On 22 Jan 07, I contacted Ryan (ratcues) about making me a cue. I wanted a cue similar to his RAT10, but with bloodwood rings instead of cocobola. I wanted the dashed rings at all positions, the shaft to be ~4 ounces and for it to be specially selected for it's coloring (no "water marks).
On 24 Jan 07, Ryan pm'd me and said it wouldn't be a problem and quoted me a VERY fair price and quoted me a time of 6 weeks. I agreed. On 19 Feb 07, Ryan pm'd me to let me know the cue was just about ready and I could call Mueller's to pay for it. He shipped the cue 26 Feb 07 and it arrived on 28 Feb 07.
I always worry, when I receive a cue that something is going to be wrong. When I opened the package that fear completely disappeared. The cue was gorgeous. It is exactly as I had imagined. The gaboon ebomy foream has nice gray streaking. The bloodwood dashed rings look perfect. The finish was deep and bright. I could not find any imperfections, nor could I feel the rings.
I had heard about Ryan's ability to do a leather wrap. Have no doubt, he is one of the best. The wrap looks perfect and the seam is nearly invisible.
Some of you guys may wonder how that shaft turned out...all I can say is that it's exactly what I asked for. I weighed it on our lab scale @ 3.8675 ounces. Which is ~4 ounces that I asked for. The talisman WB tip and ferrule were beautifully installed. The ring on the shaft matches perfectly with the joint ring (as well as all others). The shaft perfectly mated to the joint.
As a very nice suprise Ryan included black and red joint protectors that match the cue perfectly
The butt weighed 15.2 ounces and the balance point is 19.25 inches. The cue had a neutral to slight forward weight feel to it. I expected it to be very butt heavy considering the forearm is not cored.
So, after being very pleased with the looks and Ryan accomplishing everything I had asked. My fear of something wrong set-in again as I screwed the cue together to play for a few hours. That fear was completely unfounded. It plays superbly. I threw 15 balls on the table and started running. The first thing I noticed was my speed control was off, switching to this cue. After a couple racks I seemed to settle into the feel of the cue. The hit is very stiff, which pleased me. I am a fan of Universal Smart Shafts, this cue has a similar stiff hit offered by the USS, but with a more "alive" feel.
I bought this cue just to try one of Ryan's and to give me an inexpensive cue to travel with since I go TDY often. Now that I've played with cue for 15 or so hours, I think it may actually become my regular playing cue.
For $315.45 shipped, Ryan has a real winner. I would not hesitate to recommend his cues to anyone looking for a great player cue.
Jim
edited spelling
On 24 Jan 07, Ryan pm'd me and said it wouldn't be a problem and quoted me a VERY fair price and quoted me a time of 6 weeks. I agreed. On 19 Feb 07, Ryan pm'd me to let me know the cue was just about ready and I could call Mueller's to pay for it. He shipped the cue 26 Feb 07 and it arrived on 28 Feb 07.
I always worry, when I receive a cue that something is going to be wrong. When I opened the package that fear completely disappeared. The cue was gorgeous. It is exactly as I had imagined. The gaboon ebomy foream has nice gray streaking. The bloodwood dashed rings look perfect. The finish was deep and bright. I could not find any imperfections, nor could I feel the rings.
I had heard about Ryan's ability to do a leather wrap. Have no doubt, he is one of the best. The wrap looks perfect and the seam is nearly invisible.
Some of you guys may wonder how that shaft turned out...all I can say is that it's exactly what I asked for. I weighed it on our lab scale @ 3.8675 ounces. Which is ~4 ounces that I asked for. The talisman WB tip and ferrule were beautifully installed. The ring on the shaft matches perfectly with the joint ring (as well as all others). The shaft perfectly mated to the joint.
As a very nice suprise Ryan included black and red joint protectors that match the cue perfectly
The butt weighed 15.2 ounces and the balance point is 19.25 inches. The cue had a neutral to slight forward weight feel to it. I expected it to be very butt heavy considering the forearm is not cored.
So, after being very pleased with the looks and Ryan accomplishing everything I had asked. My fear of something wrong set-in again as I screwed the cue together to play for a few hours. That fear was completely unfounded. It plays superbly. I threw 15 balls on the table and started running. The first thing I noticed was my speed control was off, switching to this cue. After a couple racks I seemed to settle into the feel of the cue. The hit is very stiff, which pleased me. I am a fan of Universal Smart Shafts, this cue has a similar stiff hit offered by the USS, but with a more "alive" feel.
I bought this cue just to try one of Ryan's and to give me an inexpensive cue to travel with since I go TDY often. Now that I've played with cue for 15 or so hours, I think it may actually become my regular playing cue.
For $315.45 shipped, Ryan has a real winner. I would not hesitate to recommend his cues to anyone looking for a great player cue.
Jim
edited spelling
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