new cue

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tkiriella

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So i'm looking for a new cue these days. It will be my very first. Unfortunately, I live in Melbourne Australia, and I cannot seem to find any stores which sell cues which has led me to resort to puchasing one online.

I'm looking at spending about 550 max on a cue (600 if it is somehow beneficial). Now i know your probably gonna say a little too much for a first cue, but my dad's a pool fanatic and I grew up practising on his expensive cue's (much to his distress). Now i'm wanting to purchase one for myself and i wanted to get another opinion seperate to my dad's on getting a decent cue. tips, other equipment is not an issue as my dad purchases everything in bulk so there's always spares, including predator and OB shafts

I've played with my father's meucci, mcdermot, joss and predators etc but looking around for something that isn't 700-800. I've noticed I tend to play alot better with thinner shaft's around 11-12. i tend to do poor with 13's.

I also happen to be a uni student so criteria would be:

- Sturdy, able to withstand constant use
- thin shaft use as mentioned
- Need's to be something that'll last being carried around on a daily use. (i'm very careful with expensive stuff, but better safe than sorry)
- Nothing fancy.. not really into pictures etc on it. maybe a nice design at most.

Cause I'm buying online due to lack of decent pool stores, i was wanting to know what brand's I should stick (obviously not for brand name reasons but rather which companies tend to have consistent quality especially at my price range)

thanks in advance. If there's anything else i failed to mention just let me know
 
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tkiriella said:
So i'm looking for a new cue these days. It will be my very first. Unfortunately, I live in Melbourne Australia, and I cannot seem to find any stores which sell cues which has led me to resort to puchasing one online.

I'm looking at spending about 550 max on a cue (600 if it is somehow beneficial). Now i know your probably gonna say a little too much for a first cue, but my dad's a pool fanatic and I grew up practising on his expensive cue's (much to his distress). Now i'm wanting to purchase one for myself and i wanted to get another opinion seperate to my dad's on getting a decent cue. tips, other equipment is not an issue as my dad purchases everything in bulk so there's always spares, including predator and OB shafts

I've played with my father's meucci, mcdermot, joss and predators etc but looking around for something that isn't 700-800. I've noticed I tend to play alot better with thinner shaft's around 11-12. i tend to do poor with 13's.

I also happen to be a uni student so criteria would be:

- Sturdy, able to withstand constant use
- thin shaft use as mentioned
- Need's to be something that'll last being carried around on a daily use. (i'm very careful with expensive stuff, but better safe than sorry)
- Nothing fancy.. not really into pictures etc on it. maybe a nice design at most.

Cause I'm buying online due to lack of decent pool stores, i was wanting to know what brand's I should stick (obviously not for brand name reasons but rather which companies tend to have consistent quality especially at my price range)

thanks in advance. If there's anything else i failed to mention just let me know
Click to expand...

Instead of a "brand" cue off the shelf, Mike Gulyassy will make you a dynamite if simple-looking custom cue for 500 USD. You'll need to know what you want (weight, shaft diameter etc.). Maybe there are other, similarly gifted cue makers out there who'd make you as good a player for so little money, but I doubt it - if so, I'd be curious to know. Check out his web site:

www.babysproshop.com

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
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cheers for that, I had a look through his range, his lowest cue is $600. the black and white ebony. What would you say the build quality is like? It will be something I take to uni quite often as we have many competitions, so I'm wanting something that is durable

I had a look at the lucassi range, and the lhf65 is quite appealing small diameter, lightweight.
 
Jim Baxter

You need to talk to Jim Baxter here on AZB. He can convert a cue to your specs for less than your 500.00 budget. I bought one that was made into a break cue and it plays so well, I can also use it as a daily player. The hit is super firm and his work is top shelf. Check out the pictures of mine, keeping in mind that this started out as a stock sneaky pete. Better yet, here is the link to Jim's thread with my cue pictured.
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=232717
Try this and you will not be disappointed. I have a McDermott and this cue hits circles aroud it. Hope this helps!
 
I'm someone that does well with smaller diameter's. anything average or bigger and my gameplay drops.

does he only do break cue's or does he make daily player's as well? I must say for a break cue that looks very impressive, very solid on a first impression
 
You can buy one is his "barn find cues" and have him custom build it to your specs, weight, type of tip, shaft diameter, butt cap, joint type, ect ect. His customer service is also top shelf. If you do it right, for 500.00, he might even be able to throw in a nice case!
 
think i'll give him a pm them. the less i can spend for the same quality the better for me.

umm this may sound stupid, but how long does it take to have a custom cue built generally?
 
I asked Jim to take his time on mine, no rush at all, it was about a 2.5 week process for this conversion cue. If you order something that needs to be built from the ground up, could take quite a bit longer. The time table all depends on what you have done..
 
It would have to be built from ground up I guess, as I don't a cue of my own. just use dad's cues at home.

I'll shoot him a pm with my ideas and see what he says. Thanks very much for the help. appreciate it
 
By me saying "from the ground up" I mean if you decide to have him build you a cue from scratch. The cue in the picture that you like is built and all Jim needs to do for you would be to add the specs you would like to have. He can take one of his cues and make it fit your specs. This saves a lot of money and time.
 
ahhh i get ya now. i reckon i'll probably go with that option then. lot more efficient.

for future reference, do custom cue makers generally ship outside of US, I live in AUS, or is it just based on which cue maker i go to

cheers again
 
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tkiriella said:
So i'm looking for a new cue these days. It will be my very first. Unfortunately, I live in Melbourne Australia, and I cannot seem to find any stores which sell cues which has led me to resort to puchasing one online.

