John Parris Snooker Cues, what do we think?

C

Cameron Smith

is kind of hungry...
Silver Member
I'm looking to buy a new snooker cue in a couple of months. I have a cheap BCE cue, but I'm playing more snooker than I ever have, so I would like to get something as nice as my pool cue.

Any and all feedback about them would be great.

P.S. I know very little about cues, and less about snooker cues.
 
i've never played with a parris, but the general consensus i've observed from players that have one is that they are very nice cues, but a bit overhyped and overpriced. you can get an equally good cue for a lot less. however if you can afford one, why not? :)
the bce/riley production cues really suck, i've had a few. most have an awful lacquer finish on the shaft, and the shaft wood is generally crap. if you are looking for a custom cue bargain, try mastercue in thailand or mastercraft in england. both will provide really nice hand spliced, custom made cues to your specs for a really nice price. i have bought from them both and am very happy with the cues. mastercue is a little tricky to deal with though, they don't speak good english and sometimes aren't that responsive to emails and such. but i did get my cue as promised, made to my specs, so it was OK in the end.
 
I used to play with an 11mm shaft made for my pool cue. Never felt good shooting snooker balls with it.
I currently play with a Peradon cue.........with a joint at the half way point so it will fit in my case.

I have also considered a Parris cue, since I have been playing more snooker these days. I have heard nothing but good things about them. I have contacted them regarding the joint placement 1/2 or 3/4. They will make a 1/2 if you like, but explained that the 3/4 has a better balance in their opinion.

I am also interested in the feedback.

Mike
 
McChen said:
i've never played with a parris, but the general consensus i've observed from players that have one is that they are very nice cues, but a bit overhyped and overpriced. you can get an equally good cue for a lot less. however if you can afford one, why not? :)
the bce/riley production cues really suck, i've had a few. most have an awful lacquer finish on the shaft, and the shaft wood is generally crap. if you are looking for a custom cue bargain, try mastercue in thailand or mastercraft in england. both will provide really nice hand spliced, custom made cues to your specs for a really nice price. i have bought from them both and am very happy with the cues. mastercue is a little tricky to deal with though, they don't speak good english and sometimes aren't that responsive to emails and such. but i did get my cue as promised, made to my specs, so it was OK in the end.
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I've noticed that about the BCE cue, I have to play with a glove as it gets really humid around here.

I'll check out mastercue and mastercraft. Thanks for the feedback!
 
tksix said:
I have also considered a Parris cue, since I have been playing more snooker these days. I have heard nothing but good things about them. I have contacted them regarding the joint placement 1/2 or 3/4. They will make a 1/2 if you like, but explained that the 3/4 has a better balance in their opinion.

I am also interested in the feedback.

Mike
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That's a good point that I never thought of.

What do people think about the 3/4 and 1/2 joint. Does it matter? or does it actually make a difference?
 
3/4 over 1/2 any day for me. 3 reasons

1.In general snookercuemakers uses a full brass on brass joint and its quite heavy making a 1/2 often feel more frontbalanced (some may like this ofcourse)
2.I feel you get more feedback to the hand on a 3/4 kinda closer to a 1 piece if you know what I mean.
3.If your technique requires the cue to stick to the chin on the followthrough that joint will be slightly annoying. Especially when unshaved! This is mostly a problem with cheaper cues though where the joint isnt completely flush.
 
generally there isn't much at all to snooker cues - not in the way there is to pool cues. i personally play with a six quid cue i bought from a catalogue shop (about twelve dollars), and it hits just as good as any high end john parris or anything imo. it's not like in pool where different cues hit and feel COMPLETELY different to each other - with snooker there are only smaller, more subtle differences. they all have the same ferrules, same joints. hell stephen hendry won most of his world titles with a cheapo cue he'd used since he was a kid. and a lot of the pro's use relatively inexpensive cues too.

so by all means pick yourself something nice if you want, but bear what i've said in mind!
 
Choices, choices, choices

Cameron Smith said:
I'm looking to buy a new snooker cue in a couple of months. I have a cheap BCE cue, but I'm playing more snooker than I ever have, so I would like to get something as nice as my pool cue.

Any and all feedback about them would be great.

P.S. I know very little about cues, and less about snooker cues.
Click to expand...


A friend of mine has a John Parris Exclusive which cost him $1200 Canadian inc case, extension and shipping. My custom made Mastercue (Thailand) was $400 with case, two extensions and shipping and is every bit as good and in fact has a nicer finish than the Parris. O'Min and Unique are also two very good Thai cuemakers but more expensive.

If you want an top-notch English made cue try Trevor White, Mike Woodridge or Stamford but you are into the 1200-1500 range.

Snooker cues are a bit difficult because you can order them with so many variables: length, weight, tip size, 1-piece or jointed, joint position, etc. I have had both a 2-piece (ie center-joint) and a 3/4 made for me by Mastercue and I much prefer the 3/4. I actually have two 3/4's, one of which has a high joint like Mark Williams cue, but both play very nicely.
 
QUOTE=Nott]3/4 over 1/2 any day for me. 3 reasons

3.If your technique requires the cue to stick to the chin on the followthrough that joint will be slightly annoying. Especially when unshaved!
HAHAHA..Very true. I do experience that problem. Reminds me of when my mother would pull the hair behind my neck!!!
 
John Parris is number 1 in making Snookercues.
I believe more then 80% of the current Top 16 in the world plays with one.

