How should a sneky pete play?

rvan

rvan

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ha all i just got my sneaky Pete from my local cue maker and i am so disappointed with it! It looks good but the play is not their.
Should it play like a custom or like a one piece? Ive hit a lot of cues and i think sneaky should hit like a one piece with some custom in it.
Any comments will help am going to try my guy one more time .
Thanks Rvan.
 
Theoretically...

If he cut and jointed a house cue, it should play about the same as it did before the work—if he made a completely new shaft for a house cue butt, you should expect it to play a lot like the custom cues he builds. Given sound construction, a lot of the "hit" is in the tip and ferrule, then the shaft wood and taper start to come into play, so I'd look there first.

Ken
 
Slider said:
Theoretically...

If he cut and jointed a house cue, it should play about the same as it did before the work—if he made a completely new shaft for a house cue butt, you should expect it to play a lot like the custom cues he builds. Given sound construction, a lot of the "hit" is in the tip and ferrule, then the shaft wood and taper start to come into play, so I'd look there first.

Ken
Click to expand...
I agree with your explanation and i'd like to stress that the shaft is the main part of the play as long as it's attached with a good sound joint (flat faced or piloted). I have a sneaky pete cue with a predator shaft matched to it and I love the way it plays. As long as the butt is good solid wood with a good joint the hit and play will be determined by the type of shaft, ferrule, & tip you are using. You may like the hit of a cue and I might hate it and it's all up to what suits your style of play.
 
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THanks I guess I dont like the way he makes his cues to much.
Thanks.
 
If you really want to deal with him because he's local, maybe you could talk to him about doing a custom taper on the shafts he makes for you, and adding whatever tip and ferrule you prefer?

Not sure what kind of taper you like, but I know that I like a stiffer taper, so my shafts are always at or around 13mm and increase in width more rapidly than most production shafts (i.e. - Predator, Viking, McDermott, etc.), and even custom shafts. As my fingers trace the wood back toward the joint, it gets fatter quicker than most shafts...

Not sure if I'm illustrating it correctly there?

But anyways, if you like a particular cue of yours, or you've got a friend who's got a cue that plays to your liking, you should be able to take the shaft over there (assuming that's what you like about it) and sort of have him "copy" it: create the same taper on the shaft he's making in an effort to make them "feel" and respond similarly...

And he could install the same tip and ferrule, too, I guess. All depends on what you want...
 
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rvan said:
Ha all i just got my sneaky Pete from my local cue maker and i am so disappointed with it! It looks good but the play is not their.
Should it play like a custom or like a one piece? Ive hit a lot of cues and i think sneaky should hit like a one piece with some custom in it.
Any comments will help am going to try my guy one more time .
Thanks Rvan.
Click to expand...
Did he make the butt too skinny?
What kind of joint collar?
Can describe the feel of the cue when hitting?
Too soft?
 
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It can be difficult...

"Hit" is such a subjective thing that it is really difficult to hold a cuemaker "accountable" for a hit you don't like. As Joey stated, can you describe the hit of the cue? What is it that you don't like? What kind of cue have you been playing with? What is different in the sneaky pete from the cue that you use that you like, ie, joint, ferrule, tip, taper, etc? You need to address as many things as you can about what you "like" in a cue to the cuemaker, otherwise, it is subject to fall beneath your expectaions....but the next guy may love it.
Joe
 
Well

I have a Sneaky Pete made by a local cuemaker, was $190 new with SS joint
( a few years back), and when I play with it, I am always saying to myself, 'This cue plays like a $800 cue'. The balance and feel of it is exactly right.

That's a good one.
 
My local cue maker, Uncle Larry, makes sneaky pete from one piece Lucasi cue. He adds the joint pin, collar and retapers the shaft and sells it for around $100. I think, personally, it's best bang for the buck out there. He chose Lucasi over others such as Players as he think it's most consistent one piece he can find for the money.
 
Jazz said:
My local cue maker, Uncle Larry, makes sneaky pete from one piece Lucasi cue. He adds the joint pin, collar and retapers the shaft and sells it for around $100. I think, personally, it's best bang for the buck out there. He chose Lucasi over others such as Players as he think it's most consistent one piece he can find for the money.
Click to expand...
Huh?:confused: Most Lucasi one piecers I have seen are actually permanately pinned 2 piecers. Hard to cut those in half
 
I have a very old Meucci with an extremely long pro taper and a 13mm tip. I think it's a Le Pro. It was the dead nuts in it's day but with Simonis cloth it squirts a little...a little more than I like.

The best SP that I ever handled, IMHO, was a Scruggs with a piloted 5/16X14 pin IIRC. That cue had an unmarked wood to wood joint, and an ivory ferrule. It had a fairly hard but dead solid hit. The taper was quite long as well but it played like you'd expect a Scruggs to play. Now his ex employee/partner, Bob Frey, makes them with a linen fiber joint collar and a 3/8X10 pin I believe. The linen joint is to combat the pin breaking through the shaft wood when the cue bends on the break. The different pin supposedly provides a nicer hit, but I have my doubts coz the original was as good a hit as I've ever felt on a sneaky.

Does anyone think that one of Frey's SP cues, made to my specs @ 59", with a 12.75mm tip, 19.5 oz, and an ivory ferrule with a Moori medium, would be worth $450 ? I'm sure it would hit a ton, and feel perfect, but that's a lot of cash and I have other cues that I can use in the bars. I'm almost always in the poolroom with my custom player cues.

Hope I didn't hijack this thread, but we're talking sneaky petes here :o ...Tom
 
Those old sneakys you refer to were made for Scruggs by his partner. One of the best playing sneakys around. As for the $450,look for another old Scruggs,or the sister cue ,a McDaniel MacAttack.
 
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I guess I didn't make myself clear enough. Bob Frey, Tim's old partner who made the sneakys at Scruggs years ago, makes them still and sells them here http://www.cuesnthings.com/cues/sneakypete/ My only hesitation is the price. The taper is actually more modern, suitable for Simonis cloth. Thanks for your comment...Tom
 
You were clear,just a little known history lesson on old Scruggs sneakys,Bill's shop made 'em for him out of Schmelke blanks. The Black Boars that his shop made played great too.
 
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scruggs and frey

i can tell you from experience and it is my opinion that a frey and a scruggs s/p play nothing alike. i have had 2 side by side and let other people try the and they agree. just an opinion but i feel very stong toward it.
 
buck15 said:
i can tell you from experience and it is my opinion that a frey and a scruggs s/p play nothing alike. i have had 2 side by side and let other people try the and they agree. just an opinion but i feel very stong toward it.
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Do they have the same taper?
The ferrules on the old Scruggs are no longer the same as the new version.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Do they have the same taper?
The ferrules on the old Scruggs are no longer the same as the new version.
Click to expand...

I hear Joey's not so sneakie play jams up ..

Jazz <-- will stoop down to kissing some A**
 
buck15 said:
i can tell you from experience and it is my opinion that a frey and a scruggs s/p play nothing alike. i have had 2 side by side and let other people try the and they agree. just an opinion but i feel very stong toward it.
Click to expand...

I'd like to ask Bob Frey to comment on that. Maybe because the old Scruggs had a very long taper, which was appropriate for the equipment of the day. Those shafts would have a lot of deflection today I believe, primarily due to Simonis cloth. The wood and the taper, joint and ferrule/tip could be duplicated. I'll bet this is a frequent topic on the phone for Bob Frey...Tom
 
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