Point of a good cue?

[mchnhed]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Type79
PS I can't imagine spending more than $100 on a cue stick.

mchnhed responded:
Could you please give us three models of cues that are a good playing cue and are under $100?
I like my Players Cues, but they are more than $100.

No Response from Type79

 

[SlashingAxe]

I bet you wouldn't find too many pros who would be willing to play a big match with a house cue though.

I think everyone's gotten sidetracked by my original comment. I never asked why get one but if there's more so a significant difference in the more expensive ones besides low deflection shafts as he usually rags on people with cheaper cues or gets mad if I play em with a house cue thinking I'm going easy on him

 

[Black-Balled]

I think everyone's gotten sidetracked by my original comment. I never asked why get one but if there's more so a significant difference in the more expensive ones besides low deflection shafts as he usually rags on people with cheaper cues or gets mad if I play em with a house cue thinking I'm going easy on him

Yeah, welcome to the azb. Nobody really cares what anybody else says...we are just pushing buttons and blabbering. It is a giant rorschach exercise.

Luckily, there are so many of us tha one will usually have a pertinent reply...:grin:

 

[garczar]

Which pros use expensive cues? Cuetec, meucci are not expensive

Ever seen Shannon Daulton's Gilbert? The Rocket's Tasc? Ko(both) use SW's. A LOT of players use high-end cues. Granted, they're usually(mostly) freebies. I don't know of any top player who buy their own cues.

 

[Type79]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Type79
PS I can't imagine spending more than $100 on a cue stick.

mchnhed responded:
Could you please give us three models of cues that are a good playing cue and are under $100?
I like my Players Cues, but they are more than $100.

No Response from Type79

Actually, I could, but my comment was made in jest. It was a joke, a tiny bit of levity, dry humor.

My friends who read it smirked because of it's irony.

 

[Straightpool_99]

I think everyone's gotten sidetracked by my original comment. I never asked why get one but if there's more so a significant difference in the more expensive ones besides low deflection shafts as he usually rags on people with cheaper cues or gets mad if I play em with a house cue thinking I'm going easy on him

Expensive cues have better wood. Cheap cues have "soft" wood and not a lot of care go into their production. Poor tolerances, poor quality control, bad materials etc..Sometimes you get a "golden" example which plays brilliantly, but at other times you get a very poor feel.

Expensive cues have care put into their production, especially custom cues which are hand made and tuned. They can't put "matchstick grade" wood into their cues, because they'd lose their business. Typically the balance is better and more natural etc.. This goes for middle- to high-end production cues as well as customs.The biggest, most noticable difference is the feel, though.

Truth be told, if you pay 150-200 dollars you'll get a very playable cue. Very few people would feel that cue held them back significantly. Cuetec r-360. like Shane uses, is one of those cues. I've played extensively with that shaft and it's quite nice, but I don't like the feel. I want a "crisp" feedback to my hand, because that way I know my stroke is good. If I let up on a shot with a bad cue, sometimes I won't immidiately notice, because the feedback is muffled. Then I risk having my fundamentals slide downward without noticing. Also it feels nice when you get a nice "ping" instead of a dull "thud" when you hit the ball.

As for your house cue comment...What would you think if your mate challenges you to a swimming contest, to show up with small lead weights attached to his body, not enough to drown him, but enough to slow him down? Would you feel slightly insulted by this? What if you wanted to play you tennis, but he chose to use a 2*4 piece of pine instead of a racket? Those are extreme examples of the emotion you friend is having. It may not be warranted, but one certainly can understand it.

 

[Type79]

^^^^^^ Excellent post.

 

[Texas Carom Club]

One of my lower teammates is always talking of how better equipment is and his point is "if it doesn't matter so much as stroke and stuff why don't pros use a cheap cue". Granted a few variables like low deflection shafts and such would make a difference but I always feel a good tip is all that's needed. What other arguments can be used against him as to why pros use expensive cues? He has the hundreds dollar giseuppe cases and the hundreds dollar plus cue and I play with a free cue that's maybe worth $40 and still run the table but this doesn't sway my advice to worry more on his stroke than the equipment

Everybody is a scientist, tell him to shut up and shoot

 

[Chopdoc]

Actually, I could, but my comment was made in jest. It was a joke, a tiny bit of levity, dry humor.

My friends who read it smirked because of it's irony.

Irony, yeah.

Smirk?

I spit my coffee all over my pc screen.....



.

 

[Linwood]

Heck no! Do you know how many high handicap golfers are playing with $2k sets of golf clubs and these folks struggle to consistently break a 100. .....

Why? Because they can afford to play golf and treat themeselves to the best equipment and how often do they do it? Every 4-5 years maybe change clubs or add a driver along the way. But they genuinely enjoy what they do & the cost of doing it doesn't matter a bit except to those that can't afford to do it.

I don't play golf, but I've heard another reason there, and also from my main hobby (photography), and that's the "no excuses" reason.

If one buys the best equipment, in most cases one then has only themselves to blame for bad perforamance, and they never wonder "could I have gotten that shot with better camera" or "could I have broken 80 with better clubs".

Right or wrong, it's not a bad motivation.

 

[Ghosst]

What other arguments can be used against him as to why pros use expensive cues?

House cues are nasty. The last guy who picked it up might not have washed his hands after going to the bathroom. Do you want to touch that?

That's where it begins. You start out in league, buy a production cue that's a few hundred. Then you get better, buy a better cue. Maybe $400-$600. A little while later you're at the top of your division and you grow into the 4-digit cues. They play a lot different. They don't make balls any better but the hit and feel is what you are paying for.

If you advance more and become one of the 40-or-so top level players you end up traveling so much that your $1000s of dollars of hit and feel get thrown around by baggage handlers and road partners every week. Soon it's ruined. Then along comes a production cue (maybe with a sponsorship) and guess what, you're still one of the best. Then it doesn't matter anymore.

Now, as for your friend, find someone who will let him stroke a $1000+ custom cue. If he doesn't feel a difference right away, he doesn't have the touch to play at a high level.

 

[Kid Dynomite]

This topic comes up all the time. Just consider Annie Oakley??? She can shoot great with her gun. But, what about with a gun that has the sights mounted incorrectly???

That is why gun smiths get top dollar to fine tune the instrument.

Shaft work is where the majority of the fine tuning takes place. Taper, tip, ferrulle, deflection.

The butt gets fine tuned with balance point, wrap texture!

I omitted vibration resonances and joint type as those are less important in my opinion. Notice no mention of exotic materials or inlays!!!

It would help if the cue was straight and not warped! ORCOLLO in his sports illustrated article mentioned that his expensive southwest cue actually warped in the Philippines climate. He was not sure if it came from the shop that way or if the climate was the cause.

Anyway, good equipment and maintenance is worth its weight in gold. Best tip for any pool player is to find a GREAT cue repair man more so than anything else! Together you will experiment with different tips, ferrulles, tapers, wraps, balance points and joints till you get the secret sauce for your game.

The above qualities can exist in a $15 cue or a $15,000 cue. So many people get a cue and keep it stock for resale purposes and never truly give the cue a chance.

Most every cue maker leaves the taper fat! They assume that you will IMMEDIATELY get the cue to the repair man of your choice and have the PRO taper and other adjustments made. These adjustments are not possible if too thin. So, sense they can't put wood back and can only take it off they often leave it thick and let you slowly have it worked down to the desired size.

This has been a longer post than planned. Hope this helps.

Kd

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