How should a cue hit? What sound should it Make?

skierlawyer

skierlawyer

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am curious how you would describe what you are looking for in the hit and sound of a cue. I've hit with tons of cues and can feel and hear the differences. What is ideal? Some cues have a ping to them that sounds almost like a metallic ring. Some sound like hitting a 2x4. Some sound a little glassy. Some sound like a wood ping. Some have almost a crack sound. What type of harmonic is associated with the best hitting cues?
 
Whatever sounds and feels good to you. I don't believe that there is a universal consensus.
 
skierlawyer said:
I am curious how you would describe what you are looking for in the hit and sound of a cue. I've hit with tons of cues and can feel and hear the differences. What is ideal? Some cues have a ping to them that sounds almost like a metallic ring. Some sound like hitting a 2x4. Some sound a little glassy. Some sound like a wood ping. Some have almost a crack sound. What type of harmonic is associated with the best hitting cues?
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A Minor.....
 
hdgis1 said:
A Minor.....
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:thumbup:

the hit of a cue is like the sound of an old hammond B3 tonewheel organ : an unique sound, which is the unique result of a mix of harmonics ( each B3 organ has his own sound, even the year of product is the same, the leslie used is the same, same registration... extremely complex) :p
and in this hit/cue sound, a high source of sound is the tip ...
 
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The cueball should move around well if stroked right and your grip hand should tell you how you hit the ball.
 
Hi,

Many different permutations concerning this subject of hit.

Most is subjective to an individual's own thoughts and ideas of what the hit should be.

Rick G
 
The perfect hitting cue executes the shot exactly as you had imagined, and feels exactly how you would want it to feel. When you find this cue, don't sell it, or you'll regret it the rest of your life. In fact, don't change the tip, ferrule, bumper, or anything else. Just enjoy it. :)
 
Ding!

Beautiful music.
My cue sounded like that once but I put on a different tip and it was OK.
Mr Hoppe has it nailed.
Robin
 
How should a cue hit? What sound should it Make?

Like a bunch of others,I believe that the noise the cue makes when things come together just right isn't as much of a "noise" as it is a musical quality.

If you know anything about guitars,it's the difference between a copy of a Les Paul and a real-deal '59 flametop.

The components don't really even matter either,to an extent. I've heard purpleheart SW's ping rather loudly,etc. I've hit balls with a Szam with original ivory ferrules and a steel joint that was somehow nearly silent,which is great if you don't like a noisy cue,but as bad as this may sound that Szam was in fact a DOG. It felt like something wasn't right.

I know people that confuse this musical note a great hitting cue makes with a "junk" noise,like the noise you hear when a cue has a crappy tip,loose ferrule,or a loose weight bolt.

I've personally never hit a ball with a truly great playing cue that DIDN'T have somewhat of a musical quality to the sound. This covers wood combinations that looked like crap,different construction techniques,joint types,etc.

Maybe I'm wrong,but I don't think you can make a truly great player without this musical quality. Tommy D.
 
The best hitting cue I ever hit was an Ernie Martinez merry widow. It had a very satisfying wood ping sound. I didn't want to ever stop playing when it was in my hands. I tried like hell to buy it but it wasn't for sale. It had so much feel to it, and power and control all at once. I felt like I couldn't miss and could put the cue ball anywhere. I have an Ernie that is awesome, but mine is quieter and so its a little less satisfying even though it plays fantastically. Ernie is building me another cue now, and I asked if he could make it have that ping and he said there's no way to tell and that all his cues play pretty similar. He did say that he knows what I'm talking about and that some of his customers complain when the cue pings. I KNOW its all subjective, but I was curious what the cuemaker's take was. Most cues today all play great but a rare few feel magical.
 
Whatever sounds and feels good to you thats why there are so many diffrent sounds and feels to choose from we all like diffrent things.

For me a solid hit with a nice vibration (feel) in your back hand is key.
 
If its a Longoni cue or made in Italy, it should sound like this.
Bada Bing, Bada Boom. Maybe thats strictly Brooklyn Italian.

If its made in Poland, it should have a more definite Pingski sound.

If its me shooting, it would be more of an after effect, kind of like an echo.
It might sound like this: Aww crap.

But seriously, like I ever am. It can depend on a lot of things. I have a Dale Perry cue that makes a nice tink sound.
I like that one. It can also sound like a crack. It can be muffled or nothing at all.

The sound you get may have to do with many factors from the shaft wood, maybe even the taper to a small degree when mixed in with the rest, the type of joint and material used. The ferrule material, size, and the tip itself. Also, the amount of weight in any given shot can change the sound characteristics.

