Quality of affordable cues...

Matt_24

Matt_24

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I just wanted to say that I am extremely impressed at the quality of modern "affordable" cues. From Nick Varner, to Action, Players...and another brand - Griffin.

I've been a bit of a cue snob for years, however, I will say that I've known some champion level players who used inexpensive cues with le-pro or basic - affordable tips.

There is on who, like it or lump it, is an extremely good one pocket player in St. Louis. I dare say one of the best (Lou knows him). I'm not dropping names on here, but I played him the other day (lost 3-1...but i tried, LOL), and saw he used a GRIFFIN cue. They're like...$250, steel joint with a linen wrap, made overseas. I asked to hit with his after our match and I was extremely impressed. To me, it hit like a Joss or Schon. He tuned up the shaft a bit, and put on a tip of his liking (which was like a $10 tip)...and it was jam up.

So, just writing this to say - you can really find a quality playing cue for an affordable price these days - which is fantastic. I've had tons of nice cues - but I'm thinking of buying a Griffin myself, lol...just to see what I can do with it.
 
Yep, it's very true. I like nice cues, custom or modern production with carbon low deflection and all that....but it's all unnecessary to play good pool.

I still like to pick up a house cue every now and then to remind myself of that. Yeah, the deflection takes some adjustment when I've been playing with my Revo for a bit, but same holds true for picking up either of my custom cues too. I grabbed one off the wall the other day, cheap Players or Action 1 piece house cue, but it had a decent tip and played quite sporty. Unpleasant shaft taper and wasn't what I'd call straight....but it played just fine. Any decent quality 2-piece budget cue would probably be better....but it was plenty good enough to play solid pool.
 
Reasonably straight cue, smooth shaft, decent, well dressed tip and that should be enough to play very good pool- most of us who have high end cues know this to be true-- and it is true. One buys more expensive cues for many different reasons- just like everything else in life.
 
I filled my home pool room rack with cheap cues ($100 - $200 range). Yeah, the shafts don't feel as nice as an expensive custom, and they don't look as nice or artistic, but they don't play any worse either.

Expensive / custom pool cues are like high-end watches. A Rolex doesn't keep as good a time as a smart watch, and only tells the time, but the last I knew, Rolex had a huge backlog of watches for 20K plus. Similarly, I believe there will always be a market for hand-made, decorative pool cues.
 
I'll also add that while I believe an inexpensive production pool cue can play as well as a $10,000 cue from a legendary marker, some cues, do, in fact, play better than others for some reason. In my 40 plus years of playing I had two cues that I consistently played way better with. One was a plain 4-point Tasc with a Cortland wrap (no surprise there). The other was an entry level Pechauer. Of course, I traded or sold them both years ago. I don't know why I did that.
 
Matt_24 said:
I knew a good player in Richmond, VA who had a Lucasi from the first wave, when Buddy Hall was sponsored....and it hit as crispy as any steel joint custom cue. He made alot of money with that cue.
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i have the same tuxedo lucasi model that buddy hall played with when he won the DCC, paired with a 314 pre-cat shaft. it's been my main player for 15 years. love it

the only bad thing with these old lucasi or predators is incompatibility with the new extensions. i use a push on but the modern extensions seem quite handy
 
Rusty in Montana said:
One of my favorite cues was a Dufferin bar cue a friend turned into a 2 piece cue and added 6" to the butt end of it and I loved it , the only down side is playing pool in some bars is tough with walls close to the table for rail shots .
It also was around $ 100.00
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I fixed this problem. I have an old Players jump/break that I use in bars sometimes. One bar in particular lacks clearance for a full length cue in spots. I just unscrew the rear part of the butt off and shoot away. I did replace the tip to an ultraskin medium though. And yes, plays just fine and can't at all complain about the price.
 
fjk said:
I'll also add that while I believe an inexpensive production pool cue can play as well as a $10,000 cue from a legendary marker, some cues, do, in fact, play better than others for some reason. In my 40 plus years of playing I had two cues that I consistently played way better with. One was a plain 4-point Tasc with a Cortland wrap (no surprise there). The other was an entry level Pechauer. Of course, I traded or sold them both years ago. I don't know why I did that.
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One of the "best" cues that I owned, was an older Cocobolo Mezz "sneaky." I'm still not sure why I sold that one.
😉
My MVP customs were very nice as well.
 
A good playing cue doesn't have to cost thousands of dollars. It needs to have somewhat decent construction. Sometimes the production companies get it right. The honorable custom Cue-Makers who have been around for awhile, have been around awhile for a reason. There is an "argument" to be made for both camps.

The folks who have the disposable income to buy luxury cues, are certainly entitled to do as they wish with their money...and I don't blame them. For those of us mere mortals with limited $, it's nice to have quality options, that won't keep the steak off the grill.
😎
 
fjk said:
I'll also add that while I believe an inexpensive production pool cue can play as well as a $10,000 cue from a legendary marker, some cues, do, in fact, play better than others for some reason. In my 40 plus years of playing I had two cues that I consistently played way better with. One was a plain 4-point Tasc with a Cortland wrap (no surprise there). The other was an entry level Pechauer. Of course, I traded or sold them both years ago. I don't know why I did that.
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"Of course, I traded or sold them both years ago. I don't know why I did that."

Because you're sick like the rest of us.
🙃
 
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