Anyone Own a Joss?
- Thread starter Cue-Z
- Start date
Hmmmm... I believe picking a cue is like picking a woman, so each person is going to have their own idea of what is a perfect cue is or even what a good cue is.
Let's take a woman, for example, and see how picking the right one, relates to a cue.
Now, does she feel good in your hands when you hold her with a gentle grip? Does she feel real good when you take some long strokes? How about the short strokes? Does your shaft feel good in the bridge, is it tight or loose? When you make contact, how does she sound? Do you like the sound she makes when you make contact? When you grip the butt, do you like the feel of it?
After asking yourself some of these questions, do you feel this is one that does "it" for you and you could see yourself holding onto it for a long time? If so, then it's probably a good fit for you.
Excuse me.. I must go now, HTH, I'm feeling a little flush
Let's take a woman, for example, and see how picking the right one, relates to a cue.
Now, does she feel good in your hands when you hold her with a gentle grip? Does she feel real good when you take some long strokes? How about the short strokes? Does your shaft feel good in the bridge, is it tight or loose? When you make contact, how does she sound? Do you like the sound she makes when you make contact? When you grip the butt, do you like the feel of it?
After asking yourself some of these questions, do you feel this is one that does "it" for you and you could see yourself holding onto it for a long time? If so, then it's probably a good fit for you.
Excuse me.. I must go now, HTH, I'm feeling a little flush
Hmmmm... I believe picking a cue is like picking a woman, so each person is going to have their own idea of what is a perfect cue is or even what a good cue is.
Let's take a woman, for example, and see how picking the right one, relates to a cue.
Now, does she feel good in your hands when you hold her with a gentle grip? Does she feel real good when you take some long strokes? How about the short strokes? Does your shaft feel good in the bridge, is it tight or loose? When you make contact, how does she sound? Do you like the sound she makes when you make contact? When you grip the butt, do you like the feel of it?
After asking yourself some of these questions, do you feel this is one that does "it" for you and you could see yourself holding onto it for a long time? If so, then it's probably a good fit for you.
Excuse me.. I must go now, HTH, I'm feeling a little flush
LMAO - the OP IS a woman
For the money josh is a great hitting cue.The only thing i always had to have the shaft turned down alittle.The shafts come alittle to thik for me.
I have two on hand right now, and pretty much always have one or two kicking around.
One thing I will say is that they do hit very nicely. A solid hit which depends mainly on the tip, and with good feedback, but regardless, very well made cues and a great value. The ferules Joss uses lately sem to attract chalk like a magnet. This is the only down-side I see to them really. Ivory ferrules (available for extra cost from Joss) do not suffer from this of course, and I prefer the way Ivory plays personally. BUT, the standard ferrules also play quite well.
Another thing I will say is that you should not spend a lot of money on a 'fancy' Joss. The dead plain ones hit the same as the $1000.00+ ones. Since the inlay work is all CNC (except for a very few models made by Dan Janes himself) I feel it is not as valuable as the individual inlay work done by many other cue makers.
On the flip side, the Joss inlay work is VERY tight- no gaps anywhere! The hand-done stuff may have gaps visible with a 10X loupe...
If you want a decent one that has been used, I have a Willie Mosconi tribute cue by Joss that hits as you would expect- very well and it is at a decent price. Check my web site and see if you are interested in that- I can offer you a nice price on it... www.cueguru.com
One thing I will say is that they do hit very nicely. A solid hit which depends mainly on the tip, and with good feedback, but regardless, very well made cues and a great value. The ferules Joss uses lately sem to attract chalk like a magnet. This is the only down-side I see to them really. Ivory ferrules (available for extra cost from Joss) do not suffer from this of course, and I prefer the way Ivory plays personally. BUT, the standard ferrules also play quite well.
Another thing I will say is that you should not spend a lot of money on a 'fancy' Joss. The dead plain ones hit the same as the $1000.00+ ones. Since the inlay work is all CNC (except for a very few models made by Dan Janes himself) I feel it is not as valuable as the individual inlay work done by many other cue makers.
On the flip side, the Joss inlay work is VERY tight- no gaps anywhere! The hand-done stuff may have gaps visible with a 10X loupe...
If you want a decent one that has been used, I have a Willie Mosconi tribute cue by Joss that hits as you would expect- very well and it is at a decent price. Check my web site and see if you are interested in that- I can offer you a nice price on it... www.cueguru.com
I wanted a Joss really bad, until I hit with one. I have hit with several newer Joss cues, and I personally didnt like the hit. BUT, I hit with a friends old gold letter Joss and it hit amazing! So I posted a WTB thread here on AZ and the next thing ya know, I bought two old gold letter sneakys that play outstanding.
