Please edumucate me. Is the R360 a bare maple shaft? What about the butt?
Cuetec and the pros that use them
- Thread starter Mole Eye
- Start date
Please edumucate me. Is the R360 a bare maple shaft? What about the butt?
I happen to find that one of Earl's more endearing characteristics (because he does it for the two most usual reasons, thus proving he's perfectly human: curiosity and to increase his self-confidence). There's lots to learn from him in this respect. But still: he effectively tweaks both, the equipment and himself. And that about sums it up: the point about a cue is that one is used to it and feels comfortable with it (= feels confident!). Those who are constantly in quest of the holy grail in cues fail to recognize the common factor.
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
The ONLY reason.......(repeating)........The ONLY reason ANY pro on planet EARTH plays with a Cuetec is because they're PAID to do so.
Does it mean they can't win with one? Of course not. It just means that pro is good enough to win with ANY piece of crap handed to them.
Earl's stroke is almost straighter than a beam of light, which is why he won with a Cuetec. He prob would have won more if he had used a real pool cue.
Cuetecs are great entry-level cues. Nothing more. NO PRO IN THE GALAXY is seeking out Cuetecs because "they're great hitting cues."
End of story.
Does it mean they can't win with one? Of course not. It just means that pro is good enough to win with ANY piece of crap handed to them.
Earl's stroke is almost straighter than a beam of light, which is why he won with a Cuetec. He prob would have won more if he had used a real pool cue.
Cuetecs are great entry-level cues. Nothing more. NO PRO IN THE GALAXY is seeking out Cuetecs because "they're great hitting cues."
End of story.
Would you like to bet on your last statement? I bet I can name a very well known professional player who played with a cuetec that he bought all by himself. In fact with a bit of diligent searching his name can be found in the forum archives.
Also the statement about pros not seeking out brands could apply to hundreds of brands. So does that mean all those cues suck as well?
Have you even hit a ball with the R360? I ask because I have and it's not bad.
The thing about the pros is most of them shoot with cues that they were given or which they have some sort of endorsement deal. You will find very very very few of them shooting with cues that they bought. And even if you did what would that mean? Would that mean that those brands would be "the best"? Would the best brand of cue then change from event to event with each different winner?
Here is another question to kind of reverse the logic.
Would a professional player sacrifice their career to play with a cue they could not win with?
Hand picked from what? Yeah they probably picked the nicest ones out of whatever was available.
But it's not as if you can go get a box of Cuetecs and pick out "the good ones" - they are all pretty much the same. I suppose Allie would hit with them and determine which one she liked best of the batch and of course her sense of feel would be more fine tuned than an average player's is.
You can ask Nick Varner directly. I very much doubt that he was using a Bill McDaniel because Nick was sponsored by Joss before signing with Falcon and the ONLY reason he signed with Falcon is because Dan Janes and Ernie Chen had a partnership in Tyler cues which was the brand that Nick endorsed before Falcon came out. The partnership ended on a sour note and the brand name was changed from Tyler to Falcon and the rest is history.
I am not saying players are always playing with off-the-shelf models of the cues they are endorsed by. I know that's not true. Hell I can name a very well known player who was sponsored by a good friend of mine who sent him many cues each month and when the player would be out gambling he played with his old Meucci instead of the brand he was sponsored by. The internet put an end to that relationship though after the player was photographed using his Meucci when he was supposed to be using my friend's cue. Unfortunately my friend had already provided the guy 10-15 cues or so.
All I am saying is that to my knowledge Allison and Shane used/use cues that are nearly identical to what anyone can buy off the shelf when it comes to Cuetec.
Given the snobbery here on AZB about them you will find only a few of the decent players on the board admitting to playing with them.
I owned one and it played decent. I tried the R-360 and I wouldn't hesitate to buy one and use it to gamble with if I needed a cue. A lot of people buy Cuetecs to have as a keep-in-the-car cue that can withstand the elements.
I don't know who all buys them either but when I worked at Sterling we sold them pretty steadily.
The R360 shaft is cladded, correct? I know the SST is, the 13mm I tested was too dead for me though. There is a 12mm version but I haven't had a chance to try one.
PS. The older Cuetec called Excaliber, I think, was graphite instead of fiberglass. I thought that cue only needed a good tip to play well.
PSS. The cladded shafts make my bridgehand raw.
PS. The older Cuetec called Excaliber, I think, was graphite instead of fiberglass. I thought that cue only needed a good tip to play well.
