with a Treadway Butt, which has a wood-to-wood joint and a radial pin). Once the tip hardens, it might feel a bit different. Overall, shaft isn't bad at all. It is quite stiff though. I'm planning to compare it against my friend's vantage, revo, OB and 314 shafts. I might not do it all at once, but if someone wants me to do a head-head comparison, I'm willing to do so.
I need to play a few weeks with this shaft to provide a better review.
For the price I paid, I'm not complaining. It's an great value for money compared to other shafts for sure.

Here are some pictures:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipP6YrawhoAVpFyt3e5kTCKhxnVPkdu9jZT_bEn_
 
Last edited:
K

Keith E.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
bshrestha19 said:
I received my BD Shaft SS360/2 couple of months ago. When it first arrived, I had a problem with the diameter of the shaft. It was around 13.2 mm. When I played with it, the deflection was very high. I'm used to playing with a solid maple shaft and this new shaft played similar to my maple shaft.

I contacted Bob about this issue, and he agreed to pay for the work that the shaft needs to reduce the diameter to approx. 12.6 mm. He was very professional about it, and I appreciate that. Finally, I was able to test the reduced diameter shaft a few days ago with a new ultraskin medium tip. The deflection was much lower than what it was previously.

The hit is a bit softer than what I'm used to (I play with a Treadway Butt, which has a wood-to-wood joint and a radial pin). Once the tip hardens, it might feel a bit different. Overall, shaft isn't bad at all. It is quite stiff though. I'm planning to compare it against my friend's vantage, revo, OB and 314 shafts. I might not do it all at once, but if someone wants me to do a head-head comparison, I'm willing to do so.
I need to play a few weeks with this shaft to provide a better review.
For the price I paid, I'm not complaining. It's an great value for money compared to other shafts for sure.
Click to expand...

I have one in uniloc, love it.

YMMV,
Keith
 
TWOFORPOOL

TWOFORPOOL

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
SS360/2 Shafts

I have been playing with as SS360/2 shaft for a little over a year. I previously had a Predator Vantage and believe the SS360/2 shaft to be better. It is a quite shaft and a very efficient shaft with very little deflection. I highly recommend playing with this shaft.
 
B

bshrestha19

Registered
Funny you mentioned Vantage because I really liked the Vantage shaft that belonged to a friend of mine. That's the main reason why I wanted to try out low deflection shaft. However, I feel low deflection shafts are very expensive nowadays, which is why I went with SS360/2 (USD 180) & I'm glad I did. It took me less than 6 hours total to get used to it (in a period of 2 days). I'm sure I will have to put another 10+ hours since I used to play with solid maple shaft to completely get used to LD of this shaft, but that's not too bad.
 
CeaseLess

CeaseLess

Member
bshrestha19 said:
I received my BD Shaft SS360/2 couple of months ago. When it first arrived, I had a problem with the diameter of the shaft. It was around 13.2 mm. When I played with it, the deflection was very high. I'm used to playing with a solid maple shaft and this new shaft played similar to my maple shaft.

I contacted Bob about this issue, and he agreed to pay for the work that the shaft needs to reduce the diameter to approx. 12.6 mm. He was very professional about it, and I appreciate that. Finally, I was able to test the reduced diameter shaft a few days ago with a new ultraskin medium tip. The deflection was much lower than what it was previously.

The hit is a bit softer than what I'm used to (I play with a Treadway Butt, which has a wood-to-wood joint and a radial pin). Once the tip hardens, it might feel a bit different. Overall, shaft isn't bad at all. It is quite stiff though. I'm planning to compare it against my friend's vantage, revo, OB and 314 shafts. I might not do it all at once, but if someone wants me to do a head-head comparison, I'm willing to do so.
I need to play a few weeks with this shaft to provide a better review.
For the price I paid, I'm not complaining. It's an great value for money compared to other shafts for sure.

Here are some pictures:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipP6YrawhoAVpFyt3e5kTCKhxnVPkdu9jZT_bEn_
Click to expand...
A couple years late but I'm actually in the middle of deciding between an OB classic/pro Plus, 314-2 and a an ss360/1/2. Do you have any insight for me regarding these shafts in relation to each other? I like a shaft leaning towards more stiff than more whippy, but nothing too stiff like keilwood shafts, and a lot of feel.
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
CeaseLess said:
A couple years late but I'm actually in the middle of deciding between an OB classic/pro Plus, 314-2 and a an ss360/1/2. Do you have any insight for me regarding these shafts in relation to each other? I like a shaft leaning towards more stiff than more whippy, but nothing too stiff like keilwood shafts, and a lot of feel.
Click to expand...
Well for starters OB is no more and the 314 is now the 314-3.
 
CeaseLess

CeaseLess

Member
garczar said:
Well for starters OB is no more and the 314 is now the 314-3.
Click to expand...
I know but I have a friend who has the ob's and a 314-2. Only hit a couple balls so I wasn't able to get a feel for how they would feel long term. It's either one of those or order a ss360
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
CeaseLess said:
I know but I have a friend who has the ob's and a 314-2. Only hit a couple balls so I wasn't able to get a feel for how they would feel long term. It's either one of those or order a ss360
Click to expand...
I had a OB Classic+ and a BD360 at one time. Both good but i liked the OB better. To me the BD changed the cue balance too much. Classic+ was best shaft OB made imo.
 
