A question for Nippon Billiards (X Breaker)

Getnbzy said:
Maybe this sounds stupid but since she is using a shaft with a different wood type I thought I'd ask. Any idea on why she using a purpleheart shaft??? Better performance then the standard shaft or is it strictly for appearance. I quoted richard's post but any opinions are also certainly welcome. Thanks
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JR,

I have built several prototypes over the years when we were working on this project. We have built shafts with purpleheart and also other woods and materials.

We then sent them out to professional players and asked them for their opinions. According to the feedback we have received, the maple version with the taper we have now, is the choice of the players.

I am not sure if you have watched Hsin Huang play before, she is a great player but her break is not the strongest part of her game. She was a good jumper, but she was not very confident with very close jumps. She also could not make full cue jump consistently, probably due to her height.

When she tried the X Breaker, she tried the full cue jump, and the close jump, with the purpleheart shaft, and she fell in love with it!

For whatever reason, she could jump very well using her whole cue with the purpleheart shaft. She also was making one ball away jumps very consistently!

I have let other players try the purpleheart shaft, and most of them told me they preferred the maple shaft as they can get much better control with a hard break.

Also, the purpleheart shaft is much heavier(almost 5oz) and it changes the landing zone and trajectory of the jump to quite a large extend.

Hsin Huang is the one and only player who breaks and jumps with a purpleheart shaft. I have no intention of using this shaft on my cues. We have only made one for her. Hsin loves her purpleheart shaft. I am not sure if she also likes it for its appearance.

Richard
 
Getnbzy said:
Maybe this sounds stupid but since she is using a shaft with a different wood type I thought I'd ask. Any idea on why she using a purpleheart shaft??? Better performance then the standard shaft or is it strictly for appearance. I quoted richard's post but any opinions are also certainly welcome. Thanks
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Bunch of people have gone the purpleheart shaft route for breakers and jumpers. I've heard of some that use ph for their main shooting cue.

Some cuemakers offer a ph shaft as an option.

Fred
 
I really am very excited about this so I would like to share this here with everyone. Please forgive me as it is a bit off topic (it is still related to X Breaker, but not directly related to Charlie Byrant).

The "Cue's" magazine in Japan picked 5 of the most popular break and jump break cues in Japan to do a review.

The X Breaker was tested along with

1)Predator BK2,

2)Mezz Power Break I with DI shaft,

3)Mezz Power Break II with DI shaft,

4)and the Sledgehammer X Model

by two Japanese professionals (Mr. Nishio, and Ms. Takemoto) in the May Issue of the "Cue's" magazine, which is the most popular billiard magazine in Japan.

The X Breaker tested was the first original version, without the maXimizer.

Attached are scanned copies of the four page article along with the cover of the magazine.

Below is a translation of what was said by the pros regarding the X Breaker. (Translation courtesy of Mr. Koichi Noda of OTA Enterprise)

(Note:The text was in caps because Mr. Noda always types in caps, he is not yelling.:) )

MR. NISHIO SAYS:

IT [X BREAKER] HAS MOST POWER IN (5) CUES. I FEEL IT IS VERY HARD BECAUSE OF SPECIAL TIP.

IT IS WELL BALANCED SO THAT I CAN TAKE GOOD TIMING TO HIT THE CUEBALL.

ITS WEIGHT(19.0OZ) IS SLIGHTLY LIGHTER THAN USUAL BREAK CUES. I GUESS IT IS ONE OF THE FACTORS WHICH MAKES X-BREKAER BETTER.

LIGHTER WEIGHT MAKES THE SPEED FASTER. AND I WAS AMAZED IT WORKS VERY WELL AS JUMP CUE.

USUALLY, GOOD BREAK CUE IS NOT GOOD JUMP CUE AND GOOD JUMP CUE IS NOT GOOD BREAK CUE.

BECAUSE WE NEED NOT TO MAKE THE CUEBALL JUMP ON THE BREAK, AND NEED TO MAKE THE CUEBALL JUMP ON THE JUMP SHOT.

THAT'S A DILEMMA. BUT X-BREAKER HAS THOSE CONTRADICTING FUNCTIONS.

MS.TAKEMOTO SAYS:

I FEEL X-BREAKER IS FORWARD-BALANCED AND IT CAN INCREASE THE CUE SPEED AUTOMATICALLY.

ITS TIP HAS A FEELING LIKE LEATHER BUT ACTUALLY VERY HARD.

I THINK IT ELIMINATES UNWANTED VIBRATION AND PREVENTS THE LOSS OF POWER.

I CAN RECOMMEND IT TO WOMEN OR ANY PLAYER DOESN'T HAVE BIG POWER ON THE BREAK.