MH
HOB Weert
 
in general i like 3/4 joint, but i've had some very good center jointed cues. 1/2 jointed cues are a lot easier to carry around, that's for sure!

the joint position for 3/4 joint can vary and that will affect the balance. 1/2 and 3/4 jointed are constructed very differently though. a 1/2 jointed cue is basically a 1 piece cue cut into 2. the butt is a solid core of ash, with the splices on top of the ash. 3/4 jointed are more like half spliced pool cues. the shaft has short splices at the bottom and the butt is a solid piece of ebony. you can get 3/4 jointed cues that are a 1 piece cue cut with a 3/4 joint, but this isn't as common. needless to say they all feel a bit different, but if the cuemaker is good you can get a good cue in any of the configurations.
 
Go to Thailand for a weeks holiday and pick up your cue in person and maybe have a few alterations made. I beleive Masters cues are based somehwere near chatucha the weekend market. ( a sight in itself!)

THe $800 saving might pay for your ticket, and you'll have a great week! :)

But fo course JP does make great cues, I was very close to ordering a pool/snooker hybred cue myself. If you want something custom and a bit flash Paris is prob your man.
 
HOB Weert said:
John Parris is number 1 in making Snookercues.
I believe more then 80% of the current Top 16 in the world plays with one.

MH
HOB Weert
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Theres no number 1 imo. Several top cuemakers just like in pool. Parris is one of the top ones and he probably set the standard for others to follow which they certainly have.

80% of the top 16? Not even close.

Edit:
found this on thesnookerforum. provisional top 16 around xmass or so. I can't claim its 100% but it just proves that 80% certainly doesn't use Parris :)

1 Ronnie O'Sullivan- John Parris Ultimate Traditional Look
2 Stephen Maguire - John Parris (atleast thats what Parris website claims)
3 Shaun Murphy -Tom Newman 1370
4 John Higgins -Northwest (Kevin Muncaster)
5 Mark Selby -Stamford
6 Neil Robertson- Parris Classic , extended by Peter Hanley
7 Peter Ebdon - old machined rack cue
8 Ding Junhui- Stamford
9 Graeme Dott- Andy Gibbs
10 Stephen Hendry- Acuerate 147
11 Ryan Day -Trevor White
12 Allister Carter -Antique cue (70 yrs old)
13 Marco Fu -Kevin Deroo
14 Matthew Stevens -Hunt & O'byrne (Rebuilt many times, lastly by Parris)
15 Joe Perry - ?
16 Ken Doherty -Old rack ash cue
 
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is a 59" snooker too long? since my last back operation I have no way to get my chin anyway near the cue, the longer the cue the closer I can get to it, how long can a snooker cue be that is reasonable. I played pool for a few years with a 60" cue, but mostly a 58" cue the 25 years I've played, although recently I moved up to a 59", I have no choice.

my snooker table was delivered the other day and I need a cue, I dont mind to sart with something and then change cues as I figure out what I want, years ago my best break was 53 or 56 I cant remember on a 12' American table with tough pockets, not golf tough but tough, I havent player snooker in so long it will be like starting over, I also used a pool cue back then, this time I want to do it right, so whats a up the middle kinda long snooker cue considered to be, I want a 3/4 also I need extensions because of my back I cant reach very good anymore.

thanks in advance
 
you can get any length you feel comfortable with, i've seen 60" snooker cues. 57" is a fairly 'standard' length and you see quite a few 58" as well. i don't think 59" is out of whack at all if you need it.

fatboy, you got your own snooker table? i'm so jealous!!! there used to be a snooker table near me, but the place closed about 6 months ago, so no more snooker for me :(
 
Fatboy said:
is a 59" snooker too long? since my last back operation I have no way to get my chin anyway near the cue, the longer the cue the closer I can get to it, how long can a snooker cue be that is reasonable. I played pool for a few years with a 60" cue, but mostly a 58" cue the 25 years I've played, although recently I moved up to a 59", I have no choice.

my snooker table was delivered the other day and I need a cue, I dont mind to sart with something and then change cues as I figure out what I want, years ago my best break was 53 or 56 I cant remember on a 12' American table with tough pockets, not golf tough but tough, I havent player snooker in so long it will be like starting over, I also used a pool cue back then, this time I want to do it right, so whats a up the middle kinda long snooker cue considered to be, I want a 3/4 also I need extensions because of my back I cant reach very good anymore.

thanks in advance
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I know of one top 32 pro who plays with a 60"+ cue. I'd get whatever is best for you pal, there is plenty of cue makers who cam make what ever length you want. Have fun on the new table, i hope your back isn't giving you to much trouble.
 
I think its pretty common knowledge that the cues from Parris's shop aren't made exclusively by him, he has quite a few staff working for him. $400-$500 Should be more than enough to get a decent custom,very high quality snooker cue.
 
A lot of interesting replies thank you for the feedback.

I know it's not made exclusively by him, and I'm fine with that. I just kind of like the idea of having a john parris cue :D

But I am certainly open to suggestions if there is anything out there that is better or as good for a better price.

I checked out the acuerate website and it says it's shafts have "ultra low deflection", can anyone expound on that? Are they any better or as good as any other shafts out there?
 
i've not heard good things about the acuerate. the build quality is ok on them, not great. but the low deflection stuff is apparently bull, it deflects pretty much like any other snooker cue. it's a solid wood shaft with a brass ferrule, so what exactly have they done to reduce deflection? as we all know, you have to reduce the end weight to reduce deflection, by making the cue thinner, boring out the shaft, or using a smaller, lighter ferrule. they give no explanation on what they've done to reduce the end weight. i've never played with one, but numerous players that have tried it said it was nothing special, deflection was just normal.
 
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