Vahmurka

Vahmurka

...and I get all da rolls
Silver Member
CeaseLess said:
A couple years late but I'm actually in the middle of deciding between an OB classic/pro Plus, 314-2 and a an ss360/1/2. Do you have any insight for me regarding these shafts in relation to each other? I like a shaft leaning towards more stiff than more whippy, but nothing too stiff like keilwood shafts, and a lot of feel.
Click to expand...
First I acquired an SS360 1st gen, and then opted for the 2nd. Contacted Bob D. many times asking which is which, but been long ago so I don't remember the details now. I could vaguely recall something like SS360-1 was not hollow and SS360-2 definitely was, but to make sure I would have to turn back to our messaging history, if you need that.
One thing is certain, there is a lot of feel in BD shafts. One of the main reasons I decided to go for one (and enjoyed very much after) is Bob's concept that a good shaft must be able to drive the cue ball far on a moderate hit. Kind of "hits a ton", if you like :)

Another sure thing, with SS360 (at least back when I was ordering those) one gets more deflection compared to Pred314 family. But I could not care less, as it is only a matter of time to get to know your shaft and how it performs on some extreme English. Still better learn to play so that you don't need one ;)

add-on: good point for BD shafts is that you could ask for a heavier or lighter shaft, if custom ordered. First, the weight depends on which part of the log is used by the craftsman, and in case of heavier he could even add some tungsten rods near the joint. So that you get either weight or balance or both to your liking.
 
CeaseLess

CeaseLess

Member
Vahmurka said:
First I acquired an SS360 1st gen, and then opted for the 2nd. Contacted Bob D. many times asking which is which, but been long ago so I don't remember the details now. I could vaguely recall something like SS360-1 was not hollow and SS360-2 definitely was, but to make sure I would have to turn back to our messaging history, if you need that.
One thing is certain, there is a lot of feel in BD shafts. One of the main reasons I decided to go for one (and enjoyed very much after) is Bob's concept that a good shaft must be able to drive the cue ball far on a moderate hit. Kind of "hits a ton", if you like :)

Another sure thing, with SS360 (at least back when I was ordering those) one gets more deflection compared to Pred314 family. But I could not care less, as it is only a matter of time to get to know your shaft and how it performs on some extreme English. Still better learn to play so that you don't need one ;)

add-on: good point for BD shafts is that you could ask for a heavier or lighter shaft, if custom ordered. First, the weight depends on which part of the log is used by the craftsman, and in case of heavier he could even add some tungsten rods near the joint. So that you get either weight or balance or both to your liking.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply, it is very helpful. Yes, you are correct, the 1 is solid and the 2 and 3 have a ¼ hole for the first 4 inches. Do you remember if that hollow spot made the 1 and 2 feel or play any different? Maybe made it feel a bit more dead?
 
Vahmurka

Vahmurka

...and I get all da rolls
Silver Member
CeaseLess said:
Thank you for your reply, it is very helpful. Yes, you are correct, the 1 is solid and the 2 and 3 have a ¼ hole for the first 4 inches. Do you remember if that hollow spot made the 1 and 2 feel or play any different? Maybe made it feel a bit more dead?
Click to expand...
Nope, not at all. They feel the same, well, maybe (only maybe) a solid one is a little bit more solid. But as I've been playing with SS260-2 for quite some time and did not touch the other one, I might be fooling myself a bit about that :) And of course none of them feels 'dead'. To me very much unlike other marketed LD shafts (Predator and other stuff, talking about wooden era), which were very dull on cue ball impact. I was a bit surprised and sad to learn Bob had to jump on that carbon bandwagon. That's understandable, because the demand shifted. But I'm a big fan of natural wood.

Hollow part of SS260-2 makes it deflect a tiny bit less, but again, the difference is very minor and deflection is not my priority when picking a good shaft.
 
CeaseLess

CeaseLess

Member
Vahmurka said:
Nope, not at all. They feel the same, well, maybe (only maybe) a solid one is a little bit more solid. But as I've been playing with SS260-2 for quite some time and did not touch the other one, I might be fooling myself a bit about that :) And of course none of them feels 'dead'. To me very much unlike other marketed LD shafts (Predator and other stuff, talking about wooden era), which were very dull on cue ball impact. I was a bit surprised and sad to learn Bob had to jump on that carbon bandwagon. That's understandable, because the demand shifted. But I'm a big fan of natural wood.

Hollow part of SS260-2 makes it deflect a tiny bit less, but again, the difference is very minor and deflection is not my priority when picking a good shaft.
Click to expand...
Solid information once again chief. Earlier you mentioned you can get specific measurements and weight if you custom order. Does that cost extra? I messaged him a few days back and got a quote but I didn't mention that I would want custom specifications.
 
bdcues

bdcues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
CeaseLess said:
Solid information once again chief. Earlier you mentioned you can get specific measurements and weight if you custom order. Does that cost extra? I messaged him a few days back and got a quote but I didn't mention that I would want custom specifications.
Click to expand...
Specific weights and measurements don't cost extra. Some tips and ferrule material have an upcharge. And I am not making carbon fiber playing shafts, that was very short lived and I will not do so again. I have made some jump/break cf but even those are very limited.

The /2 and /3 are as solid hitting as the /1, difference in construction. Keilwood shafts are a bit stiffer but made exactly as the regular Maple shafts are made.

And again, if you want to see one in action click on the youtube link.
 
G

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
bdcues said:
Specific weights and measurements don't cost extra. Some tips and ferrule material have an upcharge. And I am not making carbon fiber playing shafts, that was very short lived and I will not do so again. I have made some jump/break cf but even those are very limited.

The /2 and /3 are as solid hitting as the /1, difference in construction. Keilwood shafts are a bit stiffer but made exactly as the regular Maple shafts are made.

And again, if you want to see one in action click on the youtube link.
Click to expand...
Is there no BD site any more?
 
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