Production Cues vs. custom

In my opinion it's a very mixed bag. My favorite playing cue is a very early Cognoscenti plain jane cocobolo cue with the white pin. I've also have a later one with the black pin. They play very much the same. I've also hit balls with other fancy Cog's and they feel the same. So I really don't consider Cog's custom since they are all built very much the same way.

Another cue I love playing with is a Predator SPJU. Another older cue built by Falcon in 2000. It has a 30" pre cat shaft. To me it plays fantastic.

Then I have a really nice Paul Dayton (RIP) with ivory ferrules and I can't stand the way it plays. But I have a few friends that really like the way it hit.

I also have a Coos Cue, Joss sneaky, a really nice Runde and used to have a Black Hoppe and and a Schon Tulipwood and I like how all those hit.

I think the best way to find out is play with some cues. You could play with some cues of some friends or maybe buy some cues and if you like the way they hit, keep them. If not sell them unless they are investments.

You can't decide what cue you will like until you play a long time with them.
 
Bavafongoul said:
But that’s you and you may have already plateaued and reached your ceiling whereas someone can still get better.
That’s your take on having something built exactly the way you want it to be instead just accepting what someone
decided the cue should have and look like. Sure, you get to shop and choose what you prefer which is how most
pool cues are purchased. But it’s not the same, just like with golf, i.e., custom fitted clubs vs. standard loft and lie.

When a cue embodies all the features you want from shaft taper, size, weight to the type joint, butt diameter, full
splice, cue butt & shaft weight ratio, ferrule material and size, it typically feels better stroking and energizing the
cue ball. The balance of your stroke feels better, you concentrate harder and generally play better. Now some folks
don’t care and a cue is just a cue. Others enjoy not having to settle. How many cue brands are intentionally built near
18 ozs. so the manufacturer can stick a piece of metal in the butt to make it heavier for the customer to get a 19.5 oz.
cue? That same type cue built at 19.5 ozs. without any weight bolt feels different because of its weight distribution.

Custom made cues are not for everyone. Frugality, skepticism, unfamiliarity, closed minded, scant prior experience &
or a bunch of other factors can influence why custom cues are frowned upon. But there has to be a resultant benefit
for custom cue makers to have flourished down through the the last 60-75 years. There is a difference but because you
doubt it doesn’t change reality. For a long time, a lot of people believed the world was flat. A custom made suit doesn’t
always look good on a someone obese. Custom fit golf clubs seem silly for a hacker that can’t break 90.

So a custom cue in the hands of a player that can’t run a table seems out of place too. But how about this? How much worse would these people look or compete if they didn’t go custom? I dunno and maybe not at all? But if the person was slim and fit, a custom suit always looks better. If they were a 20 handicap playing with standard loft & lie golf clubs and switched to playing custom fit clubs, they’d play better. If you were a decent pool player, knew what you preferred in a cue & your current cue didn’t fit the bill, switching to a custom built cue typically helps your game improve. A pool cue alone doesn’t make you a more talented, better player. Pool is more mental than physical. Playing with a cue that you enjoy more than another helps you play better. It isn’t guaranteed because like I wrote, pool is also a mental game. To play truly great, ability also helps.
Click to expand...
SVB plays with a $400 cue. So do most pros.
 
ddg45 said:
Soooo...if someone doesn't think custom cues are better than a production cue that they absolutely love and wouldn't trade, they're out of touch with reality or have a flat-earther mentality? Nothing you say is factual. Everything you say is subjective, and arrogant. If you believe it then it's true for you and that's fine, but to imply anyone who disagrees with you is wrong; well what that says about you isn't good.
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I wanted to say the same thing but didn't feel like having to read his response.
 
Hungarian said:
SVB plays with a $400 cue. So do most pros.
Click to expand...
They could play with a house cue for all I care. What the pros use never influenced me when it came to golf clubs.

I’m sure as heck not interested in the slightest what the pros use and if the pro is any good, it’s a sponsor’s brand
pool cue. Besides, they have way more skill than me so what the heck does it matter to me, or anyone, what a pro uses?

IMO, when anyone plays with a cue brand because some pro does, it just confirms their indifference, re: pool cues.
The price you pay for a cue has nothing to do with how well you play with it. Any truthful cue maker would confirm this.
 
Bavafongoul said:
They could play with a house cue for all I care. What the pros use never influenced me when it came to golf clubs.

I’m sure as heck not interested in the slightest what the pros use and if the pro is any good, it’s a sponsor’s brand
pool cue. Besides, they have way more skill than me so what the heck does it matter to me, or anyone, what a pro uses?

