Sup PoolFan, just a hack here so grain of salt brotha,
I shoot with a Peach; wrapless, standard maple shaft, proprietary pro joint(stainless). My wife shoots a Viking: linen wrap, Vikore shaft, brassy metal? joint. Peach came with their medium tip, but constantly needed maintenance. I switched it out to a Tiger Everest, which is what the Viking came with so I could eliminate the tip as a variable in "type" of hit.
I would describe the hit of my Pechauer as stiff. Regardless of firmness of hit, unless I skull the ball, all I feel is pressure as I stroke through the cue ball.
From time to time, I'll shoot a few with my wife's Viking. I would liken it to a soft hit. As I stroke through the cue ball it almost feels like there is a spring compressing. Mayhaps it's just because I'm not used to it, but it's a little disconcerting.
As to the cause of the differences... Let me put on my speculation spectacles and gets to spectalating.
Tips: Pechauer tip left a lot to be desired. I get it. You are trying to save money and use scraps of crap to create everything in house. Little Yum-Yum's Everest lasted over twice as long. After changing the "Peach" to same tip didn't notice a marked difference between the two.
Shaft: I'd hope hard rock maple outta the forests of the North Coast would have a straight grain and transfer power. I looked into the Vikore before I got the cue for the little lady; it's a cross between an LD and a standard shaft due to an insert. McDermott has one that is almost identical. *The Vikore does deflect less on a straight on shot to the end rail using sidespin. Final verdict is that I believe the shaft has a great deal to deal with the difference in hit, but I can't interchange them because of the Pechauer proprietary joint, which is kind of a pain in the ass because it makes another measure of difference that I can't measure.
Joint: Pechauer is stainless and Viking is brass colored. I don't know, I ran to the scrap yard a while ago and there was a category labeled "brassy metal". When it comes to the fit the "Peach" wins out. I don't know how the hit is affected, although I would think that softer metal ='s softer hit. I think it's more of a a question of softer metal ='s cheaper to produce.
Wrap: I like the look and feel of a wrapless cues. I also want as little as possible between my fingertips and the cuetip. Pechauer offers a wide variety of wrapless cues. Viking wanted to charge $120 for a wrapless version of my wife's cue. I wish I would have paid it now because she likes the feel of a wrapless more than the Irish Linen, although I believe she prefers a softer hit overall that my Pechauer provides. Either way she prefers my shaft; something about the girth.
