Product testers wanted, new Jump/Break tip SURE SPC

SQB

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thanks for the comments. Unfortunetly, we do not offer more tips free of charge.

I heard customers say that the tip would jump without any chalk at all, I wouldn't go that far to advertise that fact.

Shortly said, the grip level is higher than common jump and break tips, what gives you an advandage, benifit in many tip / cue compositions as we tested and experienced it. With its hardness and grip, it does allow controlled shots, whats mostly uncommon for many tips. You can also apply follow, draw and side when jumping without risking a miscue. Also it holds a high grip level quite long. The average grip level acurring after longer use is also higher than regular.

Maintanance tip: Compared to a rasor knife, which has to be stroped to get highest sharpnesses back. You can refresh to the highest grip level every few months (if your playing much) to get the tip from its average griplevel in use back to the rasor sharp grip (as I describe it). Just scratch the top slightly with some sandpaper :).

Considering this fact, we think that 1-2 weeks of testing is ok before we would like you to write an honest review. I you think, that you need more time feel free to let us know some impressions.

As the tip isn't a harder leather tip, it is an offer for players liking nonleather ones in every case.

@ Kimmo: Thanks for your interest. There was already postet a pic of the tip installed. Pls. also feel free to google "sure SPC" and take a look at youtube :).
 
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Kimmo H.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Oh, I completely missed that post with the picture :eek:

I take my words back, its not a reviewers fault that I didnt read everything posted so far. My bad, I apologize if I poked someone in the eye with the previous post. It came out with a little too negative tone on my behalf :confused:

The tip itself seems interesting and I will surely (pun not intended :grin:) put one in the basket on my next tip order fron DDC :wink:

Have any of the testers tried a Taom tip? How does this compare to it?
 

Kimmo H.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm currently editing the video of my SPC review. It will be posted here tomorrow, there will be some close up photos, video of installation, jumping and a break with it.

After playing with it for an hour or so I must admit that I am blown away by the SPC tip. First impression is that it is great and definitely worth the price. More on the subject to come in my review post :smile:
 

Kimmo H.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I promised a review on these tips so hre you go :rolleyes:

To start off, I am not in any way connected to SPC tips, I have not received a free sample and I will do my very best to give out an unbiased review on a new product.


I bought my tip from DoubleDaveCues. The shipping was lightning fast as always and I received the tip today.

B9W85DU.jpg


The first impression when I opened the envelope was quite a let down actually. The tip doesnt look like much packaged, it is just a flat disk of green material without any fancy boxes like for an example a Taom JB tip comes in . The tip is also relatively low on arrival, I measured it to be only 4.3mm thick. No worries there, that is plentý enough still as it doesnt need much to get the radius right :smile:

cz5Fiok.jpg


I proceeded to cut off the Taom 2.0 tip that I have had on for nearly a year.
Faced the ferrule, gently cleaned the back of the SPC tip and glued it on using Loctite 401 super glue. Let it set for three hours before working on it to let the glue cure thuroughly.

hUPbd2A.jpg



The tip is really hard and definitely requires a lathe to put one on properly. It cuts to dust as Greyghost stated before so some protection from the dust is advisable. I found that it cuts the best in small cuts with relatively high feed.

I cut the radius with a razor blade. This takes a little patience and a really sharp razor. Take your time and it will turn out perfect. See the video for more.
Installed tip looks fantastic. It is bright, light shade of green in colour and the weave pattern can be seen on it. Holds chalk really well and is easy to rough up with a bit of sandpaper.


A picture of the installed tip taken against a light.


R8VX439.jpg



I really like the looks of it and it machines so well that I had high hopes for it playability wise. And boy does it work like a dream. I have never had a tip that jumps this easily, nor one that holds chalk like this tip does. It is an outstanding jump tip, the best I have tried by far. Even the Taom, wich I really adored before, doesnt compare to this in my opinion. SPC is harder, it jumps better and yet it gives a great deal of control on different shots. I tried a lot of different jumps with it and for me, an inexperienced jumper, it allows control over the CB wich is something new for me.

