a question for anyone

duke@neo.rr.com

duke@neo.rr.com

soon to be banned
Silver Member
I have a question. it seems like every time someone decides to sell a cue no matter what it is, it's a great hitting cue. I know...I have described cues similarly in the past. I just wanna know if anyone ever found a "bad" hitting cue? if so, what kind was it? if every cue is a "good" hitting cue, why are YOU getting rid of it? I have gotten rid of some great hitting (to me) cues in the past due to money issues, but some of them cues have found their way BACK into my hands :D . just wanted to ask this question to you guys as I have seen alot of cues advertised in this way lately. I know I have caught alot of "flack" from doing it, are you too? this subject just confuses me and I'm sure it does to some of you as well :) :)
 
hit of a cue is deffinatly a very objective matter... for something you may think hits extrordinary.. another person may think it hits to hard or even terrible...

before i bought my paul mottey, i had a ebony schon that played great. but it was way to heavy with no way to lighten it.. the birdseye maple schon i had years ago played good.. so i wanted another one, i tried a few friends schons, and in my opinion, one played horrible and another played ok.. and then i played some balls with a few more friends who had all ebony ones and they played really good and strong so thats what i went with.. i believe that it is hit or miss when you find the perfect cue.. people should think long and hard about getting rid of it.. my cousin had a schon stl9 that played really good.. and he said he was thinking about selling it and buying another because he was able to sell it for more then he paid.. i told him that you may never get another one that plays well like that, even the same model may play different.. shaft and tips also have a big influence on how something plays too.. now my cousin has a 1996 paul mottey that absolutley plays lights out and i told him if he ever sells, it, i will buy it from him because i know how good the cue plays.. also.. you have to be careful when buying something from a private seller because of course.. every cue a private seller is going to sell is going to play good no matter what. its like going to the used car dealer.. every car runs great and is a deal... with that being said.. i try to only buy cues that i had a chance to play with or cues that i know are proven to play good.. even though i know some schons play good and some play bad.. i would still take a chance on buying one without hitting a ball with it because they are a reputable cue maker.. and then again.. what you like somebody else may not.. again the opinion wins out over all..

chris
 
good

ChrisOnline said:
hit of a cue is deffinatly a very objective matter... for something you may think hits extrordinary.. another person may think it hits to hard or even terrible...

before i bought my paul mottey, i had a ebony schon that played great. but it was way to heavy with no way to lighten it.. the birdseye maple schon i had years ago played good.. so i wanted another one, i tried a few friends schons, and in my opinion, one played horrible and another played ok.. and then i played some balls with a few more friends who had all ebony ones and they played really good and strong so thats what i went with.. i believe that it is hit or miss when you find the perfect cue.. people should think long and hard about getting rid of it.. my cousin had a schon stl9 that played really good.. and he said he was thinking about selling it and buying another because he was able to sell it for more then he paid.. i told him that you may never get another one that plays well like that, even the same model may play different.. shaft and tips also have a big influence on how something plays too.. now my cousin has a 1996 paul mottey that absolutley plays lights out and i told him if he ever sells, it, i will buy it from him because i know how good the cue plays.. also.. you have to be careful when buying something from a private seller because of course.. every cue a private seller is going to sell is going to play good no matter what. its like going to the <a href="http://www.serverlogic3.com/lm/rtl3.asp?si=11&k=used%20car" onmouseover="window.status='used car'; return true;" onmouseout="window.status=''; return true;">used car</a> dealer.. every car runs great and is a deal... with that being said.. i try to only buy cues that i had a chance to play with or cues that i know are proven to play good.. even though i know some schons play good and some play bad.. i would still take a chance on buying one without hitting a ball with it because they are a reputable cue maker.. and then again.. what you like somebody else may not.. again the opinion wins out over all..

chris
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well said Chris! it's all opinion anyways
 
well no one will advertize selling a bad hitting cue, will they? i THINK that would be a really bad business decision.
 
Duke, someday you will find a cue you will not get rid of.
A cue that really hits fkkn well.
A cue that hits like a great house cue with a decent tip.
Until then, you will be buying and selling and losing a lot of money in cues.
I can recommend a maker but he would not want to deal with you. LOL
 
I think....for what it's worth...Lol...that if you had a cue custom made for you, that you should play with that cue for at least as long as you waited for it to be built. Now this is excluding those long-waiting list cuemakers, such as SW, Searing, Szamboti, Tascarella, etc. Those cues don't generally have a 'turnover' rate like those cuemakers with shorter lists/build times.

Example: I waited a little better than 6 months for my cue to be built. I will play with it religiously for those 6 months before I will actually think about something else. So far, I am getting more and more in 'tune' with it, and am pretty happy, after a tip change particularly. I am not gonna say that I will never part with it...because I thought that about my first cue from this maker, and I did eventually part with it, but it was to order this fancier one. I actually had great angst parting with that cue. But currently, I do not anticipate parting with it, unless something comes along that just blows me away. I have a very definite idea of how I like a cue 'feel'.