Joe
Joe
I have a 68-71 vintage Joss (when Janes & Stroud were still together). I bought it from a local player in '88 & I would not take any amount of money for it. I play 5 nights a week & the original shaft is still perfect.
The shaft mm is a personal preference - just remember that the smaller the diameter of the shaft the more exact you need to be when applying spin to the cue ball.
I believe they are definitely worth your time to try a few of them out either at the local pool supply or maybe you know some players that have them & will let you hit a few balls.
The shaft mm is a personal preference - just remember that the smaller the diameter of the shaft the more exact you need to be when applying spin to the cue ball.
I believe they are definitely worth your time to try a few of them out either at the local pool supply or maybe you know some players that have them & will let you hit a few balls.
I hear 'ya Joe!
It seem they went in 'waves' over the years to some extent but I have a fairly recent one that hits quite well (my 'bar' cue).
I had a one-off 'gold letter' Joss Custom made for me that also hit very nicely (it had Ivory ferrules as well) that I ended up selling overseas in 2001. Although they made it the wrong length (60 rather than 59 inches) it played quite well.
I cut 1/2 inch off the butt cap and had Paul Drexler cut and re-ferrule one shaft 1/2 inch and left the bumper and weight bolt out. Sort of a psuedo-Hoppe style, although the butt cap was still a solid inch long.
That cue played REALLY nicely after those slight modifications...:thumbup:
I was just back from two months in North Africa and I needed cash. So, the cue went to a new home in Norway I think it was... Wish I had some good pictures of it.
It seem they went in 'waves' over the years to some extent but I have a fairly recent one that hits quite well (my 'bar' cue).
I had a one-off 'gold letter' Joss Custom made for me that also hit very nicely (it had Ivory ferrules as well) that I ended up selling overseas in 2001. Although they made it the wrong length (60 rather than 59 inches) it played quite well.
I cut 1/2 inch off the butt cap and had Paul Drexler cut and re-ferrule one shaft 1/2 inch and left the bumper and weight bolt out. Sort of a psuedo-Hoppe style, although the butt cap was still a solid inch long.
That cue played REALLY nicely after those slight modifications...:thumbup:
I was just back from two months in North Africa and I needed cash. So, the cue went to a new home in Norway I think it was... Wish I had some good pictures of it.
Last edited:
LMAO - the OP IS a woman
hehe... well, isn't it just my luck
I was trying to keep it clean, to not offend anyone
I've had 2 Joss cues for the past few years. I'm not impressed with them, but they do hit balls. I am working on design for a new custom cue (would like Samsara), but I'll use these until i get it
i put predator shafts on them, and they get me through my games of straight pool alright, for a cheaper price. i initially bought them to replace some cues of mine that got stolen. Meant to be a temporary purchase that extended to a few years.
i put predator shafts on them, and they get me through my games of straight pool alright, for a cheaper price. i initially bought them to replace some cues of mine that got stolen. Meant to be a temporary purchase that extended to a few years.
In my opinion, they are not up to the standard of when they were custom made. I had one Dan made for me in around '76 or '77 IIRC, and it is one of the few cues I've owned that I wish I had back. One of the best, and the best hitting steel jointed cues I've ever owned personally.
I would suggest Jerry Pechauer or Schon as an alternative.
I would suggest Jerry Pechauer or Schon as an alternative.
Joss Cues -- "precision ball-pocketing instruments"
hllwnmagic:
I have a Joss model 828, "Flamed Birch" forearm, that I won in the daily Joss cue raffle at the February 2009 Turning Stone Classic (see post #4 & post #7 in pocketspeed's "congrats to joss NE tour Turing Stone classic" thread). It came with two shafts; a standard-taper Joss-emblazoned shaft with a medium Triangle tip, and a pro-taper Joss "High Performance"-emblazoned shaft with a hard multilayer tip. They both are 12.75mm-ish (didn't measure it); the High Performance shaft being perhaps a little thinner, but neither one is 13mm, that's for sure.
The only caveat -- and this is purely personal preference -- is that the multilayer tip on the High Performance shaft makes an annoying "snap" when hitting the cue ball. It's like hitting the cue ball with a tip made of concrete. I personally prefer a non-layered tip that's Medium, or even softer, but again, that's my own personal preference. Someone else may love the hit and sound of the High Performance shaft. The pro-taper is definitely comfortable.