I'm looking at spending about 550 max on a cue (600 if it is somehow beneficial). Now i know your probably gonna say a little too much for a first cue, but my dad's a pool fanatic and I grew up practising on his expensive cue's (much to his distress). Now i'm wanting to purchase one for myself and i wanted to get another opinion seperate to my dad's on getting a decent cue. tips, other equipment is not an issue as my dad purchases everything in bulk so there's always spares, including predator and OB shafts

I've played with my father's meucci, mcdermot, joss and predators etc but looking around for something that isn't 700-800. I've noticed I tend to play alot better with thinner shaft's around 11-12. i tend to do poor with 13's.

I also happen to be a uni student so criteria would be:

- Sturdy, able to withstand constant use
- thin shaft use as mentioned
- Need's to be something that'll last being carried around on a daily use. (i'm very careful with expensive stuff, but better safe than sorry)
- Nothing fancy.. not really into pictures etc on it. maybe a nice design at most.

Cause I'm buying online due to lack of decent pool stores, i was wanting to know what brand's I should stick (obviously not for brand name reasons but rather which companies tend to have consistent quality especially at my price range)

thanks in advance. If there's anything else i failed to mention just let me know
Click to expand...

Are you familiar with traditional shafts? I see you've shot with low deflection shafts like Preds & OBs - if you've not shot with a high deflecting custom before you may be in for quite a shock...

Personally, I'd buy a second hand Predator sneaky from here, with a 314-2 shaft, and invest the difference in schooners.
 
Shipping would depend on what is used in a cue. There are a lot of banned materials that can't be shipped abroad such as ivory. IF one of these gets caught in customs, it's lights out for the cue and the sender could end up in jail as well. The cue that was pictured above does not have any banned materials as far as I know and can be shipped anywhere. To answer your question more directly, yes, custom cue makers will ship internationaly so long as it is not breaking customs laws.
 
Well I haven't completely understood how deflection affects a player's game so I have been looking around for a thread that explains it.

All my dad's cues have either pred or OB shaft's on them so I am yet to use a different shaft.

and thanks for clearing up the shipping information, i'll keep that in mind
 
Keith Josey can make you a sneacky pete with wrap for less then 500$ . Great guy to work with , just check his website ' josey custom cues ' . He is known for his low deflection cues and he is one of the best .
 
tkiriella said:
cheers for that, I had a look through his range, his lowest cue is $600. the black and white ebony. What would you say the build quality is like? It will be something I take to uni quite often as we have many competitions, so I'm wanting something that is durable

I had a look at the lucassi range, and the lhf65 is quite appealing small diameter, lightweight.
Click to expand...

If it has to be Lucasi, I'd go for an L-ER with Radial Pin and have some low-deflection shaft made for it (take your pick, there are so many producers of LD shafts out there) - this should easily be in your price range. Did that for one of my students once (he went for a 314-2 shaft as it's popular - one has to get lucky to get a nice and straight one, though), he's very happy with the cue and has been playing with it ever since. Lucasi butts have nice build quality for the money, good linen wraps, too.

But: I'd personally buy that black and white ebony Gulyassy in the blink of an eye (my old eyes read 500 USD on the web site, by the way, not 600). Black and white ebony is a bit more rare and difficult to work with - the same cue with a birdseye or curly maple butt might even cost a hundred less. I play e.g. a Southwest, Tascarella etc. myself, and can assure you no one on planet Earth offers higher build quality than Mike. Knowing a little about his preferences, I'm sure that cue's butt is cored. In other words, a costly high-end construction for very little money. And it probably comes with the Earl Strickland taper SPT shaft, gotta love that!

Also second the Keith Josey Sneaky Pete recommendation, you may want to have a look at those, too.

As to deflection, all cues deflect (throw the cue ball off course when side spin is applied) to some extent. There is no such thing as "zero deflection". What makes a cue play well is predictability. Low deflection is not per se the holy grail, a cue needs to not behave erratically at e.g. higher speeds (most do at least reasonably well at low to medium speeds). Note that you've apparently "grown up" with LD shafts (you've mentioned your dad's Predator and OB), so maybe it would not be a good idea to turn to a classic pro taper (such as Lucasi's stock shaft with an L-ER) all of a sudden, as you may find that difficult to handle. Even so, deflection is really a matter of consistency - sooner or later you'll have to adjust to "your" cue no matter what you pick. Any cue that doesn't behave erratic is easy to adjust to.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
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No matter which cue you decide on, remember that hit is always subjective and you often times get what you pay for. I feel that if you give Jim a try, you will be happy and not have much tied up in a cue that is mostly a custom to your specs. If I did not like mine, there is no way I would advertise them to others.
 
SC02GTP said:
No matter which cue you decide on, remember that hit is always subjective and you often times get what you pay for. I feel that if you give Jim a try, you will be happy and not have much tied up in a cue that is mostly a custom to your specs. If I did not like mine, there is no way I would advertise them to others.
Click to expand...

Hit is indeed subjective. However, I don't see what could be wrong about a custom cue made to one's specs if the cost is the same. A conversion is ultimately a conversion, i.e. expensive for what it is if the e.g. stock Sneaky is of inferior quality, or a one-of-a-kind cue to treasure - there is really no telling. Making a cue from scratch, especially if cored, simply is more expensive. One might say that if someone charges the same for that than for a conversion, it's an even better deal. Not that this matters in view of the fact that whatever is going to make the player who uses it happy is the right choice.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti
 
tkiriella said:
I'm someone that does well with smaller diameter's. anything average or bigger and my gameplay drops.

does he only do break cue's or does he make daily player's as well? I must say for a break cue that looks very impressive, very solid on a first impression
Click to expand...

I may have a Predator QR2 for sale....PM me if interested.
 
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