AND IT HAS AMAZING ABILITY TO PERFORM JUMP SHOT. YOU CAN MAKE CUEBALL JUMP OVER AN OBJECT BALL VERY EASY WITH THIS CUE.

Thank you for all your attention.

Richard

P.S. I attached the scanned articles so anyone really interested can have the article translated. The translated version I provided was unedited, and was done by Mr. Koichi Noda, Vice President of OTA Enterprise, which is one of the biggest billiard supplies company in Japan. OTA used to be the exclusive dealer of Predator product in Japan.

Mr. Noda is a very busy man and he has been very kind in taking his precious time to translate the article for me. He knows how much it would mean to me. Words will never serve to fully express how much I appreciate Mr. Noda's kind gesture.
 

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Since most of us can't read Japanese I guess we will have to take your word on what the article said. Too bad the prototype BALLBUSTA wasn't available for the test................
 
Double True Dat

metal5d said:
Since most of us can't read Japanese I guess we will have to take your word on what the article said. Too bad the prototype BALLBUSTA wasn't available for the test................
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The BALLBUSTA defies all language
 
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The tip on the ballbusta is 93 times stronger than any other cue. Once I broke, and the cueball deflected all the way onto the table beside me. Of course, it made four balls, including the 9.
 
metal5d said:
Since most of us can't read Japanese...
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Really it's too bad there's no magazine that reviews equipment in this kind of detail and impartiality the English language like this Japanese one does.
 
AuntyDan said:
Really it's too bad there's no magazine that reviews equipment in this kind of detail and impartiality the English language like this Japanese one does.
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Yes, indeed. There are basically two pool and billiards magazines in Japan, and they are both very well published, with a lot of colored instructional articles, reviews, tournament reports...etc.

Going back to the Cue's pool and billiards magazine in Japan, there is an article about how different pros would run out a table in each and every issue. Usually two pros would be asked to run out the same table and they would explain what spin they use, how hard they hit the ball and so on. I have been reading that for a long time and I have never thought much about how that article was done. I always assumed they emailed/faxed the diagrams to the pros and then posted their answers.

During last year's All Japan Championship, I was so fortunate to have met someone who was closely related to the production of the magazine and witnessed how that article was written. I was so impressed by their integrity to say the least.

They had a diagram with very accurate markings of where all the balls were in relation to the diamonds. The person then spent about 30 minutes setting up all the balls in the exact locations. He even lightly tapped the balls to make sure they were exactly as illustrated. Then he actually invited the pro player, in this case Mr. Max Eberle, to use his cue to run out the table.

Since the balls would be totally disturbed once he started shooting, and the readers never would see the process of the set up, I was very impressed they would go through such great length to make sure the table lay out given to the two players were exactly the same.

After each shot Max made, he was asked why he took that shot the way he did, the writer was very knowledgable and he asked a lot of insightful questions such as, "why didn't you use a bit inside and went two rail...". He took a lot of efforts to mark down how hard Max hit the ball, how much english was used, and confirmed with Max after each shot. He was very patient and careful. The whole process took more than an hour.

The Cue's magazine is about two times thicker than our US magazine. There are also a lot of Ads from companies such as Lucky, and the quality of the prints is top notch.

Richard
 
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Improved Ballbusta

shinobi said:
The tip on the ballbusta is 93 times stronger than any other cue. Once I broke, and the cueball deflected all the way onto the table beside me. Of course, it made four balls, including the 9.
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I believe you will really be happy with the new ballbusta as it is supposed to be 96 times stronger. That is, if you can get your hands on one. If you have the new one your cueball may even go to a third table and pocket a ball on that table as well.

It is hard to believe that is possible. But the new Ballbusta will have a "Bustamizer" attachment
 
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gforces1911 said:
I believe you will really be happy with the new ballbusta as it is supposed to be 96 times stronger. That is, if you can get your hands on one. If you have the new one your cueball may even go to a third table and pocket a ball on that table as well.

It is hard to believe that is possible. But the new Ballbusta will have a "Bustamizer" attachment
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You have no future as a coedian dude.
 
That rosewood shaft is definitely an X-Breaker. I was standing right there when that picture was taken. I'm suprised I'm not in the picture. I talked to Charlie Bryant about the purpleheart shaft. He said it is somewhat stiffer than maple. Though he also said that for him it was TOO stiff. I suggested that a little bit of a feeling of "compression" was good for both power and control, and he totally agreed. So it sounds like Charlie Bryant's opinion is that the X-Breaker maple shaft is somewhat better, at least for someone who breaks hard. I've seen someone else breaking with a purpleheart shaft, and they SMASH the ball (high 20's mph for sure). So maybe that theory is wrong too!

KMRUNOUT
 
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