I lived in Angeles City where Efren lived and at the same time, before he came to the US. I had plenty of chances to buy those cues, but never did. I was playing with an ebony 4-point that Richard Black made for me at the time.
My opinion about pool cues
- Thread starter deanoc
- Start date
I lived in Angeles City where Efren lived and at the same time, before he came to the US. I had plenty of chances to buy those cues, but never did. I was playing with an ebony 4-point that Richard Black made for me at the time.
sometimes a cheap bat is made from a good wood .
and if you love to play with it , you dont need an expensive one .
and if you have the ability to work hard on your "swing" ,
the cue doesnt matter .
practice your stroke , instead of posting on az .
best regards
and if you love to play with it , you dont need an expensive one .
and if you have the ability to work hard on your "swing" ,
the cue doesnt matter .
practice your stroke , instead of posting on az .
best regards
i don't think the cue doesn't matter slogan is anywhere near true and i can prove it
if anyone want to use my mystery cue I will spot them 8 to 4 at one pocket
or play them even at 9 ball
further why would every pro player have a cue of his own
why would anyone/
I know from experience that play better with
certain cues
So the cues does make a difference,a big difference
anyone not believing that is invited to play me for $10000 pr game
using my mystery cue that I can not play with
if anyone want to use my mystery cue I will spot them 8 to 4 at one pocket
or play them even at 9 ball
further why would every pro player have a cue of his own
why would anyone/
I know from experience that play better with
certain cues
So the cues does make a difference,a big difference
anyone not believing that is invited to play me for $10000 pr game
using my mystery cue that I can not play with
I say play with whatever is comfortable to you. I have expensive cues and cheap 100 dollar sneaky Pete’s and they all play only as good as what I can make them. Now I’m assuming we’re talking about any cue that is fairly straight with a leather tip and not a tree branch that someone calls a cue. People like high end cues because they like to collect them and appreciate the cue maker and workmanship kinda like a hobby same as collecting old cars, rare baseball cards or whatever. Others could care less and play with a “production type cue” and it’s perfectly fine whatever you choose to do because in the big picture it all supports the game we love. Play with whatever makes you happy.
Using your example, I have never had the opportunity to play with a Runde because I have never seen one in a pool hall that I frequent. I have had opportunity to play with quite a few Szamboti cues and I have never played with one from either the father or the son that was less than outstanding. I am comfortable that if I buy a Szamboti cue and don’t pay too much that eventually I will be able to sell it for what I paid, maybe a bit more. I sold my Gus for slightly more than I paid (still miss it) and still use the Barry shafts as my main players after a dozen years. That was why I owned one and would want another. I can recall several elite custom cuemakers whose cues have similarly impressed me; I still own two of their cues. I have only experienced 3 cues costing <$2K that I thought had those same playing qualities that made me want to buy the cue. That is why I don’t put a lot of effort into investigating cuemakers where I don’t have prior experience with their cues.
There are many very good cues out there. But for me, there are only a few that are special to my tastes. At least in the places I visit, access to custom cues is much more limited these days. I can try all of the carbon fiber and LD brands that I want. For many of the up-and-coming possible future legendary cuemakers, I have never seen one of their cues being used in a pool hall to be able to have an opinion if I want to investigate possibly owning one.
I own quite a collection of nice cues. A lot of them came from Dean, or with the help of Dean. One of them never leave my house it is a Runde. Thanks Dean. To all the great craftsmen out there keeping my addiction alive i say Thank You. And Thank You Dean for being able to make it possible, for common folk to be able to own and play with some of the best craftsmanship out there today.
You did???? I think you failed...
You said....
Well both makers have many of the similar build processes that you mentiond except quantity per year. The other differences are "look" (you didn't mention) which is subjective, and then there's the fact that one doesn't have anywhere's near the desireability as the other. As for "value" that's too broad a word and doesn't explain the REASONS to that.... To explain value it's two things in short, it's desireability, which encompasses a lot of things, and availability. Those two are the easiest and most complete ways for anyone to understand why you'll have to pay a whole lot more for one than the other.
