OB cues shut down?

oh my .5 will really make a difference
Lol okay? Cool if it doesn't for you. It does for me in the feel of it in my bridge. Besides, I'd like to emphasize that their customer service was great and their cues beautifully made. I spent a good chunk of cash for something that wasn't quite what I ordered, which was a bummer. They were going to make it right, which was great.

Edit: Others have mentioned the other part of the point.
 
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i have been playing since i was

i have been playing since i was 7 .... im 37 now ..... .5 really shouldnt matter
That’s a long time. Some players are more sensitive to equipment than others. .5 on a shaft is a lot to some, you’re in a better spot if it doesn’t bother you. I’m sensitive to equipment, I’d rather be the guy who can make any cue work

Best
Fatboy😃
 
That’s a long time. Some players are more sensitive to equipment than others. .5 on a shaft is a lot to some, you’re in a better spot if it doesn’t bother you. I’m sensitive to equipment, I’d rather be the guy who can make any cue work

Best
Fatboy😃
i grew up playing with anything ... then i got better production cues .... sometimes i like playing with house cues. i have some old Dufferin red leaf house cues from the 90s?that i really like. The clear coat is cracking on them unfortunately.
 
i grew up playing with anything ... then i got better production cues .... sometimes i like playing with house cues. i have some old Dufferin red leaf house cues from the 90s?that i really like. The clear coat is cracking on them unfortunately.
Those are nice!!😍😍
 
I've played pool my whole life . I'm over 40. I didn't even know or give a damn what deflection was until I was 30 or so.
I bought new LD gear three yrs ago and somewhat retired my schon cues with solid maple shafts and ivory ferrules.
I didn't learn on LD shafts...so going back to regular "high deflection" feels like an old friend to me, and I adjust very quickly with it.
I swear I can hit a ball with extreme inside English and it will deflect less than anyone's Ld shaft. Because I subconsciously adjust for the deflection without even thinking of adjusting.
Ld shafts have their place. Certain shots with inside English at a firm pace seem to be more consistent. And they seem maybe slightly more forgiving of a slop stroke. Other than that...I really don't see the benefits.

I played just as good before I switched.
The new gear just got me motivated to play a little more.
Guys that have only ever played with LD really seem to struggle with a good solid high deflection maple shaft. But they almost always prefer the way solid maple hits and feels.
I can pick up my old cue immediately after shooting with a mezz with a wx900 shaft and run a rack...it just feels familiar. If I play with my old stuff all day and go back to ld. It feels like I need to make a slight adjustment for it
 
I've played pool my whole life . I'm over 40. I didn't even know or give a damn what deflection was until I was 30 or so.
I bought new LD gear three yrs ago and somewhat retired my schon cues with solid maple shafts and ivory ferrules.
I didn't learn on LD shafts...so going back to regular "high deflection" feels like an old friend to me, and I adjust very quickly with it.
I swear I can hit a ball with extreme inside English and it will deflect less than anyone's Ld shaft. Because I subconsciously adjust for the deflection without even thinking of adjusting.
Ld shafts have their place. Certain shots with inside English at a firm pace seem to be more consistent. And they seem maybe slightly more forgiving of a slop stroke. Other than that...I really don't see the benefits.

I played just as good before I switched.
The new gear just got me motivated to play a little more.
Guys that have only ever played with LD really seem to struggle with a good solid high deflection maple shaft. But they almost always prefer the way solid maple hits and feels.
I can pick up my old cue immediately after shooting with a mezz with a wx900 shaft and run a rack...it just feels familiar. If I play with my old stuff all day and go back to ld. It feels like I need to make a slight adjustment for it
yeah i played with Meucci and LD shafts for many years, but then i got a JR 360 recently and i really like the standard maple shafts. they play really well
 
me and some guys use to gamble .... the conditions were to play with the cheapest chalk, cues, and tips we could find. makes for an interesting game. makes you have to adapt

cheap chalk and cheap tips make you play more for angles .... drawing the ball wouldnt always be a great option
 
That's too bad about OB! I just bought an OB cue which was sent with the 12.8 diameter 30" Raven shaft. Unfortunately, the shaft was supposed to be the 12.3 diameter. They said they would swap it out for me once they got the smaller diameter in. 😬 The cue is beautiful and feels great.

That is actually a bit problem with OB shaft orders, they often just seem to send random diameters. My son ordered 3 different Pheonix shafts, two were the wrong diameter and one was the wrong length LOL Happened to a few others I know. I guess it's a moot point now. At least I got my OB Carbon before they are gone, and do like playing with it except I need to find a way to get rid of the tink sound it makes when shooting. Probably will need a ferrule and tip swap.
 
Just found out about OB myself, after ording the CF shaft from Seybert’s. That certainly explains why it was the lowest price CF shaft :p played with it the other night. Still getting used to it. Some hits, it has a fake feel/sound. Harder hits, same feel/sounds as a wood shaft. As for deflection, I’m not good enough to say.

