Want to stress that this post is not to offend cuemakers but purely for educational reasons. I am a fan of custom over production cues, but I am wondering if this should transfer to jump break cues as well. Just taking an educated guess, I feel like production jump break cues may perform better because this is the cue that requires the most cue "technology". Production cue companies like Mezz have done more research and development in jump break cues than custom cuemakers simply because they have more money/facility to do so. Does this mean that production jump break cues like Mezz dual force perform better than customs like Gilberts or Omens? I'm only asking because I can't go to a pool hall and ask strangers to try their custom j/b, which I would much rather do lol.
Custom vs Production Jump Break
- Thread starter pocketsplitter
- Start date
I think your theory applies more to break cues and jump cues individually than to jump/break cues. Jump/breaks are, by definition, a compromise. Jumping and breaking cues are optimized differently. I think you get the best performance from a dedicated break cue and a dedicated jump cue.
That being said, I also believe the differences are pretty minor. I've tried modern break and jumps cues and still use my Gilbert jump/break. The dedicated breaker was a very small difference, which makes sense because I find I can get a solid break with a house cue. I see a noticeable but not huge improvement going to my Gilbert with Samsara tip, which I attribute to the tip. Going to a BK3 for example might give me a slightly more powerful break but it was hard to tell. As it is, I prefer the feel of my Gilbert and decided to stick with it.
Jump cues are noticeably better for short/tight jumps than my Gilbert. That is the one area where I can see a noticeable difference. Longer jump shots I actually prefer my Gilbert. When I carried a dedicated jump cue I still used my Gilbert for 70% of jump shots and only went to my jump specific cue when I was in a really tight spot. In the end, I decided to stick with just carrying my Gilbert since the other situation rarely comes up and my Gilbert can get the job done with just a little extra focus/effort on my part.
Now...I don't think there is anythihng magical about the Gilbert. I like the feel and balance, but if a JJ jump/break had a similar balance and tip it would probably perform just about the same. I just like my Gilbert, find it reasonably priced and just a really nice feeling cue so I use it.
That being said, I also believe the differences are pretty minor. I've tried modern break and jumps cues and still use my Gilbert jump/break. The dedicated breaker was a very small difference, which makes sense because I find I can get a solid break with a house cue. I see a noticeable but not huge improvement going to my Gilbert with Samsara tip, which I attribute to the tip. Going to a BK3 for example might give me a slightly more powerful break but it was hard to tell. As it is, I prefer the feel of my Gilbert and decided to stick with it.
Jump cues are noticeably better for short/tight jumps than my Gilbert. That is the one area where I can see a noticeable difference. Longer jump shots I actually prefer my Gilbert. When I carried a dedicated jump cue I still used my Gilbert for 70% of jump shots and only went to my jump specific cue when I was in a really tight spot. In the end, I decided to stick with just carrying my Gilbert since the other situation rarely comes up and my Gilbert can get the job done with just a little extra focus/effort on my part.
Now...I don't think there is anythihng magical about the Gilbert. I like the feel and balance, but if a JJ jump/break had a similar balance and tip it would probably perform just about the same. I just like my Gilbert, find it reasonably priced and just a really nice feeling cue so I use it.
This is my narrow view:
Jump breaks will never perform as well as a dedicated break cue and dedicated jump cue
For players in the highest echelon, it's not going to matter exactly what technology their break cue has
For the rest of the players, the most advanced technology won't help them considering they won't be practicing enough
All that leads me to my current situation: I wanted my break cue to look a certain way, so I couldn't call predator.
Thanks for the input, but please I'm only referring to production j/b vs custom j/b. I do know that specialized jump or break perform better than j/b. I don't want to spend the money for a jump cue when i barely need to jump in matches, and also I dont want to have a bigger case than a 2x2, especially since mine is signed by 3 of my favorite pros and I don't want to change it lol
I understand. Just ignore the first line in my post haha
I don't think custom cues do anything better than a production cue. If you want to argue craftsmanship etc, then that's different. I have a bk3 and predator jump cue. I also have had a gilbert break jump, and a lomax jump cue. Do the customs perform better not 1 bit. I am not a great jumper, and neither cue will make me jump better. The predator actually jumps easier for ME. Custom cues are nice and surely you can get something very much to your liking in terms of balance, materials and feel. However, they are good pieces of wood work beyond that to say they play better or have better play ability is just rubbish. I've shot around with pros that wrecked the living crap out of me with a house cue they never used before. Custom cues are nice pieces of craftsmanship and some are extremely gorgeous and I can appreciate the skill that goes into making them, but beyond that they offer nothing to your personal game. I don't even shoot with my custom cues for several reasons.
#1 Mine are not weight adjustable
#2 Not extension friendly either
#3 I live in nyc and I don't need some jackass taking my cue and running off. What some people believe are house cues are amazing to me (the idiocy).
Right now all my gear is predator. Not because I am a fan boy. It's because it's easily replaceable, replaceable consistency, and their stuff work well together like the qr extension so forth. I know its overpriced made in china firewood but it does the job and it does it well. That's all that matters when I am out to shoot.
#1 Mine are not weight adjustable
#2 Not extension friendly either
#3 I live in nyc and I don't need some jackass taking my cue and running off. What some people believe are house cues are amazing to me (the idiocy).
Right now all my gear is predator. Not because I am a fan boy. It's because it's easily replaceable, replaceable consistency, and their stuff work well together like the qr extension so forth. I know its overpriced made in china firewood but it does the job and it does it well. That's all that matters when I am out to shoot.