I received my new Ariel Carmeli a week ago and have played twice with it in league so I thought I would share some pictures and thoughts.
I play LD shafts and had this cue matched with a Predator Z2 which is what you see in the pictures - I also have one of ACs standard shafts but I have not put any time into testing that yet. Playing wise I'm definitely enjoying it. The first competitive game I played with it was a break and run. Last night, at 9 ball, I had 3 straight games without a miss to start the set (one early 9 ball and two break and runs).
The joint is protected by a metal outer ring but is actually wood to wood inside which gives this cue a much softer feel than the all metal joint of the Schon I had been playing. The cue is balanced just forward of the wrap and feels very natural to me. The butt cap is large and along with the butt inlays you wind up with a larger section below the wrap than I'm used to - which isn't in itself an issue except that on stretch shots I find my hand falling below the wrap more often than it did on my old cue.
I'm in love with the points - the colors are what sold me but this is the sharpest set of points on any cue I have ever owned. AC constructs his veneer points a little differently - instead of both the left and right veneer being the same size and extending all the way to the tip of the point he has one veneer extend to the tip and the other match up to it a bit further down. It is hardly noticeable and I assume contributes to his ability to get such sharp points. The ring work is amazing with diamond inlays instead of the more common stitched ring designs.
The wrap appears to be a Tiger leather "horned lizard" style wrap. Looks wise I love it - feel wise I'm still not sure (I've played linen and no-wrap cues for more than 25 years).
Almost forgot - the joint pin - it is a 3/8x10 and the thread goes on forever.. definitely the longest screw I have ever had and you notice it immediately when putting the cue and shaft together. The shafts do not have metal inserts so this screws into wood (quite snugly) further contributing to the soft hit.
I'm very happy with my purchase and wouldn't hesitate to recommend AC cues to anyone.
Craig
I play LD shafts and had this cue matched with a Predator Z2 which is what you see in the pictures - I also have one of ACs standard shafts but I have not put any time into testing that yet. Playing wise I'm definitely enjoying it. The first competitive game I played with it was a break and run. Last night, at 9 ball, I had 3 straight games without a miss to start the set (one early 9 ball and two break and runs).
The joint is protected by a metal outer ring but is actually wood to wood inside which gives this cue a much softer feel than the all metal joint of the Schon I had been playing. The cue is balanced just forward of the wrap and feels very natural to me. The butt cap is large and along with the butt inlays you wind up with a larger section below the wrap than I'm used to - which isn't in itself an issue except that on stretch shots I find my hand falling below the wrap more often than it did on my old cue.
I'm in love with the points - the colors are what sold me but this is the sharpest set of points on any cue I have ever owned. AC constructs his veneer points a little differently - instead of both the left and right veneer being the same size and extending all the way to the tip of the point he has one veneer extend to the tip and the other match up to it a bit further down. It is hardly noticeable and I assume contributes to his ability to get such sharp points. The ring work is amazing with diamond inlays instead of the more common stitched ring designs.
The wrap appears to be a Tiger leather "horned lizard" style wrap. Looks wise I love it - feel wise I'm still not sure (I've played linen and no-wrap cues for more than 25 years).
Almost forgot - the joint pin - it is a 3/8x10 and the thread goes on forever.. definitely the longest screw I have ever had and you notice it immediately when putting the cue and shaft together. The shafts do not have metal inserts so this screws into wood (quite snugly) further contributing to the soft hit.
I'm very happy with my purchase and wouldn't hesitate to recommend AC cues to anyone.
Craig
