Resonant pitch

spliced

spliced

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hi,

I was told by a cuemaker at one point that birdseye maple is desirable in pool cues due to its low resonant pitch.

My question is do regular hard maple and curly maple have the same sort of resonant pitch? Do the number of growth rings or tightness of grain change the pitch?

Thanks,
Ian
 
All things being equal, I like the higher pitch.
I think density, grain orientation, age and how they were dried contribute to that pitch.
Rock maple imo is more durable, more stable and reasonates better than b'eye and curly maple.
 
I prefer a higher pitch. But birdseye is not used in cues because of low pitch. It varies just like any wood, some high & some low. It's used in cues because it's available, hard, lightweight, & looks friggin great.
 
id like to learn more about pitch. i am big on sound in a cue. ive owned /made a few that sounded great. i always listen when im playing. i hear a guys tip clicking 4 tables down and it makes me crazy. i walk up and say "your tip is gonna fall off." rob saez has an andy gilbert that sounds amazing. he let me play with it this year but its be burning me up for about 2 years hearing it. ive hit with 3 andys and they all sing. my friend joe testa also has a jacoby that sounds great. i tell him prob once of twice a week how good it sounds.

nothing beats nice birdseye IMO.
 
The tone of wood is a direct relation to it's memory, which relates to playability. Resonation is the wood snapping back & forth after being flexed, in attempt to equalize back at original position. Musicians call it harmonics while woodworkers & bow makers call it memory. Some woods snap back immediately & with authority, giving a high pitch sound because it's moving the air at very high frequency. Woods with burl &/or loose grain structure will lose their "snap" in the many folds & swirls & voids of the grain, which results in low frequency air movement & low tap tone. Then there's also the ability to hold a tone, which is another factor. There's a medium, a prime. Somewhere between brazilian rosewood and balsa wood there is a point where tap tone is strongest & holds longest, regardless of pitch. Maple is very close to this & sometimes is perfect. This is why it's such a great cue wood, especially for shafts.

I won't go into the can of worms too deeply. But choosing wood for a cue is not rocket science, however is indeed a science. A basic understanding of physics & common sense can go a long way. But even with great wood, the cue will only be as good as it's construction. Cuemaking is fun. There's so much to learn beyond gluing a forearm to a handle & cutting a shaft to 13mm. The more I learn, the more I realize nobody has yet truly mastered it.
 
So from whats been said, I gather that rock maple is slightly higher in pitch than most birdseye due to the lack of figure/interference in the wood. All that said, is rock maples pitch still considered low resonance?
 
JoeyInCali said:
All things being equal, I like the higher pitch.
I think density, grain orientation, age and how they were dried contribute to that pitch.
Rock maple imo is more durable, more stable and reasonates better than b'eye and curly maple.
Click to expand...
Is Rock Maple the same as Straight-Grain Maple?
 
Dave, if you like that sound, I have a 16 yr old Dufferin by Paul Huebler with 2 shafts that you would like. You can hear this one across the room.
Darker shaft wood and very stiff. The only downfall is that it is an 18 oz with either shaft and I don't think players generally like them that light. Well balanced tho.
Very interesting thread here.
 
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dave sutton said:
30 - 40 years ago BEM and curly was considered inferior so it wasnt used often
Click to expand...
How true, I've refinished antique furniture and found 5A birdseye covered with thick brown ugly finishes.
 
So for the tone deaf like me, there isn't a way to measure tone/ I think Joey said something involving measurements or numbers.
 
hangemhigh said:
So for the tone deaf like me, there isn't a way to measure tone/ I think Joey said something involving measurements or numbers.
Click to expand...
No, you bounce em and ears em.
I've found out people bounce shafts or woods differently too.
Some don't believe in it.
 
I believe it, I would just like to know if there is a way to accurately measure the tone. I believe DPK about the shafts crying and Alverez about exposing the finished Guitar to 30 days of music to acclimate each Guitar.
 
i guess the only way to accurately measure would be an ocilioscope.i have heard that kers has or had one and i guess there is a tone(440 i've heard)they are looking for.

i also guess someone with perfect pitch hearing might get close,but to me bouncing them on the concrete doesn't really seem like a true method.i have experimented with it before and when you bounce one it makes a certain sound,then you bounce it again say 1-2" away from that same spot and the same shaft will sound different.

i am also not so sure that because the wood sounds good on concrete that it will sound good in a cue or vice versa.try bouncing some Koa on the concrete and it is pretty dead,yet it is reported to be a good tone wood.

anyway i'm just rambling now so i'll quit.
 
i love cuemaking but sometimes i think we over think some aspects of it. nothing wrong with trying ot be the best you can be tho. just take your time do it right and have fun. dont make it too much like work
 
I bounce mine in my palm & listen to how long it resonates, as well as at what pitch it rings. I don't need any instrument or tool to tell me which ones are good & which are bad. I have learned from experience which ones will be what.

And "rock" maple is sugar maple, whether it's straight grain, birdseye or curly. The term "Rock" came from a popular cabinet maker/woodworker from the 1700's who's last name was "Rock". He used sugar maple exclusively & so people began calling sugar maple, "rock maple". It was hard so the name stuck & now it's commonly thought that it's called rock maple due to it's hardness. But it's actually just named after the guy who popularized it's use in wood craft.
 
Musical Maple. Lol.

I think alot of the cuemakers have answered your question, in some form or another. I do however think that birdseye would be more tonally proper than curly, just from my personal experiences with the two. But I think the problem you run into with this question is the different species of maple. Are you talking about eastern maple, western big leaf maple, red maple, etc, etc, etc. Also the less moisture content, the better the sound, due the water in the wood acting as a muting agent. I don't know that I would say what "pitch" maple is, but most tonal musical instrument woods are of the rosewood variety, of some form or another, with perhaps blackwood, and wenge to name a few.
Regards.
 
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