> Back in the late 80's,particularly in '89,Nick Varner always broke with the same ivory ferruled,steel jointed Joss,for the reason that he knew what that cue was going to do on a given shot. He correctly noted that the break was the most important shot of the game,and didn't want something even sort of unfamiliar in his hands.
The technology/science of break cues has improved since,and he changed his philosophy. He also adapted his personal break technique to compete with the hand-forward power breakers like Archer,Earl,CJ Wiley,etc.
As far as breaking with a high-end Szam or something similar,why not? If the cue can't take it,why did it leave the shop? Chances are,that Szam someone mentioned more than likely hits great,so it should make a great break cue.
That being said,I probably would choose to continue breaking with my current Joss SP if I owned that Szam myself,unless the Szam worked better.
Unless you are Larry Nevel,Jon Kucharo,or Hillbilly,you probably CAN'T break an ivory ferrule at room temperature playing pool with it. In my experience,weather cracks more ivory ferrules than breaking does.
Thin,hard tips are also generally preferred by most people with break cues. Those probably aren't a good idea with an unpadded ivory like my Schon,but with a normal height tip,no worries.
The one cue I want the most to break the balls with is also a damn fine playing cue,a plain-jane ebony Cognoscenti. The one I tried and missed out on by 30 minutes was absolutely amazing. In 20 breaks,I parked the cue ball within 4" of where I wanted every single time. The balls exploded like I've never seen with another cue,with an old Moori that felt like the Talisman UH.
I play with an ivory ferruled Schon,and most certainly do break the balls with it,just as hard as I do with my Joss,but only when I'm goofing off locally like in a bar. I've had ferrules crack from sitting around too long,and on one occasion where I let it get cold,but never cracked or chipped one breaking with it. If I'm playing in a tournament or in the box,I use the Joss,because it works BETTER. On the other hand,I'd be upset if something happened to that Joss,but wouldn't be losing a whole lot if I HAD to break with my Schon. Tommy D.
I currently play, and break, with a $4000 custom Samsara. I use layered tips, and they NEVER mushroom, delaminate, or anything. Like Neil, I never do anything to my tips, except chalk them. Mine, however, last for at least a couple of years.
