hitting before you buy

E

enzo

Banned
buying cues is tough, my last 3 cues have been bought without trying them first. i hate this! am i alone? jim buss was willing to let me hit with it, and if i was unsatisfied, he would have let me return the cue. dz also worked with me, he was exceptional. many cuemakers, one or two of which ill be happy to name, did not seem to want to work with me at all when it came to this (even despite one of them labling themselevs as "players cues"). is this an unreasonable request, i suspect it may be.

my question: what percentage (approximately) of the cues you've bought have you "hit with" before you purchased them?

i'll start, ive had 9 cues and hit with 6 of them before i bought:

66% hit with before i purchased
 
I haven't hit with a cue before buying in quite a while. That's one of the luxuries you give up when you custom order from the cuemaker. I can see both sides of a cuemaker offering something like satisfaction guaranteed. That being said, if it's something out of the ordinary that would have a hard time selling then I can see them not offering to try before buy.
 
I realize that I am not answering the question you asked, as I have never bought a cue from a cuemaker, but I would like to say that I am not surprised Jim Buss is willing to let you hit with the cue before you buy it. I have known Jim for years, and he has always treated me with the highest degree of professional respect and courtesy. I just wanted to give Jim some publice support and encourage you to use him, if you weren't sure.

kollegedave

enzo said:
buying cues is tough, my last 3 cues have been bought without trying them first. i hate this! am i alone? jim buss was willing to let me hit with it, and if i was unsatisfied, he would have let me return the cue. dz also worked with me, he was exceptional. many cuemakers, one or two of which ill be happy to name, did not seem to want to work with me at all when it came to this (even despite one of them labling themselevs as "players cues"). is this an unreasonable request, i suspect it may be.

my question: what percentage (approximately) of the cues you've bought have you "hit with" before you purchased them?

i'll start, ive had 9 cues and hit with 6 of them before i bought:

66% hit with before i purchased
Click to expand...
 
Enzo-
I read your post quite clearly and I also read your PM. My response was valid. If you want to buy a cue, hit with it. If you can't hit with it, find out from others who have how it hits. Ask around. Do some research. Read up. Do whatever you can to find out how the cue may hit.

The beauty of online forums such as this one is that people come together to share thoughts, ideas, and opinions. In this case, all you would need to do is ask people what they think of the X-breaker. Ask them how it might stack up to other cues like the Predator BK2 or the Sledgehammer or the Stinger, etc... Ask people why they like it and why they don't. If there are articles out there, read them. Comparisons? Read them too. Then, see if there is anyone out there who may have one and WILL let you hit with it.

In the past, I have gambled a little and have purchased only two of the number of cues I have had over the years without having ever hit with them or another cue by the same maker. But it was only done after reading a little about the cuemaker and hearing raves about them and their work.

So, does this seem to answer your question?
 
Enzo wrote:
> my question: what percentage (approximately) of the cues
> you've bought have you "hit with" before you purchased them?


I currently have three cues. One that I hit with for an afternoon before purchasing, the other one I won playing (as a kid I was good ;^)

Before getting the third one, which is now my main cue, I went to our local billiard dealer and for a couple of days played with everything they had, taking notes to try figure out what I wanted. Then I went ahead and ordered it from Longoni and had Richard Chudy to modify it further to my spec (euro taper, shorter ferrule, etc.).

-- peer
 
When I was into collecting cues I bought the vast majority of the cues without hitting with them. Its been both ways for me on my playing cues.

Current cue (80s Gus) didnt hit with it. Mark K. from Classic cues told me it hit jamup and sure enough it did.

previous cue (late 60s Joss) hit with it before buying. Would not have bought this cue unless the hit wasnt so sweet. Had to hit jamup to make me put down the Southwest.

prior to that (1990s JF southwest) did not hit with it. Seller told me it hit great and he wasnt lying.

prior to that was a Mottey that I hit with prior to buying.
 
Hit before you buy ?

Enzo --
Depending on your location, access to a variety of brands can be very tough . My own corner of the Mid-West is very limited as far as dealers and cuemakers allowing test hits with anything other than low to mid production cues.

I've had great luck with Indy-Q, Profecient Billiards, ebay, Cues-n-things, Tim Scruggs and Andy Gilbert. Have been buying new or near mint cues. Had very few disappointments luckily but re-sold a few locally or on ebay to break even. AZB members have helped point me in the right direction.

Would think very few custom makers would build according to your own specs and then offer you the chance to turn it down. Re-selling your ordered purpleheart 3 pointer, 11mm with a MOP naked lady might be tough to move! :rolleyes:
 
100% I think.

Used Huebler...tried out first
Tim Scruggs Sneaky Petes...tried out both first
Jacoby custom cue...had it made for me. I tried it out before I paid for it at least. David backs up his cues 100%.
Three other Jacobys I tried out first (just got a new one at DCC)
Jim Buss...tried out first (backs up his work 100%)
Sledgehammer...yep
Viking cue...tried out first
I am looking into a Jerry McWorter cue now. It will probably be the first cue I pay for without shooting with first. But I hear his cues hit good anyhow. So I am not worried.
 
Last edited:
Buying cues

What if you receive it, and the hit is okay, but the balance is different than
what you expected? Do you keep it, or sell it?
 
I think like 900%...

I shot with about 9 cues at a place until I bought the one I have(only have bought one cue).
 
If it is a production cue that we have in stock we let our customers hit any cue they would like to try. Custom cues on the other hand are a different animal as well as special order...you need to do your own homework for these.
 
Cues are such a personal thing. I can't imagine buying one without hitting a few balls first. If a cue doesn't feel perfect immediately I don't want it.
 
Hitting with cues before purchase

I have purchased 3 cues and only one I was allowed to hit with. So that is 33% of my cues I guess.

There were actually 2 stores that allowed me to hit with the cues before purchase. One store allowed me to use chalk but the other store did not. The store that allowed me to use chalk seemed to take more time asking me questions and spent more time with me as a customer. They were very helpful. The only downside is that the cue cost more than it would have at another store or online. But for the service it was well worth the extra money. I will only buy future cues from them, even if I have to pay a little more, because they understood what I was looking for as a customer (even if I was not 100% sure!).

Vicdotcom
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top