My Demo Program, Test the New Tiger Pro X Shaft - Free!

TommyT said:
I've recieved the demo shaft and have been able to put a couple hours on it and here are some observations. I screwed it onto my BB Spider cue and could feel the balance point change, we're talking the difference between 4.3 and 3.8 so it is a noticeable spread. It took me 30 seconds to forget about it once I started playing.

The Tiger shaft has a lively and very accurate hit. But the real difference is when it's called upon to spin whitey, it does so with little effort and no deflection which makes the extreme spin shots much easier.

It's like the difference between a cadillac and a maserati. Both drive wonderfully down a straight road, but when called on to execute precision manuevers the Maserati is the best.

The shaft on the BB is one of Tony's ferulleless shafts and although it plays great, I'm afraid the decision goes to the Tiger shaft. Does this mean I'm gonna change shafts??

As a lot of you know I enjoy collecting cues and appreciate the nuances each cue provides. Since I'm not making my living potting balls I'm not sure if I want to replace the shafts on all my cues, but if my life depended on winning games it would be a no brainer and I would switch to the Tiger shaft immediately.

Thanks Tate for the opportunity to try this shaft, it's appreciated.

TommyT
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Thank you Tommy, that's a very nice review and I think an accurate one. I'm switching to the Pro X now myself and it's coming along just fine.

I have very good prices on the shafts until the end of the year for AZ Demo members if you just want one for playing. I also will have them fit to your handle of choice if you want a perfect fit.

Sunday night I used the Pro X for the first time in competition and I am very pleased with it. I can pull off some shots with it I even attempt with regular shafts.

Chris
 
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Tiger Pro X shaft quick review:

Got the demo shaft last week, played with it for a few days, in summary, very stiff sweet hitting shaft.

Details:
Because I'm a snooker player, so the taper and tip size comes natural for me. My main playing shaft was Z, after trying out the pro x, I'm ordering 2 shafts for myself.

Hit/Feel: Very very stiff and great feedback. Smooth stroke through the bridge hand. Very close to the feel of a stiff conventional shaft.

Accuracy: Better accuracy than my Z shaft, I think it's because of the Taper and Tip combination. Especially on long distance shots without English.

Squirt/English: It has decent low-defection on it, but I think Z is a little lower. I missed some shots with Top left/right English on a few medium to long distance shots where I can normally make with my Z.

Overall, great shaft.
 
I too got to test the Tiger and thought it played great. I've never played with a l.d shaft but I'm sold on them now. Extreme English, the length of the table, was not a problem after an hour or so of getting used to it. I went back and forth between my Frey shaft and the Tiger. The difference for me was more during 1/2 to full table length shots. I thought the taper was very good and it didn't really give the feel of a thin diameter shaft. More importantly the tip had a great hit on the straight shots as well. The thing I liked the most about it was being able to shoot with English and not have to adjust for it. (for the most part) Great program, not many if any people will send you a cue (shaft) to try out to see if you like it first. Well done.:thumbup:
 
Chris,

Got the cue from Joey today and took it out for a spin this evening. Nice, solid but lively hit and "grippy" tip even at hard maximum sidespin (but a little "pingy" for my taste).

I compared the amount of squirt it produces and found that it's about 1/3 more than my 10mm hollow shaft with 1/4" ferrule (pivot points about 21" vs. 28"). That's low enough squirt that it only took me several shots to get mostly adjusted to it.

The Tiger's tip is considerably wider than mine, which made it a little harder for me to be sure if I was hitting exactly center ball (or putting exactly the right amount of spin on), but that also means the Tiger's somewhat narrow tip makes that easier than "normal" wider ones.

I've used nothing but my custom shafts for years, so I really have no broad basis for comparison, but it seems to me to be a high quality low squirt shaft with a nice feel. I'm surprised that it hits as solidly as it does for a shaft with a pro taper (mine is conical).

I'll give it another few tries this week and report any changes in my evaluation. Please let me know how and when to send it on to the next Guinea Pig.

Thanks for the opportunity. It's a great program that I'm sure will generate lots of interest and sales.

pj
chgo
 
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Patrick Johnson said:
Chris,

Got the cue from Joey today and took it out for a spin this evening. Nice, solid but lively hit and "grippy" tip even at hard maximum sidespin (but a little "pingy" for my taste).

