My new OB-133 arrived Saturday and I've had a chance to play with it twice. Once was a straight pool marathon, and the other time was a couple hours of 8 ball with my girlfriend. I wasn't so sure about the larger tip (12.75 mm) that came with it as I have played with a smaller OB shaft on my Lucasi butt for several years. My thoughts on the cue after a short time playing are:
It is elegant looking with simple, yet striking details. The birds' eye maple butt is a beautiful antiqued honey color that oozes class. The cocobolo darts, set into black micarta are perfect, and the sharp points tell a lot about the attention to detail on the whole cue.
I like heavy shooting cues, especially for 14.1. I asked for it to be weighted to 21.5, and it came in at 21.8. Because of the OB butt weighting system, that distributes weight from one end to the other, the cue feels much lighter, and everyone that has picked it up thought it was about 17-18 oz. Of course it has more mass, so with a gentle stroke, it acts like a heavy cue, but with the feel of less effort. A lot of the better players I know at the pool hall I frequent don't like OB much, especially because they feel the shafts feel too light. I've never noticed that, but OB may have addressed this with the butt weighting system because it has a noticeably evenly weighted feel to me. Spin control feels effortless and very effective.
The Implex joint has a lush feel, and again, spin control is so easy with this cue. This may not be the cue for players who like a hard feeling hit, and maybe the "pro" shafts add enough crispness for them. I can't imagine a better feel.
The OB-1+ shaft does not disappoint. It has feel and control. I was immediately able to get significant draw on full table length shots. I'll probably replace the Everest tip with a Kamui super soft, which is my normal shooting tip. Everest is a good tip that I've used before, but I just like the feel and control of the Kamui.
Here's a stock photo of the cue. I really wanted the OB-136 cue, but I couldn't justify the price difference, especially because I got the 133 as an unused sale item from a going out of business shop at a price I couldn't say no to.
Now, I may have one or two cues for sale!
Jim
It is elegant looking with simple, yet striking details. The birds' eye maple butt is a beautiful antiqued honey color that oozes class. The cocobolo darts, set into black micarta are perfect, and the sharp points tell a lot about the attention to detail on the whole cue.
I like heavy shooting cues, especially for 14.1. I asked for it to be weighted to 21.5, and it came in at 21.8. Because of the OB butt weighting system, that distributes weight from one end to the other, the cue feels much lighter, and everyone that has picked it up thought it was about 17-18 oz. Of course it has more mass, so with a gentle stroke, it acts like a heavy cue, but with the feel of less effort. A lot of the better players I know at the pool hall I frequent don't like OB much, especially because they feel the shafts feel too light. I've never noticed that, but OB may have addressed this with the butt weighting system because it has a noticeably evenly weighted feel to me. Spin control feels effortless and very effective.
The Implex joint has a lush feel, and again, spin control is so easy with this cue. This may not be the cue for players who like a hard feeling hit, and maybe the "pro" shafts add enough crispness for them. I can't imagine a better feel.
The OB-1+ shaft does not disappoint. It has feel and control. I was immediately able to get significant draw on full table length shots. I'll probably replace the Everest tip with a Kamui super soft, which is my normal shooting tip. Everest is a good tip that I've used before, but I just like the feel and control of the Kamui.
Here's a stock photo of the cue. I really wanted the OB-136 cue, but I couldn't justify the price difference, especially because I got the 133 as an unused sale item from a going out of business shop at a price I couldn't say no to.
Now, I may have one or two cues for sale!
Jim