Availability of an item is easy to find out. To explain desireability requires much more extensive knoweledge of the item and is, for most of those who pay the higher $, a necessity.
ok skins , i understand your point and you have the knowledge
here is a question to you :
how long does it take to build a perfect shaft from a blank of seasoned old growth straight grain maple at the szamboti ,guiterez or searing shop , for example .
are the bob runde shafts really the same quality ?
my very best regards
here is a question to you :
how long does it take to build a perfect shaft from a blank of seasoned old growth straight grain maple at the szamboti ,guiterez or searing shop , for example .
are the bob runde shafts really the same quality ?
my very best regards
It takes many years. Turnning many times taking off small amounts pur "cut". Even then there are blanks that will not make the "cut" and will be discarded.
The shaft creation process in itself is not, by itself, the determining factor to value. Though if a maker does have an extensive process for their shafts it's a decent bet that may transfer over to the rest of their work which could have an effect on their final product and could affect value...The 3 makets you mention have extreemly desireable cues because of ALL of their processes as a whole and the final result of them.
As for Bob's shafts, the last time I heard anything about his shaft building process, which was many years ago, I believe I was told he has a multi year process.
I've had a number of cues over the years, mostly custom. Some I favored over others in hit, look or feel for my liking. At the end of the day I guess it is what you get used to. Hit is subjective but a good cue maker who has their process down for construction and works the wood down over time I think is the most important thing. A buddy of mine has a pretty extensive collection of cues so I've had the opportunity to play some with many cues that are out of my budget but from his collection I always find myself favoring a couple of Murrells that he has.
The "perfect" cue is the cue that you can "trust" to do what you intended to do when you planned out the shot.
If you "can do" what "you intended to do", it doesn't matter the cost of the cue, the maker of the cue, or anything else.
IMO, I think a cue "communicates" with the player. The cue's "communication" with one player may be spot on and yet it doesn't "communicate" worth a damn with another player. This is why everybody has different preferences and one guy will think a cue sucks and another guy will proclaim it as the best cue ever made.
I think the "communications" of the cue can be adjusted, to a degree, though different weights, tapers, materials, etc.
I can hit one or two shot with somebody's cue and instantly tell if it suits me or not. I have had people tell my to try their Szambotis, Black Boars, Southwests, etc. and, to me, they may have not "hit" as well as whatever I happened to be using at the time.
I think I can shoot pretty "well" with just about any cue, but the ones that I own "communicate" better with me.
Finding the cue that "communicates" best with you is sometimes hard. Once you find one, I'd suggest holding on to it and keep having good conversations with it at the table.
If you "can do" what "you intended to do", it doesn't matter the cost of the cue, the maker of the cue, or anything else.
IMO, I think a cue "communicates" with the player. The cue's "communication" with one player may be spot on and yet it doesn't "communicate" worth a damn with another player. This is why everybody has different preferences and one guy will think a cue sucks and another guy will proclaim it as the best cue ever made.
I think the "communications" of the cue can be adjusted, to a degree, though different weights, tapers, materials, etc.
I can hit one or two shot with somebody's cue and instantly tell if it suits me or not. I have had people tell my to try their Szambotis, Black Boars, Southwests, etc. and, to me, they may have not "hit" as well as whatever I happened to be using at the time.
I think I can shoot pretty "well" with just about any cue, but the ones that I own "communicate" better with me.
