It never ceases to amaze me how people worship a nice butt.
- Thread starter Inferno
- Start date
Good post. I don't think the owner of the greatest-hitting shaft in the world would be overly enthusiastic about it if it was screwed down onto a mop handle.
I've owned butts in my past that just flat could not get it done, even coupled with the best shaft I owned. I no longer own those butts.
FTR, I experiment way more with tips than I ever have shafts/butts, and I can say, at least in my case, money was not a factor in this. I can afford and own many different types of shafts, standard maple and LD's. IMO, the tip IS the biggest factor in how your cue is going to perform for you.
Maniac
Yea.....
Thats why I only take pictures of my car engine and under carriage!
Thats why I only take pictures of my car engine and under carriage!
I'm not disagreeing at all but more questioning how a person can justify buying a player cue without feeling it.
In my original post I mentioned how the butt has the weight and balance but just because it says 19.5 ounces (I picked a random number) doesn't mean it plays like another 19.5 ounce cue. In fact, I've tested many cues side by side and even had a scale there to help. It came down to the balance. If it's balanced properly a 21 ounce cue can feel like a 19.
So, if picking a cue, it doesn't make ANY sense to buy one online unless you A) are just looking to have a trophy in your case, B) Don't have that tight of a game, C) Are replacing a butt that was damaged with an exact replica
At least that's how my logic plays out.
A lot of cues were purchased without trying them well before the advent of the internet.
Spain, Balabushka, Martin,Tad, Gina, Gus, Stroud/Janes/Scruggs, Rambow, Fry, and other great names sold cues locally but also across the country. Have you noticed that many of them were shipped? People even prize the original shipping materials now.
Yes, many cues were bought based on the reputation of the maker and still are.
Have you noticed the vintage catalogs and magazine ads by some of the old makers? They were selling by mail order.
By all means you should try a cue out first or at least one from the same maker. But in case you haven't noticed there aren't a bunch of cue shops in the malls where you can physically shop for them. Big billiard shops are relatively few and far between.
Would you buy a new Black Boar or Southwest without trying it first? If you want a new one that is how you will do the deal because that's the only way you will get one. That's a lot of money to drop on a cue you haven't tried and a lot of people wouldn't question the decision for a second.
Just my observations.
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Yes. And I don't get the point of this thread.
People buy pretty things for the prettiness. I'm not going to apologize for that.
Freddie <~~~ like we don't know that a pool stick is use for playing pool
I am with ya. I am done buying cues without touching them first. Wimmins too.
:sorry:
With a lot of women that play pool, they say they can't tell the difference between one shaft or another. With the butt, they like fancy designs and colors.
So...the pretty butt is why they buy the cue.
It is the same with a lot of boys too.
The butt is what makes a cue worth more or less.
A shaft will not cost that much ever...unless someone wants to make money selling one. It will never cost that much to make a shaft compared to making a butt with a wrap and real inlays.
Whenever I buy a cue, I usually don't care about the shaft 'cause I can make one cheap, or have someone else make one cheap. As long as the butt rolls straight, that's about all I worry about. A refinish is cheap, but a butt that is warped...I don't want to mess with it.
With a lot of women that play pool, they say they can't tell the difference between one shaft or another. With the butt, they like fancy designs and colors.
So...the pretty butt is why they buy the cue.
It is the same with a lot of boys too.
The butt is what makes a cue worth more or less.
A shaft will not cost that much ever...unless someone wants to make money selling one. It will never cost that much to make a shaft compared to making a butt with a wrap and real inlays.
Whenever I buy a cue, I usually don't care about the shaft 'cause I can make one cheap, or have someone else make one cheap. As long as the butt rolls straight, that's about all I worry about. A refinish is cheap, but a butt that is warped...I don't want to mess with it.
It's about time!! Thanks Lenny.
coz I wanna see it again and again.
this is funny but i've raised this before. Do you really think the hitting a few balls around on the table to get a "feel" for a cue tells you all that much about it? What i've seen and heard from many others as well is that unless the cue is really bad, the first handful of balls all feel good, just part of the placebo "new cue" effect. I personally can't be sure a cue feels right till i've played at least 8-10 serious games with it, which you never get the opportunity to do before buying anyhow.
Yes, I think hitting a few balls gives an idea.
I say this because I have done it. I hit over a dozen cues to purchase one.
I kept hitting balls until it was obvious which cue I shot better with.
And it was a $300 cue amongst $150-$750 cues.
Take a Scruggs shaft off a Scruggs
Put it on anything else and it will not feel the same. It will not hit the same. It will not react the same.
