McDermott G201 and Gcore shaft review

L

lvlss42190

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm a college student who has been playing the game as long as I can remember. I never really had a cue of my own until Christmas of 2012 when I went to the local pro shop and picked up this low end McDermott.

The cue it's self is pretty simple, hard rock maple with a pacific blue stain and a black with blue speckled irish linen wrap.

The shaft is the standard Gcore with a 12 inch pro taper and the tiger everest tip. I couldn't tell a difference between the shaft and a classic maple at first but over time i started to notice that there was indeed a difference.

As for the tip it was okay for a little while, but it more or less was falling off of the stick within a month. It played well while it lasted but I swapped it out for a Kamui black medium and was glad i did.

I do wish I would have chosen the plain black G206 over the attention grabbing blue. Overall though I couldn't be happier. I got a great price on a simplistic cue with a higher performance shaft that plays very similar to a solid maple shaft but with low deflection properties. It's a solid playing cue and I would reccomend it to anyone who is ready to take that plunge into buying their first cue. The MSRP is 245 but you can find them from licensed dealers on ebay for slightly over 200 after shipping. I have always reccomended Players brand cues for someone who wanted to be more consistent than a bar cue without spending a lot, but now I would have to say the intro McDermott cues are so far beyond that its well worth the extra cash.
 
Thx for the review. I was wondering about the g core. For me it's between that and viking vikore shaft

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I just received my Mcdermott G216 cue with G-Core shaft an hr ago central time.

First impressions: The cue feels great in my hands. The wood burned etchings are really nice and the type of quality Mcdermott prides themselves in. The 100% Irish Linen is tights and feels great and there is no soft spot or unraveling to be found. The shaft is straight and the tip looks good with the red line for replacement time. Ferrule is tight to the shaft and the tip is firm on there as well. If you have hit with the gcore shaft you should if you are In the market for a good LD shaft that won't break the bank. I had considered Viking's Vikore shaft but I preferred the McDermott more.

Weight and balance: This cue and shaft together is 19 ounces and feels very well balanced for my style of play. Most of the weight feels to be in the cue's lower half.

Issues: This cue retails for $299 from McDermott and I've seen on Amazon as low as 259. While searching Amazon I found the same cue for 194. Out the door with free shipping to my door it was 208. This cue is brand new and there are no issues except for a small cut in the cue just below the joint in the black part of the joint neck which looks like a manufacture issue. This will have no effect on play and I'm happy to have saved so much.

The joints are firm and the joint protectors went on easily as well as putting the shaft to the cue. The real test will come soon when I go practice and hit about 500 balls in an hr. More to come on the retire with pictures. Thanks and stay tuned.

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Results of play: I can definitely feel the LD shaft difference vs solid maple like most house cues are. The difference in the feel is strangely good and softer. I feel like I have a little more control of the cue ball. I still need more practice with it and apa is coming to an end. I feel like 4000 more balls might do it enough to feel comfortable with it in a tournament. I have some very bad habits like twisting during my forward stroke which is causing the ball to hit left of center and slightly low of center. The shaft won't cure this but because of the weight placement in the cue it is less noticeable. I seem to do it more in a closed bridge than open but I have played my entire life with an open bridge bc my dad played that way. More to come after Sunday night. Thanks.

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My first cue was also a McDermott. It came with a G-Core shaft and I really love it!! Recently I wanted to buy a new diferent shaft and see what they are all about. I am looking in to i3, z2 and OB Pro.
 
I hit with the OB pro and classic. both are nice. the ob pro hit softer imo but both are very nice. i tried the i2 not the i3. i assume that the i3 will be nice though. i have heard great things and seen great things with the z2. i didn't have a lot of money to buy i3 or the z2 as I wanted the entire cue and shaft. i got a great deal the gcore g216 cue so i couldn't pass it up. good luck with your search for the perfect shaft. hard to go wrong with any of the ones you mentioned.
 
ChokerBFMC10 said:
good luck with your search for the perfect shaft. hard to go wrong with any of the ones you mentioned.
Click to expand...

Thank you!

I know is a hard choice LOL. I probably go with i3 because of the warranty and how it feels. But I want to use them all before comitting to it and see if there is a significant difference. Probably call seybert and see if I can order them all and then return two before 60 days for a full refund.
 
just go to a billiards place. there might be one close to where you live and you can try them all out there. just make sure that if u buy the i3 at the shop there that they area a certified dealer for mcdermott or whomever you choose. because if they are not they might not warranty for life.
 
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