Finding the cue that "communicates" best with you is sometimes hard. Once you find one, I'd suggest holding on to it and keep having good conversations with it at the table.
communication with the cue , i like that !
you feel it when you have the right one in your hands .
play it every day and every month , and over the years the cue became better and better .
to me nothing plays like an really old cue , with an really old shaft .
thousands hours of play , did something to the wood , that a new cue cannot compete with.
thanks to skins for his opinion as an expert .
hawaianeye , i think you are an genuine poolplayer .
deanoc , rock your szam , i bet this is a beatiful good hitting monster .
keep in stroke everybody
you feel it when you have the right one in your hands .
play it every day and every month , and over the years the cue became better and better .
to me nothing plays like an really old cue , with an really old shaft .
thousands hours of play , did something to the wood , that a new cue cannot compete with.
thanks to skins for his opinion as an expert .
hawaianeye , i think you are an genuine poolplayer .
deanoc , rock your szam , i bet this is a beatiful good hitting monster .
keep in stroke everybody
We need a Garrick Ollivander to assist us when buying cues.
This is profound.
I would add that golf has it right in that a person can get clubs fine tuned to his or her swing. The technology is amazing. If there was money in pool like there is in golf, just maybe we would have the technology to fine tune cues to players. I don't think it will ever happen and that leaves us with trial and error. We keep trying cues to find that ONE that communicates with us. Mine is a McWorter, but I keep trying other cues. I'm curious by nature and I NEED to know if something else will play better for me. I'm almost certain I won't find a better cue. ALMOST.
In my purely amateur opinion, pool cue performance, like golf clubs or fly-fishing rods, quickly reach a point of diminishing returns. Once the price point exceeds, say $400, IMO you're starting to pay more for how a cue looks vs. how it performs. I just picked that number out of the air; it could be $300, or $500. Point being, once you pass that price point most of us are really paying for 'pretty.'
And there's nothing wrong with that; I have owned more than a dozen cues that I paid nearly $1,000 for mostly aesthetic reasons. Some played better than others.
If I had to nail down what makes a cue perform I'd guess it had more to do with the trinity of tip, ferrule, and shaft, much more than how the butt/handle was made and/or what it was made from.
For instance, the first time I had a Kamui Black super soft tip put on a cue, it took several sessions spread over a few months to get really comfortable with it. But I was used to medium and medium-hard tips before that, so it was a bit of a jump. I had to relearn how to shoot table-length shots.
I never spent much time thinking about ferrules, but I tend to like micartas. I just think they tend to translate feel better than anything else I've tried.
For shafts things like stiffness, deflection rate, taper etc., can become factors. Since I've been shooting Meuccis pretty consistently for the better part of 30 years, I like 15-inch pro tapers a la Meucci. And I also feel the most comfortable with Meucci shaft flex/deflection rates.
Now, I can shoot just fine with a $20 bar cue, and if I can shape the tip, I can make one do nearly everything I can do with one of my Meuccis/other 'premium' cues. But a bar cue rarely 'talks' to me the way my HP-3 does.
I suppose at a certain point it becomes more a matter of 'feel.' And what one person likes in terms of 'feel' might not feel good to another player.
And there's nothing wrong with that; I have owned more than a dozen cues that I paid nearly $1,000 for mostly aesthetic reasons. Some played better than others.
If I had to nail down what makes a cue perform I'd guess it had more to do with the trinity of tip, ferrule, and shaft, much more than how the butt/handle was made and/or what it was made from.
For instance, the first time I had a Kamui Black super soft tip put on a cue, it took several sessions spread over a few months to get really comfortable with it. But I was used to medium and medium-hard tips before that, so it was a bit of a jump. I had to relearn how to shoot table-length shots.
I never spent much time thinking about ferrules, but I tend to like micartas. I just think they tend to translate feel better than anything else I've tried.
For shafts things like stiffness, deflection rate, taper etc., can become factors. Since I've been shooting Meuccis pretty consistently for the better part of 30 years, I like 15-inch pro tapers a la Meucci. And I also feel the most comfortable with Meucci shaft flex/deflection rates.
Now, I can shoot just fine with a $20 bar cue, and if I can shape the tip, I can make one do nearly everything I can do with one of my Meuccis/other 'premium' cues. But a bar cue rarely 'talks' to me the way my HP-3 does.
I suppose at a certain point it becomes more a matter of 'feel.' And what one person likes in terms of 'feel' might not feel good to another player.