I compared the amount of squirt it produces and found that it's about 1/3 more than my 10mm hollow shaft with 1/4" ferrule (pivot points about 21" vs. 28"). That's low enough squirt that it only took me several shots to get mostly adjusted to it.

The Tiger's tip is considerably wider than mine, which made it a little harder for me to be sure if I was hitting exactly center ball (or putting exactly the right amount of spin on), but that also means the Tiger's somewhat narrow tip makes that easier than "normal" wider ones.

I've used nothing but my custom shafts for years, so I really have no broad basis for comparison, but it seems to me to be a high quality low squirt shaft with a nice feel. I'm surprised that it hits as solidly as it does for a shaft with a pro taper (mine is conical).

I'll give it another few tries this week and report any changes in my evaluation. Please let me know how and when to send it on to the next Guinea Pig.

Thanks for the opportunity. It's a great program that I'm sure will generate lots of interest and sales.

pj
chgo
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Thanks Patrick! I'll e-mail you with forwarding information and an evaluation form.

For those interested, I had asked Patrick to participate. With his knowledge of the physics of pool, I wanted to solicit his opinion and evaluate the playability of the shaft. Patrick uses his own custom shafts that are on the extreme edge of what can be done with a pool cue.

Chris
 
I think this is a great idea and I wish there was a way to extend this to Europe as well.
 
TATE said:
...Patrick uses his own custom shafts that are on the extreme edge of what can be done with a pool cue.
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I designed my shaft and Ed Young made the first one for me. It's pretty simple:

- 10mm tip

- hollow first 6 inches (plugged solid first 1/2")

- smallest possible plastic ferrule (I wanted a 1/8" solid cap, but Ed made a 1/4" traditional sleeve)

- conical taper for stiffness

That's it. I really designed it for the small tip more than the low squirt (to encourage precision in my tip/ball placement), but I think it's also the lowest squirt shaft I've ever tried.

Anybody could have a custom shaft like this for about the list price of one of the high-tech shafts on the market today (say $200), but most players aren't quite comfortable with the tiny tip width. Don't break with it!

pj
chgo
 
Patrick Johnson said:
I designed my shaft and Ed Young made the first one for me. It's pretty simple:

- 10mm tip

- hollow first 6 inches (plugged solid first 1/2")

- smallest possible plastic ferrule (I wanted a 1/8" solid cap, but Ed made a 1/4" traditional sleeve)

- conical taper for stiffness

That's it. I really designed it for the small tip more than the low squirt (to encourage precision in my tip/ball placement), but I think it's also the lowest squirt shaft I've ever tried.

Anybody could have a custom shaft like this for about the list price of one of the high-tech shafts on the market today (say $200), but most players aren't quite comfortable with the tiny tip width. Don't break with it!

pj
chgo
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Patrick,

You mentioned that this shaft had about 1/3rd more squirt than your highly customized shaft.

- How does the squirt of a typical conventional shaft, say a Joss or Schon standard shaft, compare to your customized shaft?

Interesting comment considering the "ping" of the tip on the Pro X. Some shafts seem to have it and some don't. I wonder if the noise is actually a friction noise (the skid) coming from the tip contact with cue ball. I only notice it on shots well outside of center. I am going to shave my tip down and see if that makes a difference.

Chris
 
Kimmo said:
I think this is a great idea and I wish there was a way to extend this to Europe as well.
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I would love to do this. The shipping costs would be prohibitive because there are so many joint sizes.

