I'm sure everyone has read this, I posted it yesterday and it has over 200 views, but if tou didnt here is my review of the cue. I havent hit a ball with it yet
, I will soon. I'm positive It will be awesome, it feels good to me put together, weight, balance, taper etc. The shafts are beyond amazing, that was a personal favor, nobody sells shaft wood like that-they keep it for family and close friends. I cant thank you enough for that pair of shafts. They feel like they were polished with 12,000 grit sand paper. Wow is all I can say, in 20 more years when that wood gets real old and sweetens up I cant imagine how they will play then, I'll report on them in 20 years, this cue is in the permant collection.
Yesterdays post:
As I said I will take pics of the cue and have a friend post them up, because I'm just not capable of learning how to post pics, sorry
It all started like this, There was a thread going here on AZ in the main forum I believe, I recall it was along the lines of what do you expect from cue maker or what is your idea of the best playing cue or something like that. As I remember on about the 3rd or 4th page I put up a post that described what I like and wanted. The post I made was what IMO would make a great player if not the best possible player, I made a detailed post. Hangemhigh made a comment and I replied "Go for it", I wasnt sure if I really ordered a cue or just made a post. As it was just commentary in a thread.<------all this is kinda fuzzy to me cause it was a while back so it might not be 100% accurate.
Also I have one other $ cue, I have made lots of posts about it. The fit/finish is as good as it gets. They are up there with Barrys, Sugartrees,Tascerllas, and other top cue makers work. I was very impressed with the first one I bought, its a 30 year old piece BEM, I think they made about 4 or 5 of them. I got the first one. I dont know exactly who is doing the work on them. I know its the McDanials shop, but I dont know anything else. I wanted to buy a cue and support them in the earily stages, My expectations wernt high-when that first cue came in I had no idea the quality was going to be so high. I knew it was going to be good but had no idea it would be as good as it is. I have seen other reviews and they have made alot of cues since I got my first one.
I got a call recently saying my cue was about ready, I was very happy that it was built, I want sure if I made a order-I was hopeing it was understood to be just that.
It came today, Its straight grain maple forearm(real tight and real straight) just like the maple in Balabushkas. The wrap area is cocbolo straight grain and light colored(I didnt want the dark-I think the dark is a bit heavier and more oily, i'm not sure) and the butt sleve or heel is matching straight grain just like the forearm. Its a very basic looking cue-exactly perfect. a ivory ring and its bumperless with a highly polished screw thats counter sunk a hair so it wont scratch up. I wanted matching shafts, that sound the same when you tone them, and weigh the same-takes alot of wood to be able to pair up shafts like that. Ivory ferrels thin black pad and Traingle tips cut short. And a 3/4" SS joint to tak a little weight off the front of the cue.
I got that exact cue right here-except they didnt cut the tips thin as I perfer, LOL
the grain of the forarm and wrap are lined up, little details like that are important, it shows that who ever built the cue, or any cue maker for that matter takes the time to be sure that whats going out the door is right.
The only thing missing is a compression fit, when you screw the shaft onto a Bushke or Black Boar when the tennon(is that what its called??) on the male end of the shaft gets to the joint its a tight fit and takes a little pressure to make the last couple turns when you put the cue together. I really think that makes a cue play better, I could be wrong and I'm not out there running 100's playing 14.1 so its not a big deal anyways.
I put the cue together and palmed it and it feels great, same with both shafts the shaft wood looks like what Eric Crisp(Sugartree) uses, the grain goes end to end with no run off, and has little sugar marks. Alot of the Gus Szams I have similar shafts. The rings are thin rings like nickle rings on a diet, micro-metal rings less than 1MM thick. The taper of the shafts is great. After I palmed it with bothe shafts I believe this cue will be much like A Szamboti Softer than a SW and harder than a Muecci. Which is what I like-probably like a Tad is my best guess.
There isnt one thing wrong with this cue, the craftsmanship is 10/10, the finish is perfect, I took it out in the sun and there isnt any thick or thin spots in the finish, no drips, runs or errors.<----remember that commercial with Johnny Bench.
Its a beatiful cue, basic as it gets, and wont look like much here but in real life when you hold it, the quality speaks for itself. I havent hit a ball with it, I cant imagine it not playing good-when I palmed it it held the vibration for a long time and I have noticed that cues that play good hold the vibration longer than duds, no matter who makes them. The vibration held up and it went down slowly to nothing, some cues just kinda stop and they dont play good at all, I just noticed that a few months ago-I should have made a post on that topic.
ok thats enough,
:grin-square:
