cue makers and their playing cue ...

[WilleeCue]

A while ago I read a thread about what cue a cue maker plays with.
I have thought about this a bit and here is my two cents worth.

I can understand someone thinking that it gives the wrong image to see a cue maker playing pool with a cue made by someone else.
Is his cues not good enough?

Cue makers are like everyone else.
They enjoy playing pool with a good cue no mater who made it.
They admire workmanship in cues made by others and even buy cues they like.
Should they be restricted to playing only with their own cues in public?
No.
All it should say about a cue maker is that he admires the workmanship and/or enjoys playing with that cue.
Or ... perhaps he is checking out the competition to make sure his cues still play better ... ...

 

[fiolledapool]

I like to play with other custom cues,
I admire the work of other cuemakers, I study your cues (hit, materials, designs, positive and negative details...) so I can have good ideas for my cues always, but be careful not copying never.

I think there should be an exchange of cues between cuemakers, this would help to improve our work.

I have a custom cue of another cuemaker in this moment, and he has my cue. I will prove it for a few months and then I will have conclusions for him and I will return your cue and he will do the same for me.

 

[SK Custom Cues]

I agree with you Will, 100%. I don't just play with one cue. I have a couple I like to bounce around, and especially since I started making cues, I want to know the wide range of what's out there. Actually, since I started making cues, I don't have time to play anymore. Isn't that odd?

 

[KJ Cues]

I think it would be interesting to personally critique other builder's cues but I probably wouldn't want to play with it very long. Just being honest here.
I would probably know within an hour or less, everything I wanted to know about the cue. A couple quick sets of 9 and I'd have my review.
I like to think that I make a pretty good hitting cue. Bias, maybe but I know what I like and have it already. If I want to change something about the hit, I know how to do it.

 

[poolplayer2093]

I agree with you Will, 100%. I don't just play with one cue. I have a couple I like to bounce around, and especially since I started making cues, I want to know the wide range of what's out there. Actually, since I started making cues, I don't have time to play anymore. Isn't that odd?

i feel for you man. i hope things get better soon

 

[fiolledapool]

I think it would be interesting to personally critique other builder's cues but I probably wouldn't want to play with it very long. Just being honest here.
I would probably know within an hour or less, everything I wanted to know about the cue. A couple quick sets of 9 and I'd have my review.
I like to think that I make a pretty good hitting cue. Bias, maybe but I know what I like and have it already. If I want to change something about the hit, I know how to do it.

it is true, a guy with experience can have review a cue in a few minutes but in my personal experiment we review refinish method also (durability, feel, yellowing, gloss...) so I need more time for review. Hit is important but There are also other important factors for a cuemaker.

 

[poolcuemaster]

I play with a lot of different cues that I have collected over the years and the one I play APA with is one that I made 100% myself from a Duc Lamm fullsplice Falcon blank with a 3/8 10 G 10 pin and 2 Predator 314-2 shafts. A few weeks ago some cuemaker told a guy at the poolroom I work at that he built this cue for me but he didn't remember that the one he put the pin in he also sliced apart and bolted it together at the A joint location and it loosened up and got throwed in a closet with some more of his junk. Why would anyone ever cut a wrapless fullsplice blank in to two pieces, some people just don't get it.--Leonard Holmes

 

[qbilder]

It drives me nuts trying to play with somebody else's cue. I lose at least a ball switching to somebody else's cue. I can't stand it. Nothing knocking any other builder, but there's a reason I began building cues in the first place. .

 

[JoeyInCali]

It drives me nuts trying to play with somebody else's cue. I lose at least a ball switching to somebody else's cue. I can't stand it. Nothing knocking any other builder, but there's a reason I began building cues in the first place. .

Let me guess, you hold the buttsleeve with the index finger and thumb then start bouncing the forearm with your left hand and go pffft!

I've had so many cues. The last cue I bought and played for for a long time was a Zylr ( still have it ).

Now I play with a cue I built in two weeks. Bubinga cored with seasoned rosewood and maple handle .
12 MM milk dud, under 19 oz. Oil finish. Done.