PSS. The cladded shafts make my bridgehand raw.
I know Mark Tadd was BBQing a lot of people back in the day with one of those graphite cuetecs, where the shaft was the same color as the butt. Some greenish/grey color.
And believe me, no one was paying him to play with it, and at the time, he could probably beat the majority of the top players on this forum, let alone, the top players in the country.
But that won't stop the snobs from thinking that anything non custom is beneath them.
And believe me, no one was paying him to play with it, and at the time, he could probably beat the majority of the top players on this forum, let alone, the top players in the country.
But that won't stop the snobs from thinking that anything non custom is beneath them.
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TheThaiger
Banned
TheThaiger
Banned
And why...
Yeah Johnny, I don't recall if Shane signed with Cuetec first and then went to the R-360 when it came out or signed because the R-360 was already available and he tried one and liked it. My recollection of how Chris de la Garza explained it in a thread back then was that Shane had previously said no to Cuetec but then tried some cues (perhaps the then new R-360) and decided he liked one enough to sign to play one.
I'm def not a cue snob. That said, the word "out-performing" is completely subjective and untestable. If you made a poll and asked the world's pool playing community what the best "hitting/feeling" cue is and listed some custom cue makes as well as Cuetec, I'd be shocked if Cuetec scored above 10% of the vote.
It is what it is. Maybe everyone's a snob or maybe everyone hates the way those things hit. I like Cuetec in that they sponsor players and support the game. However, I'm not a fan of the way their cues hit/feel. I dunno, maybe that makes me a snob.
Cue
Of course they did. They probably offered a range of cues to Shane, and he selected one that he preferred. A Professional Pool Player would be pretty stupid to let a company dictate to him what cue he had to use to earn his living, don't ya think?
Of course they did. They probably offered a range of cues to Shane, and he selected one that he preferred. A Professional Pool Player would be pretty stupid to let a company dictate to him what cue he had to use to earn his living, don't ya think?
TheThaiger
Banned
My understanding is, the manufacturer sends the player they are sponsoring a number (5/6?) of cues/shafts etc, based on the requirements given by the player, and the player keeps the cue that's the best fit, then flogs the remaining.
For colour, my friend has a cue that won the world championships a few years ago. That cue plays head and shoulder better than another friend's identical model, bought off the shelf. No two cues play the same, obviously, but it is noticeably better - I reckon I'd have a stab at winning something with that, it's that good.
Do cues formerly owned by pros have any additional value when it comes to resale?
For colour, my friend has a cue that won the world championships a few years ago. That cue plays head and shoulder better than another friend's identical model, bought off the shelf. No two cues play the same, obviously, but it is noticeably better - I reckon I'd have a stab at winning something with that, it's that good.
Do cues formerly owned by pros have any additional value when it comes to resale?
Well, sort of. Having the indian pick the arrow and possibly manufacture the arrow himself alters the basic notion of indian versus arrow.
I would argue that the indian who choose the wood, built the arrow, and then launched the arrow on the correct direction towards its target is 98% indian and 2% arrow (at best.)
My comment was not directed towards Cutec, but to threads like this with the underlying assumption that equiptment makes a useful difference in a pro's ability to 'win' a match (versus a different set of kit that the pro could have also won the match.)
Maybe your not aware of this but all cue's hit differently. lol Hell I've hit with jacoby's that hit like a dream and the same cue that feels as dead as a shit. When I first hit with a cuetec I was far from a cue snob. I was happy to have the 100 dollar mcdermott...lol That's when cuetecs came onto the scene and a lot of people were starting to play with them. Now I was different from the average player then. Everyone loved Mucci's! Me I didn't like the whippy shaft and that's why I liked the McDermott's and later on Schon's. I played with a dozen cuetecs and they were all the same! No feel...just dead. Felt like I was playing with old tree limb with a tip on it.
Here's what a cuetec is good for...if your to lazy to take your cue in the house or just like to leave it in your car or are a klutz who bangs there cue into shit all the time.... there perfect! The damn things are indestructable but I think it's the same fiberglass finish they put on them that protects them that also takes a way for there playability.
Here's what a cuetec is good for...if your to lazy to take your cue in the house or just like to leave it in your car or are a klutz who bangs there cue into shit all the time.... there perfect! The damn things are indestructable but I think it's the same fiberglass finish they put on them that protects them that also takes a way for there playability.
Very pretty case!