Out of curiosity how would you compare feedback of ex pro vs vantage?
Looking for review Mezz Ex Pro shaft ?
- Thread starter rene
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Out of curiosity how would you compare feedback of ex pro vs vantage?
Oh, I do, I most certainly do.
Thanks again, your first-hand experience is just what I wanted to read about, this forum needs more of those. I'll make sure to come back and post here once I get my hands on it and give it sufficient playing time.Also, thanks for you input, Shawn, although it's not immediately clear from your post whether you'd recommend Ex Pro in clear conscience or not.
I have never been a Predator fan, as I found their shafts always hit a little dead. The new 3 series shafts and Vantage are different beasts. They actually play and hit very well. I’m shocked. I swore by Mezz until I got the Vantage 3 weeks ago.
Oh, I do, I most certainly do.
Also, thanks for you input, Shawn, although it's not immediately clear from your post whether you'd recommend Ex Pro in clear conscience or not.
In all honesty, for the list price of $360US, I wouldn’t. I’d put the money towards a WX700 or the WX900. For me, of the Hybrid Mezz shafts, the HP2 is the lowest deflection, and with a tip change from the Krapmui, plays with the least variance in deflection, and best feel. As a side note, the taper of the HP2 and Vantage are about the same, but different diameter of the tip.
Hmmm, I guess it's really true when people talk about that elusive and often indescribable word 'feel'. What I mean is, my experience with the 314-3 (with a stock Predator Victory tip) is that it's the most dead-hitting shaft I've ever held in my hands. Preferred 314-2 a lot. Your experience is obviously different. However, I found all of them to be quite hollow.
Now I'm looking for something with similar deflection properties (slightly worse is perfectly acceptable), but with a better, livelier feel and a more solid hit. From what I've read, Ex Pro might be just that. I haven't tried HP2 so far either, and I do believe that it's a great shaft (should be a bit stiffer compared to Ex Pro, but otherwise pretty similar), however, one question comes to mind - wouldn't Mezz choose what the consider to be their overall best and most advanced shaft for their Exceed line of cues? And that would be Ex Pro. So, without having the privilege of trying them all out and comparing them... I'll probably have to go with what the majority of those who have tried it are saying... and that's - go with Ex Pro, you can't go wrong.
Nonetheless, your opinion is very much appreciated, Shawn, thanks for the advice.
What I mean is, my experience with the 314-3 (with a stock Predator Victory tip) is that it's the most dead-hitting shaft I've ever held in my hands. Preferred 314-2 a lot. Your experience is obviously different. However, I found all of them to be quite hollow.Now I'm looking for something with similar deflection properties (slightly worse is perfectly acceptable), but with a better, livelier feel and a more solid hit. From what I've read, Ex Pro might be just that. I haven't tried HP2 so far either, and I do believe that it's a great shaft (should be a bit stiffer compared to Ex Pro, but otherwise pretty similar), however, one question comes to mind - wouldn't Mezz choose what the consider to be their overall best and most advanced shaft for their Exceed line of cues? And that would be Ex Pro. So, without having the privilege of trying them all out and comparing them... I'll probably have to go with what the majority of those who have tried it are saying... and that's - go with Ex Pro, you can't go wrong.
Nonetheless, your opinion is very much appreciated, Shawn, thanks for the advice.
Rafachauer1990
Registered
For me the best Mezz Shaft is the Hybrid Alpha shaft. The balance feels very right for me, not too light like the others Mezz shafts . It is very low deflection , not so low like hp2 or expro but like 314-2. You will only feel the difference when using sidespin very very hard. It also does not feel so "dead" like the hp2, much livier. The Taper is not as conical as the Expro or Hp2 and it has lots of power
Thanks for the input, Rafachauer. My Ex Pro will be with me in about 2 weeks so I'll see for myself. However, are you saying that Ex Pro has a conical taper? I mean, I've heard it's not completely "pro taper", but how conical exactly could it be?
Rafachauer1990
Registered
It has a pro taper but very short ,after that the diameter will increase really fast
Would you say it might affect negatively playing with a closed bridge if a person has fairly small/medium hands?
I wouldnt be worried about it, I use closed bridge on majority of my shots with ex pro and I dont have any problem with the taper
I wouldnt be worried about it, I use closed bridge on majority of my shots with ex pro and I dont have any problem with the taper
Good to hear.
