I would like cue makers opinion

ICUE

ICUE

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This question has been in my head for awhile and I wanted to know what you guys think. If, from what little I know, a large percentage of the hit of a cue comes from the shaft construction, tip, ferrule, shaft wood. Then would it stand to reason if you put a predator, OB, or southwest shaft on any cue butt that fit, that you would essentially be playing that cue other than the look and weight, balance factor.
 
Imho.....

I believe that to be "essentially" true. However, wood types and construction technique for the butt section will make "some" difference.

I had that exact situation occur when the butt section of my playing cue was damaged. I just changed to one of the other cues I had made. Although I strive for the same "hit" with all my cues, it just didn't quite feel the same. So, I screwed the old shaft to the new butt and it was as if I was playing with my old cue.
 
I'm of the belief that everything in a cue is equally important. Think of it this way. We all build our shafts using maple. We all have the same basic adhesives. Our tapers only vary minimally. We all have the same ferrule materials to choose from, as with tips. Why don't all cues hit & feel very much the same way since they are all very much alike?

Take the bumper out of the cue you are playing with & then go play. You'll notice a difference. It'll be like a different cue. That's 100% opposite end of the tip and it still matters that much. It is the component furthest away from the cueball and it alters the cue's dynamics enough to notice. So why wouldn't anything else in between matter equally as much? Just food for thought. My opinion is that everything is important, and by neglecting any one seemingly insigificant part of the build can and will adversely affect the cue's dynamics. Attention to detail & quality must be given to EVERY aspect of a cue.
 
I've had very different experience. I'm not a maker, I just hit with 'em. I made the mistake at one time of thinking I could have 314 shaft blanks fit for a radial pin cue & expect pretty much exactly the same performance - I didn't say hit, feel, etc... I said performance - as in deflection/accuracy characteristics - as using 314's on a piloted 314 SS joint. Same shafts, taper, length, tip, etc... just a different joint pin & collar.
Boy did I get a wrong number. Was such a large difference in deflection characteristics I never did get comfortable playing with those cues. If I'd wanted to spend the time "getting used" to playing with them I could have - but life's too short.
I waited over a year & a half for two custom players & a jb from a very good maker, at a total cost of about $6k, and wound up selling them all.
I'm a piloted 5/16-14 guy. Everything about the build of a cue affects hit, feel, AND performance - including the butt construction AND the joint type.
I was pleased to find that the beliefs from my own personal experience in joint pins, etc, was precisely confirmed in discussions with Dennis Searing, beyond what I was seeing over & over in sharing shafts between various cue butts that I have come to have built to a pretty close range of dimensions - and all with 5/16-14 piloted joints.
 
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A lot have been said here, but a small comment from me ;

I have tested the same shaft with the same joint on different butt sections /cues
and for sure there is differences which is noticeable for the me as a player...
Many say - "it's the shaft" which makes the difference but my personal experience
is as mentioned earlier - that the whole cue makes a symphony of feelings
fed back through your hands.

I have a customer which owns a well known and highly respected US cue. He wanted
to change the SS collar around the joint screw and came to me. Since I own the
same brand I contacted the company directly to hear if this was something they
could do - so I did not create a "oddball" cue. The feedback was : "no I would
not do this conversion because it does not change the hit.....:confused:"

A strange feedback I have to say - when you make cues.
Anyway - just my view on this...

K
 
qbilder said:
I'm of the belief that everything in a cue is equally important. Think of it this way. We all build our shafts using maple. We all have the same basic adhesives. Our tapers only vary minimally. We all have the same ferrule materials to choose from, as with tips. Why don't all cues hit & feel very much the same way since they are all very much alike?

Take the bumper out of the cue you are playing with & then go play. You'll notice a difference. It'll be like a different cue. That's 100% opposite end of the tip and it still matters that much. It is the component furthest away from the cueball and it alters the cue's dynamics enough to notice. So why wouldn't anything else in between matter equally as much? Just food for thought. My opinion is that everything is important, and by neglecting any one seemingly insigificant part of the build can and will adversely affect the cue's dynamics. Attention to detail & quality must be given to EVERY aspect of a cue.
Click to expand...

Wow, I've always felt that way but this is well said. I think that is exactly why similar playing cues (4 or 5 ebony into BEM points, ebony butt sleeve, s/s joint, ivory ferrule, delrin butt cap) from different makers can all offer a different "hit".

BTW, I'm not a cue maker and am not meaning to offer the OP a layman's opinion in this forum. I'll leave that to the guys that build cues. Just agreeing with Eric's post.
 
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I just wanted to thank everyone for their thoughtfull responses
 
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