Hope this helps or at least given you a small chuckle.
 
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The hit

Hi,
Interesting topic...

I'm the best one pocket player in the area, and my friend the best nineball player. We make fun of each others cues / hits / sounds etc. I of course like mine, he of course likes his. they differ greatly, and we both swear by our own. I find this funny, and I always thought to myself I had the perfect hitting cue, my friend laughs and says the same thing.
I guess it's like a woman, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
I will tell you this. Some cues / shafts/ tips ferrules, will spin more or less than others. Some will have a softer sound and some high pitched. I happen to like a cue that helps me when Im dogging it. In other words if I want to draw the ball two feet and I choke, it still comes back 1 1/2 feet and I at least have some kind of shot. Or maybe it's in my head???
Good Luck
JerseyBill
 
JerseyBill said:
Hi,
Interesting topic...

I'm the best one pocket player in the area, and my friend the best nineball player. We make fun of each others cues / hits / sounds etc. I of course like mine, he of course likes his. they differ greatly, and we both swear by our own. I find this funny, and I always thought to myself I had the perfect hitting cue, my friend laughs and says the same thing.
I guess it's like a woman, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
I will tell you this. Some cues / shafts/ tips ferrules, will spin more or less than others. Some will have a softer sound and some high pitched. I happen to like a cue that helps me when Im dogging it. In other words if I want to draw the ball two feet and I choke, it still comes back 1 1/2 feet and I at least have some kind of shot. Or maybe it's in my head???
Good Luck
JerseyBill
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for curiousity sake
what cue/tip/joint/wt do you and your friend play with??
you can pm me if you wish
 
Mr Hoppe said:
The perfect hitting cue executes the shot exactly as you had imagined, and feels exactly how you would want it to feel. When you find this cue, don't sell it, or you'll regret it the rest of your life. In fact, don't change the tip, ferrule, bumper, or anything else. Just enjoy it. :)
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If someone is lucky enough to find this cue the above advice is perfect.
I once built a cue for someone to his unusual specs. He just thought the hit and feel was okay. Then I built him another shaft to my specs and my standard tip and he loved the cue. Then he had his repair guy in his pool room put another tip on and he shortly after quit playing with the cue. I asked him why he had quit playing with the cue and he told me it just didn't feel right anymore. He kind of felt the shaft was breaking down or something. Then I found out he had someone else install another tip and I got him to let me put the original type of tip back on and he once again loved the cue. This was a lower pro level player.

Now to answer the questions:

The sound of the cue probably has the least to do with the actual hit, but still makes it or breaks it for some players. I have seen noisy pingy sounding cues that could draw and spin the cue ball incredibly well. But that is usually not the case with the pingy sounding cues. Most of them have a lot of hard materials in the cue like stainless joints, Ivory ferrules, hard tips and so on. Most people need a very straight stroke to get good consistent cueball action with that type of cue. The softer sounding cues often have a lot of softer materials in the cue that can work like a spring and give more cue ball action. Example: Meucci and Predator ferrules. My personal preference is something in between using medium hard materials which give a little sound, but not loud and pingy, and also still produce plenty of cue ball action, but not so much that it is not controllable.
 
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Mr Hoppe said:
The perfect hitting cue executes the shot exactly as you had imagined, and feels exactly how you would want it to feel. When you find this cue, don't sell it, or you'll regret it the rest of your life. In fact, don't change the tip, ferrule, bumper, or anything else. Just enjoy it. :)
Click to expand...

As with Chris I pretty much agree with this. If a cue does exactly what you intended it to do and you can repeat it than great. Part of my thinking of cues is how much work does the cue do? In other words how hard do I have to hit the cue ball to get the reaction I am looking for? Is the energy of striking the cue ball being lost to vibrations in the cue? Does the cue break down the harder I hit the cue ball? Can I slow my arm speed down and get the cue ball to travel further than with another cue?
The other day had a new customer come see me about one of my laminated shafts for his McD. He was used to shooting fairly soft with his cue and got little action on the cue ball. We screwed one of my shafts on his cue and with the same stroke speed the cue ball speed increased but the butt of the cue had so much vibration in it that your could feel each shot up to your elbow it seemed. So we screwed the shaft back onto the laminated butt it had come off of and he hit the cue ball again. Cue ball speed was better, no vibration up to your wrist. He immediately had more confidence in his stroke and started moving the cue ball around.
So, if a cue can not make a shot that, at whatever your skill level is, you can make with another cue - move on. If you find a cue that can make every type of shot you intend - keep it. The sound it makes hitting the cue ball is not nearly as important as the sound of the object ball hitting the back of the pocket and getting perfect shape for the next shot.
 
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