Just wondering why the majority out there bad mouth these inexpensive import cues? I love them..for my game they work just fine (B rated). I can't go one night without someone asking "what kind of cue is that?" And when I tell them I get that "I'm sorry look" Not to say I don't love my Scruggs and Phillippi but I bought them for the works of craftsmanship they are and will Never risk getting them stolen or Damaged in a pool room
Players Cues
- Thread starter dockiv
- Start date
the answer to your question lies in your 1st sentence, 2 words.
1. inexpensive
2. import
see how easy that was?
players
Its kinda a joke .
I had one the shaft warped like someone broke there finger.
I sent it in five or six years ago.
never got it back,then they said it wasnt warranty , i said send it back ,then they said they lost it, and that was that.
i have bought and sold 10 or 15 of them, there ok for a cheap import.
I think there is better and cheaper import cues.
MMike
Its kinda a joke .
I had one the shaft warped like someone broke there finger.
I sent it in five or six years ago.
never got it back,then they said it wasnt warranty , i said send it back ,then they said they lost it, and that was that.
i have bought and sold 10 or 15 of them, there ok for a cheap import.
I think there is better and cheaper import cues.
MMike
I've owned 2 players cues.
One was bought back in the mid '90s. Beautifully stained wood, actual metal rings with dyed wood inside them, very solid piece. Used it, abused it, it held up like a champ for a long, long time. The shaft had just a tiny bit of a roll to it. The butt, unfortunately, ended up warping in a spot where it took a nasty hit that gouged it down the the wood, and I never re-sealed it....then I stopped playing for a decade and it sat in a case in random rooms and closets, hot, cold, whatever. I'm assuming it sucked up some moisture on the one side and caused the warp.
I can just start to feel the rings through the finish....almost 20 years later now.
The second one I bought about a month ago, because I had bought a predator shaft to try on the original players butt before realizing that's where the warp was in the stick.
This one, in comparison, feels and looks pretty cheap. The wood parts look okay, the graphics for the points and stuff look pretty cheesy from less than 10 feet away
But it plays just fine for me with the new shaft.
The shaft on the new players is nothing like the shaft from the old one. The wood looks cheaper and it is really stiff.
Now I have the new butt and the predator shaft for my playing stick and the old butt with the new shaft and harder tip for a break cue.
I would never say a modern Players is a quality cue, but I wouldn't go so far to say it's junk.
If I could find a NOS Players from the 90's, unused and straight, I'd buy it without a second thought.
One was bought back in the mid '90s. Beautifully stained wood, actual metal rings with dyed wood inside them, very solid piece. Used it, abused it, it held up like a champ for a long, long time. The shaft had just a tiny bit of a roll to it. The butt, unfortunately, ended up warping in a spot where it took a nasty hit that gouged it down the the wood, and I never re-sealed it....then I stopped playing for a decade and it sat in a case in random rooms and closets, hot, cold, whatever. I'm assuming it sucked up some moisture on the one side and caused the warp.
I can just start to feel the rings through the finish....almost 20 years later now.
The second one I bought about a month ago, because I had bought a predator shaft to try on the original players butt before realizing that's where the warp was in the stick.
This one, in comparison, feels and looks pretty cheap. The wood parts look okay, the graphics for the points and stuff look pretty cheesy from less than 10 feet away
But it plays just fine for me with the new shaft.
The shaft on the new players is nothing like the shaft from the old one. The wood looks cheaper and it is really stiff.
Now I have the new butt and the predator shaft for my playing stick and the old butt with the new shaft and harder tip for a break cue.
I would never say a modern Players is a quality cue, but I wouldn't go so far to say it's junk.
If I could find a NOS Players from the 90's, unused and straight, I'd buy it without a second thought.
the graphics for the points and stuff look pretty cheesy from less than 10 feet away
But it plays just fine for me with the new shaft.
I absolutely hate decals. A simple inlay or merry widow over decals any day of the week.
