Hey guys, just got a new cue yesterday after weeks of shopping.
It's a Players Classic Series C950 (or C 950 or C-950, for the search engines). First, a disclaimer--the cue only costs $85. I had more money to spend, but this design speaks to me and I can't find anything similar in the $200-$300 price range. So please set your expectations accordingly.
In the stock photo, the wood is very, very dark brown and the figuring is gold, almost glowing. I've seen similar wood in a friend's BMW (picture at the top right) and that's what I was hoping for with this cue.
Unfortunately the actual cue looks pretty different. The color is much lighter on average and none of the figuring is quite like the stock photo. That being said, there's still a significant amount of figuring from most angles and the finish is pretty nice. So it's not the disappointment that it could have been.
The "ringwork" is decals. You can see where a ring decal overlaps with itself if you look carefully (picture at the bottom left). The decals were obviously applied by hand, and I think whoever did it did about as good a job as you can expect from somebody putting on a sticker. It looks fine, but if you start rotating the cue you can tell there's some "wobble" to the rings. It's a shame they don't have a machine to do this.
The Players logo on the butt cap is different from the one in the stock photo. It's larger and looks "sportier" somehow, like it would be more appropriate on a tennis racquet. I would have preferred the logo in the stock photo.
The wrap is nicely pressed and feels good. There are some cosmetic imperfections where the wrap meets the sleeve, which you can see in middle picture at the bottom.
There are two lighter-color spots on the sleeve, under the lacquer. You can see these in the bottom-right picture. (They're pretty faint.) Not sure what happened there.
To sum up how the cue looks, I think the answer is "pretty darn good!" It has some nice shiny rings and some cool burled wood. It's only when you examine it closely that you see a couple of manufacturing imperfections that you should probably expect from any $85 cue.
Now on to how it plays. In a word, it plays great. The hit is very firm, but not brittle. Vibration down the shaft and butt is minimal. I even like the tip it came with, which I didn't expect. My first shot with the cue was a simple stop shot and I unintentionally drew the ball back 3-4 inches--I'm able to get great action with this cue with minimal effort. Deflection is normal for a good maple shaft.
To give you some background, I've been shooting with a more expensive McDermott for the past 5 years (since I started playing pool semi-seriously) and I immediately felt more comfortable and confident with this cue than I do with my McDermott.
So to sum everything up, this Players cue looks good and shoots better. I'm very pleased for $85. I wish it cost $200 and had zero cosmetic defects for the extra money, but I also feel like I shouldn't obsess over these barely-noticable minutia.
It's a Players Classic Series C950 (or C 950 or C-950, for the search engines). First, a disclaimer--the cue only costs $85. I had more money to spend, but this design speaks to me and I can't find anything similar in the $200-$300 price range. So please set your expectations accordingly.
In the stock photo, the wood is very, very dark brown and the figuring is gold, almost glowing. I've seen similar wood in a friend's BMW (picture at the top right) and that's what I was hoping for with this cue.
Unfortunately the actual cue looks pretty different. The color is much lighter on average and none of the figuring is quite like the stock photo. That being said, there's still a significant amount of figuring from most angles and the finish is pretty nice. So it's not the disappointment that it could have been.
The "ringwork" is decals. You can see where a ring decal overlaps with itself if you look carefully (picture at the bottom left). The decals were obviously applied by hand, and I think whoever did it did about as good a job as you can expect from somebody putting on a sticker. It looks fine, but if you start rotating the cue you can tell there's some "wobble" to the rings. It's a shame they don't have a machine to do this.
The Players logo on the butt cap is different from the one in the stock photo. It's larger and looks "sportier" somehow, like it would be more appropriate on a tennis racquet. I would have preferred the logo in the stock photo.
The wrap is nicely pressed and feels good. There are some cosmetic imperfections where the wrap meets the sleeve, which you can see in middle picture at the bottom.
There are two lighter-color spots on the sleeve, under the lacquer. You can see these in the bottom-right picture. (They're pretty faint.) Not sure what happened there.
To sum up how the cue looks, I think the answer is "pretty darn good!" It has some nice shiny rings and some cool burled wood. It's only when you examine it closely that you see a couple of manufacturing imperfections that you should probably expect from any $85 cue.
Now on to how it plays. In a word, it plays great. The hit is very firm, but not brittle. Vibration down the shaft and butt is minimal. I even like the tip it came with, which I didn't expect. My first shot with the cue was a simple stop shot and I unintentionally drew the ball back 3-4 inches--I'm able to get great action with this cue with minimal effort. Deflection is normal for a good maple shaft.
To give you some background, I've been shooting with a more expensive McDermott for the past 5 years (since I started playing pool semi-seriously) and I immediately felt more comfortable and confident with this cue than I do with my McDermott.
So to sum everything up, this Players cue looks good and shoots better. I'm very pleased for $85. I wish it cost $200 and had zero cosmetic defects for the extra money, but I also feel like I shouldn't obsess over these barely-noticable minutia.
