are Predator cues really that good?

I've never liked the Predator designs. Always a little too busy, garish, or industrial for me. As for the Uniloc I'm not a fan, but I'm not a fan of any quick release designs. It's just dumb. I don't need to save .5 of a second screwing my cue together. The stupid speed joint in my Pechauer adds no advantage, makes buying after market shafts harder, and rarely but sometimes comes loose during play.
 
I like predator shafts. I don't completely care for their cues. Once put a z shaft on an OB butt. It shot well then burst into flames.
 
KMRUNOUT said:
Predator does have a few radial pin offerings if I recall correctly. However, I'd say a big part of it is one of the owners of Predator also owning the UniLoc company.

KMRUNOUT
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Are you sure? I love the Radial pin joint. Very solid joint to connect to a shaft. Just feels very solid when put together. Diveney for example uses the Radial pin on his cues (for the most part, I think).
 
JoeyInCali said:
B/c a lot of people thought it was so hot to be able to join the shaft with one twist.
High end??? Pred is not high end.
Uniloc was used by a lot of high end cue makers.
Then the romance died.
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For a production cue, they are high end (2nd to maybe Schon, and 3rd if you count Mezz). In the LD market, they are probably the highest end, right?
 
garczar said:
Same factory makes Universal, Lucasi, Bear, Dynamic, Riley. This is the factory that Bill Stroud helped set-up. Their cues are very well made. ErnieChen used to make Predator butts (and Falcons) in Canada but has since moved to China. Don't know if he still makes any Pred. stuff.
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That is very interesting. I did know that Bill Stroud (of Joss West cues) invented the Universal Smart Shaft (I think), and helped the cue makers in China learn how to make the cues (from what I remember reading on here).
 
MaydayMyers said:
I like predator shafts. I don't completely care for their cues. Once put a z shaft on an OB butt. It shot well then burst into flames.
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I tried a Predator Z shaft out (the 1st generation Z shaft) for maybe about 20 minutes, and I could not make a ball with it. It was by far the stiffest hitting shaft I had ever used. Felt like a metal rod on follow through (zero flex, on follow through), and that conical taper made things worse (for my aim I think). I just could not aim with that shaft for some reason. I purchased it brand new (online) by the way, and listed it up for sale the next day after shooting with it. Sold it to a player from Taiwan, and he was very happy with the shaft after he received it. So, my point is that what is perfect for one player, may be far from perfect for a different player.
 
I've been playing with Predators for 15 years or more. I know some world beaters who love their Shafts (Alex Pagulayan and Ralf Souquet). I originally switched because I liked the taper so much. you can learn to AIM w/ any shaft. They're all a little different. My favorite combination for hit/feel/etc...has been my old McDermott D21 and a 314-2 shaft. I've played my very best pool with that combination. I know some other great players who love the Z2...Mike Davis and Brian Deska to name a few. I'm sure there are more.
 
justinb386 said:
I tried a Predator Z shaft out (the 1st generation Z shaft) for maybe about 20 minutes, and I could not make a ball with it. It was by far the stiffest hitting shaft I had ever used. Felt like a metal rod on follow through (zero flex, on follow through), and that conical taper made things worse (for my aim I think). I just could not aim with that shaft for some reason. I purchased it brand new (online) by the way, and listed it up for sale the next day after shooting with it. Sold it to a player from Taiwan, and he was very happy with the shaft after he received it. So, my point is that what is perfect for one player, may be far from perfect for a different player.
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Yeah, I really don't know how people can play with the Z shaft. By far the worst shaft I have ever purchased.


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j_zippel said:
Yeah, I really don't know how people can play with the Z shaft. By far the worst shaft I have ever purchased.


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Yeah, and I get the feeling that they were probably mostly popular among the lower skill level players. I could not imagine that any of the pro's played with the Z shaft, but I do not know. They seemed to be very popular. I do not understand why anyone would like them though.
 
sciarco said:
My buddy had one and he kept complaining about the uniloc joint coming loose had to keep on tightening it,i had a pred sneaky with no problems but now I shoot with a Madden.
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One of the things I tried to tell them was that facing off the joint is one of the last steps to do before delivery to ensure that the surfaces are flat and the cue will roll true, plus it won't come apart like your friend's did. Guess they are still not doing that, it's a shame because it makes a huge impact on player confidence, consumer confidence and is a super easy fix.


