Help me pick a cue

The Josey sneaky would be a good option. $400 you could add a few of your own touches to it and Josey cues hit awesome and the quality in his sneaky petes are the same high quality as his high end customs.
 
I would have figured a full fiberglass cue would be stiffer than wood could ever be:confused:? Not so?

May very well be... My only point to you is that you can chase your tail (and your money) a lot buying "in the blind". What you do is up to you, and I only hope you're happy with your choice in the end. I only wanted to point out that there are a lot of factors that go into how a cue "plays for you" - and it can be disconcerting to find your ability to play at your normal speed hampered by an unexpected, protracted, adjustment period.
 
May very well be... My only point to you is that you can chase your tail (and your money) a lot buying "in the blind". What you do is up to you, and I only hope you're happy with your choice in the end. I only wanted to point out that there are a lot of factors that go into how a cue "plays for you" - and it can be disconcerting to find your ability to play at your normal speed hampered by an unexpected, protracted, adjustment period.

You are certainly right. As a golf instructor, I would never tell a student to buy a $400 driver without trying it. I guess my biggest concern is weight and tip diameter. I have played a 21 once with a 13mm all my life, certainly trying different options before I buy is a good idea. What would I expect from going to a smaller tip? My intial thinking would be less forgiving with more spin? What size tip do better players typically play?
 
I have a SouthWest cue I will sell you for 400.00 Oh, and its broke right before the handle :mad:

There are alot of custom cues out there..Alot of guys on here if you ask them first will offer a refund (minus shipping) if your not happy...ask them..hopefully you can try something out and find what your looking for :thumbup:
 
I have played a 21 once with a 13mm all my life, certainly trying different options before I buy is a good idea. What would I expect from going to a smaller tip? My intial thinking would be less forgiving with more spin? What size tip do better players typically play?[/QUOTE]

All a matter of preference, of course. The trend in recent years is toward lighter cues (18 to 19.5 oz) due to the faster equipment, and to a generally smaller tip - avg is probably at 12.8mm now. A lot of collectors still prefer 13mm, but I think that may be a resale standard issue. I've been playing with 12.75mm/18.8 - 19oz for quite some time (not that I matter), the $CASH$ cue I just got has 12.8mm shafts, and Dennis Searing told me his preference is 12.8mm. Coincidentally, I just had a converstaion with Dave Matlock last night about exactly these kind of preference changes - generally & thru the years personally. He uses a 12.75mm shaft & a cue weight about 18.5 oz, by the way.
I think you're probably spot on in your assessment of what to expect going to a smaller tip. The smaller the tip, the greater the required accuracy in tip position. As far as more spin is concerned... It may be more a matter of efficiency, type of tip, ferrule, taper, etc. Some matches are made in heaven, others not so much...
Best of luck!
 
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Can not go wrong with a McDermott, or Bryan Mordt SP., both in your Price RANGE May I make a suggestion.

Go to the House of Cues in Phoenix, they have about 300 CUES at all times, best part is they have a TEST TABLE, and you can try before you buy.
 
Just don't overthink this thing. Go to that Billiard seller with 300 cues and try a few, find one that feels good ,buy one, go home, play pool and call it a day. There is no magic cue that will greatly improve your game. It's still 98 % the arm thats stroking the cue. In fact you might consider a $200 cue and the rest in lessons or DVD's and books.
 
Try Before You Buy

Like mdavis228 said, everyone has different tastes in cues, not to mention taste can change. I use to love a Predator shaft, but then my stroke became lazy cuz it was so easy to put english, draw and follow on. I don't use those shafts anymore and now I concentrate on my stroke more and get better results.
I suggest trying the place CocoboloCowboy referred to if you are close enough, or post in the wanted section to find a local dealer who has some cues you could try. Best of luck to you.
 
I have a SouthWest cue I will sell you for 400.00 Oh, and its broke right before the handle :mad:

MAJOR bummer!

Yea...It wasnt mine though....I had been playing Danny Medina and we were watching David Matlock play a local guy some sets and David beat him out of 4500 and as the guy walked out of the pool hall he broke his cue and threw it out in the parking lot...I picked it up and it was shocked it was a SW...all I got was the 1 shaft with it though. This guy had 3 SW cues he played with. Anyway, its been sitting in a display case for years...
 
Nothin' like pickin' it up, shovin' it down your throat, and gaggin' on it after you step in it, huh?
Amazing...
 
Kind of hard to suggest a cue to you, because everyone has their pesonal preference for picking out a cue. If there happens to be a billiard store that sell cues, try and go test hit a variety of stuff in your price range. Many would recommend you many different cues, because there are a lot of cues in the $400 price range.

A person can tell you that a cue hits like a 4000watt subwoofer but when you get it, it hits like a tweeter, you might be a little dissapointed and have to go through the hassel of selling a cue and etc.

I would suggest with that high humidity, spend the money and get a dehumidifier in your game room and store your cues there in a case. That way you have a good place with lower humidity to store your cues and not have to worry about them as much. Taking from your post that you don't go out to shoot often and have to travel around with the cue in your car all the time.

That is the reason you purchased a cuetec, is because they are warp resistant. I don't blame you. Though I hate cuetecs, but I hate a U shape cue more.

For $400, there are a lot of Custom made sneaky petes and Plain Jane cues for sale in the for sale section. I dare not recommend much because I don't know what you would like but to go try out a bunch of cues. Good luck with your search and welcome to the forum buddy!

Happy shooting! :)

Chino
 
AZ member Shawn Armstrong is selling a McD D26 Retro w/ 3 shafts for $350. One shaft is 12.5mm & 2 I-2 shafts...
 
Well just to update, got to try several cues today. Lots of cues I liked, and I think I will be better off in a 19 oz cue. Like the McDermotts I hit, Meucci, Viking, much to my dismay I thought the best cue I hit was the Cuetec R360 though:mad: I was kind of hoping I would like something better, as stated I have been playing an all fiberglass Cuetec for about 15 years now. The R360 for the $$$ seems pretty tough to beat to me. One guy I talked to said he doesn't think there is a better cue under $500 than this and its only about $240.:confused:
 
Not wanting to be a dick, by all means play with the cuetec. No objections there, but if the guy you talk to says there isn't much better than the cuetec R360 series cue for under $500, than my man, he must no only be a complete idiot but also the guy that works in the store. lol

There are plenty of cues out there for $500 would be much better than the R360, but of course this is JMHO. IIRC, the R360 shaft doesn't have the fiberglass bonding on the outside, but the construction on the inside would prevent warpage as well. So in your position having to deal with hight humidity, this wouldn't be a bad choice.

Here are some I would like to suggest that comes with LD lamainated shafts:

OB Cues

Predator Sneaky Pete

Sneakiest Pete Cues with premium shafts

these are a few that I would definitely pick over the Cuetec R360, but like I said, these are MHO, an if you have hit with the R360 and likes it, buy it. It is you that would be shooting with it for a bit of time, not us, so go with something you like. I am just here suggesting some other options for you that I would go with. :)

Good luck on the search and buy, and maybe one of the dealers on here like KOINKID or BAMACUE can recommend you to something they have in stock for a $$$ range of your preference. I remember Bamacue had a Phillipi for sale at one point of time for under $500 and I hate myself for being a broke college kid.

Chino
 
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I would check out samsara bar cues I have one it's bacote .I'ts a lot of cue for the money really it is. Plus you could always pick up a ob or preditor shaft for it . I would suggest the radial pin.No B/S this cue hits realy good.
check them out www.samsaracues.com;)
 
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