Help choosing ld 11.75 shaft
- Thread starter philly
- Start date
I have an OB Classic 12.75mm & two OB Classic Pros 11.75. I also have a juiced Predator 314 CAT that was taken down to 12mm & a McDermott i2 and some Meucci no dots.
I like the OBs. I like both the Classic & the Pro. They feel more like a solid maple to me then the Predators. That may be what some would say is stiff. But to me stiff is solid. I never liked or needed a whippy shaft, not that Predators are whippy, but the juiced 12mm sort of is, as are the no dot Meuccis. I hope you know what I mean.
But...keep in mind that the 11.75mm OB Pro has a modified conical 'European' taper. It's not a pro taper.
Also the room owner, a very good, used to be 'pro', is shooting with the 11.75 Predator Z2 & when he tried my OB Pro, he said he liked it better because it moved the ball easier.
That's my nickel.
Good Luck with whatever you choose,
Rick
I like the OBs. I like both the Classic & the Pro. They feel more like a solid maple to me then the Predators. That may be what some would say is stiff. But to me stiff is solid. I never liked or needed a whippy shaft, not that Predators are whippy, but the juiced 12mm sort of is, as are the no dot Meuccis. I hope you know what I mean.
But...keep in mind that the 11.75mm OB Pro has a modified conical 'European' taper. It's not a pro taper.
Also the room owner, a very good, used to be 'pro', is shooting with the 11.75 Predator Z2 & when he tried my OB Pro, he said he liked it better because it moved the ball easier.
That's my nickel.
Good Luck with whatever you choose,
Rick
Bob Danielson can make you a LD shaft at 12,75mm wich hits 10 times better than all mentioned here .
How do i know ? well i tried all of them .
How do i know ? well i tried all of them .
Don't go with what we say, you really need to try each one out. At least try a few shots with no chalk, that way you can return to most vendors. Predator, OB and Tiger all offer nice L/D options. But, they all play differently. I prefer the Z-2, but that shouldn't matter much to the next player.
Players HXT, cheaper by about 1/2 and comes with a Kamui Soft standard, with a great feel. It does deflect a bit more than the other shafts but not by a large amount.
The custome cue makers also make great shafts for about the same price as the standard brands. One of the best I tried is Mike Webb's, I think it's $220 and has very low defection with the feel of a regular shaft.
The custome cue makers also make great shafts for about the same price as the standard brands. One of the best I tried is Mike Webb's, I think it's $220 and has very low defection with the feel of a regular shaft.
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I'd go with OB. I have a couple Pro+ shafts, and love them. I haven't tried the OB2+. That's probably the one to go with, if you like a softer hit, but the Pro+ is not lacking in feedback.
I know it's different strokes for different folks, but I have a hard time understanding the love for Predators. Yeah, they are very LD, but they just feel dead to me.
I know it's different strokes for different folks, but I have a hard time understanding the love for Predators. Yeah, they are very LD, but they just feel dead to me.
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I think you'll like it. I've never hit an OB 2 or 2+,
But think about what tip you will be putting on it.
I got my OB Classic with a Kamui Super Soft tip & it was so soft that it felt like it was sticking to the ball even though I had played with very soft Elk Masters for 45 years. I took several layers off as advised by someone here & then played okay.
My point being that a tip affects the hit, soft/hard too in combination with shaft.
Best,
Rick
Thinking of a Kamui black soft.
OB2+ if you like a soft hit, or OBPro+ if you like a stiffer hit. Well made in the good ole USofA with great customer service.
Unless you're sure about tip preference, I'd order it with the standard Everest tip. It's a quality medium tip and you can judge whether you want to go softer or harder from there.
(I was worried about the conical taper when I first ordered one; never played a conical taper before. Honestly, I couldn't really tell any difference from a pro taper; my bridge is usually 8-10".)
Unless you're sure about tip preference, I'd order it with the standard Everest tip. It's a quality medium tip and you can judge whether you want to go softer or harder from there.
(I was worried about the conical taper when I first ordered one; never played a conical taper before. Honestly, I couldn't really tell any difference from a pro taper; my bridge is usually 8-10".)
:wink:
I would try a McDermott i3 shaft too.
Guess it all depends on----how much deflection you want.
I love the i3 I got from Jcin but be prepared for the god awful sound of the hit that comes with it. I shoot pretty decent with it but it took some getting use to.
Someone mentioned Players HXT. I bought 2 12.75 and one 11.75.
I have a couple of 314s and a z and have owned a couple of OB shafts.
Nothing wrong with any, all very decent shafts. Altho, many say that they don't like the deadness of the Pred shafts. I would have to agree, they get the job done but not the most liveliest shaft around.
I let many players try out my Players shafts. Much better players than myself. All were fairly impressed with them.
Just an option because you can purchase 2 players shafts with enuff left over for MacDonalds for the price of one Pred shaft.
Atlas Billiards also sells several different laminated shaft blanks. You can buy one and have a cue maker customize one for you as far as joint collars and ring work and ferrule. Enuff meat on them that you can probably work the taper a bit more.
I don't think that you can get the OB style lamination but they have the pie shaped lams and the flat lamination blanks that are like the Meucci.
When it comes down to it, the Black Dot shaft is my all time favorite.
I have a couple of 314s and a z and have owned a couple of OB shafts.
Nothing wrong with any, all very decent shafts. Altho, many say that they don't like the deadness of the Pred shafts. I would have to agree, they get the job done but not the most liveliest shaft around.
I let many players try out my Players shafts. Much better players than myself. All were fairly impressed with them.
Just an option because you can purchase 2 players shafts with enuff left over for MacDonalds for the price of one Pred shaft.
Atlas Billiards also sells several different laminated shaft blanks. You can buy one and have a cue maker customize one for you as far as joint collars and ring work and ferrule. Enuff meat on them that you can probably work the taper a bit more.
I don't think that you can get the OB style lamination but they have the pie shaped lams and the flat lamination blanks that are like the Meucci.
When it comes down to it, the Black Dot shaft is my all time favorite.
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I have tried several LD shafts and I have a 314-2, but I prefer my Meucci PRO LD solid-maple shaft to any of them that I have tried. I think it is 12.5mm and it has the long Meucci pro taper which lots of players seem to like.
It hits the ball solid and it is easily as low, or lower, deflection than my 314-2 but has WAY more feel.
I think the name Meucci tends to scare people today, but I wouldn't trade my shaft for ANY of the LD shafts I've tried.
Aloha.
It hits the ball solid and it is easily as low, or lower, deflection than my 314-2 but has WAY more feel.
I think the name Meucci tends to scare people today, but I wouldn't trade my shaft for ANY of the LD shafts I've tried.
Aloha.
But he asked for a 11.75mm shaft...
Remember that Predator is comming out with the Z3 in February. The Katana Bushido is 11.5mm and only $175
I have tried the regular Katana shaft and I liked it very much.
Have you considered McDermott i3? a bit stiff, but it feels nice, since it`s not a laminated shaft.
If you can live with a 12mm shaft the Mezz WX900 is a really great shaft.
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Not much difference between .25 of a millimeter Kim. And yet, I still prefer a 12mm over anything smaller.
Funny how things are sometimes eh.
10 times better is like a shitload,,,,,,,,,,,