Chris
 
Wow

OK, I got the shaft yesterday but didn't get to use it til today. I just started playing again about 3 months ago after about a 7 year lay off. I quit playing cause i started playing so poorly (eyesight and other reasons), but when i discovered that there was an APA league in town I decided to start again since its handicapped.
They started me off as a 4 and have slowly worked my way up to a 6 and seem to be stuck there, its just too hard for me to run racks now, way too many misses on easy shots. My current cue is a Joss with a black soft tip. I dont particually like the tip as i miscue several times a match and had planned on going to a medium to see how that worked.
Walked into the pool room and got a table by myself, put the tiger x pro shaft on the joss and broke the 9 ball rack with my break stick. Made 2 balls and ran the rack. Interesting. My shaft is a 13mm and the tiger is a 11.75, much thinner. Racked the balls and broke and made 3 balls, ran the rack. Now you really have my attention LOL. Ran the next rack with only 1 miss.
OK, now i just throw some balls on the table and try different shots, follows, draws, extreme cuts, throw shots, mini masse's to get around an obstructing ball to make a good hit yada yada and etc. Im thinking, I am now instantly about 3 to 4 balls better, that can't be, so let me figure this out.
1. I have not miscued once.
2. I now need less english to get shape, wait, no, thats not true. I dont have to aim as far left or right to get the amount of desired spin on whitey. Same holds for top and bottom. That significantly contributes to the no miscues yet.
3. For whatever reason, and I havent figured this one out yet, I have instantly compensated for the low deflection shaft versus the stock Joss shaft. Remember, I ran the first rack so there was no "break in" needed for me. Mystery.
4. Observation: from straight-in shots to extreme cuts. I seem to be aiming much better/more accurately than before. I believe that results from 2 things: (A) the thinner shaft is easier for ME to accurately aim and (B) its also easier to determine exactly where the cue tip contacts whitey due to the smaller diameter. Interesting, never considered that before.
5. Love the tip. For me, not too hard and not too soft, not one miscue in almost 2 hours of play.
Came home and started this write up on the shaft and then it hit me. What shaft? I never got it in the mail so I don't have to send it back. YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BACK! ITS MINE, ALL MINE!!!!!!!

PS: in case I do get this shaft for the test drive and therefore have to send it back, please PM me with a price and who to send the money to, but considering the write up I just gave you on the shaft that I didn't get in the mail, you ought to send me one for free!!!! WHAT SHAFT? I DIDN'T GET NO SHAFT IN THE MAIL TO TRY! ITS MINEEEEEEEEEE. LOL :)
 
tip

never mind on the tip, its the onyx LTD tip from tiger, so far, the cheapest i have found is $20 each.
 
Jcat said:
OK, I got the shaft yesterday but didn't get to use it til today. I just started playing again about 3 months ago after about a 7 year lay off. I quit playing cause i started playing so poorly (eyesight and other reasons), but when i discovered that there was an APA league in town I decided to start again since its handicapped.
They started me off as a 4 and have slowly worked my way up to a 6 and seem to be stuck there, its just too hard for me to run racks now, way too many misses on easy shots. My current cue is a Joss with a black soft tip. I dont particually like the tip as i miscue several times a match and had planned on going to a medium to see how that worked.
Walked into the pool room and got a table by myself, put the tiger x pro shaft on the joss and broke the 9 ball rack with my break stick. Made 2 balls and ran the rack. Interesting. My shaft is a 13mm and the tiger is a 11.75, much thinner. Racked the balls and broke and made 3 balls, ran the rack. Now you really have my attention LOL. Ran the next rack with only 1 miss.
OK, now i just throw some balls on the table and try different shots, follows, draws, extreme cuts, throw shots, mini masse's to get around an obstructing ball to make a good hit yada yada and etc. Im thinking, I am now instantly about 3 to 4 balls better, that can't be, so let me figure this out.
1. I have not miscued once.
2. I now need less english to get shape, wait, no, thats not true. I dont have to aim as far left or right to get the amount of desired spin on whitey. Same holds for top and bottom. That significantly contributes to the no miscues yet.
3. For whatever reason, and I havent figured this one out yet, I have instantly compensated for the low deflection shaft versus the stock Joss shaft. Remember, I ran the first rack so there was no "break in" needed for me. Mystery.
4. Observation: from straight-in shots to extreme cuts. I seem to be aiming much better/more accurately than before. I believe that results from 2 things: (A) the thinner shaft is easier for ME to accurately aim and (B) its also easier to determine exactly where the cue tip contacts whitey due to the smaller diameter. Interesting, never considered that before.
5. Love the tip. For me, not too hard and not too soft, not one miscue in almost 2 hours of play.
Came home and started this write up on the shaft and then it hit me. What shaft? I never got it in the mail so I don't have to send it back. YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BACK! ITS MINE, ALL MINE!!!!!!!

PS: in case I do get this shaft for the test drive and therefore have to send it back, please PM me with a price and who to send the money to, but considering the write up I just gave you on the shaft that I didn't get in the mail, you ought to send me one for free!!!! WHAT SHAFT? I DIDN'T GET NO SHAFT IN THE MAIL TO TRY! ITS MINEEEEEEEEEE. LOL :)
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Thanks for the great review and the order JC!