On to breaking with it;
Breaking with a SPC feels a lot like a bakellite tip actually but with more power and better chalk adhesion. It makes a nice click on impact and provides good feedback on hit. It is easy to feel if you hit the ball well or not. Seems to be good in this category too. I like it slightly better than the Taom as a break tip, both break equally well but I prefer the feel of this tip slightly more.

Long story short; The Sure SPC is a great tip for both jumping and breaking. It really shines on jump shots and in my opinion it is definitely worth the price. Made in Germany stands proudly on the package, and rightfully so. The germans are coming to tip industry like a Mercedes, outstanding in its own class like one. I will buy more for sure in the future.

A video showing the installation and a couple example shots with a SPC tip :smile:

https://youtu.be/amMTNEIOpO8



I have a Predator Air 2 coming to me in a few weeks so there will be some comparing to come of the stock Predator phenolic and SPC too some time later.

Hopefully you found this review helpful, please feel free to ask any questions and I will answer to my best to you :smile:
 
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jim_vielee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I promised a review on these tips so hre you go :rolleyes:

To start off, I am not in any way connected to SPC tips, I have not received a free sample and I will do my very best to give out an unbiased review on a new product.


I bought my tip from DoubleDaveCues. The shipping was lightning fast as always and I received the tip today.



The first impression when I opened the envelope was quite a let down actually. The tip doesnt look like much packaged, it is just a flat disk of green material without any fancy boxes like for an example a Taom JB tip comes in . The tip is also relatively low on arrival, I measured it to be only 4.3mm thick. No worries there, that is plentý enough still as it doesnt need much to get the radius right :smile:



I proceeded to cut off the Taom 2.0 tip that I have had on for nearly a year.
Faced the ferrule, gently cleaned the back of the SPC tip and glued it on using Loctite 401 super glue. Let it set for three hours before working on it to let the glue cure thuroughly.





The tip is really hard and definitely requires a lathe to put one on properly. It cuts to dust as Greyghost stated before so some protection from the dust is advisable. I found that it cuts the best in small cuts with relatively high feed.





I cut the radius with a razor blade. This takes a little patience and a really sharp razor. Take your time and it will turn out perfect. See the video for more.
Installed tip looks fantastic. It is bright, light shade of green in colour and the weave pattern can be seen on it. Holds chalk really well and is easy to rough up with a bit of sandpaper.


A picture of the installed tip taken against a light.





I really like the looks of it and it machines so well that I had high hopes for it playability wise. And boy does it work like a dream. I have never had a tip that jumps this easily, nor one that holds chalk like this tip does. It is an outstanding jump tip, the best I have tried by far. Even the Taom, wich I really adored before, doesnt compare to this in my opinion. SPC is harder, it jumps better and yet it gives a great deal of control on different shots. I tried a lot of different jumps with it and for me, an inexperienced jumper, it allows control over the CB wich is something new for me.

On to breaking with it;
Breaking with a SPC feels a lot like a bakellite tip actually but with more power and better chalk adhesion. It makes a nice click on impact and provides good feedback on hit. It is easy to feel if you hit the ball well or not. Seems to be good in this category too. I like it slightly better than the Taom as a break tip, both break equally well but I prefer the feel of this tip slightly more.

Long story short; The Sure SPC is a great tip for both jumping and breaking. It really shines on jump shots and in my opinion it is definitely worth the price. Made in Germany stands proudly on the package, and rightfully so. The germans are coming to tip industry like a Mercedes, outstanding in its own class like one. I will buy more for sure in the future.

A video showing the installation and a couple example shots with a SPC tip :smile:

https://youtu.be/amMTNEIOpO8



I have a Predator Air 2 coming to me in a few weeks so there will be some comparing to come of the stock Predator phenolic and SPC too some time later.

Hopefully you found this review helpful, please feel free to ask any questions and I will answer to my best to you :smile:


Do you prefer it to the Toam tip?
 

Kimmo H.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I do for jumping. Breaking is harder to judge, it works but the cb control suffers a little compared to taom.