IMO, when anyone plays with a cue brand because some pro does, it just confirms their indifference, re: pool cues.
The price you pay for a cue has nothing to do with how well you play with it. Any truthful cue maker would confirm this.
Click to expand...
Okay, you're amazing. All the cues you have. Everyone is impressed with your cue snobbery. Congrats on your amazing personality. Everyone really likes it when you talk about cues. Please, keep it coming.
 
giddyup said:
Do you have contact info for Mike Webb? Thanks.
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Hi Giddyup
As a rule, I don't take work from this Forum. I come here to help with technical support in ATCM and take a break from work.
14.1er
Doesn't really count as an AZ'er to me because he's local. And we've known each other for 20 years.
 
Hungarian said:
Okay, you're amazing. All the cues you have. Everyone is impressed with your cue snobbery. Congrats on your amazing personality. Everyone really likes it when you talk about cues. Please, keep it coming.
Click to expand...
I do appreciate why referring to my pool cues as cue snobbery is a suitable label to some Azers.
Personally, I’ve never had any feelings, good or bad, when viewing a really superb array of pool cues.

If anything, I’ve expressed admiration and awe over the beauty of some of the cues I’ve seen on Az.
It merely comes down to this. A person spends what they can afford and what they want or settle for.

I tried locating one particular cue but never was successful. I’d have sold, or traded, several of my cues
to land it. Who would flip 3 nice cues for 1 cue? Me….I have more cues than I need but not the one I want.

Will that other cue play better than any cue I own? I don’t know because I never found it. But this doesn’t
deter me from longing for it. It basically amounts to wanting what I don’t have but I can live with what I got.
 
Bavafongoul said:
I do appreciate why referring to my pool cues as cue snobbery is a suitable label to some Azers.
Personally, I’ve never had any feelings, good or bad, when viewing a really superb array of pool cues.

If anything, I’ve expressed admiration and awe over the beauty of some of the cues I’ve seen on Az.
It merely comes down to this. A person spends what they can afford and what they want or settle for.

I tried locating one particular cue but never was successful. I’d have sold, or traded, several of my cues
to land it. Who would flip 3 nice cues for 1 cue? Me….I have more cues than I need but not the one I want.

Will that other cue play better than any cue I own? I don’t know because I never found it. But this doesn’t
deter me from longing for it. It basically amounts to wanting what I don’t have but I can live with what I got.
Click to expand...
A guy in this thread is asking for beginners advise and you were a jerk.
 
You’re entitled to your opinions just as much as I am. Here’s a suggestion……place my Az handle on ignore.
I’ve done this to a few others and it simplifies things because their opinions are completely inconsequential &
meaningless to me as much as mine has to be to them, or for that matter, yours is to me. Meanwhile, it is what
it is and nothing more and nothing less. And when someone expresses scorn or mockery, just expect the same.

.
 
Michael Webb said:
Hi Giddyup
As a rule, I don't take work from this Forum. I come here to help with technical support in ATCM and take a break from work.
14.1er
Doesn't really count as an AZ'er to me because he's local. And we've known each other for 20 years.
Click to expand...
Do you have a site for selling cues? Thanks. Respectfully.
 
Hungarian said:
A guy in this thread is asking for beginners advise and you were a jerk.
Click to expand...

Bava thinks there is only one way a cue should be made and balanced. When I asked him for scientific evidence for what he was saying, he flipped and threatened to, for lack of better phrase, tell on me to all the great cuemakers he knows.

He doesn't realize that I have immense respect for many of the same makers, never said that their methods were wrong, and only wanted exactly what I asked for.

It's pretty normal for him to piss on anyone who disagrees with his opinion. It is snobbery. If I didn't find it so amusing, I would have taken his advice to put him on ignore.
 
DeeDeeCues said:
Bava thinks there is only one way a cue should be made and balanced. When I asked him for scientific evidence for what he was saying, he flipped and threatened to, for lack of better phrase, tell on me to all the great cuemakers he knows.

He doesn't realize that I have immense respect for many of the same makers, never said that their methods were wrong, and only wanted exactly what I asked for.

It's pretty normal for him to piss on anyone who disagrees with his opinion. It is snobbery. If I didn't find it so amusing, I would have taken his advice to put him on ignore.
Click to expand...
I can not ignore that lefty from the left coast. I get way too much enjoyment reading his nonsense. I just hop the OP finds what he's looking for!!
 
production cues are made to play, not look pretty
no custom plays near good as a predator , a jflowers, mezz, cutec etc etc
 
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