I played with the low squirt version yesterday for about 4 hours. As some background, have some experience with cues- my main playing cue this year has been a P2 with a Z, but recently I have been playing with my Richard Black with a steel joint. I used to play with a schon and a joss (with tink) and currently have an Omen, Layani, and a Blud. I had the predator sneaky the with steel joint the second year they came out with a 314, but I have not played with a 314 since. With that, here is the review:
I played with the a 5/16 14 on my Black. First, I could feel the seam of the ferrule where the actual wood on the shaft begins. It could be altered, but was slightly annoying on an expensive shaft. I could also see and ever so slightly feel the place where the pizo fabric is kept. It is visible and it was probably because it is a spliced shaft that appears to go to a solid piece- I think you can see this in the picture in the ad as well. The joint collar did not fit perfectly on my cue and you could feel an edge. It was a plastic collar with the word "universal" on it. I could not remove the removable collar with my hand. It was on there very tight. The shaft I played with came with a moori- and it felt pretty hard. I have medium mooris on almost all of my cues.
The ferrule is one the whiter side and I did not test on whether it held chalk or not.
In terms of playability- the shaft played well- very comparable to the predator Z. It has a solid hit and centerball was easy to find. A friend, who prefers wood to wood, said that the shaft had a dead feel.
I did not want to shape the tip as it was somone elses cue.
I felt that the shaft did have some weight to it and that it made my cue a bit more foward balanced. It had a good feel through the ball. It is hard to write about an absense of vibration, but I could not detect it with an obvious Eureka! there is 35% less vibration. I did switch to one of my regular ivory ferruled shafts later (I had to give the USS back) and there was a noticable difference in terms of playability/deflection. In terms of deflection, I do not know any of the tests- but I did shoot a lot with the cue and it reacted like my predator z- esp. shots where you have to load a ball with english and aim completely different than you think you have to (ala Bert).
I do like the fact that you can play with the same shaft on different cues, but in the end it seems that the shaft I had did have some problems with fit and finish. In terms of playability I think it was like a predator. I did enjoy the shaft and I did feel that it had a high level or predictability with where the ball would go. It did not take me long to adjust to the shaft, and that is probably because of my recent play with a Z.
Hope this helps some of you who were thinking about getting one. I think it is good product and I did buy one from Platinum for $184.
If anyone has any questions- feel free to post them.
I played with the a 5/16 14 on my Black. First, I could feel the seam of the ferrule where the actual wood on the shaft begins. It could be altered, but was slightly annoying on an expensive shaft. I could also see and ever so slightly feel the place where the pizo fabric is kept. It is visible and it was probably because it is a spliced shaft that appears to go to a solid piece- I think you can see this in the picture in the ad as well. The joint collar did not fit perfectly on my cue and you could feel an edge. It was a plastic collar with the word "universal" on it. I could not remove the removable collar with my hand. It was on there very tight. The shaft I played with came with a moori- and it felt pretty hard. I have medium mooris on almost all of my cues.
The ferrule is one the whiter side and I did not test on whether it held chalk or not.
In terms of playability- the shaft played well- very comparable to the predator Z. It has a solid hit and centerball was easy to find. A friend, who prefers wood to wood, said that the shaft had a dead feel.
I did not want to shape the tip as it was somone elses cue.
I felt that the shaft did have some weight to it and that it made my cue a bit more foward balanced. It had a good feel through the ball. It is hard to write about an absense of vibration, but I could not detect it with an obvious Eureka! there is 35% less vibration. I did switch to one of my regular ivory ferruled shafts later (I had to give the USS back) and there was a noticable difference in terms of playability/deflection. In terms of deflection, I do not know any of the tests- but I did shoot a lot with the cue and it reacted like my predator z- esp. shots where you have to load a ball with english and aim completely different than you think you have to (ala Bert).
I do like the fact that you can play with the same shaft on different cues, but in the end it seems that the shaft I had did have some problems with fit and finish. In terms of playability I think it was like a predator. I did enjoy the shaft and I did feel that it had a high level or predictability with where the ball would go. It did not take me long to adjust to the shaft, and that is probably because of my recent play with a Z.
Hope this helps some of you who were thinking about getting one. I think it is good product and I did buy one from Platinum for $184.
If anyone has any questions- feel free to post them.
