Need Some Custom Cue advice

Bugz

Bugz

Glutton for Punishment
Silver Member
I've found a Darrien Hill, Chris Nitti, and Rick Howard all in my price range. Each one has a design or something better then the other.

There also is added pressure, knowing that my wife is not going to let me buy another cue for a very long time. Most likely after a child or two and a new house.

So lets say 5 years between now and the next time I can buy a custom.

Which one would you go with and why?
 
Can we have any of the relevant pieces of information about the cues and what you're looking for in a cue? Do you really want a choice based on a name alone?
 
Sorry, forgot that.

I've played with most of Custmqs's cues: I'd rank them like this

1. Bender
2. Franklin Southwest
3. Darrien hill
4. Bluegrass

I play with a Schon Ltd. 1033

Bender: Balance, feel, response, felt the most comfortable to play with

Southwest: Liked the feel and balance. It seemed to be very unforgiving if I stroked a draw shot bad

Hil: Felt great, a little bit dead on a 3 tip draw shot compared to the bender and southwest

Bluegrass: I don't know, just didn't feel right. Couldn't tell you what it was, just not a natural feeling like the other 3.
 
Bugz said:
I've found a Darrien Hill, Chris Nitti, and Rick Howard all in my price range. Each one has a design or something better then the other.

There also is added pressure, knowing that my wife is not going to let me buy another cue for a very long time. Most likely after a child or two and a new house.

So lets say 5 years between now and the next time I can buy a custom.

Which one would you go with and why?
Click to expand...

Cant go wrong with Rick Howard...his cues are as solid as they get no matter what price range your looking into. I play/promote/sell OMEN cues but its personal taste!!
 
Bugz said:
I've found a Darrien Hill, Chris Nitti, and Rick Howard all in my price range. Each one has a design or something better then the other.

There also is added pressure, knowing that my wife is not going to let me buy another cue for a very long time. Most likely after a child or two and a new house.

So lets say 5 years between now and the next time I can buy a custom.

Which one would you go with and why?
Click to expand...

Even though I have one Darrin Hill for sale, and I've owned all three cue maker's work (multiple cues from each), *my* personal preference would be Rick Howard cue.
 
custom means this:

You need to try each cue maker out - Select a cue with proper weight,lenght,size of grip and general "good"feel for you! mark
 
HILL, HOWARD and NITTI:

In terms of inital investment and potential value on the secondary market for comparable cues it's a push. Same can be said for fit, finish, etc.

A factor you might consider is that HILL is located very close to you which may be an asset from a service aspect.
 
I have owned every one of the very best custom cues money can buy in 30yrs playing pool & DARRIN HILL cues fit,finish,playing ability,& secondary resale value (certified) is the #1 cuemaker in the world.The mans passion is to build a great playing cue! :)
 
Personally, I think you are nuts. Why seek out a cue ? Especially in this day and age when you can put a predator on the end of a $100 cue and play well. Wait for the cue to come to you. Tell the wife to put the slush fund aside. Add to it when you can. I'm sure that sometime soon, something willl come accross your nose that you'll fall in love with. Goodness knows, the dang buy/sell section of AZ provides enough choices. Best of luck,
tim
 
I would go with a Fisher cue.

Ever since I got the Bryan Fisher cue that was donated to auction for TAR, I have been getting all kinds of questions about who made the cue and how well it hits. If I had to compare the feel of the cue the only thing I would say it hits like is a southwest.

Even people who usually don't like purpleheart thought that the wood combinations in my cue made it look spectacular. Don't go by the pictures that were posted, because they don't do it justice and the pictures don't tell you how it hits.

Everyone asks me where Bryan is located and I kept forgetting so I had to look it up today and he's in IA, so now I can answer that question when asked. The feel of hit and consistency of hit of the Fisher is awesome and I can't get over how well it hits and looks. I was going to be getting another southwest and I may still, but I think I'm going to stick with my Fisher as my playing cue for quite a while and may even have to order another one that is more suited to me as far as aesthetics go.

I had not intended on winning it and was really only trying to help out TAR by bumping up the thread and the auction price but man am I gald that I ended up with it.

You should really look into a Bryan Fisher cue.
 
How about a builder from IL

Look no further then Granite City . . . I own one of these and it is AWESOME . . . best hittin' cue I ever picked up.

Doug's an AZ'er as well . . .

www.patrickcustomcues.com
 

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Bugz said:
Sorry, forgot that.

I've played with most of Custmqs's cues: I'd rank them like this

1. Bender
2. Franklin Southwest
3. Darrien hill
4. Bluegrass

I play with a Schon Ltd. 1033

Bender: Balance, feel, response, felt the most comfortable to play with

Southwest: Liked the feel and balance. It seemed to be very unforgiving if I stroked a draw shot bad

Hil: Felt great, a little bit dead on a 3 tip draw shot compared to the bender and southwest

Bluegrass: I don't know, just didn't feel right. Couldn't tell you what it was, just not a natural feeling like the other 3.
Click to expand...


I think everyone knows by now that I like Rick Howard over everyone else for the money. However if you didn't like the SW than you may not like the RH either. To me the wood in the forearm has alot to do with forgiveness. I prefer maple forearms on SW and on RH. Ebony is less forgiving on those long draw shots. Again just a preference
 
I'm going with this Rick Howard:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=90388&highlight=Rick+Howard+pointer

thanks for everyones response and advice.

reasons for choosing:

More low key then my current Schon.

Hill reviews were on both sides of the spectrum

After all of the research on AZ, I didn't find one bad post on Rick's cues. Found a few on hills.

Seemed like the best value for my dollar.

If it is like a southwest hit and feel (yes I know only thing that hits like a SW is a SW) i'm sure I will be able to adjust and enjoy this cue for a long time.
 
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