I ordered this cue from Craig (Manwon) about 3-4 months ago. Before that I had seen many examples of Craig's cue here on AZ and in person; needless to say I love the man's work and his style, so, I decided to buy one.
Long story short, the cue was constructed from an old Brunswick one-piece pre-titlist. I believe the official name for the cue is called 26 1/2; these cues were made before 1930's using the traditional splicing technique.
The cue features 4 points of purple heart with 4 veneers around each point; they are: maple, brown, green, and purple. The forearm is maple with super straight grains and a little borwnish-yellow color due to aging. There are two pearl rings, one at the A-joint and another at the center of the butt sleeve. The wrap is white/green and it feels and looks as good as the wrap on any of my TAD's, SW's ...etc. In fact this is the same exact wrap commonly found on TAD cues. I believe the company that made this wrap went out of business in the 1970's. The balance point of the cue is about 17.5" from the butt cap. The finish is very glossy, almost wet-looking and it really sucks out the beautiful colors of the wood. The shafts are are very smooth and they combine with the butt really well - you almost cannot feel any separation at the A-joint.
My first impression of the cue was that it felt really really well balanced. The cue weights 19.3 oz (exactly what I wanted); when I get down on a shot, the weight of the cue disappears and I feel the cue has actually become part of my arm. The cues playability has proven to be an absolute wet dream; the cue hits very firm and solid but not overly stiff; it does everything you want with very little effort. I did not need to adjust to the hit of this cue at all; it hits just as good as my other players if not better. Besides transmission with low deflection and the ability to generate a lot of spin, in my opinion, a great cue should also allow you to hit the ball at any desired speed without compromising accuracy.
This cue has accomplished all of the above and I couldn't be happier with my purchase.
Alex
Long story short, the cue was constructed from an old Brunswick one-piece pre-titlist. I believe the official name for the cue is called 26 1/2; these cues were made before 1930's using the traditional splicing technique.
The cue features 4 points of purple heart with 4 veneers around each point; they are: maple, brown, green, and purple. The forearm is maple with super straight grains and a little borwnish-yellow color due to aging. There are two pearl rings, one at the A-joint and another at the center of the butt sleeve. The wrap is white/green and it feels and looks as good as the wrap on any of my TAD's, SW's ...etc. In fact this is the same exact wrap commonly found on TAD cues. I believe the company that made this wrap went out of business in the 1970's. The balance point of the cue is about 17.5" from the butt cap. The finish is very glossy, almost wet-looking and it really sucks out the beautiful colors of the wood. The shafts are are very smooth and they combine with the butt really well - you almost cannot feel any separation at the A-joint.
My first impression of the cue was that it felt really really well balanced. The cue weights 19.3 oz (exactly what I wanted); when I get down on a shot, the weight of the cue disappears and I feel the cue has actually become part of my arm. The cues playability has proven to be an absolute wet dream; the cue hits very firm and solid but not overly stiff; it does everything you want with very little effort. I did not need to adjust to the hit of this cue at all; it hits just as good as my other players if not better. Besides transmission with low deflection and the ability to generate a lot of spin, in my opinion, a great cue should also allow you to hit the ball at any desired speed without compromising accuracy.
This cue has accomplished all of the above and I couldn't be happier with my purchase.
Alex
