Sad but interesting story

Sbrogdon

Sbrogdon

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I drove to a nearby town today to have new tips installed on 2 of my shafts. I have a predator ikon 4 with a zshaft and an ob pro shaft. Since he was installing new tips on both of my shafts he loaned me a cue to play with while he done the work. The first shot I made with it I fell in love with it, the feel, the balance, the hit, overall everything about the cue. I was shooting just as good, if not even a bit better, than with my predator and low deflection shafts.

I looked down and didn't recognize the logo on the cue, and it being a merry widow style cue, its hard to tell what kind of cue it may be. It felt very good, had a nice quality feel to it, etc.

I went back in his office to inquire about the cue. He said he uses it as a backup cue. I asked if he wanted to sell it and come to find out its a 130.00 elite cue...lol...

I gave him 100.00 bucks for it and played another two hours with it playing great, I continued to play with it even after he brought back my shafts with the new tips.

Its funny how sometimes a tool can just feel right and call your name.

The sad part about this whole ordeal, I will probably sell off my 1000.00 dollars worth of predator and LD shafts and just keep this plain old inexpensive cue as my main shooter..
 
Sbrogdon said:
I drove to a nearby town today to have new tips installed on 2 of my shafts. I have a predator ikon 4 with a zshaft and an ob pro shaft. Since he was installing new tips on both of my shafts he loaned me a cue to play with while he done the work. The first shot I made with it I fell in love with it, the feel, the balance, the hit, overall everything about the cue. I was shooting just as good, if not even a bit better, than with my predator and low deflection shafts.

I looked down and didn't recognize the logo on the cue, and it being a merry widow style cue, its hard to tell what kind of cue it may be. It felt very good, had a nice quality feel to it, etc.

I went back in his office to inquire about the cue. He said he uses it as a backup cue. I asked if he wanted to sell it and come to find out its a 130.00 elite cue...lol...

I gave him 100.00 bucks for it and played another two hours with it playing great, I continued to play with it even after he brought back my shafts with the new tips.

Its funny how sometimes a tool can just feel right and call your name.

The sad part about this whole ordeal, I will probably sell off my 1000.00 dollars worth of predator and LD shafts and just keep this plain old inexpensive cue as my main shooter..
Click to expand...

I would't sell anything yet!! Your stroke, aim and stance were in sync that night, you have to repeat same feeling five nights in a row to be sure.
 
naji said:
I would't sell anything yet!! Your stroke, aim and stance were in sync that night, you have to repeat same feeling five nights in a row to be sure.
Click to expand...

Oh, I know. I will likely keep my predator anyways. I just may retire it for a bit though, lol. This cheap elite feels and shoots that good. I guess I just found one with good quality wood...
 
i feel your pain.

last summer after qualifying for vegas my g/f and i was at the pool hall selling raffle tickets for our trip.

a buddy of mine wanted to play some and i told him i did not bring my cues. he offered to let me play with his . i declined saying i did not like predators. he pulls out a sneaky pete and says use this instead then.. i loved how it felt and made a break and run the 1st rack with it.

i told him i had to have it and asked if it was for sale not bothering to see what brand it was. he sure he would sell it. he said he picked up a dozen of them at the southern classic. i asked how much ? he said for me.... 25.00. any body else it would be higher.

needless to say it has been my daily player since then and my 3000.00 custom and all my other cues are in the closet.

oh yea . its a cheap chinese cue called premier. its fit and finsh are great , it has held up great going to league 4 times a week for the last year.

imagine.... a cheap 25.00 cue is the best playing cue i have ever had lol.
 
lorider said:
i feel your pain.

last summer after qualifying for vegas my g/f and i was at the pool hall selling raffle tickets for our trip.

a buddy of mine wanted to play some and i told him i did not bring my cues. he offered to let me play with his . i declined saying i did not like predators. he pulls out a sneaky pete and says use this instead then.. i loved how it felt and made a break and run the 1st rack with it.

i told him i had to have it and asked if it was for sale not bothering to see what brand it was. he sure he would sell it. he said he picked up a dozen of them at the southern classic. i asked how much ? he said for me.... 25.00. any body else it would be higher.

needless to say it has been my daily player since then and my 3000.00 custom and all my other cues are in the closet.

oh yea . its a cheap chinese cue called premier. its fit and finsh are great , it has held up great going to league 4 times a week for the last year.

imagine.... a cheap 25.00 cue is the best playing cue i have ever had lol.
Click to expand...

I feel the same. This thing just called my name when I made the first shot. I have had similar experiences with guitars as well though, so I wasn't too shocked, but shocked none the less. It could be the fact that I bought it off of a cue repairman, so he may have hand picked it due to the wood grains and whatnot. The shaft is absolutely perfect, no bad sugar marks you normally see on cheap cues. It has a 3/8 pin into wood , so when its together it almost feels like a one piece cue.
 
