I need help choosing a custom cue

jshea1212

jshea1212

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If your reading this I appreciate your time. I'm looking to get a custom cue, one that is already out there for sale. I was really impressed with Adrien Carmeli's cues and originally wanted one of his. Then I saw this Beautiful Kent Davis that blew me away.
Would you please give me some advise of
1) Play ability/ Hit
2) Resale value
I normally shoot with a predator Radial pin and Z2 shaft.
I have $2000 / $2500 I want to spend
Thanks
Jarett
 
jshea1212 said:
If your reading this I appreciate your time. I'm looking to get a custom cue, one that is already out there for sale. I was really impressed with Adrien Carmeli's cues and originally wanted one of his. Then I saw this Beautiful Kent Davis that blew me away.
Would you please give me some advise of
1) Play ability/ Hit
2) Resale value
I normally shoot with a predator Radial pin and Z2 shaft.
I have $2000 / $2500 I want to spend
Thanks
Jarett
Click to expand...

I don't care for the hit of arial carmeli cues. Shafts felt hollow to me when I tried it. They look great tho
 
I shot with a friends carmeli and was pretty impressed. Some makers have a lot of consistency from cue to cue, maybe carmeli doesn't. His shaft didn't feel allow at all. Never hit with. Kent Davis but I hear good things. If you buy used and buy right you should not have much issue with resale. I think there is a lot more of a price drop from new to used with AC but as I said, if the cue already took the hit, you will he fine. They both give you a lot of cue for the money.

Just curious why limited to those makers? Also you can get a real nice cue from either closer to $1,000-1500 used too.
 
Get a Lambros or a BD both make great L.D shafts that's what ur used too :thumbup::thumbup:
 
poolplayer2093 said:
I don't care for the hit of arial carmeli cues. Shafts felt hollow to me when I tried it. They look great tho
Click to expand...

He shoots with a z2, you would think hollow is what he would like....

I have played with a carmeli and thought it played very well. Good choice imo for the money, especially on the used market.

Are you looking for an elaborate piece with inlays, or a simple player with nice wood selection?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 
Busboy said:
Get a Lambros or a BD both make great L.D shafts that's what ur used too :thumbup::thumbup:
Click to expand...

Please put me in the camp that think Lambros' standard shafts are better than his LD shafts and the LD shafts are not move lower than his standard shafts.

TBS, OP would not go wrong buying a Lambros.
 
Here's you dilemma but it's a good one.

For a budget in your upper range of $2500, you can get a lot of cue......probably cues that were listing for $700-800 more a year or so ago. You can can some deals if you find the right seller.

So what's your dilemma? Way too many choices and you're gonna get way too many opinions.
You have to decide if you want a cue from one of the great master cue-makers who's not longer making cues or from some contemporaneous cue-maker and then do you go with an established name or a newbie?

You have to try and place with the cue made by the cue-maker but sometimes that's not possible. Remember that advice is valueless until you pay to get it and when it's bad, you suffer the consequences.

Here are some established cue-makers you'd like........Chris Nitti, Steve Klein, Leon Sly, Jerry Rauenzahn, Bob Owen, Robert Harris, Kenny Murrell, Richard Black, Bob Runde and these cue-makers are still active and kickin' ass with killer cues.

Retired/deceased cue-makers.......I'd aim for a Tim Scruggs, Bill Stroud, Verl Horn, Paul Mottey cue.

And as far a newbie cue-makers, I think you should consider Eddie Cohen who make you just about anything you like. I think he's going to be a star cue-maker in the future and he probably has some cues right now that cost less than your $2500 max budget. So that's your dilemma.........

I went with Bob Owen and he's making my custom but you have to be prepared to wait. From start to finish, the cue will probably be 10-11 months lead time but the design was a little complicated. Cues probably typically do not take that long unless you go to someone terribly backlogged. But backlogs are a good sign that the cue-maker is popular but if the backlog doesn't move and advance, it's a sure sign you're going to get screwed. The bad cue-makers are known on the Forum and none of the names I mentioned are such.

Contact Eddie Cohen a call........do a search for "Cohen Cues" and look at the beauties he made. Heck, you could get the MOP cue he had which was spectacular.........I'm telling you that cue is a winner........I might still get it because it's a honey........if he doesn't have that cue any longer, he'll make you one.

Good Luck,

Matt B.
 
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If you are serious about your game....Try a Blackcreek..His shafts have a great taper and are dead nuts straight.
 
Playability is subjective to your abilities as a player. If you're happy playing with a predator z, you may have some work to do in adapting to most custom cues unless you stick a z shaft on it - imho would defeat the purpose of owning a custom.

I'd agree with other posters that a Lambros would be up your alley if your intent is to find a custom which you would best play with in an unadulterated condition. Good luck with your search on your first custom! :thumbup:
 
jshea1212 said:
If your reading this I appreciate your time. I'm looking to get a custom cue, one that is already out there for sale. I was really impressed with Adrien Carmeli's cues and originally wanted one of his. Then I saw this Beautiful Kent Davis that blew me away.
Would you please give me some advise of
1) Play ability/ Hit
2) Resale value
I normally shoot with a predator Radial pin and Z2 shaft.
I have $2000 / $2500 I want to spend
Thanks
Jarett
Click to expand...

Kent really seems to be doing great work these days. I also like his cues. For both guys you get a lot of cue for the money. Kent is a good player too - so he knows something about playability.

Resale is just average for Kent's and Ariel cues - so don't plan on selling it. Buy smart and it will be easier to recoup. I would stick with the Z2 and have one adapted to your new cue by the cue maker of your choice. You also might want to try the Tiger Pro X - it plays similar to the Z2 with a little better consistency and control in my opinion. I can play interchangeably between the Pro X and Z 2 but like the Pro X a lot better. I don't know if you're near Burbank, but you can try one out at Tiger or at Corey Harper's place in Pasadena.

I currently play with a JossWest with a Tiger Pro X - love it. No more experimenting for me, I have two identical shafts and I'm all set.
 
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If you can work a deal for the Tascarella, jump on it....forget Eddie Cohen and what I said.......you can always get a Cohen cue later on but a Tascarella priced like this doesn't come along often..........buy it.
 
I forgot to mention Kenny Murrell. His short ferruled modified European taper plays pretty sporty with lower deflection. Definitely a better choice for resale value as well, Kenny builds one solid cue with great attention to detail.
 
Wow, I hadn't realized that Rob Harris and Kenny Murrell were so well-known. I see both of those guys on a weekly basis since they're local to Panama City. I just joked with Kenny the other day that I had $200 burning a hole in my pocket for him to make a cue for me. He replied "maybe I can do a joint protector for that."
 
I would suggest you only buy with a 100% money back guarantee. That if you are not satisfied after 7 days you can return the cue for a full refund minus shipping cost and any damage repairs to the cue.
 
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