Put a shaft on a Scruggs Cue that isn't a Scruggs shaft and unless it was built by Bob Frey fitted to the Cue the same thing happens. Time after time.
No way you play with a Scruggs. A low deflection shaft will always do best fitted to the Cue. Maybe you are just way better than me.
Nick
Put it on anything else and it will not feel the same. It will not hit the same. It will not react the same.
Put a shaft on a Scruggs Cue that isn't a Scruggs shaft and unless it was built by Bob Frey fitted to the Cue the same thing happens. Time after time.
No way you play with a Scruggs. A low deflection shaft will always do best fitted to the Cue. Maybe you are just way better than me.
Nick
I Think This Thread Is Off Topic.....
The original poster asked why people posted photos of their cue (s)' butt, i.e., sleeve. WHY?........The answer is obvious............DUH?
If you want to talk the importance of the shaft to a cue's playability, these posts are right in line with that. But if you return to the aspect of posting a photo, the answer is painfully obvious.
Aside from the cue shaft having a collar that the cue maker either completed simply or ornately, pictures of shafts and ferrules are pretty much all the same and .........BORING.
Pictures of the cue butt should compliment and coincide with the cue-makers's design of the forearm ranging from plain ebony or cocobolo wood butts, or some other type of exotic wood, to simple ivory Hoppe rings or veneers or windows to ornate, complicated designs with veneers, decorative inlays and other type inserts.
Look at the cue's artistry from the forearm design to the completion point which is the cue's butt sleeve. Even the addition of an ivory butt cap versus a plain old delrin version adds a touch of class and besides, ivory does look better than resin material anyway.
If you have any doubts or reservations, take a really close look at a ivory stitched Szamboti collar design or even better, closely examine a cue made by Ed Prewitt who's heralded for making some of the most gorgeous collar designs imaginable. His cue workmanship is true artistry at the highest level.
The cue butt is the completion of the cue's overall design and personally speaking, photos of any cue without also including photos of the cue's forearm is like trying to make a sandwich without bread.....kinda incomplete. And the skill used to lathe turn a shaft is far less complicated than the inlay workmanship in cue butt sleeve designs. I mean after you've seen some of the Bert Schraeger cue butts or some ofTad Kohara's versions up close and in person.......OMG!
So that's why photos of cue butts are more popular...........................Back to the topic of cue shafts and playability, the single most important aspect or element in any cue shaft is the type and age of the wood selected..................."Everything" else evolves from that, i.e., shaft size & taper, ferrule composition and ferrule length, cue tip brand and hardness, and the shaft joint/collar specs, i.e., wood to wood, piloted joint, phenolic, steel or ivory, etc. All that comes into play but first and foremost is the wood used to make the shaft.
The original poster asked why people posted photos of their cue (s)' butt, i.e., sleeve. WHY?........The answer is obvious............DUH?
If you want to talk the importance of the shaft to a cue's playability, these posts are right in line with that. But if you return to the aspect of posting a photo, the answer is painfully obvious.
Aside from the cue shaft having a collar that the cue maker either completed simply or ornately, pictures of shafts and ferrules are pretty much all the same and .........BORING.
Pictures of the cue butt should compliment and coincide with the cue-makers's design of the forearm ranging from plain ebony or cocobolo wood butts, or some other type of exotic wood, to simple ivory Hoppe rings or veneers or windows to ornate, complicated designs with veneers, decorative inlays and other type inserts.
Look at the cue's artistry from the forearm design to the completion point which is the cue's butt sleeve. Even the addition of an ivory butt cap versus a plain old delrin version adds a touch of class and besides, ivory does look better than resin material anyway.
If you have any doubts or reservations, take a really close look at a ivory stitched Szamboti collar design or even better, closely examine a cue made by Ed Prewitt who's heralded for making some of the most gorgeous collar designs imaginable. His cue workmanship is true artistry at the highest level.
The cue butt is the completion of the cue's overall design and personally speaking, photos of any cue without also including photos of the cue's forearm is like trying to make a sandwich without bread.....kinda incomplete. And the skill used to lathe turn a shaft is far less complicated than the inlay workmanship in cue butt sleeve designs. I mean after you've seen some of the Bert Schraeger cue butts or some ofTad Kohara's versions up close and in person.......OMG!
So that's why photos of cue butts are more popular...........................Back to the topic of cue shafts and playability, the single most important aspect or element in any cue shaft is the type and age of the wood selected..................."Everything" else evolves from that, i.e., shaft size & taper, ferrule composition and ferrule length, cue tip brand and hardness, and the shaft joint/collar specs, i.e., wood to wood, piloted joint, phenolic, steel or ivory, etc. All that comes into play but first and foremost is the wood used to make the shaft.
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