Has anyone had trouble with the ferrule of their 314? One of mine has conned in...which sucks, now my other one is beginning to do the same thing. I do break with both of them. The base of the ferrule is still the same diameter of the shaft only the top is getting smaller. If they didn't play so well I'd throw both of them away.
Predator sucks
- Thread starter kamasutraguru
- Start date
Is there a difference between their regular 314 and the shaft on their break cue?
Does changing the ferrules change the play?
Some who don't know any better and believe in the Predator Bible will say yes. I say yes too....yes for the better. I play with a 314 (the one pictured) and it has the Aegis ferrule. To me...it plays better. A bit more crisp hit. Plus the ferrules stay clean, don't melt/change shapes. I've done many 314's, many of them for pro players...I have not had one yet who did not like it. Like I said in another thread about this same subject....after most have one done...they want all of their 314's changed out. PM Mike Templeton...he just hit some balls with my 314...he'd be a good judge for comment.
As bad as i hate taking out more than one cue i guess this is the way to go. If you will pm your # i'd like to set something up.
PM sent sir.
For the $$$ you pay for a predator, you should be able to break concrete with them!.........If I pay $200 for a shaft and the maker said don't break with it?.....I would have serious issues.
When I asked the guys at Black Boar if it was OK to break with my new cue, they laughed and said of course it's OK!
....I felt stupid for asking...
Gerry
When I asked the guys at Black Boar if it was OK to break with my new cue, they laughed and said of course it's OK!
....I felt stupid for asking...Gerry
The are covered in the warranty
Since you have two shafts, send one to varney, and the other back to predator (life time guarantee on their products). I would be interested in what it does to the 314 when you chenge the ferrule. He might be on to something here. I played with the I2 shaft from Mcdermott last night and it was ok. I was able to put an enormous amount of sidespin on whitey. But that itty bitty ferrule took some time to adjust to the look. It is about 1/2 the size of the predators.
kamasutraguru said:
Since you have two shafts, send one to varney, and the other back to predator (life time guarantee on their products). I would be interested in what it does to the 314 when you chenge the ferrule. He might be on to something here. I played with the I2 shaft from Mcdermott last night and it was ok. I was able to put an enormous amount of sidespin on whitey. But that itty bitty ferrule took some time to adjust to the look. It is about 1/2 the size of the predators.
No one I know of has ever said don't break with your Predator 314 shaft because it will damage your ferule.
I have had a ton of people tell me from the time that I started playing to never break with your playing shaft, because you may break the tip off, or flatten it out, or crack your shaft.
Yes there is a difference between the regular 314 and the Break Shaft.
If you don't want to carry 2 sticks then break with a house cue.
Predator products have worked for me without failure for over five years.
Black Cat
I have had a ton of people tell me from the time that I started playing to never break with your playing shaft, because you may break the tip off, or flatten it out, or crack your shaft.
Yes there is a difference between the regular 314 and the Break Shaft.
If you don't want to carry 2 sticks then break with a house cue.
Predator products have worked for me without failure for over five years.
Black Cat
I also had trouble with a 314 - and yes, I was breaking with it - the ferrule cracked from top to bottom (tip-end to shaft-end) about two weeks or so after receiving it.
I didn't know at the time how different the tip-ends of Predator shafts were - I just thought the big deal about'em was the laminated shaft bits - so I ended up taking the shaft to a local cue repair guy, who stuck a dowel into the hollow area and put a normal ferrule on it. Come to find out later that Predator (once I sent the shaft back to them to get it fixed up to spec) wouldn't/couldn't fix it - they claimed that the work done on the shaft precluded returning the shaft back to its original condition. Meh. My own fault for not educating myself on the whole thing, and being impatient (wanting it fixed sooner than waiting on Predator to fix it, even under warranty).
To their credit, though, they offered me a 40% discount off a new shaft if I choose to take it.
I didn't know at the time how different the tip-ends of Predator shafts were - I just thought the big deal about'em was the laminated shaft bits - so I ended up taking the shaft to a local cue repair guy, who stuck a dowel into the hollow area and put a normal ferrule on it. Come to find out later that Predator (once I sent the shaft back to them to get it fixed up to spec) wouldn't/couldn't fix it - they claimed that the work done on the shaft precluded returning the shaft back to its original condition. Meh. My own fault for not educating myself on the whole thing, and being impatient (wanting it fixed sooner than waiting on Predator to fix it, even under warranty).
To their credit, though, they offered me a 40% discount off a new shaft if I choose to take it.
kamasutraguru said:
I have owned, and still own for that matter a 314, and haven't had any trouble yet. I also do not break with it, I think that is just asking for trouble. Now the reason I don't use it to break has nothing to do with the fact that the Predator's have soft ferrule reputation, it's just that I always use a seperate break cue.
That whole laminated shaft bit is a gimmick. It does improve consistency from shaft to shaft, but not compared to a custom maker who will hand-select the wood.
The biggest "secret" to low deflection is reducing tip end mass. Predator does this by providing a very thin ferrule and hollowed out shaft end (pictured above). Obviously, it is more prone to damage.
You can change the ferrule, but you wouldn't have a predator anymore. The shaft would play different and have different deflection.
Varney says pros prefer the new ferrules. Does that tell you something about how (un)important an ultra-low deflection shaft is?
FYI, most pros use Predators because they are sponsored by Predator, or at least get free stuff. Just like most pros used Meucci in the early 90's.
The biggest "secret" to low deflection is reducing tip end mass. Predator does this by providing a very thin ferrule and hollowed out shaft end (pictured above). Obviously, it is more prone to damage.
You can change the ferrule, but you wouldn't have a predator anymore. The shaft would play different and have different deflection.
Varney says pros prefer the new ferrules. Does that tell you something about how (un)important an ultra-low deflection shaft is?
FYI, most pros use Predators because they are sponsored by Predator, or at least get free stuff. Just like most pros used Meucci in the early 90's.