I had the chance to hit with one of Ernie's cues last night. It was a basic cue with 5 points, black, green, black, natural veneers, BEM nose, and ebony butt. The joint is SS 5/16 18 thread and the shaft has an ivory ferrule. The taper is a long pro taper.
I found that the cue had excellent balance and a solid hit. Feedback was good and you felt confident while stroking shots. My impression was that Ernie builds one heck of a nice cue. I could own this cue and be perfectly happy.
The workmanship was amazing for a simple cue. All 5 of the inner and outer points liked up perfectly. This does not sound like a big deal, but, look at many top tier 4 pt cues and see how many of those points match up perfectly.
I have a high end Gina cue listed right now for sale that I would buy for myself if I had the money. I have no problem saying that it is hard to go wrong with one of Ernie's cues, top shelf all the way!