I don't have a Players, but I do have an import as well as a couple of other cues. The thing that bugs me about cues are the shafts, primarily, and a soft tip. I play and break with the same cue. I like a 12.25mm modified euro taper (12.25 at tip, 13mm about 13 inches down). Or, a 12.75mm 13" pro taper, if a stock type of shaft. The import cue I have now has a 13mm euro taper, about 14mm 13 inches down, there's so much deflection, it's unreal. I need to spend some money to turn the shafts when I can save up a bit.
agreed 100%. I was just having a hard time finding something cheap to match the threads of the shaft I had just bought, so I went with this to tide me over.
I forgot to ask...if the OP doesn't mind bit of related, but slightly off topic discussion.....when did Players stop doing nice wraps and ring work and become just flat round cues with stickers and cheap wraps on them?
My old one has a nice wrap that is still in perfect shape (well, except a bit dirty) all these years later. The new one feels more like nylon than linen, and doesn't seem to have been pressed at all
Where the older ones still cheap imports? Or did they start as something nicer and move on to less expensive, mass production type stuff?
I know I paid $120 for the old one back in the mid 90's, knocked down from a little over $200 as a combination of a friend pulling a favor and the seller trying to liquidate stock before he moved. This new one, after almost 20 years of inflation, cost me $90
I don't know, are some of the more expensive current Players really any different from their cheaper Graphic Series sticks? Without getting into the debate about their lower deflection (HXT, is it?) shafts, but just build quality in general?
To me, they still seem nicer than some of the other inexpensive cues.....for example, the Action cues. But I've even seen someone shoot a pretty decent game with one of those too
On Seyberts' description of the HXTE series cues, they list Rengas wood in the forearm and or butt sleeve for 2 of the 3, they might not be decals looking at the HXTE designs but I'm not positive...
You don't need to import a junk cue. We have our own junk cue factory in Maryland. The cues even look good, but like a China import, warping is not covered under warranty. Buy American and don't overlook Joss cues if the butt warping doesn't upset you.
I have a 4 year old Lucasi. It's made by the same place that makes Players cues but is a step up in quality.
It plays good and is still as straight as any cue out there.
It's a great value for the money and it fit my budget.
Sure i would like to have a higher end cue but money prevents it.
Any way I play once a week and it works just fine for me.
It plays good and is still as straight as any cue out there.
It's a great value for the money and it fit my budget.
Sure i would like to have a higher end cue but money prevents it.
Any way I play once a week and it works just fine for me.
The best players cue to own in my opinion is the sneaky pete. I owned one for years and used it as a break cue. No problems and a shaft replacement was very easy to come by and very inexpensive.
I bought a Players brand sneaky years ago. Put a decent tip on it and it was good to go. I still break it out on occasion. For 50 bucks, the price was right.
joss
i have 3 joss cues, one is a sneaky pete bought in 96 no warpage at all, sounds like you need a lesson on proper care an storage of your cues.. or wait let me guess, you have never owned a joss cue, an just ranting over something someone else has complained about.. for the record if i were a cue maker i wouldnt cover warpage either. like alot of the highend cue makers they dont cover warpage..
i have 3 joss cues, one is a sneaky pete bought in 96 no warpage at all, sounds like you need a lesson on proper care an storage of your cues.. or wait let me guess, you have never owned a joss cue, an just ranting over something someone else has complained about.. for the record if i were a cue maker i wouldnt cover warpage either. like alot of the highend cue makers they dont cover warpage..
You have said it all and revealed how little you know.
Mine was a brand new Joss, kept at the poolroom in my locker at 72 degrees. It warped 1/2" in less than 3 months in the butt alone. Joss examined the cue and refused to honor any warranty on the new cue.
Joss cues are the same quality as Cuetec and Dufferin. The people that don't know that, are Joss owners.
Actually, they are pretty decent cues. Not the best fit and finish but some models play pretty well. I have a Player's HXT shaft on my $1,000 Ned Morris cue and plays well, my son is one of the top young players in the state and he uses a Players cue that we picked out together.
I had a Joss cue. I had it in the trunk of my car most of it's life, including about 2 solid years where I did not touch it at. It's was still perfectly straight when I used it again.