One-piece Cues (circa 2025)

[heater451]

A couple of questions:

1) Is there a shortage in decent one-piece (house) cues--and what are the current "name" manufacturers? I know that Dufferin still has their Commercial and Hi-Run lines, but I've seen Koda "X-cel" cues and Nick Varner cues in a few different locations (bars/restaurants--not distributors), yet both seem to be sold out online. And, I couldn't actually find a distributor online--I emailed from their website, but was told that they were out. [I was also just trying to find a local distributor, and asked if maybe someone might have stock, but was told, "As long as everyone has been out of one piece cues I highly doubt it." (Honestly, the two replies were not very customer-oriented, as I would have still liked to know if there were any local NV sellers.)

2) In the late 90s, when Dufferin seem to be the house brand of choice, I used to see 17 oz cues, and remember a 16 oz one that I used at my "home bar" in particular. It now seems that no one makes anything less than 18 oz--is that the lowest weight now? Also, I don't recall the light ones being shorter than the others, but the 16 was likely 57", compared to 58". [And yes, I know that I could drill out an 18 oz cue, but this is not about making a light cue, but whether they are still available--and anything < 18 oz seems to be a 'shorty'/kids cue.]

 

[maha]

simple if you want a light one just go into some pool rooms and find one off the rail you like and offer them the replacement price of a new one.
then sand it down to how you want it and put your own tip on.

or just get schmelke to make just what you want.

 

[skor]

The day I got my first two piece cue, I stopped caring about house cues…
The day Dufferin closed and sold the brand name to a Chinese company, there were no more good house cues.

You can get a cheap 2 piece 16oz Sneaky Pete today, so why bother with one piece house cue?

Elite FTH01 Feather 16oz Pool Cue

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[garczar]

Actually the current crop of Chinese bar cues are pretty good. Duff's are still the best but the Koda/Action/Players cues are all pretty decent too. Dufferin went oob and Jim Lucas(Lucasi fame) of Cue-n-Case bought the name and had the cues made in China. That elite mentioned is Chinese also so why worry about the where house cues are made? Making a one-piece lighter is no big deal btw. Just pull the bumper and drill it out a little.

 

[iusedtoberich]

My local room switched out all the house cues for CF ones. I think they were cheap, like $40 each. Or, they could be fiberglass and I'm confusing it. They do have a nice taper from what I remember. I'll have to try one again, its been a year since I touched a house cue.

 

[garczar]

My local room switched out all the house cues for CF ones. I think they were cheap, like $40 each. Or, they could be fiberglass and I'm confusing it. They do have a nice taper from what I remember. I'll have to try one again, its been a year since I touched a house cue.

if i was a room owner i'd buy wood cues. hard to break. those cheap $35-40 cf cues are still two piece and they aren't gonna last long in a commercial environment.

 

[chuckg]

We have a few Koda cues at our senior center .None of the cues are straight and I have re-tipped all of them . The cues are about 2 years old....The tips did not wear out...they just popped off . A ferrule got broke and the repair guy said buy a new one , cheaper than fixing .


I am not saying they are poorly made , these old farts here could destroy a ball bearing with a rubber mallet .

Chuckg

 

[skor]

why would you want a one piece cue to begin with?

 

[skor]

Actually the current crop of Chinese bar cues are pretty good. Duff's are still the best but the Koda/Action/Players cues are all pretty decent too. Dufferin went oob and Jim Lucas(Lucasi fame) of Cue-n-Case bought the name and had the cues made in China. That elite mentioned is Chinese also so why worry about the where house cues are made? Making a one-piece lighter is no big deal btw. Just pull the bumper and drill it out a little.

Yes all Chinese but I have a feeling that a $230 two piece cue will stay straight longer than a $40 1 piece house cue.
A shorter piece of wood have a better chance to stay straight than a longer one. that's was the base idea to use multiple pieces of woods in cue butts. and although a good "one piece" cue is actually a 2 pieces cue that are spliced and glued together, a 3 or 4 pieces construction will last longer.