Help me pick a cue

kirkaz

kirkaz

Registered
New to the board, but been browsing/learning the last couple weeks.

I have been playing for 20 years, would consider myself an "advanced recreational player". I have a table at my house, and play regularly, just don't have time to play in a league or tourneys at this point with 2 small kids.

I know next to nothing about cues. Currently have 2 Cuetecs (both fiberglass), both 21 ounce, believe both have 13 mm tips.

Want to spend in the $400 range, being in Phoenix with about 15% humidity in my game room, I like the lifetime guarantee on the McDermotts. Kind of likeing the McD. with the Gecko on it (M54A) in keeping with the SW. theme of the room:D. Thinking I would like to try a 12 mm tip and a 19 ounce cue? Was thinking of trying a softer Moori tip too?

I would consider myself weak on long shots, but pretty good with spin and very good "finesse player" if it matters.

Thanks for any advice.
 
With $400, I would go to the for sale section. You should have about 20 different cues to pick from. Alot will have 2 shafts so you could have one 13 and one 12.

Ian
 
kirkaz said:
New to the board, but been browsing/learning the last couple weeks.

I have been playing for 20 years, would consider myself an "advanced recreational player". I have a table at my house, and play regularly, just don't have time to play in a league or tourneys at this point with 2 small kids.

I know next to nothing about cues. Currently have 2 Cuetecs (both fiberglass), both 21 ounce, believe both have 13 mm tips.

Want to spend in the $400 range, being in Phoenix with about 15% humidity in my game room, I like the lifetime guarantee on the McDermotts. Kind of likeing the McD. with the Gecko on it (M54A) in keeping with the SW. theme of the room:D. Thinking I would like to try a 12 mm tip and a 19 ounce cue? Was thinking of trying a softer Moori tip too?

I would consider myself weak on long shots, but pretty good with spin and very good "finesse player" if it matters.

Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...

nothing keeps a SW theme like a southwest cue! for 400 you can pick up a lot of nice cues production and custom. i'd opt for a schon or a gilbert j/b or plane jane
 
You can get a pretty good quality custom sneaky pete for $400. I highly recommend this rather than buying a production cue. I just recently bought a Keith Josey custom Sneaky Pete, and I'll never shoot with a custom cue again. I love this cue. I bought it used (just like new) in the AZ Wanted/For Sale forum. Now is a great time to get great values on used cues, since people are hurting for money and selling high quality cues for cheap.

Either that or you can go to Keith Josey's website and get an awesome brand new Sneaky Pete. http://www.joseycues.com/cues.php
Just choose sneaky petes from the list at the bottom of the page. There's a phone number you can call on that page too.

kirkaz said:
New to the board, but been browsing/learning the last couple weeks.

I have been playing for 20 years, would consider myself an "advanced recreational player". I have a table at my house, and play regularly, just don't have time to play in a league or tourneys at this point with 2 small kids.

I know next to nothing about cues. Currently have 2 Cuetecs (both fiberglass), both 21 ounce, believe both have 13 mm tips.

Want to spend in the $400 range, being in Phoenix with about 15% humidity in my game room, I like the lifetime guarantee on the McDermotts. Kind of likeing the McD. with the Gecko on it (M54A) in keeping with the SW. theme of the room:D. Thinking I would like to try a 12 mm tip and a 19 ounce cue? Was thinking of trying a softer Moori tip too?

I would consider myself weak on long shots, but pretty good with spin and very good "finesse player" if it matters.

Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...
 
The 2 shafts with different tip diameters sounds like a good idea, and I have been keeping an eye on the sale section.

Southwest cues are impressive, but look a bit spendy.

How worried should I be about the lack of himidity here?
 
poolfoole said:
You can get a pretty good quality custom sneaky pete for $400. I highly recommend this rather than buying a production cue. I just recently bought a Keith Josey custom Sneaky Pete, and I'll never shoot with a custom cue again. I love this cue. I bought it used (just like new) in the AZ Wanted/For Sale forum. Now is a great time to get great values on used cues, since people are hurting for money and selling high quality cues for cheap.