SPC exceeds Taom as a Jump tip when it comes to really close shots and it also seems to function adequately as a break tip :smile:
 
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The Renfro

Outsville.com
Silver Member
If anyone has one available for impact testing and thermal testing I am interested.... The Cell, Taom and Zinto all fracture at 750 psi under 100 impacts and leave material on the cloth from friction... Very interested in these as they appear to be a resin....
 

Double-Dave

Developing cue-addict
Silver Member
Thank you for the very indepth review Kimmo H. and glad to hear you like the tip.

Renfro, we saw your first request for testing out the Sure tips but we do not feel comfortable having our tips tested by a competing (in the sense that you produce tips aswell) company. It is not meant as a jab at you or your company but I assume you can understand our concerns.
 

greyghost

Coast to Coast
Silver Member
If anyone has one available for impact testing and thermal testing I am interested.... The Cell, Taom and Zinto all fracture at 750 psi under 100 impacts and leave material on the cloth from friction... Very interested in these as they appear to be a resin....



it is a resin based material which looks like a glass woven fabric, very similar to some i've worked with in the past and still have in stock.

i will surely say that in no way will it leave material on the cloth due to any friction....it is much to hard to do such.

i'm still hitting them between monsoon rain storms when i go out to play lately and will be giving more indepth review, like if the tip damages the cb or not.

i think just saying it plays well (it does, very well) is kind of a crock....even videoing jumps and breaks is the same in my opinion.

no matter the jump cue i cant jump a ball from say a chalk width.....i know players that can.

Same as smashing a break....this is acually the first and only time i've ever had a material of anything but leather on one of my cues even for breaking.

i've tried plenty of materials in shops and on friends equipment and test cues.

it all works great imop.....i havent seen the taoms (only pics) if they are made of thermo and also chipping out/shattering like that and these two tips were the only two available for breaking.......i would highly recommend this over the other without even testing.......

as for the height of the tip.....i honestly think it was the perfect size in its height right out the package....and i like the packaging also...it dones't need all kinds of fancy shit in a box or cool looking bag. Reminded me of buying a nice fishing lure.......the shit you want with cool packaging?

also with the company being in germany.....if hes gonna sling tips around the world....it makes sense to use more simple packaging, as i'm sure it wasn't all that cheap to send say, myself one tip for testing.

the tip will end up coming off my cue and whats been on my breakers for decades will go back on....but if i had a jump cue, I would probably put this tip on there....I jst dont jump often, i dont have to and kick very well anyways....and mostly play one pocket so using it on my break cue is going to give me more to comment on faster. I did have a tough reached out jump shot playing the other day....took my time and made a gorgeous shot with the tip. had nice reactive english like i hoped.

I've always used my breaker or player to jump in general. With a red circle or blue i can jump with my full cue within a diamond with no issues, half ball jumps are not a problem at all. My breaker is light 17oz, 12mm tip.....(its also my banks cue lol...so no banks cue for a few more weeks just using daily)

i could show off a bunch of nice breaks with it but so could i with triangles....

so like i said i wont be showing any vids of the tip.....i think its bullshit. No reflection on anyone putting up vids by any means, i just think that the skill is in the player period.....but of course harder materials in this case make for a positively stronger amount of power on the shot.

i did have the funniest break ever with it lol.....i "miscued" barely....it wasn't even really a misscue, very strange. I hit the CB on the break pretty level, but just a hair low and to the left where it hit CB(wish i had a pic) because i looked at the CB and the tip....the glaze on the tip wasn't much just a small dot little smaller than 3mm (red/blue circle size) and offset from center of tip about 2mm.....the CB came up just barely off the table upon the strike of the tip but to the right of the rack, it hit the table once, then it jumped higher....then hit the table again and jumped higher and i swear it had piss loads of backspin on it......reminded me of a baseball jumping off the dirt with tons of backspin or a tennis ball......then caught the nose of the rail, lipped up high.....hit the carpeted floor about 5ft behind table....then it grabbed the carpet and drew back to the table......tips grippey all right and i'm not joking about that.