I used to have a teammate that was big into OB’s stuff. Ordered one of their fancier cues and waited for it, had their break, their break/jump, everything. He ended up buying a Jacoby Black at USAPL Nats in 2019. I know he still plays with that, and still uses the break cue. Not sure what butt he uses on the player. Not sure if it’s because of them closing, or he just wanted to keep changing things.
 
IMO, a difference of .5mm in a shaft is discernible if you prefer to play with a thinner shaft,
especially if the taper extends beyond 12” or so. You can tell the difference much more if
you play with a tightly curled closed bridge. The pads on your index finger feel the thickness
when it’s that much larger than what you like. You can feel the difference between a 13.5 and
a 13mm shaft. And you can feel it between a 12.25 and 12.75mm, especially with longer taper.
The shaft also feels different when striking the cue ball. Thicker shafts require some adjustment
so when you like something that’s different, i.e., thinner, well, that can turn into a mental challenge.
 
.5mm is a massive difference...

I don't mean to offend anyone, but if you can flip flop between 12.5 and 12 without any short term dip in performance. Then you're probably not strong enough to have any inconsistencies have a noticeable effect your on game.

Sure I can also play pool with nearly anything...., including a broom handle. However that doesn't mean I'll play at my best with whatever garbage you hand me. It's well known that snooker players marry themselves to the playing cue and never alter with their setup. There's a reason for it. The only real trick to playing billiards well is consistency. Whether that be your mechanics or the equipment you've invested years of growing accustomed to.

The notion that someone shouldn't batt an eye at being shipped a playing shaft .5mm out of spec'd purchase is ridiculous.

Hell, I just bought a second wx900 and didn't even take it out of the packaging before handing it to my cue guy so it could be turned down .4mm to match my current player.
 
I have played with them all. Yes they do what are meant to do. But it does not matter. It does not make anything easier. You still have to adjust your aim when using english. You still have to strike the cue ball accurately, you still have to know where to aim to make the OB. It makes no difference. The most extreme deflection is max english at high speed over long distance. Those shots don't come up much and they are just as tough no matter what you have in your hand. The common shots the amount of compensation difference is negligible. They make nothing easier because regardless you have to learn that shaft or cue. If you actually looked at the difference of where you are aiming it is very minute.
I played 10 years with maple. Then played 17 years with LD. namely Predator. I played better with maple. Not because I couldn't adjust but because back then I played 40 hours a week instead of 10 hours a week. Predator pulled off the single greatest marketing campaign in the history of recreational activities. Entire generations sold into this idea that it makes the game easier. it doesn't. They are overpriced and overhyped.
Players back in the day shot with TPA's in the same range as folks today. If you want to use the stuff, great, have at it. They are fine cues and shafts. But to say they make anything easier is a farce.
I take it you still play golf with a hickory shafted wood driver? Or do you now have a $500 driver? What about irons, still using wood shaft blades? Or do you now play with steel shaft cavity backs?
This is such a tired argument, yes the LD shafts and a lot of the other innovations do make a difference. Are they going to make a 400 speed player a champion, obviously not. This is America where we spend our disposable income on hobbies. Every hobby has a low middle and high end when it comes to equipment. A lot of times those high end products only make small differences over the middle tier, yet just about all the people that are partaking at the high end of those hobbies use them. Go figure.
 
I take it you still play golf with a hickory shafted wood driver? Or do you now have a $500 driver? What about irons, still using wood shaft blades? Or do you now play with steel shaft cavity backs?
This is such a tired argument, yes the LD shafts and a lot of the other innovations do make a difference. Are they going to make a 400 speed player a champion, obviously not. This is America where we spend our disposable income on hobbies. Every hobby has a low middle and high end when it comes to equipment. A lot of times those high end products only make small differences over the middle tier, yet just about all the people that are partaking at the high end of those hobbies use them. Go figure.
Wasn't an argument. It is my opinion based on my own personal experience. People like you who get their feelings hurts is what is tiring.
 
Wasn't an argument. It is my opinion based on my own personal experience. People like you who get their feelings hurts is what is tiring.
Yeah ok, use whatever you want. Why some people have to come on here and degrade others for their choice of playing equipment. Everyone here should be jumping for joy every time a low league banger buys a $500 shaft. This is what supports the industry who in turn supports the pro level tournaments. Without those suckers who buy things they don't need and won't help them, pool as we know it would be over. If we all just played with the same cue that would be pretty boring wouldn't it? Do you use a house cue every time you paly? If not, why not? The cue makes absolutely no difference correct?
As far as I know, there is nothing stopping anyone from playing with old basic maple shafts. There are no rules stating that you must use a LD shaft or a carbon shaft. So you could use your old equipment and nobody would say shit to you. It only seems to work the opposite way, the same people have to get on and bash anyone who embraces new things. Every time there is something new in the pool world we have to have a thread bashing it and the players who like it. And it is always the same argument, " I have always used x, I beat up on all the stupid league players using x, while they wasted their money on Y, therefore I am such a better human than the fools who like Y." Sound familiar?
Play with what you like, who gives a shit what anyone thinks about what you like.
 
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