Anyone have a stick they really wanted to like but couldn't?

Black-Balled said:
That is why I must test drive a cue before I buy it.
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Me too. I ordered several cues based on positive reviews, but most of them didn't work out. It wasn't always the feel of the hit. Sometimes it was the balance or shaft taper that I couldn't get comfortable with. None of them were bad cues, but just weren't for me.
 
Cues are like shoes. You have to try them on first. Judging either on looks alone won't work either. Just my 2 centavos.
 
JusticeNJ said:
Do you mean adding a hard tip can improve the hit if you like a stiff hit?

I like a stiff hit and have pretty much used very hard tips. Sometimes I'll play with another player's cue and scratch my head about the hit.
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Yes, I believe if you're looking for that "ping" a harder tip may help. Before I would sell a cue I didn't like, I would change the hardness of the tips a couple of times to see if that helped.

One of the problems in discussing feel terms like "stiff-hit" etc. is that they could have different meanings for different people. There are many components that go into how a cue feels/hits. The tip is one that is pretty easy to experiment with, without breaking your wallet.
 
Any cue with an ebony butt. An example, I had a beautiful Murray Tucker with an ebony butt with bem points and three veneers and just couldn't get used to it. I've had a couple of others like that if memory serves, one was a Rich Starfire that I couldn't get used to.
I've had straight grain maple, birds eye maple, rosewood, and cocobolo that were all good. Can't seem to adjust to ebony.
 
See the Soutwest in my avatar? That was my brand new, ebony/tulipwood 9 pointer. The nicest looking, best wood combination in my opinion, at least at this stage in my life. I sold my ebony/purpleheat 6 pointer for it, and regretted it. My original southy played much more to my liking, and I even tried to buy it back cause I had a buyer for the 2010 tulipwood one. He wouldnt let it go. Now I am shooting with the 2008 TAR Sugartree, and I find it to be the best hitting cue I have played with to date. Maybe its just cause I'm hitting the balls good now, but that'll change tommorrow, lol.:D
 
Bought a Nitti back in '96 that was on consignment from the cuemaker at my local pool hall. I guess this was when he was first getting going. Gorgeous stick! lots of ebony, ivory inlays everywhere, ivory ferrules, Beautiful. Paid $590 at the time for a cue that would go easily $1800 equally speced now. Unfortunately it hit "funny".

Even the hall owner was just stumped. So much squirt! I ended up trading it to a cue collector for a low-end production Pechauer he had that hit amazingly.

Looking back it was probably the ferules. I should have gotten in contact with Chris... oh well :( Wish I had it back. Actually, I wish had that Pechauer back more!
 
Every TAD I have ever hit with.

For some reason I just don't like the hit.

TAD is a great guy and people love his cues, just not for me.

I will stick with my JUDD.
 
I got the "bug" to have a true custom (my design) cue made.

I drew up a design and emailed it to Jerry Olivia. He made the cue and I played it for a month, but just couldn't make a ball with it.

Jerry graciously took the cue back and made another for me. Bingo! Its been my main player ever since (10 years).
 
This Bushka style Meucci I have I wanted to love as I LOVE the way this stick looks. Its a sharp cue, but I just cant get into it. I'm going to give it to my Father once my Jim Lee comes in, but the stainless steel joint is just not for me.
 
lstevedus said:
Had a Szamboti. Sold it back to the guy I bought it from. Nice cue. Just didn't work for me.
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Oddly, I've never hit a Gus that I liked. I've only hit a couple of Barry's cues but they seemed more comfortable to me for some reason.
 
I understand to what is said here , I buy and sell cues and found in my years of buying cues i do have the some i love . Andy Gilbert makes a great cue I can tune in to his cues easy Kenny Murrell also jimi Baxter just to name some . I have ivory jointed cues ,and they have a little more action in the joint . I just changed the tip to a soft and i'm in the game .. sometimes you have to start at the tip and work your why back..
But there are cues i just can't and would not try to play with.

my 2 cents
 
Sometimes when people show me their cues and stuff , its kinda like when someone shows me pictures of their "beauitful" baby and I just don't have the heart to tell'em just how ugly the baby is.
 
I was sure I found my holy grail in a 60" wrapless South West. Hit like a tree trunk. Balance was way off. Just didnt work for me on any level. All part of the journey.

The trying new things and always searching is the most enjoyable part of cues for me. If I ever actually found "The one" I think it would be a little bit sad.
 
After 20 years and 200 or so cues I think I finally found my Holy Grail. I had a high dollar Scruggs yaers ago that was beautiful but couldnt get used to. Most recent was a McDaniels just loaded with ivory and stainless joint but didnt care for the hit. Looks like I am an Omen fan for life but not to say I wont try a few more. Part of the journey for me.
 
I've also gone through many cues in search of my holy grail, and never had I owned a single cue that did it all for me. When I say did it all, I mean looks, the way it played, the way it felt in my hands, and the way it sounded when it hit the CB.
Player wise, I used a Wes Hunter that to this day probably was the best player I've owned. By that I mean the deflection was minimal in proportion to the action that I could get. I was able to widen/tighten my lines without much effort. The only thing I didn't care for was the hit. I went through many different tips, and could never get the hit to become 'crispy' the way that I like.
I have owned several more cues since parting with the Hunter, and have finally arrived at my Sugartree. I think I've finally found my last cue in the long search for the perfect cue, however it's still not the absolute perfect cue. I finally have the crisp and responsive hit and sound that I like, the balance if perfect. The only shortfall, and I really don't consider it a shortfall, is the deflection to juice ratio. I find that sometimes I find myself suprised at how much action I didn't get when intending to put serious juice on the ball. The key word here is "intention" however. It may very well be that I'm not cueing the CB where I thought I was. None the less, with all paramaters combined, I'm pretty satisfied that I've finally found the cue that I'll most likely stick with.......................................for now.
dave
 
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