It seams like we have lot of buyers guides for cues on the US side. I was wondering if I could map out some ideas of cues per Canadian prices based on different budgets. I am always shopping for cues even when I have no intention of buying a cue. Yeah I'm weird, what can I say I like cues. Lot of Canadians don't have the capability to try before buy.
100 to 190
Action inlay, Griffin, Rage
A good upgrade for the action inlay or any entry level to mid level cue would be to add a Summit LD shaft (12.5mm or 11.5mm) and could make them play as good as any Lucasi or dare I say it Predator. Always check if your lower cost cue shaft have been properly burnished, if not, burnish it if you know how, if you don't bring it to someone to properly burnish the shaft. This can affect the playability and feel more than you can possibly imagine. Sometime on very low cost cues the shaft are sometime fresh cut and require to be properly sealed and burnished. This can make all the difference.
200 to 350 price.
Elite cues, Raid splice(see a resemblance of older Predator sneaky cues, funny), Player/PureX, Poison, Cuetec/Scorpion, Falcon (more in Quebec)
350 to 480 price.
McDermott, Lucasi, Joss, Viking, Falcon (more in Quebec)
Falcon is getting hard to find in other provinces but still available if you really look.
490 to 650 price.
McDermott, Viking, Lucasi, Joss, Pechauer
660 to 800 price
Predator Roadline, Mezz, Tiger, Pechauer, a possibility of new Canadian custom maker sneaky pete.
850 to 1000 price
Mezz, Predator, Pechauer, Custom sneaky pete (Josey, etc.) or entry level new Canadian custom maker(Merry widow).
1050 to 1300 price
Schon, Jacoby, Mezz, Pechauer, Start looking into a customs simple cues with nice woods(Merry widow) or more known Canadian custom makers
1400 to 2000 price
Schon, Jacoby, Pechauer, Mezz/Exceed or other custom cue makers all the way. Don't even look into production companies unless you wish something specific from a maker(hit/look).
2000 and up
Well the sky is the limit time to put some research on a mid to high level custom maker (which is available to take an order) and put a deposit and have a good follow up with. May take some time.
As far as I am concern Predator is overpriced after the 1000 dollar since you can simply just buy the shaft and add to the any cue(lucasi,etc) even for many custom builders. In my opinion for the same price you would be better off with Schon, Mezz, Pechauer or Jacoby at a higher price range. They have better build quality. Predator are very good but at a certain price you get very little for your money especially when you consider the advent of carbon fiber spreading to all makers and soon to custom makers as well where the difference is so minor it matters little. Predator love to make your cue a billboard and put panthers all over it. You also have much greater resale value on a Schon, Mezz, Jacoby and a little less on Pechauer because they produce such a large variety of cues but the level of quality is very good for their entire line(as said from a distributor that sells many brands in a YouTube video). Also LD shaft variety is great and you have lot of options were the different between Predator and them is so minimum that it does not justify such a large cost increase.
PS. You can get carbon shafts or LD shaft for any cue and any joint.
LD shafts at price ranges
under 250.
Summit LD shaft, Player HXT shaft or possibly a custom LD shaft(its possible)
under 450
Jacoby ultra pro (alternative to 314), Jacoby ultra super pro (alternative to Z3), Tiger - Seems to be better made and cheaper than a predator shafts and lucasi shaft all depending. If you don't like laminated shafts then look into torrifed wood shafts by OB or custom person. Deflection can vary between them but at such a minor level that if you require more precision then by-pass wood and go to carbon fiber.
-LD shaft that are close to be identical or so similar it hard to tell the difference.
Player HXT, Lucasi LD flexpoint, Summit LD will be very similar with minor differences (two are made by the same company)- asian made but Summit and Player HXT is cheaper (tip size options are greater with Summit 12.5, 11.5)
Lucasi hybrid is a laminated shaft (pie cut), Katana LD shaft (pie cut) -asian made but Katana is cheaper (same tip size options)
Tiger has it own unique lamination (pie on cube) -US made - Cheaper than predator
Jacoby and Predator very similar but Jacoby is even more radial consistent since they created a artificial grain lamination. Jacoby shaft is US made, Predator is Asian made but US completed. -Jacoby is cheaper
OB is US made but currently priced so high it almost the cost of a carbon fiber shaft. They are carbon core. - not cost affective
McDermott LD's are all US made but like OB they almost the cost or the same price as a carbon fiber shaft (i shafts, ipro shafts) - not cost affective
McDermott G core is LD is equivalent to a lighter LD and close to a standard wood shaft
Viking cues LD shaft don't have very much foothold in the Canadian market and are hard to find would probably require out of Canada ordering
Pechauer P+ pro, P+ lite (similar sizing as 314, Z3) cannot find from any Canadian source but can be obtain directly from Pechauer at a price with exchange that is less then all other mid to high level LD shafts (under 315$ not counting shipping if required) (currently only for Pechauer cue joints)
Mezz shaft (WX700, WX900, Hybrid pro) mostly available to mezz joint configurations but can be obtained to other pin type but not from a Canadian source so far.