I've never seen the cb react such a way....hitting so hard offcenter and still "grabbing"....it was a total crap shot but i saw what happened so that was quite impressive to me and my laughing friends.

again DO NOT BUY THIS TIP IF YOU DO NOT OWN A LATHE, OR HAVE A LOCAL REPAIR MAN.....it would take a man or woman a very very very long long long long long long time to get it to shape with a file.......one could use a dremel tool but good luck not gaffing that up.

i love that one pic of the tip with the light behind it....reminds me of ghostbusters and slimer!

regards,
Greyghost
 

Kimmo H.

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
^ Good post Greyghost :wink:

I agree that the jumping and breaking with a tip on video doesnt provide much valuable info about how a product works. The video posted is mostly made to show how extremely hard the compound is when cutting it and to provide a little acoustic reference in play on the jump shot and the break. The point is not to show off what a tip can do, the clips are there mostly for the audio :)

I also break with a leather tip, I have a Zan Hard on my BK3. I dont feel the need for a break tip harder than that, but for a jump tip things are different. And as mostly a rotation player I need to jump quite often as it is often the smart shot to take off loose safeties.

And for the packaging; I agree with you totally on that. There is no need for shiny boxes or extravagant displays as long as the product works right. However the first impression is often formed on first sight. The Taoms comes in a pretty jewelry box and it is already pre shaped in the package so they look nicer when just looking at them.
Despite the humble appearance of SPC tip it is nothing short of its competitors.
Some day I'll try out Chris's Hammerhead too and make a review like this on it too. I have heard a lot of good about them and I'd like to see if it lives up to the hype :)
 

greyghost

Coast to Coast
Silver Member
^ Good post Greyghost :wink:

I agree that the jumping and breaking with a tip on video doesnt provide much valuable info about how a product works. The video posted is mostly made to show how extremely hard the compound is when cutting it and to provide a little acoustic reference in play on the jump shot and the break. The point is not to show off what a tip can do, the clips are there mostly for the audio :)

I also break with a leather tip, I have a Zan Hard on my BK3. I dont feel the need for a break tip harder than that, but for a jump tip things are different. And as mostly a rotation player I need to jump quite often as it is often the smart shot to take off loose safeties.

And for the packaging; I agree with you totally on that. There is no need for shiny boxes or extravagant displays as long as the product works right. However the first impression is often formed on first sight. The Taoms comes in a pretty jewelry box and it is already pre shaped in the package so they look nicer when just looking at them.
Despite the humble appearance of SPC tip it is nothing short of its competitors.
Some day I'll try out Chris's Hammerhead too and make a review like this on it too. I have heard a lot of good about them and I'd like to see if it lives up to the hype :)

great points! yea and i'm for sure not down with a tip costing 25$ and coming in a jewerly box lmfao....it better have some kind of inlays by alton in the box imop lol. that right there to me shows me that they are more concerned by fancy packaging than actually having "tip" top tips lol. It also says that the material is cheap as piss so they can waste on a fancier package imop.....and i've not used the taom but i've read and seen enough for my blood wether i'm a synthetic tip guy or not. and its preshaped? who the hell preshapes a tip? no one.....its because i'm sure chris is right, they are just pressed thermoset plastic coming out of a mold.....and the top of that mold is shaped like that......no got dam way someone is chucking up to them and shaping them or any of that crap.....and i havent seen tool marks on the pics of them so i know they are just pressed and molded and not cnc'd or anything like that.

i agree with what you said about the videos as well.....to a knowledgable player/installer yes thats good info.

best wishes,
-g.g.

these tips the SPC's are coming from a stock rod material and are faced off nice and neat......just like the nice layered tips are.....no frills....its perfect for what it is generally speaking

Coming from the repair side as well anyways people will blame the installer in general not the material, so i'm double good on not using that or even installing them for anyone.
 

SQB

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Thanks for all the kind reviews especially from Kimmo who wasn't from the testers group but bought the tip.