I also think....again, for what it's worth;) ....that those who have multiple playing cues are often a bit too quick to judge on a newly acquired cue, because I don't think they have a real definite idea of what they want......they are just too all over the map, so to speak.

If I would have judged my current cue immediately, I would have been disappointed. I went to a completely different joint and ferrule combo than I had before....and it was 'odd' feeling at first. It also came with tips that I just couldn't do a thing with. Two months, and a tip change later.....and I am very happy with this cue. I have a very clear idea of what my next cue will be, and from whom, cuemaker-wise. But I am not making a definitive exclamation about my current cue for at least another 4 months or so. I am leaning towards this being a real keeper, but only time will tell.

BTW....this is all in reference to 'playability' and does not include 'workmanship'.

Lisa
 
Cues ...

When you date a woman, you get a feel for her, and how well she fits with you. When you call an escort service, you get what you get.

My cuemaker let me stroke a real similiar cue before mine, plus I got to stroke and hit a few balls with an unchalked tip with mine before making the final decision. It allowed me to get a feel for the cue and how it hit.

When you buy over the net, you get what you get. To me, the balance of a cue is just important as the hit, both have to be right. Unless, you
run onto someone that has the same cue, as at least, the brand but not
the model, and have tried it a little, you are just really taking a chance.
 
Snapshot9 said:
When you date a woman, you get a feel for her, and how well she fits with you. When you call an escort service, you get what you get.
Click to expand...

Excellent analogy, Scott!! Should be one most on here can wrap their heads around.

Lisa
 
it is simple really . . .

Every cue that isn't damaged or badly mismade hits great for somebody somewhere. It is meaningless hype at this point since it seems like everybody includes that in their ad's.

Hu
 
I have had about a dozen production cues, and all but one hit well, but none were perfect for me. I could have sold 11 of the 12, and said they hit well, but just not to my exact liking.

Had i known at the time i could have ordered a custom cue, i probably would have done so, and not decided to build my own. So now i'm still finding what combination of wood, and shaft taper suits me, and my game. Although i'm getting closer, i am still working on it. My latest cue is the best hitting one yet:D , and it's only .822(go figure) at the joint, 12.5mm, but it has a bocote forearm with a zircote handle.


Bottom line is a lot of cues hit great, but very few will hit perfect for you.

JM(stupid)HO,
Rodney
 
duke@neo.rr.com said:
...I just wanna know if anyone ever found a "bad" hitting cue?...
Click to expand...

Sure, I played with a bad hitting cue last night. It was a very light house cue with a tip which needed shaping and needed to be roughed up.

I am used to a 19.5 oz cue and this cue was probably 16 oz. So to *me*, I could not shoot shots very well with it and then get the cue ball to do what I wanted. Sure my aiming was still OK, I pocketed my balls, but shooting a long shot and trying to get the cue ball to draw was impossible for me. But I am just not used to this cue. I suppose if I played with it all the time, I could get it to do what I want.

But basically if I am playing with my cue, I can get the cue ball to "dance". If I'm playing with a house cue with a tip in poor condition and an almost flat shape, forget about it!
 
ridewiththewind said:
Example: I waited a little better than 6 months for my cue to be built. I will play with it religiously for those 6 months before I will actually think about something else. So far, I am getting more and more in 'tune' with it, and am pretty happy, after a tip change particularly. I am not gonna say that I will never part with it...because I thought that about my first cue from this maker, and I did eventually part with it, but it was to order this fancier one. I actually had great angst parting with that cue. But currently, I do not anticipate parting with it, unless something comes along that just blows me away. I have a very definite idea of how I like a cue 'feel'.

BTW....this is all in reference to 'playability' and does not include 'workmanship'.

Lisa
Click to expand...

Lisa-
I understand what you are saying aboutchanging the tip. It will make a world of difference. I don't know why Skip uses the tips that he does and I certainly cannot figure out why he makes them rounder than a grapefruit! When I bought my extremely fancy ebony into maple cue from him (which I have since sold), the first time I hit with it, I wanted to cry. I thought I had just spent $3,000 on a cue with the worst deflection ever. but a new tip shape changed that. And a new tip made the play even better. I have since parted with the cue as Skip's cues are not for me. I am a Mottey lover through and through and, while Skip makes an excellent cue, I favor Mottey to all others.

And as far as what Duke is saying... has anyone ever owned a cue that they absolutley hated the feel of? Yeah. Ironically, it was my first Skip. 4 points of tulipwood into ebony. The cue played worse than any cue I have ever owned and made me leery about dropping $3,000 on another of his cues. But finally, I realized that it was one of his earlier cues ('96?) and that he had worked out the kinks by now. It was a smart assumption because his newer cues are far better.
 
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