I've posted this cue on the gallery earlier this week
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=105939
In short:
I had the good folks at Seybert's do some custom modification to the shaft.
Instead of the cheap plastic ferrule KJ put a nice brown phenolic ferrule that is not only more durable but also looks nice with the deep brown color of the rosewood butt. Seybert's also replaced the Le-Pro tip with a White Diamond tip.
I had a nice long 6 hours session at the pool hall.... and here is my review of the cue:
Break:
Compared to my Predator BK2 cue, the Player's produce less power. I think that this is mostly due to the difference in the shaft tapper and construction and also the BK2 has a phenolic tip while the Player's has a White Diamond tip.
The white Diamond tip holds chalk very well and gives good control, better then most phenolic tipped cues. I say "most" because the BK2 compensates over it with the low deflection shaft. In fact the BK2 offer a bit more control as it is more forgiving on "accidental" side spin on the break.
I used to break very hard before phenolic tips but I toned down a bit (still bigger break the most players around here....), with the Player's I had to bring my bigger break back to compensate for the "less power" and at the same time I needed to focus my break more and to make sure not to apply any spin.
After a couple of hours I was able to produce a big constant solid break.
I like to break hard but after a 6 hours session it's getting hard to maintain the big break and at that point I really appreciated the BK2 as I can provide my "big break" with more ease and save my energy.
Comparing to other phenolic tipped cues (with ferrule combos or without) that I have some past experience I can honestly say I like this Player's cue with the ferrule & tip modification better then all those I've tried in the past and that includes cues from: J&J, Kaiser, Fury, Stinger, Sledgehammer (I & II) and Axiom.
Really, the only break cue that I feel that is superior to this one is the BK2 and if you consider that this one is also a jump cue and cost less then half of the BK2 then this is one definitely earns the crown as the best jump-break for the money.
The only thing that time will have to say about this cue is how long will the shaft stay straight.
Jump
The jump is the part that I feared most about this cue. I have never tried the White Diamond tip before and the fact that it's not phenolic made doubt my ability to produce good jumps with it (I was actually deliberating whether to get the White Diamond or the Ice Breaker).
My fears went out of the window with the first jump attempt....
After an hour into the session, my partner took a break to get some food while I stayed at the table to test the jump ability of the cue (and mine...).
I took the Fisher jump cue out as well and setup different jump shot trying each shot several times with both cues. To my surprise I was able to perform the same shots with the same result with both cues while using the exact stroke and power which is weird as the Fisher is about an oz lighter.
I had better success with the Mezz air-shooter jumping over a full ball at a ball distance then with these two cues and couldn't pass it with a half ball distance with these cues while I had some success doing it with the Mezz BUT lets face it, in a real match there is no way I will ever try such a jump.... The jumps I did take during match play throughout the session with the Player's came out with great results.
So I guess for now both the BK2 and Fisher will remain in the case....
I definitely recommend anyone who is looking for a good jump-break cue to consider this cue with the tip and ferrule modification.
Sorry for the long post....
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=105939
In short:
I had the good folks at Seybert's do some custom modification to the shaft.
Instead of the cheap plastic ferrule KJ put a nice brown phenolic ferrule that is not only more durable but also looks nice with the deep brown color of the rosewood butt. Seybert's also replaced the Le-Pro tip with a White Diamond tip.
I had a nice long 6 hours session at the pool hall.... and here is my review of the cue:
Break:
Compared to my Predator BK2 cue, the Player's produce less power. I think that this is mostly due to the difference in the shaft tapper and construction and also the BK2 has a phenolic tip while the Player's has a White Diamond tip.
The white Diamond tip holds chalk very well and gives good control, better then most phenolic tipped cues. I say "most" because the BK2 compensates over it with the low deflection shaft. In fact the BK2 offer a bit more control as it is more forgiving on "accidental" side spin on the break.
I used to break very hard before phenolic tips but I toned down a bit (still bigger break the most players around here....), with the Player's I had to bring my bigger break back to compensate for the "less power" and at the same time I needed to focus my break more and to make sure not to apply any spin.
After a couple of hours I was able to produce a big constant solid break.
I like to break hard but after a 6 hours session it's getting hard to maintain the big break and at that point I really appreciated the BK2 as I can provide my "big break" with more ease and save my energy.
Comparing to other phenolic tipped cues (with ferrule combos or without) that I have some past experience I can honestly say I like this Player's cue with the ferrule & tip modification better then all those I've tried in the past and that includes cues from: J&J, Kaiser, Fury, Stinger, Sledgehammer (I & II) and Axiom.
Really, the only break cue that I feel that is superior to this one is the BK2 and if you consider that this one is also a jump cue and cost less then half of the BK2 then this is one definitely earns the crown as the best jump-break for the money.
The only thing that time will have to say about this cue is how long will the shaft stay straight.
Jump
The jump is the part that I feared most about this cue. I have never tried the White Diamond tip before and the fact that it's not phenolic made doubt my ability to produce good jumps with it (I was actually deliberating whether to get the White Diamond or the Ice Breaker).
My fears went out of the window with the first jump attempt....
After an hour into the session, my partner took a break to get some food while I stayed at the table to test the jump ability of the cue (and mine...).
I took the Fisher jump cue out as well and setup different jump shot trying each shot several times with both cues. To my surprise I was able to perform the same shots with the same result with both cues while using the exact stroke and power which is weird as the Fisher is about an oz lighter.
I had better success with the Mezz air-shooter jumping over a full ball at a ball distance then with these two cues and couldn't pass it with a half ball distance with these cues while I had some success doing it with the Mezz BUT lets face it, in a real match there is no way I will ever try such a jump.... The jumps I did take during match play throughout the session with the Player's came out with great results.
So I guess for now both the BK2 and Fisher will remain in the case....
I definitely recommend anyone who is looking for a good jump-break cue to consider this cue with the tip and ferrule modification.
Sorry for the long post....
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