I got a little behind here but I will update the chart and get the new info posted ASAP.

Chris

Ps. We are running behind on the 3/8X10 because one shaft had a thread issue. I will have it back in circulation ASAP.
 
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ok, just came back from playing 1 pocket. The other day it was 9 ball. Wanted to see how the shaft did with banks and very soft shots.
Well, I still love this shaft. Still aiming and hitting better than I was with old regular shaft. I ordered one this morning. That says it all.
 
Here’s where we’re at – November 15 update

Frustrating that I’m running really slow on the 3/8 X 10 joint shafts – sorry guys, we’ll get there. One had to come back for a re-tapping.

14 very positive evaluations and 4 ” just ok” evaluations.

Completed test program and shipped;

Johnny Shakes, Troi, Poohguy26, Mantis99, Icue, Dstone, Mojoe, Sk8ordie, Mike in Minn, J Soto, Blackballed, Justlovecues, Poolplayer 2093, Sk8Ordie, MikeInMN, Jzmechanix, Scott Lee, Blackballed, SK8Ordie, J.Soto, Lazzerus, Johnny Ozone, MikeInMN, Jzmechanix, MattB, Joey A., Justlovecues, Sonidj (got the shaft Soni, thank you),mBaxter, Tommy T. DaReads, Javi2, Crww, Dareads, Baxter, The Dragon, Jcat, Predatror 5k4, soniDJ.


Shaft is possession of: ........ Next up : ...........then after That


Fenix206

Schlangen 27 ------------> Harmy76

(whole test cue) --------> Patrick Johnson

Shipped from and on the way to: …………….Then to: …………..then to

Predator5k4 ------> shankster8------> McChen

Jcat ----------> fasteddie427------------> Tony_in_MD


crww---------->pushout-----------> Saturated Fats


Tommy T. ----> Bambu------------> Fram 6878

Tate (for repairs) ---------------> CueFix ---------->Mr2serious-----> 5am


On deck but not quite scheduled yet:

MMYPool
iownthe412
Runoutt JJ
Muziq
Luke
Pip9Ball
Vyc
Fram6878
FeedThe Worm
Juan A
TLayne
Falcon Eddie
John H
Hoss22
CueKev
NOSValves
Dprent

Delayed until I figure something out, but always in mind: Ratta (by special exemption)

Chris
 
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Thanks for the update...

TATE said:
Here’s where we’re at – November 15 update

Frustrating that I’m running really slow on the 3/8 X 10 joint shafts – sorry guys, we’ll get there. One had to come back for a re-tapping.

14 very positive evaluations and 4 ” just ok” evaluations.

Completed test program and shipped;

Johnny Shakes, Troi, Poohguy26, Mantis99, Icue, Dstone, Mojoe, Sk8ordie, Mike in Minn, J Soto, Blackballed, Justlovecues, Poolplayer 2093, Sk8Ordie, MikeInMN, Jzmechanix, Scott Lee, Blackballed, SK8Ordie, J.Soto, Lazzerus, MikeInMN, Jzmechanix, MattB, Joey A., Justlovecues, Sonidj (got the shaft Soni, thank you),mBaxter, Tommy T. DaReads


Shaft is possession of: ........ Next up : ...........then after That


Fenix206

crww---------->pushout-----------> Saturated Fats

(whole test cue) --------> Patrick Johnson

Jcat ----------> fasteddie427------------> Tony_in_MD


Shipped from and on the way to: …………….Then to: …………..then to

Predator5k4 ------> shankster8------> McChen



Dareads --------> Schlangen 27 ------------> Harmy76


Tommy T. ----> Bambu------------> Fram 6878

Tate (for repairs) ---------------> CueFix ---------->Mr2serious-----> 5am


On deck but not quite scheduled yet:

MMYPool
iownthe412
Runoutt JJ
Muziq
Luke
Pip9Ball
Vyc
Fram6878
FeedThe Worm
Juan A
TLayne
Falcon Eddie
John H
Hoss22
CueKev
NOSValves
Dprent

Delayed until I figure something out, but always in mind: Ratta (by special exemption)

Chris
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Chris,

Thanks for the update.

Takeem
 
Bambu said:
I have the shaft now, should be trying it out tomorrow.
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Thanks for letting me know. I just e-mailed forwarding information for Fram6878.

I bet those shipping tubes look pretty beat up by now.

Chris
 
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