Howdy everyone... Yesterday I received my new Chuck Starkey (http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=253278&highlight=starkey)
First of all... Chuck was great to deal with, responsive to my questions and the cue arrived nicely packaged and in a timely manner.
Here are the specs I pulled off of the cue:
Butt: 29", 14.7 oz, 1/2 x 8 wood pin
Shaft: 29", 3.5 oz, no ferrule, wizard tip on a carbon fiber pad
Overall: length 58", 18.2 oz
Balance point: approximately 17" from the rear
My pics sux... you really can't see the birdseye which is nice and intense... the shaft is a honey color and has some light birdseyeing in it as well.
What do I think so far...
I like... it's different, yet to be honest... some of the toughest shots for me have always been long straight in shots (diagonal on the table) ... my initial impression is I'm making a higher percentage. Is that because I'm paying more attention, playing more, or does this cue just fit me really well... I'm not sure...
I like light cues and it is that...
Another thought... when I first picked it up, I thought it was more difficult to move the rock around... with one night's shooting I determined it wasn't that at all... instead it reminded me of my Dieckman... You need to 'caress' the cue and give it its head... what do I mean by that, if you are holding the rear of the cue tightly it seems to throttle down the juice and you really have to work to move the rock. If you relax, and hold the cue lightly with no tension it has as good of action as any cue I own...
The final things I want to say is stiff... yep, but in a nice way...
Low Deflection... well, I have several Tiger 30" ultra LD for my Joss and McD, additionally, I have a Predator 314 pre cat that I've had for a long time... how does it compare? So far very favorably...
I certainly need more time to give it a good evaluation and I'll update this thread in the next week or two to let y'all know how I think it's going...
As a final word, if you like the way Chuck's cues look and are willing to be open minded, my opinion is it's very worth a few dollars and some time to try them out!
First of all... Chuck was great to deal with, responsive to my questions and the cue arrived nicely packaged and in a timely manner.
Here are the specs I pulled off of the cue:
Butt: 29", 14.7 oz, 1/2 x 8 wood pin
Shaft: 29", 3.5 oz, no ferrule, wizard tip on a carbon fiber pad
Overall: length 58", 18.2 oz
Balance point: approximately 17" from the rear
My pics sux... you really can't see the birdseye which is nice and intense... the shaft is a honey color and has some light birdseyeing in it as well.
What do I think so far...
I like... it's different, yet to be honest... some of the toughest shots for me have always been long straight in shots (diagonal on the table) ... my initial impression is I'm making a higher percentage. Is that because I'm paying more attention, playing more, or does this cue just fit me really well... I'm not sure...
I like light cues and it is that...
Another thought... when I first picked it up, I thought it was more difficult to move the rock around... with one night's shooting I determined it wasn't that at all... instead it reminded me of my Dieckman... You need to 'caress' the cue and give it its head... what do I mean by that, if you are holding the rear of the cue tightly it seems to throttle down the juice and you really have to work to move the rock. If you relax, and hold the cue lightly with no tension it has as good of action as any cue I own...
The final things I want to say is stiff... yep, but in a nice way...
Low Deflection... well, I have several Tiger 30" ultra LD for my Joss and McD, additionally, I have a Predator 314 pre cat that I've had for a long time... how does it compare? So far very favorably...
I certainly need more time to give it a good evaluation and I'll update this thread in the next week or two to let y'all know how I think it's going...
As a final word, if you like the way Chuck's cues look and are willing to be open minded, my opinion is it's very worth a few dollars and some time to try them out!