I'm interested in some reviews of the silent testers till now too or even a reaction.

Do all testers received their tip?
 
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caff3in3

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Curious if these leave fractures on the cue ball like some of the harder tips do

Sent from my SM-G900W8 using Tapatalk
 

Dave38

theemperorhasnoclotheson
Silver Member
Here is my review,
I received the tip much faster than I expected. My break is nothing that it used to be since I've had 2 neck surgeries, so I installed this tip on a friend of mine's X-breaker shaft. He is a member here, and is a A - level player that can jump and break hard. It installed well, just like a G10 tip. After shaping to a nickel radius, which I do for all break tips, I roughed the tip with 100 grit paper as it was turning in the lathe, as I normally do. Everything looked great.
I did try it for breaking myself, and here is where this review goes differently than what others have offered. I felt that the tip 'slid' off the cueball each time. A large amount of the chalk was missing from the center of the tip after each break, not a small dot like other tips. I was using regular blue Master Chalk. I thought my stroke was off, but the center of the tip had no more chalk, so I know I hit center ball. I don't do any crazy stuff when breaking, just straight down the middle with center ball. When my friend met up with me at the pool hall, He tried it and had the same issue. He had a few other high level players that night try it, and all of them felt the same thing, like it had very little grip, and was very difficult to keep from mis-cueing.
He then left on a trip to some other states and took it with him and had other high ranking players try it and basically, all had the same review by them also. Overall, they all felt that the tip slid off the cueball when breaking and prone to a miscue. He hasn't said if he tried jumping with it, and I forgot to ask him. I will ask tonight when I see him.
I believe he scuffed it multiple times, but with no better results. He has since had me remove the tip and install a G10.
I personally feel, this tip is not something I could recommend to my customers, especially at this price. IMO, compared to G10 tips, which I do use on my personal cue, G10 is a better choice. I hope my friend chimes in so you can get his own words on this.
I do want to thank Double-Dave and SQB for their kindness to offer this opportunity to try the tip free of charge. I wish more companies would do that when introducing a new product. I wish I had better results to offer.
Dave
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greyghost

Coast to Coast
Silver Member
not sure why your having it play like that.....i use a nice fine file instead of sand paper because of its inconsistencies, looks like i may have a more "consistent" surface here?

i find it highly grippey, and can shoot with it using plenty of english......and for certain i'm no tip shill lol.

iv'e always done my break tips a little diff when i do these phenolics/michartas such as this.

regards,
-Grey ghost
 

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plshrk22

A Holes Billiards
Silver Member
Id be real curious to see the hardness differences between this and G10. It looks like G10 and from some of the photos looks like it cuts like G10 as well.
 

Dave38

theemperorhasnoclotheson
Silver Member
not sure why your having it play like that.....i use a nice fine file instead of sand paper because of its inconsistencies, looks like i may have a more "consistent" surface here?

i find it highly grippey, and can shoot with it using plenty of english......and for certain i'm no tip shill lol.

iv'e always done my break tips a little diff when i do these phenolics/michartas such as this.
regards,
-Grey ghost
I shape with a blade, then when at the right radius, just touch the surface with the 100 grit to make sure there is a scuffed surface all the way across. I really don't think it was an install issue, as I do the same for other very similar break tips and they
work great.
The players that tried this tip were not the run-of-the mill 6-7"s in APA, these are legit A level players and some way above that, that know a thing or two about a thing or two. That is why I installed it on his cue, as I knew it would be evaluated by people that know what they are doing. The price point of this tip is focused on these type of players, IMO, because if my cost is $25, then I have to get $45 + per install, and that isn't the normal guys price range for JUST a break tip. Unfortunately, my opinion is that it falls below the statements and expectations, especially compared to G10 tips which look and shape identically, don't have the miscue issue, or slide effect as this tip did, and I install them for the same cost as just buying this tip, then the install charge, and I also do a shaft cleaning / ding removal for the final cost of $25.
Sorry if the results I posted aren't welcomed, maybe the tip was defective, but the results were what they were.
Dave
 
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