My new Predator

C

Cameron Smith

is kind of hungry...
Silver Member
I bought my new cue today! It plays great! Sadly I'm too sick to go out tomorrow and use it :( . Oh well, I guess I'll just stay home and read "Play Your Best 9 ball" by Phil Capelle and finally learned how to play this stupid game.
 
Good luck with your new cue. I love my Predator 314 shafts, and can't play a good game without one. Did I just say I can play a good game? Oops!
 
I will definitely enjoy it. I did play around with it yesterday afternoon and was very impressed. Not only was I able to impart a lot of spin, but I did so with quite a bit of ease. The other feature that became apparent was that I had a larger room for error. That is to say that, if I put a bad stroke on the ball I wouldn't neccessarily miss.

It sucks being sick.
 
xidica said:
What model? Can we get some pics here?!
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It's a 4k3. As for pictures I am at a loss of how to post pictures on the internet, but there is a picture of it on the website. I think it looks purty.
 
despotic931 said:
You will love the 314, I just got mine and am quickly falling in love!
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I had one and it was ok. Played fine, no complaints, except for the hit.

Actually, the hit was a 314 hit.

But I love the hit of my Ed Young custom shaft... waaaaay more.

To each his own!

Happy New Years!

Flex
 
Cameron Smith said:
I will definitely enjoy it. I did play around with it yesterday afternoon and was very impressed. Not only was I able to impart a lot of spin, but I did so with quite a bit of ease. The other feature that became apparent was that I had a larger room for error. That is to say that, if I put a bad stroke on the ball I wouldn't neccessarily miss.

It sucks being sick.
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Glad you like it!

I have a friend who has a Z shaft, and mentioned how it put a lot of spin on the cue ball, was harder to control, etc.

So I asked him if I could shoot a few with it.

Set up a shot with the cue ball on the spot, and shot it straight down table to the short rail with about 1 1/2 tips right, shot it with my normal stroke, but trying to put as much spin on it for that shot as I might if I were shooting a regular shot.

Then I did exactly the same thing with my cue, which has an Ed Young custom shaft on it, 12 mm, with a milk dud tip.

Results?

Virtually identical in terms of where the cue ball spun off and hit the long rail.

I know it's not a scientific test, but heck, it's my stroke, and they came out basically the same. And I shot three shots with each, and got near identical results with both.

It's true his cue squirts the cue ball less; however, I shoot with back hand english on many shots, and squirt doesn't bother me.

Which is better?

Well, let's just say after shooting around with his Pred cue and Z shaft that I'm not planning to sink any money in a Z shaft anytime soon.

It's quite possible I'm getting a lot of that spin from the tip, but we all know it's the tip plus the ferrule plus the shaft plus the butt... yada yada... The end result was the same.

Now, for the power shots, I'd take mine over his. Subjective, I know...

Happy New Year!

Flex
 
I have no doubt 'z' shaft puts more spin than any other shaft on the market and it is by a mile. If you would experiment longer with different shots you would notice some amazing effects. Your friend is right it is hard to control the ball. It is easy to mess up easy shots. You need a perfect stroke each time for the z-shaft.

The problem with the 'z' shaft is that it is exhausting to play with and in the long run impossible to play with it.

When two equal players go against each other and one has a z-shaft and the other a house cue, my money is on the broom.
 
Wolven said:
I have no doubt 'z' shaft puts more spin than any other shaft on the market and it is by a mile. If you would experiment longer with different shots you would notice some amazing effects. Your friend is right it is hard to control the ball. It is easy to mess up easy shots. You need a perfect stroke each time for the z-shaft.

The problem with the 'z' shaft is that it is exhausting to play with and in the long run impossible to play with it.

When two equal players go against each other and one has a z-shaft and the other a house cue, my money is on the broom.
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It may well be that Z shaft puts more juice on the ball, but I doubt it, at least compared to my cue. I can do some crazy stuff with it...
 
Wolven said:
I have no doubt 'z' shaft puts more spin than any other shaft on the market and it is by a mile. If you would experiment longer with different shots you would notice some amazing effects. Your friend is right it is hard to control the ball. It is easy to mess up easy shots. You need a perfect stroke each time for the z-shaft.

The problem with the 'z' shaft is that it is exhausting to play with and in the long run impossible to play with it.

When two equal players go against each other and one has a z-shaft and the other a house cue, my money is on the broom.
Click to expand...

Well, actually the shaft on my cue is not "on the market" as it's a custom one that was tweaked in a special way after it was first made. Ed Young retapered it for me and now it plays jam up.

However, regarding your mention about the Z shaft being impossible to play with in the long run, perhaps you should watch Mike Davis play sometime, if you haven't already. Freakin' awesome... And his stroke is quite unconventional, to say the least.
 
Here's a pic of a 4K3 I have on my web pages. Hope it's like yours.

4k3.gif
 
I know 2 masters who use z-shaft and love it. I also know a couple of B & A players who use it, and you can bet your money they will do something unexpected in a middle of the run out. Personally I was unable to play with the z-shaft and sold it. I think you need a good stroke for it.

I use OB-1 as my main shaft, 314 as a backup on my P2. However, I just got a X-shaft with a Tiger cue.

It is a totally different experience playing with this setup.

What did you do to your shaft?
 
Wolven said:
I know 2 masters who use z-shaft and love it. I also know a couple of B & A players who use it, and you can bet your money they will do something unexpected in a middle of the run out. Personally I was unable to play with the z-shaft and sold it. I think you need a good stroke for it.

I use OB-1 as my main shaft, 314 as a backup on my P2. However, I just got a X-shaft with a Tiger cue.

It is a totally different experience playing with this setup.

What did you do to your shaft?
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Well the first thing is this shaft is very dense, and heavier than might be imagined. It has a very stiff spine, even though the tip is about 12 mm.

Ed Young originally made me a very thick shaft and even after 6 months and many many many ours of use I was unable to adjust to it.

Then I shot some balls with another shaft he made, and I fell in love with it. I asked him to retaper my shaft to be the same as the taper on the other shaft, which he did.


Turns out that over a month or so, I used one of those scotch brite pads to clean accumulated chalk and so on off the cue. Apparently I got a little carried away, and also removed some wood! Sheesh... but guess what, where it's at right now is darn near perfect for me.

The shaft does not have a pro taper, but one of Ed's tapers. Someone told me is is a Kershenbrock taper. Who knows, but it plays great. With this shaft on my cue the setup weighs 19.2 ounces. Very stiff hit, but lots of action on the cue ball, which I like. Plus a milk dud tip on it. That may be another reason it plays so well.

Oh, also, it's not for sale! :D

Flex
 
I never seen this taper, do you have pictures?
Stiff hit is good as long as there is action. Everything is for sale.:)
 
Wolven said:
I never seen this taper, do you have pictures?
Stiff hit is good as long as there is action. Everything is for sale.:)
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Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures, but will see what I can do to get some.

Once again, my cue isn't for sale! (Now, if someone were to offer me an outlandish sum for it, I just might, but who in their right mind would do that? They can always get a gee whiz predator, or something else like it.)
 
I have a 4k3, It is my first "american pool" cue and I like it alot.

I bought it in April so it came with an original 314 and I now have a 314-2 and the original as a back up.
 
In response to Wolven, who wanted to see some pictures. My apologies for the relatively poor quality of the picture; couldn't get anything better out of my el cheapo digital camera.
 

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