PFD Studios "Silver Arrow II"

Monstermash

Monstermash

Lock Ness Monster
Silver Member
Well..... Here it is! :dance:

Before I get into the specifics, I have to say that this it the hardest cue I've ever photographed. Between getting the lighting just right without all kinds of reflections on the polished silver and trying to accurately represent the color of the Purpleheart this one was a PITA!

Anyway, I've been waiting for this one for a while. Some of you may have seen the same design Paul made for me with Ebony into Tulipwood. This one is a fullsplice Purpleheart into Ebony with polished Silver veneers, speartips, circle inlays at the base of the points and a polished stainless steel sleeved over phenolic joint with a compression fit Uni-loc joint. It also has an Ivory/silver Hoppe ring and joints rings.

The cue has MONSTER shafts. Check out the last photo with one of them on the scale!

For now, let me know what you think!

















 
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Monstermash said:
Well..... Here it is! :dance:

Click to expand...

Thanks for showing me this link! I missed this thread entirely..

The above is my favourite picture of the lot, not to say the rest aren't superbly taken cos they all are but this one takes the prize for me personally. I like how the the detail and shine is perfectly balance, plus the composition is spot on.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
Monstermash said:
Thanks Justin!

Just curious, why don't you like the joint?
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Haven't played a cue with a uni-loc joint that played worth hoot. I'm just not a fan. The cue is done excellent, don't get me wrong. I'd love to hit a cue that does play good with uni-loc joint, but I fell they hit too soft. I like my cues to hit as stiff as they can get.

All the best, and beautiful cue!
 
jhanso18 said:
Haven't played a cue with a uni-loc joint that played worth hoot. I'm just not a fan. The cue is done excellent, don't get me wrong. I'd love to hit a cue that does play good with uni-loc joint, but I fell they hit too soft. I like my cues to hit as stiff as they can get.

All the best, and beautiful cue!
Click to expand...

If you're heading to the SBE this weekend I would be glad to let you play with it for a bit.

That being said, this Uni-Loc is a bit different. It's a compression fit so there is more contact area at the joint than a standard Uni-Loc joint. As far as I know this is the first of it's kind and was by special request that Paul built it for me.
 
jhanso18 said:
Haven't played a cue with a uni-loc joint that played worth hoot. I'm just not a fan. The cue is done excellent, don't get me wrong. I'd love to hit a cue that does play good with uni-loc joint, but I fell they hit too soft. I like my cues to hit as stiff as they can get.

All the best, and beautiful cue!
Click to expand...

If we took 6 identical cues all with different joints, including a uni-lock, and taped over the joints to hide them, how many do you think you could identify by the hit? I would bet not very many.. I think this has been tried by a few pro's and they weren't very successful.. I wonder......!
 
jhanso18 said:
Haven't played a cue with a uni-loc joint that played worth hoot. I'm just not a fan. The cue is done excellent, don't get me wrong. I'd love to hit a cue that does play good with uni-loc joint, but I fell they hit too soft. I like my cues to hit as stiff as they can get.

All the best, and beautiful cue!
Click to expand...

It is different, no doubt.

I uni-loc I have (and only one I have) is a pfd cue as well. I might be wrong but I thought Paul was involved in the development of the joint. (Somebody correct me if I am wrong)

I have occassionally found that the shaft slightly loose and needed me to "snug" it up a little when I played with it. This is the only cue I have ever had that happen.

Ken
 
ToomnyQs said:
If we took 6 identical cues all with different joints, including a uni-lock, and taped over the joints to hide them, how many do you think you could identify by the hit? I would bet not very many.. I think this has been tried by a few pro's and they weren't very successful.. I wonder......!
Click to expand...

Ill take the bet.

If I can pick the joints.

Ken
 
ToomnyQs said:
If we took 6 identical cues all with different joints, including a uni-lock, and taped over the joints to hide them, how many do you think you could identify by the hit? I would bet not very many.. I think this has been tried by a few pro's and they weren't very successful.. I wonder......!
Click to expand...

In a several conversations with Paul, I have heard of a bet that was offered that to this day no one has taken. It was similar to what you attempted but IIRC there was $10K involved. The bet was simple, hit with ten cues, pick the one with the Uni-Loc joint, win $10K. Sounds simple enough right?

I think the biggest proplem would be in the variances in the wood that would make this test almost impossible.

Think about it, if you had 6 cues all with different joints AND different forearm woods, points or no points in the forearm, different construction methods (fullsplice/shortsplice/CNC points), and having a wrap (and different kinds of wrap-linen-leather-elephant-etc.). And what if one (or more) of the cues were cored? And forget the fact that thay were all probably made by different cue makers with different construction techniques, construction materials (glues etc), weights, and balance points..

There are just to many variables to have a test with any kind of control. I believe it was Paul Costain (inventor of the Uni-Loc) who offered the bet.

It would be interesting to see the results if all the cues were made by the same cuemaker but the only thing that was different (aside from variances within the same wood species) was the joint.

I do know that from personal experience I've tried almost every joint combination possible and although there are certain characteristics that seem to be inherent in each one, they all feel a slight bit different because of all the variables I listed above. I was never really a Uni-Loc fan per se but over the past few years I have owned a few different cues with it and I have come to like other than what Ken noted about it needing to be "snugged" a bit from time to time. That is why I asked Paul to design this cue with a compression fit Uni-Loc. As far as I know this is the first of it's kind and is really kind of cool. Not only does it prevent the cue from needing to be snugged up, it also provides more surface area contact at the joint. I'm not sure why it hasn't been done before but I will say it I haven't had a single problem with it yet. And I have been playing a lot this past week or so.

If anyone is going to SBE this weekend you're welcome to take some hits with it. For those of you who don't know me personally check in with Cleiton at the Mass Custom Cues booth # 310 and he can point you in my direction. :thumbup:
 
Uniloc vs radial vs 5/16x? Vs 3/8x? Your not picking the uniloc out blindly.... (or i couldnt anyways) I live in eastern ky... I would freeze up and let you run it a few times if we can put the situation together...... The pins purpose is to tighten two materials together... one they are tight the pins not affecting the hit... I will try to get some numbers together to back the "theory"...

Idk though maybe I'm just so bad I don't notice the difference lol ?!?!?!
 
I'm not saying I can identify which joint, but I will definitely tell which ones I do and don't like. I hope this one hits good as PFD does phenol work! I will make it a point to try one out in the future.

I prefer my old school, 3/8x10 pin, wood to wood joint. Done right it hits great!

either way you still have a very beautiful Cue!!!!

all the best
 
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