:: 24 Points + Silver Inlayed Ringwork // Zen Travel Cue ::

Jive

Jive

Professional Racker
Silver Member
I posted on the Main Forum about my upcoming trip to Japan, States and Canada and will be bringing a Zen Cue with me.

So Zen made me this travel cue specifically for this trip cos I won't want to travel with anything that's got ivory especially since I've that many connecting flights.

Very simple recut cue but well executed with all the Zen flair. 4 tall points recut 4 times and 4 short points recut twice. We've got Purpleheart, Ebony and Maple in the points with gorgeous BEM on the nose.

I'll be bringing 4 different shafts with me with completely different taper and playability.

So whoever that wants to try a Zen cue just drop me an email and I'll see if I have time for some pool after my meetings. So far my schedule in Tokyo, Chicago, Atlanta and Quebec is good for some games.

My email's jive.ong@gmail.com

Here's my schedule(June):

15th-18th @ Tokyo
18th - 22nd @ SFO & Oakland
22nd - 25th @ Chicago
25th - 28th @ Atlanta
28th - 30th @ Quebec
30th - 1st @ Toronto
1st - 4th @ Tokyo

And here's some pictures I just took in the hotel. Just got this cue from Zen as it was just completed and I don't have my camera with me so some iphone pics will have to do for now.

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First time I'm using Tapatalk to upload pictures, not sure if the picture resolutions are ok as I'm on my phone doing this. Hope it's good.
 
Meeting up with Jive later tonight in Tokyo for a little pool and cue ogling.
Looking forward to it!
 
I actually think this is the best looking Zen cue you've gotten so far.

Awesome cue. Great design.
 
Very nice sharp points!!!!! What is the joint/butt capp material. Looks like Elk antler. I love it!!!
 
Plays even better than it looks!

Had a chance to meet up with Jive tonight and spent a couple hours shooting with this beauty and wanted to write a short review.

First, it looks a lot better than the pictures. Points are razor sharp and the recuts (4 in each point!) are thin enough to be mistaken for veneers. Also not a big fan of metal in cues, but the signature Zen rings are very clean and well done. I found myself constantly running my fingers over the silver to feel anything popping up and couldn't find anything.

The cue is balanced very well with slight forward balance and feels lighter in the hand than it's actual weight. There were 4 different shafts, all with different tapers and it was a lot of fun to try them out. Shaft 1 was Zen's standard 9-ball shaft. It played stiff and lively, but with low deflection. I had no trouble switching from my usual precat pred to the Zen shaft, and I have to say it felt more solid than my cue. The second shaft was another 9-ball shaft, but with a stiffer taper. Had slightly more deflection and vibration, but with a more solid hit. I feel like this would be my favorite if the shaft diameter were a little thinner. The other two shafts were apparently made for Chinese 8-ball and had fatter, stiffer tapers. They were very heavy and moved the balance even further forward. They were both very forgiving and limited the amount of english on the cue ball and encourage a firm-hitting, center-ball style of play, which would be great for the snooker-style pockets of a Chinese 8-ball table. Deflection was also much, much lower than I would expect for such heavy, stiff shafts.

I've been disappointed with the hit of pretty custom cues more times than I can remember, but this was an exception. Zen cues are definitely one to watch and I will definitely be looking to pick up one in the future. Thanks, Jive!
 
victorl said:
Had a chance to meet up with Jive tonight and spent a couple hours shooting with this beauty and wanted to write a short review.

First, it looks a lot better than the pictures. Points are razor sharp and the recuts (4 in each point!) are thin enough to be mistaken for veneers. Also not a big fan of metal in cues, but the signature Zen rings are very clean and well done. I found myself constantly running my fingers over the silver to feel anything popping up and couldn't find anything.

The cue is balanced very well with slight forward balance and feels lighter in the hand than it's actual weight. There were 4 different shafts, all with different tapers and it was a lot of fun to try them out. Shaft 1 was Zen's standard 9-ball shaft. It played stiff and lively, but with low deflection. I had no trouble switching from my usual precat pred to the Zen shaft, and I have to say it felt more solid than my cue. The second shaft was another 9-ball shaft, but with a stiffer taper. Had slightly more deflection and vibration, but with a more solid hit. I feel like this would be my favorite if the shaft diameter were a little thinner. The other two shafts were apparently made for Chinese 8-ball and had fatter, stiffer tapers. They were very heavy and moved the balance even further forward. They were both very forgiving and limited the amount of english on the cue ball and encourage a firm-hitting, center-ball style of play, which would be great for the snooker-style pockets of a Chinese 8-ball table. Deflection was also much, much lower than I would expect for such heavy, stiff shafts.

I've been disappointed with the hit of pretty custom cues more times than I can remember, but this was an exception. Zen cues are definitely one to watch and I will definitely be looking to pick up one in the future. Thanks, Jive!
Click to expand...

It was fun meeting up with you, minus all the racking i had to do though...then i again i was merely living up to my Professional Racker name huh.

See you tomorrow! :grin:
 
No way man, you shoot good a pretty good game yourself.

Looking forward to tomorrow, there are actually a couple other AZers in visiting Tokyo right now too, so I'll try to get everyone together for some pool action!
 
Sure thing, I'm in Chicago now and flying to Atlanta on 25th. Will be free on the 26th and 27th.
 
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