Cues play better after time or use?

ace911

ace911

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've heard a lot of different things like cues play better over time or after use. I heard the oils in your hand get into the shaft wood and seals it and makes it play better. I also heard that wood gets memory so after hitting so many balls, it will improve the tone and flex.

What are you thoughts about this? Do you guys think that any of this is true?
 
ace911 said:
I've heard a lot of different things like cues play better over time or after use. I heard the oils in your hand get into the shaft wood and seals it and makes it play better. I also heard that wood gets memory so after hitting so many balls, it will improve the tone and flex.

What are you thoughts about this? Do you guys think that any of this is true?
Click to expand...

Bunk, IMO . . . unless of course you soak your cue in vintage wine, then it will indeed, get better over time. :p
 
To quote Colonel Sherman Potter, "Horse pucky". After a while a player gets used to the cue and its nuances. and maple doesn't remember anything about a hit. It can be bent or warped but that is the result of a physical change.
 
I think it just boils down to the person played more and improved. Maybe played before with a whimpy shaft and now plays with a stiff one or Visa Vera.
 
Wood memory is it's ability to return to original shape after being distorted. It can't "learn". Skin oils don't penetrate nearly deep enough to alter the physical characteristics of the wood, either.
 
Well, I believe that would be the case if you played with the cue long enough that you end up shaping the cue and remembering exactly how the cue feel and hit. Ginky had played with a tascarella conversion that I sold him and he logged so many hours on the cue that he mold his personal taper into the shaft. Tips changes but he always play with a specific radius. I would think that it not how the wood changes and remember but how the player shape the cue through plays and become attached to the cue. I also have Ginky old Skip Weston Jump Break that he had for a long while and you can also see that it was worn in wrap area from hours of used. It's was apparent where George hold the cue when he's breaking on this cue. Also, I remember Gerry Watson, "The Ghost", tell me that he had his meucci cue for 30 years and the cue is basically an extension of his body and more importantly his mind. It all come down to familarity, hell I still play my best pool with my old Weinstock cue and still have not found any that will play better well maybe the Gina I have but it's take me another 5 plus years playing with it to compare.

So in conclusion, playing longer with the same cue...generally equate to the cue playing better, sounding better since you're able to recognize the tonal sound from a variety of shots, better speed control and positions...as Gerry said...your mind is attached and understand the variances in your cue.

Duc.
 
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seems to be different story about Russian Pyramid cues. Hand-made custom cues play better in a couple of months after they are built. They get a bit stiffer due to balls impact.
 
Interesting....I would think that the tip would be the variable for the stiffer play since the balls impact will compress the tip making it harder. The variable that can be change on the shaft is mostly likely just abrasion from the player or cue repairer when the cue is cleaned but I guess the flex on the shaft can change slowly over time if it constantly bent from impact with these larger pool balls. I guess as the players play longer with the cue...he probably will understand the deflection better from his cue and learn to compensate accordingly.

Duc.

Vahmurka said:
seems to be different story about Russian Pyramid cues. Hand-made custom cues play better in a couple of months after they are built. They get a bit stiffer due to balls impact.
Click to expand...
 
play better with time?


I had a titleist made into a 2 piece



i did not like it so i sold it
i took it back in trade

i hit it and loved it
best hit i ever had
i sold it
last time i saw it,Efryn won the Galveston tournament with it

it sure played better this time
 
ace911 said:
I've heard a lot of different things like cues play better over time or after use. I heard the oils in your hand get into the shaft wood and seals it and makes it play better. I also heard that wood gets memory so after hitting so many balls, it will improve the tone and flex.

What are you thoughts about this? Do you guys think that any of this is true?
Click to expand...



I don't think cues play better, however, I think people play better over time as they get use to a cue;:smile:
 
I agree that cues do not get better with time.

It is also my experience that they do not lose quality with time. That has been true for cues I play with often and cues that have gone through long periods of storage. They don't wear out.

In the YouTube interview with Gus Szamboti, Don Criqui ask how long a cue should last. Gus said "That should last Steve a lifetime, with proper care."

Greg
 
Well I can see I am in the vast minority here. But in my opinion shaft wood tends to limber up a little with play. Now that would make some cues play worse with time. But with a stiff shaft that has too much meat in the middle for my taste, that cue will play better with use. So as a cue gets played it will increase the cue ball action in a stiff cue. That is my 2 cents.
 
Depends on what you mean by better.

If more sound is better, no doubt it will get better over time. And to me sound is important. So yes, to me, a older cue play's better.

Also it gets better, If you have 3 shafts that are 20+ yrs old, and dead straight,
what's the odds their going to warp on you? Too me that's better also.

That's why i like the hit of older cues the best. Sound

And i love the old shafts because they travel better, and wont warp at every time zone. :D
 
I know some players who swear a cue gets better with time. I simply do not know. I study wood and to my knowledge, there's nothing scientifically documented that will change the wood over time (in the sense that we recognize) given that it is not subjected to environmental extremes such as fire and water. It is organic & will most certainly break down over a very, very long time. But in 5-10-20-100 years, it's not going to change to a measurable degree. That being said, I cannot & will not dismiss what players experience, and will not try to explain it away. Pool cues are a tiny science & they are not studied nearly well enough to say yay or nay. Could they play better with age? Possibly. I don't think there's been any conclusive testing done to prove or disprove it.
 
I will say yes for a couple reasons.
First is the obvious. The glues, sealers, and clears used to build cues are not 100% cured when the cue is shipped so IMO it takes a month or two for the tone to peak.
Second and important IMO.
Wood gets better over time. I've converted many cues that were anywhere from 20-100 years old. When cutting they feel different and have a unique old odor to them. The smell is similar to when I open the antique chest my grandma gave me years ago. I believe age helps wood in a way similar to fin wine. It isn't noticeable in the everyday uses for wood but it is in cue and music industry. So IMO age doesn't just help stability. The more my wood ages and the older it is when I purchase it the happier I am.

To argue both sides I don't think a dud hit will turn into a ping hit over time.


OT but fun. When I convert these old cues the smell makes me think about my Nonni.
 
Thanks for the replies. I actually do feel that playing with a cue more, might affect the hit. Especially if I have new 13mm shafts, to me it feels more comfortable when I wear them down a little, and seems more lively. It seems to hit better, but also it might be my imagination, because I'm getting more accustomed to the cue, the more I play with it.
 
I somewhat confused...obviously. It is a well known fact that a quality-made acoustic guitar will sound better over time. The more it's played, the better.

The act of playing a guitar vibrates the woods in the soundboard, sides, and back. This vibration 'opens up' the woods, allowing for more resonance. Hence the reason that the old Gibson and Martin acoustics command the prices they do.

Would not the same hold true for a pool cue...particularly the maple shafts?
 
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