Just wondering if most players now adays prefer playing on Gold Crowns or Diamonds.
Diamond 9' vs Gold Crown 9'
- Thread starter Island Drive
- Start date
Wow, it must be Wednesday because I haven't seen this question posted in a week.
DO A SEARCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
DO A SEARCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NaClBandit said:
Ok let me rephrase that question, do players prefer Blondes or Brunettes or Diamond?
There's a 9ft. Diamond Pro in my Basement 
Black Cat
Black Cat
I like Petite Brunettes myself.
I have shot on a Diamond and many, many Gold Crowns. I like a Double shimmed Gold crown the best.
I have shot on a Diamond and many, many Gold Crowns. I like a Double shimmed Gold crown the best.
CaptainHook said:I like Petite Brunettes myself.
I have shot on a Diamond and many, many Gold Crowns. I like a Double shimmed Gold crown the best.
WHY
Black Cat
Well, I have a GCIII, and I prefer the Diamond.
It's a better table in a few key aspects.
The Diamond already has small pockets that are cut to the perfect angle so that they don't rattle balls. You can get a GC shimmed like that, but unless it is done by a total pro table mechanic, the angles will not be perfect and you will rattle balls that should have dropped. I hate a table that rattles balls when you hit inside the pocket. Unacceptable. Very annoying. Leaves you second guessing all the time whether you made the shot or if you really hit it a touch off. Also, blast a ball at a 45 degree angle into the side pocket and see what happens. The Diamond is perhaps the only table I've ever shot on that will accept the ball. Shooting the ball at an angle, with lots of speed, into the side pocket of a GC or any other table, even if hit very clean, often results in the ball being rejected.
I also like the leather pockets a LOT more. You can bridge your cue on them without getting plastic smudge on your shaft. Only negative to that is you'll be spoiled and then playing in a pool hall and bridging over the nasty plastic pockets will seem annoying. The Dymondwood is pretty cool. Basically phenolic (like the cueball) heat and pressure pressed into the wood. Stuff is TOUGH. Extremely tough to dent, scratch or destroy. Way tougher than the thick laminate on the GC's rails.
I like the ProAM better than the Diamond Pro EXCEPT for the ball return. A ProAM with drop pockets would be the ultimate and I wish it were an option. The ProAM has a one piece slate that you can get in 1.25" thickness which is ideal. It also has a nice, easy, convenient slate leveling system that doesn't require shims and other nonsense. It is a very robust table. One piece slate means no lining up slates and leveling nightmares. No filling seams. BEST thing is, you can relevel this table without breaking it down. You can adjust the slate levelness without having to take off the cloth. So if your floor shifts or whatever happens to cause level to go off - you can fix it with a machinists level and a wrench. No need for anything else or excessive work. No need to take off the cloth which pretty much renders it unusable.
The GC is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. It is a fine table that is good enough for anybody, and a lot better than anything else but a Diamond. But, if you're picky or get into details - then what I've said above comes into play.
Also, Diamond is made in America. GC is made overseas for some time now.
It's a better table in a few key aspects.
The Diamond already has small pockets that are cut to the perfect angle so that they don't rattle balls. You can get a GC shimmed like that, but unless it is done by a total pro table mechanic, the angles will not be perfect and you will rattle balls that should have dropped. I hate a table that rattles balls when you hit inside the pocket. Unacceptable. Very annoying. Leaves you second guessing all the time whether you made the shot or if you really hit it a touch off. Also, blast a ball at a 45 degree angle into the side pocket and see what happens. The Diamond is perhaps the only table I've ever shot on that will accept the ball. Shooting the ball at an angle, with lots of speed, into the side pocket of a GC or any other table, even if hit very clean, often results in the ball being rejected.
I also like the leather pockets a LOT more. You can bridge your cue on them without getting plastic smudge on your shaft. Only negative to that is you'll be spoiled and then playing in a pool hall and bridging over the nasty plastic pockets will seem annoying. The Dymondwood is pretty cool. Basically phenolic (like the cueball) heat and pressure pressed into the wood. Stuff is TOUGH. Extremely tough to dent, scratch or destroy. Way tougher than the thick laminate on the GC's rails.
I like the ProAM better than the Diamond Pro EXCEPT for the ball return. A ProAM with drop pockets would be the ultimate and I wish it were an option. The ProAM has a one piece slate that you can get in 1.25" thickness which is ideal. It also has a nice, easy, convenient slate leveling system that doesn't require shims and other nonsense. It is a very robust table. One piece slate means no lining up slates and leveling nightmares. No filling seams. BEST thing is, you can relevel this table without breaking it down. You can adjust the slate levelness without having to take off the cloth. So if your floor shifts or whatever happens to cause level to go off - you can fix it with a machinists level and a wrench. No need for anything else or excessive work. No need to take off the cloth which pretty much renders it unusable.
