Cue makers and their shaft design

[kingman33]

Looking for opinions, if a cue maker such as Szamboti, Scruggs, Southwest and the list goes on and on, matches their shaft with the cue that they made, is the actual shaft made for that cue critical to the performance. What I’m trying to understand is, if you get a new shaft that matches the cue, also from another reputable cue maker not a production line, will the cue play the same?

 

[bbb]

my 2 cents
the shaft is a major determinator of the the way a cue plays
the weight and balance and grip width of the butt play a big role in how the cue "feels"
of course tip type and shaft also contribute to "feel"
to answer your question
every wood shaft has its own "character"
many cue makers taper are alittle different from each other
also you have to factor in the ferrule
so
to answer your question you would have to match the taper /weight/grain/ferrule/tip of one shaft to try to match its playability with another shaft
as an aside
i used to play with ob 1 and then ob 1+ shafts
i had several in different joint pin types to match the pins in the many custom cues i owned at that time(scruggs/nitti/tascarella/tad/gilbert/ to name a few)
the cues played similar becuase of the similarity of the shafts and tips(g2)
their weight /balance /energy transfer were different tho

 

[kingman33]

Very interesting, great perspective, thank you

 

[measureman]

My Troy Downey cue had 1 original Downey shaft with it.
A guy at the pool room had an unknown shaft that fit well and I bought it for $35 which was a steal.
The no name shaft was a bit stiffer and made the cue feel much better.
It's a crap shoot with a natural wood shaft ,they all vary a bit.

 

[kingman33]

My Troy Downey cue had 1 original Downey shaft with it.
A guy at the pool room had an unknown shaft that fit well and I bought it for $35 which was a steal.
The no name shaft was a bit stiffer and made the cue feel much better.
It's a crap shoot with a natural wood shaft ,they all vary a bit.

Good point, thank you

 

[Thunder Thighs]

I have a cue with 2 matching shafts by the same cuemaker. They look the same and are identical in dimensions from the tip to the joint. Yet they play slightly differently from each other.

So on your question, will the cue play the same? Probably not. But the cue/shaft just needs to play well, even if it's not exactly the same as a previous combo.

 

[MmmSharp]

I agree with everyone else. Matching shafts as closely as possible will usually create a similar experience but not exactly. Keep in mind there is also a chance they wont it the same at all depending on a lot of different things.

Any reputable cuemaker should be able to recreate a similar hit as what you ask for.

The one item i would say not mentioned is that some people more sensitive to the differences than others. If you are one of those people you will notice the differences much more. I notice it alot but i have a friend who feels everything hits the same.

 

[kingman33]

I agree with everyone else. Matching shafts as closely as possible will usually create a similar experience but not exactly. Keep in mind there is also a chance they wont it the same at all depending on a lot of different things.

Any reputable cuemaker should be able to recreate a similar hit as what you ask for.

The one item i would say not mentioned is that some people more sensitive to the differences than others. If you are one of those people you will notice the differences much more. I notice it alot but i have a friend who feels everything hits the same.

True, some people are more particular than others, and as we all know we want to blame the cue for our bad game at stones, thank you for your insight.

 

[garczar]

NO two wood shafts play alike. Close? Sure but the properties of a natural fiber material will always vary. Laminated shafts probably have less variation but even they vary to some degree.

 

[muskyed]

We have three Mcdermott cues, one linen, one leather, and one no wrap, in addition to other makes of cues at our house. All with stock G-Core shafts. All have a different hit, two of them ok, but one really fantastic hit and playability. Thought it may be the butt that made the difference, so I switched the shafts around to all three cues, and the the one really good shaft, was always the best shaft no mater what cue it was on. Hard to explain.

 

[kingman33]

We have three Mcdermott cues, one linen, one leather, and one no wrap, in addition to other makes of cues at our house. All with stock G-Core shafts. All have a different hit, two of them ok, but one really fantastic hit and playability. Thought it may be the butt that made the difference, so I switched the shafts around to all three cues, and the the one really good shaft, was always the best shaft no mater what cue it was on. Hard to explain.

Interesting, could be that one particular shaft was just the made with with that one batch of wood that made a difference

 

[Ken_4fun]

I play with a Gus with a Searing shaft. Truly a great shaft and playing cue.

I have probably had 200-300 cues over the years. The ones that played well I kept and the ones I didnt fall in love with, moved on down the road fairly quickly. I am down to my "keepers" now, and all of them are excellent playing cues.