I played with a BeCue for a while and this was a major hurdle for me.My Mezz Sneaky Pete with the Ex Pro shaft will be sent to me on Monday, so in about two weeks time I should be able to join the Mezz family.
Guys, the tip on the Ex Pro I'm getting is Kamui Black Clear (Medium) (installed by the good people of Seybert's upon purchase).
My question is - in your experience, which hardness of the tip works best with Ex Pro? Seeing as how it has a carbon core, with lots of inherent energy, it has to be either a Soft or a Medium, right? But which one do you prefer?
Interestingly enough - the world Mezz/Exceed website, it says that Ex Pro comes with a Medium tip. On the USA Mezz website and Seybert's it says Soft.
My question is - in your experience, which hardness of the tip works best with Ex Pro? Seeing as how it has a carbon core, with lots of inherent energy, it has to be either a Soft or a Medium, right? But which one do you prefer?
Interestingly enough - the world Mezz/Exceed website, it says that Ex Pro comes with a Medium tip. On the USA Mezz website and Seybert's it says Soft.
Cut off the Kamui before it starts glazing over and install a triangle. Best thing I ever did.
Guys, the tip on the Ex Pro I'm getting is Kamui Black Clear (Medium) (installed by the good people of Seybert's upon purchase).
My question is - in your experience, which hardness of the tip works best with Ex Pro? Seeing as how it has a carbon core, with lots of inherent energy, it has to be either a Soft or a Medium, right? But which one do you prefer?
Interestingly enough - the world Mezz/Exceed website, it says that Ex Pro comes with a Medium tip. On the USA Mezz website and Seybert's it says Soft.
Keep the Zan that it comes with.
Thanks for the advice, but at this point, I'd rather give the Kamui a chance first. It's not easy changing a tip where I'm from, there are but a couple of people that do it professionally in the entire country.
Unfortunately, not an option. The previous owner had it changed to Kamui Black Clear (Medium) during purchase. Personally, I have a fair amount of dislike for Kamui tips (I'm a Tiger Everest / Moori Medium fan), so believe me when I say I would strongly prefer it if the Zan was still there. But it's not.
Having said that, the question still remains - in your experience, do Softer or Medium hardness tips work better with Ex Pro?
Fair enough. It's still a little about 2 weeks until the cue gets to me, so I wanted to be as informed as I can while I wait.
The reason I'm asking is because I played with a BeCue (carbon cue) for about 4 months and - while it's an awesome cue - I did have trouble adjusting to how much energy it had with the hard tip that it came with. So I was thinking that maybe Ex Pro - having a carbon rod in it - might be better suited for softer tips.
It's still a little about 2 weeks until the cue gets to me, so I wanted to be as informed as I can while I wait.The reason I'm asking is because I played with a BeCue (carbon cue) for about 4 months and - while it's an awesome cue - I did have trouble adjusting to how much energy it had with the hard tip that it came with. So I was thinking that maybe Ex Pro - having a carbon rod in it - might be better suited for softer tips.
Fair enough.
The reason I'm asking is because I played with a BeCue (carbon cue) for about 4 months and - while it's an awesome cue - I did have trouble adjusting to how much energy it had with the hard tip that it came with. So I was thinking that maybe Ex Pro - having a carbon rod in it - might be better suited for softer tips.
I see you spent some time with the Original Becue.. Did you ever play with the new Prime shaft of the just the 5.1 shaft?.. The reason I ask is I've had mine (Becue with 30" Prime shafts only) for the past 2 weeks and I'm telling you after playing with the Mezz WX900 for the past 3 years exclusively (I have 3 WX900's -one 29" and two 30"'ers) there was very little change over for me to this new Prime Shaft from Becue.. Its actually lower defecting the more firmer the stroke volume than my WX900's... ie I can power stoke on the Shot line with English more accurately than I can even with my laminated wood shafts. The New Becue Prime like the WX900 is a 12mm shaft and has relatively the same Pro taper as well.