Either that or you can go to Keith Josey's website and get an awesome brand new Sneaky Pete. http://www.joseycues.com/cues.php
Just choose sneaky petes from the list at the bottom of the page. There's a phone number you can call on that page too.
Click to expand...

Very nice site there...Thanks!!
 
I'd look for a nice used Schon also, they're hard to beat as far as a quality production cue is concerned. $400 is a hard price to find them at, but not entirely impossible either. If you wanted to only buy new you could look at Joss, Pechauer, Adam, or McDermott.
 
Finding a $400 used Schon is the way I'd go too. I'd much prefer to have a nice schon over a sneaky pete just about any day. To each his own though. Because I would highly recommend going with a production cue in that price range from an established (20+ year) cuemaker such as Evan Clarke rather than a sneaky pete from some of the newer cuemakers. Don't get me wrong they may make good cues but why chance it. I used to think anything "custom" was better than anything "production" but have since changed my outlook on this. There are exceptions but not many. I know this is not a very popular opinion on here...

Also, if you like McDermott check out the B,C, and D line McDermotts you can find some pretty nice ones in your price range.

Jim
 
I don't think the humitity will be an issue but either way, it would affect any cue you buy. There are no products/cues that can handle it better. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
poolfoole said:
You can get a pretty good quality custom sneaky pete for $400. I highly recommend this rather than buying a production cue. I just recently bought a Keith Josey custom Sneaky Pete, and I'll never shoot with a custom cue again. I love this cue. I bought it used (just like new) in the AZ Wanted/For Sale forum. Now is a great time to get great values on used cues, since people are hurting for money and selling high quality cues for cheap.

Either that or you can go to Keith Josey's website and get an awesome brand new Sneaky Pete. http://www.joseycues.com/cues.php
Just choose sneaky petes from the list at the bottom of the page. There's a phone number you can call on that page too.
Click to expand...

Can't go wrong with a Josey!
 
Used Pete Ohman plain jane. Go ahead and attempt to top that one, guys. If you have played with one, just try and top that one.
 
Definately a Schon. I have seen the Gecko cue up close and it's not that great. If you want a gecko on your cue, get a Schon and get a sticker from Geico. :)
 
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A lot of people are talking about a lot of cues, but you need to have some more idea of what you want in a cue. The type of joint matters a lot. You've been using a Cuetech w/ a flat face joint & a smaller pin. Going to a bigger pin - the McD 3/8-10 for instance - is going to provide a stiffer hit in and of itself, but maybe not so much compared to the fiberglass clad shafts you've been using as compared to "normal" wood shafts w/ the same smaller pin. A radial pin, like on a Josey, will be even stiffer. Stiffer hit equals more deflection equals more adjustment to a cue. Also, the shaft taper makes a HUGE difference. Most Schon cues are a 5/16-14 piloted joint - which in general will play less stiff... But Schon's standard shaft taper is VERY stiff. The "deflectingest" damn shafts I ever saw.
Point is... Get to a Billiard store & try some cues (or try friends' cues). Pay attention to what joint config you "play" comfortably with, in conjunction with what maker's shaft taper performs the way you are used to seeing things happen. Sounds to me like you want to make a change in cue - not necessarily learn to aim all over again because your new cue is an entirely different animal.
Too often people direct folks like you to their own personal preferences, meaning well as they do, but fail to provide the advice given here.
 
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Myself I like to hit a ball with a cue before I buy it to play with. Few reasons for this. I like a longer taper than most. I like the cue to be in the 19.25 oz just a little lighter or heavier. I also like for the butt end to be smaller. I like for the shaft to be around 12.5 mm. Making this a short story I know what I like to play with and still want to hit a ball first. I'd take my 400 to a tournament and just put the word out I was looking to buy a player. Hope you find what you want. Josey was mentioned earlier, they are worth gambling on buying in the blind on whether you like it or not. IMO along with a select others
 
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The McDermott warranty is great. I believe they allow you to send your cue in for cleaning and checks once a year if you want.

