i recently had a cue made with an 5 16/14 ivory joint....i had never played with a cue with one for more than a rack or two...how long should i play with a cue before i get use to it...i have played with it for about 20 hours and just cant get use to the hit...everything else on the cue is normally what i play with except the joint...if i could descibe it...it just fills really springy...i am having problems with controling the cue ball and just a really lack of confidence...i think i might just put it up for trade for something that i am "use to"..what do you think? thanks mickey carroll
Man, I hate to rain on any body's parade about this ivory joint mythos (and I play with an ivory joint), but didn't the science guys prove a long time ago that the CB is long gone before the joint can have any affect?
I know back on RSB we talked about the experiment John McChesney (RIP, Mr Tx Express) did at one of his events where he wrapped a bunch of cues up in such a way that no one could tell what kind of a joint they had and, bottom line, no one (pros included), could accurately tell what kind of joint any given cue had.
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John McChesney Mar 9 2004, 3:42 pm
Hi Group,
Indeed, we did a test of joints about 15 years ago. Lori John Jones and
Jim Rempe were in Dallas for an exhibition and we had about 50 cues with
butcher paper and masking tape covering the butts, so as to conceal the
inlayes, joints and make of cue. We then had people test the cues, etc.
and hardly anyone could tell whether they were playing with a wood to
wood, piloted steel, flat faced steel, mycarta or ivory joint. In fact,
Jim Rempe swore he was playing with a Meucci .. but we removed the paper
to find it was a piloted steel joint/Scruggs.
Other than the sound a cue makes when it hits the cueball .. I think cue
"hits" are more determined by 1) tip 2) shaft taper and wood density as
the first criteria .. and the joint primarially is just a wat to connect
2 sections together .. I prefer a wood to wood joint with a radial pin
.. however a 3/8 x 10 would suffice just as well, I think.
The conclusion of the test(s) were that the vast majority had no idea
what they were playing with and were really surprised when told .. and
by the way .. both Lori John and Jim were fooled by similar piloted
steel joints as they both thought they were Meucci ( Implex .. fancy Bob
Meucci word for plastic ). This went on for 2 full days and hundreds of
individuals participated .. certainly opened lots of people's eyes.
Most people ended up liking wood to wood style cues ... 12.8 - 13.2mm
shafts . about 6" taper ( stiff ) .. phenolic joint bands .. old yellow
micarta, aiges, some sort of hard phenolic ferrules and hard tips.
I.E., ( not in any order ) McDermotts, Vikings, Scruggs, Hueblers,
Motteys, Southwest, Benson, Libras and a fee Petes built locally.
John McChesney
Texas Express
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Lou Figueroa