over 500 start looking into Carbon fiber. What I have seen they are all very similar but the sound of the hit can vary between them. So far the one that seem to have the least amount of ping sound is the Meucci carbon and the Pechauer Rogue.
Do I did find a US guy making custom carbon shafts for about 250 US. So all carbons seem way overpriced right now. It seems like a price correction is coming in the near future. Since you can get carbon fiber blanks on ebay for 100 to 120. I predict some Canadian custom makers will be coming out with carbon shaft options cheaper than production in the near future.
I may be wrong but I believe all carbon shafts come from two Asian sources since it seems like there are two type of blank variety. It is not surprising the companies are coming out with a carbon options almost all around the same time period. I doubt Predator would be giving the competitor the capability to make carbon shafts if they came up with the process themselves(patent).
Carbon don't ding, easy to clean and are not affected by change in humidity, temperature and will last pretty much forever BUT if dropped on a steel edge or a very hard surface you can crack them (especially if they are cold). If your Canadian I'm sure you have seen carbon fiber hockey sticks crack(light but can be brittle in the cold). PS. variable sized carbon fiber tube has been around a long time (bicycle handle bars) and they are more complex to make than a straight tapered tube. They sell for under 100$. Just to give you a idea how overprice carbon shafts are. Predator stating that they are complex to make is pure B.S. (based on their marketing video) same video which they undervalue Falcon Canada and crap on them because of a uniloc pat. argument. Funny that predator group owns uniloc now. My guess that Falcon went with a non auth. uniloc copy after the split and Predator was not too happy about it since they just purchased uniloc. Falcon didn't want to pay the uniloc premium is my guess.
Cue and Case makes: Players/HXT, Lucasi, Predator butts and sections of the shafts, Poison, Dufferin, Rage, Cuetec
Cuestix makes: Action, Elite, Katana, Griffin, Summit, Spartan (trying to compete with high end cue and case), Scorpion, Outlaw, Voodoo, 5280
both of these are made by three different Asian companies which one is the parent company of Falcon cues and also manufacture sub brands such as Valhalla(viking), Star, Lucky(McDermott). Cuetec/ Scorpion is also made by one of these companies. The three companies are KPS Falcon parent company, Hamson inc. and a third company (Kao Kao maybe) which I not 100% makes Cuetec/Scorpion. Cuetec went to Cue and Case and Scorpion went to Cuestix(probably contractual obligations). These three companies make cues for both Cue and case and Cuestix lines. Hard to tell which makes what. The only thing I know for sure is KPS makes Star, Falcon, Bear, Orchid, Raid, Brunswick and possibly Han's Delta(MIT cues), Spartan, Fury cues and Katana. Hamson I believe makes most of Player, Lucasi, Dufferin, Poison, Universal, possibly Valhalla(Viking) and most of the Predator butts and part of shaft construction(other contractors have done predator butts as well) yes a lucasi hybrid is pretty much made with the same wood as a predator shafts. Lucasi with 8 pie, Predator with 10 pie.
Miki cues Japan makes Mezz and Exceed and a division company Adams cues that make Adam(part in Japan/part in China made by KPS not sure), Balabushka series(Japan), Musashi(Japan).
US made Joss/Pechauer/Viking/McDermott/Schon/Meucci/Jacoby/OB/ Tiger /Predator only does final shaft construction in the US
** Meucci production in the past had quality control issues. Meucci custom made by Bob himself not so. Don't know current situation on this. So one must factor this in any decision especially at the price point of their cues. Also they urethane over any wrap section on their cues. So if you like the irish linen feel well that won't do for you.
Italian made Longoni
Work in progress. The more info the better you can make a decision on what to buy.