The GC is not bad by any stretch of the imagination. It is a fine table that is good enough for anybody, and a lot better than anything else but a Diamond. But, if you're picky or get into details - then what I've said above comes into play.
Also, Diamond is made in America. GC is made overseas for some time now.
NaClBandit said:
This is really a good response to legitimate question Dick Head.
Black Cat 5791 said:WHY
Black Cat
Why do I like petite Brunettes? Cause I am married to one.
But I do like Blondes, we watch the "Girls next Door" every Sunday night.
Hef just turned 80 and he has 3 Blonde Bombshell girlfriends. He is the Man.
Why do I like Double shimmed Gold Crowns? 2 reasons.
1. It keeps my game sharp, when I go play on other tables, I can make 1/2 pocket shots with ease.
2. I grew up with Gold Crowns, my Dad was a sales rep for Brunswick.
The only Diamond 9ft around here is at Planet 9Ball in Tampa. It is pretty far from where we live, so I don't get to play on it enough.
But when I do go over, I always call Ken and tell him when we are coming over, so he can hold the Diamond for us. It has a nice 7ft buffer zone also.
Bola Ocho said:
Bola,
Can you elaborate on the pro-am ball return system that you don't like? I've been considering purchasing the pro-am model and one of the reasons is because I've heard the ball return system is less noisy than the professional model. I've never had a chance to play on the pro-am, but also like the idea of one piece slate. I like the playing characteristics of the professional model, but am not really a fan of its ball return system. It seems like I'm always scraping my hands on the end of the gulley returns when trying to extract balls from the tray.
dperry
CaptainHook said:
I prefer brunettes myself. I never really understood the "gentlemen prefer blonds" thing. Not that I am saying I don't find blonds attractive, I am a fully equal opportunity, multicultural, colorblind gawker
. But all other things beign equal, I will gawk at the brunette first.michael <- my wife has black hair
Blonde, Brunette, Black, Red, Tall or Short Playa's don't Discriminate!!! I like em all. Yeah Boyyyyeeeee!!!!!
Black Cat
Black Cat
dperry said:
Hey there. Well, I wasn't really comparing the ball return of the ProAm to that of the Professional. I just hate ball return in general, and the ProAm is not offered with drop pockets to my great disappointment.
Now, from a ball return perspective, the ProAm has one of the best, if not the best ball returns out there. I like it much better then the GC system (which is noiser and more prone to stuck balls) except for the tray. It would be nicer if the opening was larger on the ProAM. Perhaps their thinking was to prevent balls from popping out. Sometimes on a GC a ball that hits the tray skips over another ball and lands on the floor.
fullsplicefiend said:
I don't think so. If you're serious to buy, I'd confirm that from Diamond.
The Professional uses a more traditional construction and frame. The ProAM is basically a few major parts. The frame, slate, and rails. It is a difficult table to move upstairs or downstairs as these major components are not made to be taken apart. It's made like that so you can easily transport it and set it up for tournaments.
Plop the frame/base down. level the legs. Put the slate ontop. Level that. Then attach the rails. Done. There's more steps than that, but unlike a GC for example, you don't have to assemble every little part of it. No bolting rails together no assembling the skirt. Saving a lot of time.
Biggest time saver is the 1-piece slate. No having to line up 3 separate pieces. Not only do you have to leve 3 pieces, but each one must be the same height as the other and flush. That makes shimming tricky and a pain in the butt. To make matters worse, tightening down the bolts for the rails is also a delicate process, because on a 3-piece system..if you tighten down one side a little more than the other, you will force one of the 3 pieces of slate down further than the others. When I did my own GC, even as you screw down the slate to the frame the level changes.
The Professional looks better (has more of a GC'ish shape) than the ProAM, and is perfect for homes. 3 pieces can get slates up stairs or through tight doors. The ProAM looks the way it does because of its utilitarian nature.
All that being said...I don't believe the Professional has the slate leveling system that the ProAM does. The ProAM has a shimless design. All you need is a wrench to turn a bolt which then pushes a metallic wedge lifting the slate. If you don't have the shimless slate leveling, it would be a nightmare having to lift that massive 1 piece slate to jam shims in there back and forth to get it level.
Here's Diamond's PDF for how the Professional is installed. The ProAM is way, way less steps than that.
http://diamondbilliardproducts.com/Diamond Downloads/DiamondProTableInstallationInstructions.pdf
