I just finished a week or so with the Chuck Starkey double refund cue, and thought it only fair to post some impressions. First a disclaimer: I am not an A player having wide familiarity with high end cues. However, I am a BCA league player with a small personal collection of lesser-level cues (9 cues), so feel I have some ability to evaluate a stick.
I'll start by simply saying that I liked the way this cue played very much. I've struggled for the right way to describe it, and came up with two terms that seem right: "confidence-inspiring", and "crisp". For reasons that I don't understand, my long shots with this cue seemed a bit more precise, and draw shots seemed sure and controlled. I tried to test deflection by shooting half table length shots directly into a ball at the foot rail; these typically displayed very little CB deflection. However, when I try that with my other cues I get similar results, so can't draw any conclusions from this.
Overall, in judging stiffness, I'd call this medium stiff. My stiffest cue is one of my two Clint Putman's. My softest hitting cue is probably my Joss with a 314 shaft. The Starkey cue is somewhat toward the stiff end of that scale.
Many of you will be curious about the wood joint, as I was. I've attached a closeup of the joint. It is 1 13/16" long. The butt fits into my case just fine. Although the walls of the joint on the shaft are thinner than usual, they don't seem too thin. The joint is very well made, with close tolerances. It threads together very firmly.
I'm not going to comment on the cue's design or finish quality, as it has been refinished and passed around quite a bit.
On the whole, I'm intrigued by Chuck's approach to cue building. I enjoyed my time with this stick, and feel that there may very well be a Chuck Starkey wood pin cue in my future.
Tim
I'll start by simply saying that I liked the way this cue played very much. I've struggled for the right way to describe it, and came up with two terms that seem right: "confidence-inspiring", and "crisp". For reasons that I don't understand, my long shots with this cue seemed a bit more precise, and draw shots seemed sure and controlled. I tried to test deflection by shooting half table length shots directly into a ball at the foot rail; these typically displayed very little CB deflection. However, when I try that with my other cues I get similar results, so can't draw any conclusions from this.
Overall, in judging stiffness, I'd call this medium stiff. My stiffest cue is one of my two Clint Putman's. My softest hitting cue is probably my Joss with a 314 shaft. The Starkey cue is somewhat toward the stiff end of that scale.
Many of you will be curious about the wood joint, as I was. I've attached a closeup of the joint. It is 1 13/16" long. The butt fits into my case just fine. Although the walls of the joint on the shaft are thinner than usual, they don't seem too thin. The joint is very well made, with close tolerances. It threads together very firmly.
I'm not going to comment on the cue's design or finish quality, as it has been refinished and passed around quite a bit.
On the whole, I'm intrigued by Chuck's approach to cue building. I enjoyed my time with this stick, and feel that there may very well be a Chuck Starkey wood pin cue in my future.
Tim