The strangest shaft story I have was an Omega/dpk cue. I absolutely loved the look of that cue and it had 2 original shafts that were at 13mm or very close to it. The taper on those shafts were very different than anything I have played with prior or since. I couldnt hardly make a ball with that cue. If I tried to put any english on the cue ball, forget about it. I really wanted that cue and wanted to make it a keeper, but needless to say after about a month I sold it.

Strange cue indeed. If anyone can relate or enlighten me on this cue, please do so. I know lots of folks swear by those cues.

Ken

 

[kingman33]

I play with a Gus with a Searing shaft. Truly a great shaft and playing cue.

I have probably had 200-300 cues over the years. The ones that played well I kept and the ones I didnt fall in love with, moved on down the road fairly quickly. I am down to my "keepers" now, and all of them are excellent playing cues.

The strangest shaft story I have was an Omega/dpk cue. I absolutely loved the look of that cue and it had 2 original shafts that were at 13mm or very close to it. The taper on those shafts were very different than anything I have played with prior or since. I couldnt hardly make a ball with that cue. If I tried to put any english on the cue ball, forget about it. I really wanted that cue and wanted to make it a keeper, but needless to say after about a month I sold it.

Strange cue indeed. If anyone can relate or enlighten me on this cue, please do so. I know lots of folks swear by those cues.

Ken

Very interesting

 

[acnva1]

I play with a Gus with a Searing shaft. Truly a great shaft and playing cue.

I have probably had 200-300 cues over the years. The ones that played well I kept and the ones I didnt fall in love with, moved on down the road fairly quickly. I am down to my "keepers" now, and all of them are excellent playing cues.

The strangest shaft story I have was an Omega/dpk cue. I absolutely loved the look of that cue and it had 2 original shafts that were at 13mm or very close to it. The taper on those shafts were very different than anything I have played with prior or since. I couldnt hardly make a ball with that cue. If I tried to put any english on the cue ball, forget about it. I really wanted that cue and wanted to make it a keeper, but needless to say after about a month I sold it.

Strange cue indeed. If anyone can relate or enlighten me on this cue, please do so. I know lots of folks swear by those cues.

Ken

I have 3 Omega / DPK cues and all hit as good or better as anything I have tried which include South West, Black Boar, James White, PFD, Rick Howard, Bluegrass, Olney, scruggs, Prewitt, and Murray Tucker just to name a few. They closed the shop in 1996 so if the shafts are still 13mm then they might not be original. I have original shafts and new ones made by Mike Bender who was one of the original cue makers at Omega / DPK. The tip and ferrule can make a huge difference as well and would have probably been changed since that cue would now be over 25 years old. There were several blanks that were bought at an auction after they closed shop and finished by another cue maker that did not work at Omega /DPK as well.

 

[kingman33]

I have 3 Omega / DPK cues and all hit as good or better as anything I have tried which include South West, Black Boar, James White, PFD, Rick Howard, Bluegrass, Olney, scruggs, Prewitt, and Murray Tucker just to name a few. They closed the shop in 1996 so if the shafts are still 13mm then they might not be original. I have original shafts and new ones made by Mike Bender who was one of the original cue makers at Omega / DPK. The tip and ferrule can make a huge difference as well and would have probably been changed since that cue would now be over 25 years old. There were several blanks that were bought at an auction after they closed shop and finished by another cue maker that did not work at Omega /DPK as well.

Never played a DPK/Omega, sounds like a great cue.

 

[Thecoats]

I bought an Omega/DPK cue from a broke player at CJ's Billiard Palace in the early 1990's and it was the most dynamic cue I have ever owned, It was like the cue had a super-charger on it and after a couple sessions I really liked the cue. But like all cues about a month later I flipped it for something else.

Thus is the life of a habitual cue swapper.

 

[kingman33]

I bought an Omega/DPK cue from a broke player at CJ's Billiard Palace in the early 1990's and it was the most dynamic cue I have ever owned, It was like the cue had a super-charger on it and after a couple sessions I really liked the cue. But like all cues about a month later I flipped it for something else.

Thus is the life of a habitual cue swapper.

I bought an Omega/DPK cue from a broke player at CJ's Billiard Palace in the early 1990's and it was the most dynamic cue I have ever owned, It was like the cue had a super-charger on it and after a couple sessions I really liked the cue. But like all cues about a month later I flipped it for something else.

Thus is the life of a habitual cue swapper.

In 1988 I was going to visit Las Vegas, I actually used a phone book (unheard of these days) and called David Kershenbrock to inquire about having a cue made, he was very nice and if I remember correctly he was working out of his garage, he was going to make a cue for me, the cost was $400, more than I could afford at the young age of 23 years old, needless to say I didn’t pull the trigger, that one still haunts me.