*****Any feedback is appreciated. Any info on Canadian custom makers that are still working in making cues(such as contact/prices ranges, etc) I would like to create a Canadian custom maker list that is up to date**** Current info is very sparse and not up to date.
100 to 190
Action inlay, Griffin, Rage
A good upgrade for the action inlay or any entry level to mid level cue would be to add a Summit LD shaft (12.5mm or 11.5mm) and could make them play as good as any Lucasi or dare I say it Predator. Always check if your lower cost cue shaft have been properly burnished, if not, burnish it if you know how, if you don't bring it to someone to properly burnish the shaft. This can affect the playability and feel more than you can possibly imagine. Sometime on very low cost cues the shaft are sometime fresh cut and require to be properly sealed and burnished. This can make all the difference.
200 to 350 price.
Elite cues, Raid splice(see a resemblance of older Predator sneaky cues, funny), Player/PureX, Poison, Cuetec/Scorpion, Falcon (more in Quebec)
350 to 480 price.
McDermott, Lucasi, Joss, Viking, Falcon (more in Quebec)
Falcon is getting hard to find in other provinces but still available if you really look.
490 to 650 price.
McDermott, Viking, Lucasi, Joss, Pechauer
660 to 800 price
Predator Roadline, Mezz, Tiger, Pechauer, a possibility of new Canadian custom maker sneaky pete.
850 to 1000 price
Mezz, Predator, Pechauer, Custom sneaky pete (Josey, etc.) or entry level new Canadian custom maker(Merry widow).
1050 to 1300 price
Schon, Jacoby, Mezz, Pechauer, Start looking into a customs simple cues with nice woods(Merry widow) or more known Canadian custom makers
1400 to 2000 price
Schon, Jacoby, Pechauer, Mezz/Exceed or other custom cue makers all the way. Don't even look into production companies unless you wish something specific from a maker(hit/look).
2000 and up
Well the sky is the limit time to put some research on a mid to high level custom maker (which is available to take an order) and put a deposit and have a good follow up with. May take some time.
As far as I am concern Predator is overpriced after the 1000 dollar since you can simply just buy the shaft and add to the any cue(lucasi,etc) even for many custom builders. In my opinion for the same price you would be better off with Schon, Mezz, Pechauer or Jacoby at a higher price range. They have better build quality. Predator are very good but at a certain price you get very little for your money especially when you consider the advent of carbon fiber spreading to all makers and soon to custom makers as well where the difference is so minor it matters little. Predator love to make your cue a billboard and put panthers all over it. You also have much greater resale value on a Schon, Mezz, Jacoby and a little less on Pechauer because they produce such a large variety of cues but the level of quality is very good for their entire line(as said from a distributor that sells many brands in a YouTube video). Also LD shaft variety is great and you have lot of options were the different between Predator and them is so minimum that it does not justify such a large cost increase.
PS. You can get carbon shafts or LD shaft for any cue and any joint.
LD shafts at price ranges
under 250.
Summit LD shaft, Player HXT shaft or possibly a custom LD shaft(its possible)
under 450
Jacoby ultra pro (alternative to 314), Jacoby ultra super pro (alternative to Z3), Tiger - Seems to be better made and cheaper than a predator shafts and lucasi shaft all depending. If you don't like laminated shafts then look into torrifed wood shafts by OB or custom person. Deflection can vary between them but at such a minor level that if you require more precision then by-pass wood and go to carbon fiber.
-LD shaft that are close to be identical or so similar it hard to tell the difference.
Player HXT, Lucasi LD flexpoint, Summit LD will be very similar with minor differences (two are made by the same company)- asian made but Summit and Player HXT is cheaper (tip size options are greater with Summit 12.5, 11.5)
Lucasi hybrid is a laminated shaft (pie cut), Katana LD shaft (pie cut) -asian made but Katana is cheaper (same tip size options)
Tiger has it own unique lamination (pie on cube) -US made - Cheaper than predator
Jacoby and Predator very similar but Jacoby is even more radial consistent since they created a artificial grain lamination. Jacoby shaft is US made, Predator is Asian made but US completed. -Jacoby is cheaper
OB is US made but currently priced so high it almost the cost of a carbon fiber shaft. They are carbon core. - not cost affective
McDermott LD's are all US made but like OB they almost the cost or the same price as a carbon fiber shaft (i shafts, ipro shafts) - not cost affective
McDermott G core is LD is equivalent to a lighter LD and close to a standard wood shaft
Viking cues LD shaft don't have very much foothold in the Canadian market and are hard to find would probably require out of Canada ordering
Pechauer P+ pro, P+ lite (similar sizing as 314, Z3) cannot find from any Canadian source but can be obtain directly from Pechauer at a price with exchange that is less then all other mid to high level LD shafts (under 315$ not counting shipping if required) (currently only for Pechauer cue joints)
Mezz shaft (WX700, WX900, Hybrid pro) mostly available to mezz joint configurations but can be obtained to other pin type but not from a Canadian source so far.