If you want a 12mm shaft you may have to have that done custom since McD standard shafts are 13mm.

The low end cues come with one standard shaft. Higher priced ($400??) cues now come with a G-core shaft. The highest ($650+??) priced cues come with your choice of Intimidator I-shaft.

Standard replacement McDermott shafts run $75 -100.
G-core shats run $105-140.
I-shafts run $175-250.

If you're looking for a southwest theme cue McDermott has a newer cue line with "branded" look in nature/western themes called the "Wildfire Series".
 
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I went thru the "What should i buy?" question here a while back and got a lot of good information on cues. And i will bet if you poll eveyone on this forum you will get almost every cue made as the one to buy. So what i did was to go to my local billiards dealer and got them to agree to sell me a cue at internet prices which are about 20% lower then suggested retail.I got to play with each cue and check it out in person for the extra cost of only the sales tax.I tried a McDermott-Joss-Viking and a Lucasi. The Lucasi was my choice for a number of reasons but the point is i got to hit about 50 balls on the table.You wouldn't buy a car or a pair of shoes without trying them first so why not a pool cue?
 
kirkaz said:
New to the board, but been browsing/learning the last couple weeks.

I have been playing for 20 years, would consider myself an "advanced recreational player". I have a table at my house, and play regularly, just don't have time to play in a league or tourneys at this point with 2 small kids.

I know next to nothing about cues. Currently have 2 Cuetecs (both fiberglass), both 21 ounce, believe both have 13 mm tips.

Want to spend in the $400 range, being in Phoenix with about 15% humidity in my game room, I like the lifetime guarantee on the McDermotts. Kind of likeing the McD. with the Gecko on it (M54A) in keeping with the SW. theme of the room:D. Thinking I would like to try a 12 mm tip and a 19 ounce cue? Was thinking of trying a softer Moori tip too?

I would consider myself weak on long shots, but pretty good with spin and very good "finesse player" if it matters.

Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...

at the end of the day the stroke ALWAYS trumps the cue....... get something you like....


then

STOP LOOKING!!!!



decide this is my cue..... and commit to it


all that's left is working on your game..

and NO ONE sells that,,,, you gotta earn it...


BTW... I love my McD....
 
Universal Smart Shaft

kirkaz said:
New to the board, but been browsing/learning the last couple weeks.

I have been playing for 20 years, would consider myself an "advanced recreational player". I have a table at my house, and play regularly, just don't have time to play in a league or tourneys at this point with 2 small kids.

I know next to nothing about cues. Currently have 2 Cuetecs (both fiberglass), both 21 ounce, believe both have 13 mm tips.

Want to spend in the $400 range, being in Phoenix with about 15% humidity in my game room, I like the lifetime guarantee on the McDermotts. Kind of likeing the McD. with the Gecko on it (M54A) in keeping with the SW. theme of the room:D. Thinking I would like to try a 12 mm tip and a 19 ounce cue? Was thinking of trying a softer Moori tip too?

I would consider myself weak on long shots, but pretty good with spin and very good "finesse player" if it matters.

Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...

The shaft does the work. Inlays etc are aesthetic.
 
mdavis228 said:
A lot of people are talking about a lot of cues, but you need to have some more idea of what you want in a cue. The type of joint matters a lot. You've been using a Cuetech w/ a flat face joint & a smaller pin. Going to a bigger pin - the McD 3/8-10 for instance - is going to provide a stiffer hit in and of itself, but maybe not so much compared to the fiberglass clad shafts you've been using as compared to "normal" wood shafts w/ the same smaller pin. A radial pin, like on a Josey, will be even stiffer. Stiffer hit equals more deflection equals more adjustment to a cue. Also, the shaft taper makes a HUGE difference. Most Schon cues are a 5/16-14 piloted joint - which in general will play less stiff... But Schon's standard shaft taper is VERY stiff. The "deflectingest" damn shafts I ever saw.
.
Click to expand...

I would have figured a full fiberglass cue would be stiffer than wood could ever be:confused:? Not so?

Thanks for the good advice everyone.
 
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