Help me pick my player

[K Knight]

Recently I upgraded from an old Ray Schuler to a Cognoscenti. I liked the feel of the cog but still haven't fully made the transition to where I trust the stick and my leaves. I entered a couple raffles with the hopes that if I won one I could sell the stick and offset the cost of the cog. I won this raffle and got the stick yesterday.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=182388

I played with it yesterday and ran my first two racks. It's a great hit and there's virtually no deflection with one tip's english. Loved how the cue played and now I'm considering making it my everyday player.

The questions I have are.

1. Since this cue has a cored center as opposed to a solid piece of ebony am I at greater risk of warping or cracking as the cue gets exposed to temp and humidity changes (I live in Chicago and we have a lot of both)

2. I know the cog will not change too much in resale value, but the Al Bautista could go up or down, (but since it is a player and not a collector I'm not too concerned about this).

3. The Al Bautista has Kamui brown tips, and the cog has some older non-layered tips. Should I have the cog tips changed prior to making this decision so I'm comparing apples to apples?

I'm not sure what I'm looking for here, maybe just a different perspective...

 

[SidePocket09]

If you are useing it as a player use what you are most comfrotable with and play the best with. The tip will make a big differance, however if you are looking at it from an investment standpoint the cog is the way to go. Personally I would change the tips on the cog before making any decission.