This weekend I was letting some Pro's >?? what ever that means these days ../(Sparkle City Open in Spartanburg SC) hit some balls with and had no negative input. When I got them (2 prime shaft's) I immediately put on a Medium Precision tip (Searing) and this combination is golden!. Still haven't hit a ball with my WX900's which I love. If you haven't played with one of these Prime shafts I think maybe you've missed out on how solid this Cue really is .. Backtrack abit and find one to hit with and see if you have the same transition issue.. For me the shafts' surface texture needed to be slick (like my wood shafts) so I fixed all of the with some Scratch-X 2.0 (Meguires) http://www.meguiars.com/en/search/?term=scratch ... same product I've used for my Pool balls and super smoothed shaft woods as a finishing polish for the last 5 years. Now all of the 'painted carbon fiber shafts (both Prime and Dark Matter break shaft) are slick as glass... and NO chalk adheres as well..
Speaking of the Dark Matter (Becue) break shaft it only comes as a 19oz cue... I broke with new out of the box for the 1st two days and wasn't used to the tip shape... (it seemed to be more 'rounded' than a dime shape to me out of the box..) needles to say any slight miss hit off CCB resulted in control issues if hit at full break speed... Well reshaping the tip (out to a quarter shape) SOLVED my control tissues at full speed. It in effect self corrected my swing errors... just an fyi. I mentioned this to Becue Tech support - maybe it'll be addressed but there is a simple fix if you have the same issue. BTW I simply LOVE this thing.
So I wanted to try these new PRIME shafts on my cue other cue butts with out modifying their joint. After ID'ing the Pin I made a mid-cue extension 'cross adapter' set-up to fit my previous extensions that i had made previously from an AZ'er Dave (Newsheriffintwn)... His work is AWESOME btw... This 0.7oz mini adapter sits right on top his mid cue extension. (FYI the B-Lock System Pin is a M10-1.5 pitch Screw.. It can be found at Lowes in the form of a Hex Head -1.75in in length... and they sell the M10-1.5 Tap there as well... can you say Hack saw? and can You say 'Balance Rite extension cut to length? Center it on a lathe and you're set... Any Cue builder can do it.. it takes 30 minutes to do.. then glue it up/ This 'quick cheat adapter will bring this shaft across to other pin types... Cool Beans right?. (ie 5/16-14, 5/16-18, Unilock, 3/8-10 or 11, Radial, etc all brought across to the M10 -1.5 'B-Lock system' pin in the NEW PRIME SHAFT)
It's a little work but WELL with it if you want to use the New Prime Shaft on you existing cue butts...if for nothing more just to see the performance differences in your previous playing wood or Revo Shafts.. What Look's cool (and plays unbelievable) is My new white Becue PRIME carbon fiber shaft played on top of my Predator Throne 3 butt... lol Its really sweet.
Unfortunately Becue at this time will not sell you their Prime Shaft only .. beleave me I've tried ...at least they wouldn't before Thanksgiving . Btw there is a Becue (Naked w two 5.1 shafts- very discounted) in the For sell here on AZ... If you get that one Becue will sell you their New Prime Shaft on the FB page. Apparently they (becue) are gunna do some sells specials during the Christmas season as well if you want to have a look. Didn't mean to redirect the thread.. Sorry about that, just a little excited to play with this powerful new toy and not having the same issue as Meelosh has mentioned.
Randy
Love this thing. Becue... Their Online Website and FB is still under development I believe. American Don't buy in Euro's... just saying.
BeCue sideway
First of all, thanks for the detailed and well elaborated post, rhatten, rep to you.
I don't want anyone to interpret this the wrong way, and I hope they won't - BeCue is AWESOME! I've had nothing but very polite and cordial conversations with the owner Alessandro, and I'm proud to say I was one of the first BeCue users in my part of the world.
I can only recommend everybody try BeCue and see if it's their cup of tea. I believe many will be happy with what they get.
The issues I had with the BeCue are the same issues that others have noticed - the taper on 5.1 is way too uncomfortable for me (I don't have particularly big hands) and the lack of smoothness just kills me. But the biggest hurdle was how energetic it was with the Ultraskin Hard tip it came with. Made a lot of my follow shots end up like stun run-troughs because the ball would not take the top spin soon enough but rather fly off the cue tip. I'll concede that it was probably more a matter of how I should have adapted my technique to BeCue than anything else, BUT...
...BUT having said all this - I really like trying new equipment (I might be what people like to refer to as a 'pool cue whore' ), so it was just time for me to try some new stuff (enter Ex Pro). I didn't want to bother with changing the tip and trying it with a Soft tip (like I said, in my country it's a hassle getting the tip changed professionally, especially considering BeCue has that cork-like layer between the shaft and the tip), but that might have succeeded in reducing the energy somewhat.