Having a stainless steel joint, the balance point "feels" a little forward of the balance point in my other cues which use a radial pin. However, the cue feels like a precision instrument, and that's certainly what counts.
All in all, this cue is one of my favorite cues, and I'll not part with it easily, especially with the funny story behind it.
Hope this is helpful,
-Sean
hllwnmagic:
I have a Joss model 828, "Flamed Birch" forearm, that I won in the daily Joss cue raffle at the February 2009 Turning Stone Classic (see post #4 & post #7 in pocketspeed's "congrats to joss NE tour Turing Stone classic" thread). It came with two shafts; a standard-taper Joss-emblazoned shaft with a medium Triangle tip, and a pro-taper Joss "High Performance"-emblazoned shaft with a hard multilayer tip. They both are 12.75mm-ish (didn't measure it); the High Performance shaft being perhaps a little thinner, but neither one is 13mm, that's for sure.
The only caveat -- and this is purely personal preference -- is that the multilayer tip on the High Performance shaft makes an annoying "snap" when hitting the cue ball. It's like hitting the cue ball with a tip made of concrete. I personally prefer a non-layered tip that's Medium, or even softer, but again, that's my own personal preference. Someone else may love the hit and sound of the High Performance shaft. The pro-taper is definitely comfortable.
Having a stainless steel joint, the balance point "feels" a little forward of the balance point in my other cues which use a radial pin. However, the cue feels like a precision instrument, and that's certainly what counts.
All in all, this cue is one of my favorite cues, and I'll not part with it easily, especially with the funny story behind it.
Hope this is helpful,
-Sean
I own a Joss and have played with it extensively with a solid maple shaft and a OB1. Both setups shot lights out. I don't mean to sound like a fanboy but I don't think it gets much better as far as playability goes for a production cue than Joss.
I have to agree with something somebody else said. You can get a nice plain jane and it will play as well as the high end stuff.
I have to agree with something somebody else said. You can get a nice plain jane and it will play as well as the high end stuff.
When i bought my cue several months ago i tried out a Mcdermott, Joss Viking and Lucasi. All of them hit a little differant and the shaft tapers were differant so if you can try to at least try one local and then buy off the net if you need to. Also the Joss had a bad taper and the shaft was out of round. Probably just a lapse in quality control but was still disturbing how that got out of the factory when Dan Janes says he inspects every cue before it leaves.I bought the Lucasi on personal preference only.Although any of them would have worked for me i just liked the Lucasi better.
I would say it's slightly forward of the beginning of the wrap -- it balances on my finger at the bottom of the forearm, about an inch forward of the wrap.
Hope that answers the question,
-Sean
Thanks for pointing that out, Meezer! LMAO TOO!!!LMAO - the OP IS a woman
When i Spoke to Dan about forward Balance on my cue ( Sig Pic ) he said pretty much all of his cues are forward balanced. I never shot with anything else but a Joss. As far as a tip size im a 13MM person with a pro taper and hard single layerd tip.
I have a few Joss's one with a stainless steel joint a much older one with a redish phenolic joint and gold lettering and this cue now with an Ivory and silver joint and the balance points on all three cues are forward balanced.
But to each there own good luck with what you pick out and please do show and tell.
I have a few Joss's one with a stainless steel joint a much older one with a redish phenolic joint and gold lettering and this cue now with an Ivory and silver joint and the balance points on all three cues are forward balanced.
But to each there own good luck with what you pick out and please do show and tell.
UrbanCowboy
Registered
Joss is a fantastic production cue
I first used a 4 point Joss that retailed for $550 in 1995--the ones with the bridge hand and shaft logo. It had a really nice firm hit. About 2 years later, I was in need of cash and sold this cue.
I now use two plain Joss C series from 2002. These hit just as good, if not better, than the fancy 4 pointer from 1995. I've also owned and used production cues from Meucci, McDermott, Cuetech, Adams, Schmelke, Mali; and Joss has been the most consistent in terms of solid hit and quality for me.
I first used a 4 point Joss that retailed for $550 in 1995--the ones with the bridge hand and shaft logo. It had a really nice firm hit. About 2 years later, I was in need of cash and sold this cue.
I now use two plain Joss C series from 2002. These hit just as good, if not better, than the fancy 4 pointer from 1995. I've also owned and used production cues from Meucci, McDermott, Cuetech, Adams, Schmelke, Mali; and Joss has been the most consistent in terms of solid hit and quality for me.