One-piece Cues (circa 2025)

H

heater451

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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.]
 
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.
 
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?

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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.
 
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.
 
iusedtoberich said:
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.
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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.
 
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
 
garczar said:
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.
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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.
 
skor said:
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.
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i'm not talking about straightness. i'm only referring to cues used in a poolroom. i would never use 2pc cues in a pooloroom environ. they'd get broken within weeks if not days. i would only use spliced old-school bar cues. you can ding 'em but they last a long time. don't play word games here pal you know exactly what i'm talking about.
 
garczar said:
i'm not talking about straightness. i'm only referring to cues used in a poolroom. i would never use 2pc cues in a pooloroom environ. they'd get broken within weeks if not days. i would only use spliced old-school bar cues. you can ding 'em but they last a long time. don't play word games here pal you know exactly what i'm talking about.
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Is the OP looking to buy cues for a pool room?
I thought that he was looking for a one piece cue for himself which I don't understand why?
 
skor said:
Is the OP looking to buy cues for a pool room?
I thought that he was looking for a one piece cue for himself which I don't understand why?
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i know a guy that has a home table and he had a bar cue re-tapered down to 12.5 with a new tip. Cue plays super good. That's why some like them. I used to keep a good one hidden behind the counter when i first started playing. Played great, easily as good as the Joss i bought when i thought i was hot shit. ;)
 
garczar said:
i know a guy that has a home table and he had a bar cue re-tapered down to 12.5 with a new tip. Cue plays super good. That's why some like them. I used to keep a good one hidden behind the counter when i first started playing. Played great, easily as good as the Joss i bought when i thought i was hot shit. ;)
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Same here. one place I played at had a 1 piece cue I really liked, I would use it occasionally in place of my regular cue. Only problem with it was that it was Fugly, it looked like an ink pen exploded on the tip end of the cue for about 8 inches.
 
heater451 said:
I guess no one has any insight on the state of the commercial 1-piece cue business then.... :(
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is it the reading or the comprehension that's eluding you? ;) you got your answers. Again: the current crop of 'mainstream' 1pc cue makers are Dufferin, Koda, Players, Action. Duff/Koda/Players are all made in same factory. Action might be but i think KaoKao makes Action cues. I said mainstream because there a bunch of Chinese shops cranking out house cues that you'll never see in the US. As far as weight goes i haven't seen a house cue lighter than 18oz in a long time. does that help at all? If not just exactly what do you mean by 'insight on the state of commercial 1pc cue business'??
 
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garczar said:
is it the reading or the comprehension that's eluding you? ;) you got your answers. Again: the current crop of 'mainstream' 1pc cue makers are Dufferin, Koda, Players, Action. Duff/Koda/Players are all made in same factory. Action might be but i think KaoKao makes Action cues. I said mainstream because there a bunch of Chinese shops cranking out house cues that you'll never see in the US. As far as weight goes i haven't seen a house cue lighter than 18oz in a long time. does that help at all? If not just exactly what do you mean by 'insight on the state of commercial 1pc cue business'??
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Hard to get a read on whether that is a joke, since it reads as an insult, but you did include the winky-face. However, if you want to bring up 'reading comprehension', you should re-try on the first part of my #1:

1) Is there a shortage in decent one-piece (house) cues--


I get that you might have picked up on the second part, and assumed that was the whole question, but again, I reference, 'comprehension'.

Note: I intend a little snarkiness here, but not out-and-out meanness. If I mean any disrespect to anyone, it will be quite clear. :)
 
heater451 said:
Hard to get a read on whether that is a joke, since it reads as an insult, but you did include the winky-face. However, if you want to bring up 'reading comprehension', you should re-try on the first part of my #1:

1) Is there a shortage in decent one-piece (house) cues--


I get that you might have picked up on the second part, and assumed that was the whole question, but again, I reference, 'comprehension'.

Note: I intend a little snarkiness here, but not out-and-out meanness. If I mean any disrespect to anyone, it will be quite clear. :)
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I doubt that you'll find answers regarding commercial issues of house cues.
Most guys here have been using two pieces cues for years to care about it.
 
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