Also, I didn't try the Prime shaft, even though I wanted to. But that's a different story.
All in all, I can definitely stand behind recommending BeCue to anybody who's interested in trying something completely new. It has a positively spectacular hit (especially at first, before the tip compresses and hardens), and if you can get past some of the quirks of it, I believe most people will find it very enjoyable. And Alessandro is a delight to work with.
I just want to try other things first before I settle on something for an extended period of time. I might just come back to BeCue at some point in the future, who knows.
First of all, thanks for the detailed and well elaborated post, rhatten, rep to you.
I don't want anyone to interpret this the wrong way, and I hope they won't - BeCue is AWESOME! I've had nothing but very polite and cordial conversations with the owner Alessandro, and I'm proud to say I was one of the first BeCue users in my part of the world.
I can only recommend everybody try BeCue and see if it's their cup of tea. I believe many will be happy with what they get.
The issues I had with the BeCue are the same issues that others have noticed - the taper on 5.1 is way too uncomfortable for me (I don't have particularly big hands) and the lack of smoothness just kills me. But the biggest hurdle was how energetic it was with the Ultraskin Hard tip it came with. Made a lot of my follow shots end up like stun run-troughs because the ball would not take the top spin soon enough but rather fly off the cue tip. I'll concede that it was probably more a matter of how I should have adapted my technique to BeCue than anything else, BUT...
...BUT having said all this - I really like trying new equipment (I might be what people like to refer to as a 'pool cue whore'
), so it was just time for me to try some new stuff (enter Ex Pro). I didn't want to bother with changing the tip and trying it with a Soft tip (like I said, in my country it's a hassle getting the tip changed professionally, especially considering BeCue has that cork-like layer between the shaft and the tip), but that might have succeeded in reducing the energy somewhat.Also, I didn't try the Prime shaft, even though I wanted to. But that's a different story.
All in all, I can definitely stand behind recommending BeCue to anybody who's interested in trying something completely new. It has a positively spectacular hit (especially at first, before the tip compresses and hardens), and if you can get past some of the quirks of it, I believe most people will find it very enjoyable. And Alessandro is a delight to work with.
I just want to try other things first before I settle on something for an extended period of time. I might just come back to BeCue at some point in the future, who knows.
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First of all, thanks for the detailed and well elaborated post, rhatten, rep to you.
I don't want anyone to interpret this the wrong way, and I hope they won't - BeCue is AWESOME! I've had nothing but very polite and cordial conversations with the owner Alessandro, and I'm proud to say I was one of the first BeCue users in my part of the world.
I can only recommend everybody try BeCue and see if it's their cup of tea. I believe many will be happy with what they get.
The issues I had with the BeCue are the same issues that others have noticed - the taper on 5.1 is way too uncomfortable for me (I don't have particularly big hands) and the lack of smoothness just kills me. But the biggest hurdle was how energetic it was with the Ultraskin Hard tip it came with. Made a lot of my follow shots end up like stun run-troughs because the ball would not take the top spin soon enough. I'll concede that it was probably more a matter of how I should have adapted my technique to BeCue than anything else, BUT...
...BUT having said all this - I really like trying new equipment (I might be what people like to refer to as a 'pool cue whore'
Also, I didn't try the Prime shaft, even though I wanted to. But that's a different story.
All in all, I can definitely stand behind recommending BeCue to anybody who's interested in trying something completely new. It has a positively spectacular hit (especially at first, before the tip compresses and hardens), and if you can get past some of the quirks of it, I believe most people will find it very enjoyable. And Alessandro is a delight to work with.
I just want to try other things first before I settle on something for an extended period of time. I might just come back to BeCue at some point in the future, who knows.
Re: Cork-like Pad..
Having personally replacing the Ultraskins on my Prime cue's I can tell you there's nothing Cork-like in that pad. It more like very dense hard wood. It cuts hard on my lathe, even rigid enough to not nap well with 220 sand paper. Blade crosscuts for glue retention on the surface of the pad require moderate pressure to ditch. Not Cork like imo... Very hard in fact... Made even more so with AC (Loctite 454 Instant Adhesive) during luting.
If you done want the pad you can remove it as well... just an fyi.
Respectfully,
Randy