I grew up in Olive Branch in the late 70's. Knowing very little of the world outside Olive Branch, I was only minimally aware of any other cue maker. In 81 I joined the navy, and after completing boot camp and A school I had managed to pocket a sizeable sum of money ( for me anyway).
My first leave, I headed home to OB and my first major purchase as an Adult was a Meucci Cue from the Meucci showroom on Old 78 just north of OB. I played the cue for the next 17 years. No modifications. no new shafts... just a few new tips from time to time. It was not a fancy cue, but it shot great.. I loved the feel of it, and it remained a prized possession until it was stolen.
Since that time, I have owned a few more cues by different makers. Some relatively costly, and some not so costly. Sentimentally, I compared all of them to "my" Meucci... and could not find the right "feel"... and subsequently slowed down my playing time.
In the last year or so, I began to play a little more, bought a cheap cue that would "get me by"... and then bought an Adam cue... and a lucasi (which i liked).. recently I purchased an older (mid 80's ?) LH2 Meucci... and presto.. the "feel" is back..
I will readily admit I am not up to speed on the newer Meucci cues... and I havent shot with cues from all the makers out there... but to me, there is a distinct feel to the older Meucci cues that I really like. Maybe it is just nostalgia for me.. or maybe it is a complete lack of expereince... and while I am not bashing, doubting, or denigrating the experience and / or opinions of any of the learned posters on this forum ( because I REALLY enjoy reading the discussion - even tho I only recently joined the forum) but I just dont "get" some of the dislike toward the Meucci cues.. Again, I admit limited experience with the newer models - so my opinion may be somewhat biased.
Just my two cents...
And hello to everyone.. lol... I almost feel like I "know" some of you from reading your posts..