Neil
 
I go along with the thought that anything over $500. is for pretty, but before I pay what Predator wants for a cue it will be real ivory, like mine in the picture.---Smitty
 
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justinb386 said:
Yeah, and I get the feeling that they were probably mostly popular among the lower skill level players. I could not imagine that any of the pro's played with the Z shaft, but I do not know. They seemed to be very popular. I do not understand why anyone would like them though.[/QUOTE

I say the same thing about any shaft thicker than 12.25. Feels like I'm shooting with a broom handle.
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justinb386 said:
I tried a Predator Z shaft out (the 1st generation Z shaft) for maybe about 20 minutes, and I could not make a ball with it. It was by far the stiffest hitting shaft I had ever used. Felt like a metal rod on follow through (zero flex, on follow through), and that conical taper made things worse (for my aim I think). I just could not aim with that shaft for some reason. I purchased it brand new (online) by the way, and listed it up for sale the next day after shooting with it. Sold it to a player from Taiwan, and he was very happy with the shaft after he received it. So, my point is that what is perfect for one player, may be far from perfect for a different player.
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They take a lot of getting used to, you can't switch from a 'normal' shaft to z/z2/314 shaft etc. and expect to be the same player in a day, it simply won't happen, they play completely differently.

I've been using a z2 for years and now trying to play with a 'normal' shaft is close to impossible!
 
justinb386 said:
Yeah, and I get the feeling that they were probably mostly popular among the lower skill level players. I could not imagine that any of the pro's played with the Z shaft, but I do not know. They seemed to be very popular. I do not understand why anyone would like them though.
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The predator website suggests plenty do, however that could of course just be marketing (i.e. the badge someone has on their cue doesn't mean that is who actually made it, it could of course merely be a sponsor).

If you only played with your z shaft for a day I can understand why you didn't like it.

If you ever get the chance try playing with one for a week and see if your opinion differs.
 
justinb386 said:
I never understood why such a high end cue maker like Predator would use the Uni Loc joint in their cues. Why not use a Radial Pin, or a piloted 5/16x14 joint (like in the original Predator cues)? My point is that I just think the Uni Loc joint seems (to me) to be a joint mostly used on cues like Lucasi for example. It should noy be a joint used on a high end cue (high end to me is like over $600). I understand that Lucasi makes high end cues now though (that are priced over $600), and are very nice, in my opinion.
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I never noticed any hit difference with the uni lock pin. It was king of nice when your at tournaments that you could quickly put your cue away and back together. Honestly I wish both joints on the air 2 were uni lock . That's the cue I need to put together quickly when I'm in the middle of a match and suddenly need it.
 
trob said:
I never noticed any hit difference with the uni lock pin. It was king of nice when your at tournaments that you could quickly put your cue away and back together. Honestly I wish both joints on the air 2 were uni lock . That's the cue I need to put together quickly when I'm in the middle of a match and suddenly need it.
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Ha thats true actually, that one would be better as a unilock!
 
justinb386 said:
That is very interesting. I did know that Bill Stroud (of Joss West cues) invented the Universal Smart Shaft (I think), and helped the cue makers in China learn how to make the cues (from what I remember reading on here).
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I don't know about that shaft. Jim Lucas(Lucasi,get it?) of Cue&Case paid Stroud a bunch of money to basically teach how to mass-produce a high-quality cue. Factory was called Tai-Can but has since changed. They make a min of 30,000, yeah, THIRTY-THOUSAND cues a month. I've got an older first-gen Lucasi that is as nice as any Schon i've ever hit. Still dead straight and solid.
 
I've been playing with some with predator cues for almost 10 years now. All of the cue are belongs to my best friends at the club, so the cue are available to use for me back in the day. I actually never own a predator cue, I once want to buy 5k1, but that went down when Ikon came out.
For $500 IMO is worth to buy if you mind the technology and not the look, and they took a step forward to promote the technology through pros and tournaments. I own only 314-2 shaft and the quality+technology is fine IMO and it's surely helps me to climb up the rank in my league as an amateur years ago.
Now on, the lowest price are over $600 if I'm read it right, so IMO it's not worthed anymore, because some production cue has a near if not similiar playability as the plain predator cue.
For $$$$ I'd rather go with custom cue. Some of predator technology are (maybe) the first in the industry, so the price are high for r&d, and not all of them are hype. Also some of us can't resist the prestige of "having it first".
Just my opinion.
 
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