over 500 start looking into Carbon fiber. What I have seen they are all very similar but the sound of the hit can vary between them. So far the one that seem to have the least amount of ping sound is the Meucci carbon and the Pechauer Rogue.
Do I did find a US guy making custom carbon shafts for about 250 US. So all carbons seem way overpriced right now. It seems like a price correction is coming in the near future. Since you can get carbon fiber blanks on ebay for 100 to 120. I predict some Canadian custom makers will be coming out with carbon shaft options cheaper than production in the near future.
I may be wrong but I believe all carbon shafts come from two Asian sources since it seems like there are two type of blank variety. It is not surprising the companies are coming out with a carbon options almost all around the same time period. I doubt Predator would be giving the competitor the capability to make carbon shafts if they came up with the process themselves(patent).
Carbon don't ding, easy to clean and are not affected by change in humidity, temperature and will last pretty much forever BUT if dropped on a steel edge or a very hard surface you can crack them (especially if they are cold). If your Canadian I'm sure you have seen carbon fiber hockey sticks crack(light but can be brittle in the cold). PS. variable sized carbon fiber tube has been around a long time (bicycle handle bars) and they are more complex to make than a straight tapered tube. They sell for under 100$. Just to give you a idea how overprice carbon shafts are. Predator stating that they are complex to make is pure B.S. (based on their marketing video) same video which they undervalue Falcon Canada and crap on them because of a uniloc pat. argument. Funny that predator group owns uniloc now. My guess that Falcon went with a non auth. uniloc copy after the split and Predator was not too happy about it since they just purchased uniloc. Falcon didn't want to pay the uniloc premium is my guess.
Cue and Case makes: Players/HXT, Lucasi, Predator butts and sections of the shafts, Poison, Dufferin, Rage, Cuetec
Cuestix makes: Action, Elite, Katana, Griffin, Summit, Spartan (trying to compete with high end cue and case), Scorpion, Outlaw, Voodoo, 5280
both of these are made by three different Asian companies which one is the parent company of Falcon cues and also manufacture sub brands such as Valhalla(viking), Star, Lucky(McDermott). Cuetec/ Scorpion is also made by one of these companies. The three companies are KPS Falcon parent company, Hamson inc. and a third company (Kao Kao maybe) which I not 100% makes Cuetec/Scorpion. Cuetec went to Cue and Case and Scorpion went to Cuestix(probably contractual obligations). These three companies make cues for both Cue and case and Cuestix lines. Hard to tell which makes what. The only thing I know for sure is KPS makes Star, Falcon, Bear, Orchid, Raid, Brunswick and possibly Han's Delta(MIT cues), Spartan, Fury cues and Katana. Hamson I believe makes most of Player, Lucasi, Dufferin, Poison, Universal, possibly Valhalla(Viking) and most of the Predator butts and part of shaft construction(other contractors have done predator butts as well) yes a lucasi hybrid is pretty much made with the same wood as a predator shafts. Lucasi with 8 pie, Predator with 10 pie.
Miki cues Japan makes Mezz and Exceed and a division company Adams cues that make Adam(part in Japan/part in China made by KPS not sure), Balabushka series(Japan), Musashi(Japan).
US made Joss/Pechauer/Viking/McDermott/Schon/Meucci/Jacoby/OB/ Tiger /Predator only does final shaft construction in the US
** Meucci production in the past had quality control issues. Meucci custom made by Bob himself not so. Don't know current situation on this. So one must factor this in any decision especially at the price point of their cues. Also they urethane over any wrap section on their cues. So if you like the irish linen feel well that won't do for you.
Italian made Longoni
Work in progress. The more info the better you can make a decision on what to buy.
*****Any feedback is appreciated. Any info on Canadian custom makers that are still working in making cues(such as contact/prices ranges, etc) I would like to create a Canadian custom maker list that is up to date**** Current info is very sparse and not up to date.