 

[poolplayer2093]

Let me guess, you hold the buttsleeve with the index finger and thumb then start bouncing the forearm with your left hand and go pffft!

I've had so many cues. The last cue I bought and played for for a long time was a Zylr ( still have it ).

Now I play with a cue I built in two weeks. Bubinga cored with seasoned rosewood and maple handle .
12 MM milk dud, under 19 oz. Oil finish. Done.

let's see it

 

[qbilder]

Let me guess, you hold the buttsleeve with the index finger and thumb then start bouncing the forearm with your left hand and go pffft!

I've had so many cues. The last cue I bought and played for for a long time was a Zylr ( still have it ).

Now I play with a cue I built in two weeks. Bubinga cored with seasoned rosewood and maple handle .
12 MM milk dud, under 19 oz. Oil finish. Done.

LOL something like that. Other cues just feel alien to me. It's like playing golf with a tennis racket, just isn't right.

 

[RocketQ]

Second that

LOL something like that. Other cues just feel alien to me. It's like playing golf with a tennis racket, just isn't right.

I second both posts.
I build them cause I was looking for something I couldn't find anywhere else. What a search it has been...

John

 

[ftgokie]

I agree with you Will, 100%. I don't just play with one cue. I have a couple I like to bounce around, and especially since I started making cues, I want to know the wide range of what's out there. Actually, since I started making cues, I don't have time to play anymore. Isn't that odd?

Im sorry, did I miss something.....WHO said you could play BEFORE you started making cues :nanner::rotflmao1::duck:

 

[cueman]

I rarely pick up another cuemaker's cue and instantly like the feel of it. It is because I have played with my cue for 20 years and it just feels right to me. I suppose if I played with the other cuemaker's cue for a while it would also feel right. But muscle memory and feel is something you develop and unless your present cue plays bad, the next one you pick up probably won't feel better to you. It is not a matter of which one is best. It is a matter of what you are used to.

 

[macguy]

I rarely pick up another cuemaker's cue and instantly like the feel of it. It is because I have played with my cue for 20 years and it just feels right to me. I suppose if I played with the other cuemaker's cue for a while it would also feel right. But muscle memory and feel is something you develop and unless your present cue plays bad, the next one you pick up probably won't feel better to you. It is not a matter of which one is best. It is a matter of what you are used to.

Have you tinkered with the cue at all over the years? I like my own cue best but it was not perfect for me the day it was completed. In fact several years later I even took the risk of thinning down the butt a bit. It turned to be just what I needed and the cue felt even better. I have been messing with cues for over 30 years now and I would hate to have to just order a cue and just take my chances no matter who was building the cue. I feel blessed to be able to make and work on my own cues. I have owned dozens of cues over the years and can think of only one, a Gina cue, that I liked from day one. And that is not to say if I ordered the same cue again from him it would be the same. I think the desire to make your own cue may be as much the impetus in the success of your business as people wanting to build cues for a living.

 

[ratcues]

I think it is one thing to test another cue and another thing to play with someone else's cue. I wouldn't be caught dead out shooting with a cue I didn't make. Maybe I'm a little too proud....

 

[Travis Niklich]

What are you guys doing playing pool and not making cues I never have time to play pool. Funny how we start making cue because we love to play pool then we never have time to play.

 

[SK Custom Cues]

Tails.........

Im sorry, did I miss something.....WHO said you could play BEFORE you started making cues :nanner::rotflmao1::duck:

 

[qbilder]

What are you guys doing playing pool and not making cues I never have time to play pool. Funny how we start making cue because we love to play pool then we never have time to play.

Ah, hell. You're missing the boat. We are all playing with other people's cues so we got some free time Quit working & buy a cue, then come join us.

 

[tlayne]

Count me in....

Ah, hell. You're missing the boat. We are all playing with other people's cues so we got some free time Quit working & buy a cue, then come join us.

Sure sounds good.
Count me in, when do start ?