Absolutely nothing wrong with Elite cues. I had one without a shaft. Made a shaft for it and sold it to a player, but not before I took it out to see how the shaft played.

Same thing, I wish that I hadn't committed to selling it. The guy got a darn good deal on it. I charged him a little over the price of the shaft and I gave him a deal on the shaft as well.

I haven't seen him in League for some time but if I cross paths, I will see if he wants to sell.

Mine was a segmented cue with Birds Eye.
 
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To this day thr best cue I ever shot with is myy Varney SP... love everything about it..

I find that cues are alot like Bows. You have to shoot all types til you find the one that just feels right in your hand!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 
my personal game is fine with a cheaper cue if I have room on the table, but, when going to bar tables and working clusters, myself can't get the consistent repeated shots to work for me. I grab one of my old Schon or Joss or Erwin or Jacoby cues and can get the extra juice I need without forcing the cue. Bigger tables allow angle and speed to be much more of the game and I could probably fee my game could get by with one. Interesting post and continued good luck.
 
Playing with a new cue unlike what you are used to is foreign ground. Your brain is looking for feedback from that cue and that feedback is unfamiliar. Your brain becomes finer tuned to pick up every nuance that cue can give you. That's why your playing a notch better.

The late George Fels Had a little tweek he did to his brain when he felt his performance on the table had become substandard. He warmed up with the opposite hand shooting and even chalked his stick with the opposite hand.

I once gambled with a player that was a notch above me better. I usually lost but always had a respectable showing against him. One night I walk in without my cue and he's begging me for a game. I tell him I have no cue but he says I can use his so we play. An 11mm shaft at 16 oz. was quite different than what I was used to. The torture he endured by his own stick was very pleasing.
 
renard said:
Playing with a new cue unlike what you are used to is foreign ground. Your brain is looking for feedback from that cue and that feedback is unfamiliar. Your brain becomes finer tuned to pick up every nuance that cue can give you. That's why your playing a notch better.
Click to expand...

So....if I play with a different cue every time I go to the poolhall, I will play 2 balls better than I would if I used my main player every time??? :grin:

Maniac (gonna hafta buy more cues now, dang it!!!)
 
Small sample size to reach a conclusion but it is possible getting away from the low deflection stuff was the key to improvement.

I'm not trashing the low deflection technology because some great players use it but it isn't for everybody.
 
cajunbarboxplyr said:
To this day thr best cue I ever shot with is myy Varney SP... love everything about it..

I find that cues are alot like Bows. You have to shoot all types til you find the one that just feels right in your hand!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Absolutely true, IMO.

Some just feel right.

Pat Diveney's cues do it for me.
 
I know it seems bizarre but really it's not that uncommon. One of the best cues I have ever had, including the cues I personally build, was a $120 Mali. It was a spot on fit for me. Somebody else may have thought it was junk, but for me it was gold.
 
Maniac said:
So....if I play with a different cue every time I go to the poolhall, I will play 2 balls better than I would if I used my main player every time??? :grin:

Maniac (gonna hafta buy more cues now, dang it!!!)
Click to expand...

You must be old. dont you remember when you used to run faster in new shoes?

Dot bother replying. Go buy another cue.
 
Maniac said:
So....if I play with a different cue every time I go to the poolhall, I will play 2 balls better than I would if I used my main player every time??? :grin:

Maniac (gonna hafta buy more cues now, dang it!!!)
Click to expand...

While a bit funny, I'd say Yes, in some cases. Some of the best pool I played was with new equipment. I remember not long ago the first time I went into Amazin Billiards, they have new GC tables setup just right. I broke and ran the first two racks soon as I got on the table. That was probably the first time I played in days also.

Funny part is that I got some nice bids for me in the calcutta due to that performance from the guys I was warming up with :smile:
 
Sbrogdon said:
I drove to a nearby town today to have new tips installed on 2 of my shafts. I have a predator ikon 4 with a zshaft and an ob pro shaft. Since he was installing new tips on both of my shafts he loaned me a cue to play with while he done the work. The first shot I made with it I fell in love with it, the feel, the balance, the hit, overall everything about the cue. I was shooting just as good, if not even a bit better, than with my predator and low deflection shafts.

I looked down and didn't recognize the logo on the cue, and it being a merry widow style cue, its hard to tell what kind of cue it may be. It felt very good, had a nice quality feel to it, etc.

I went back in his office to inquire about the cue. He said he uses it as a backup cue. I asked if he wanted to sell it and come to find out its a 130.00 elite cue...lol...

I gave him 100.00 bucks for it and played another two hours with it playing great, I continued to play with it even after he brought back my shafts with the new tips.

Its funny how sometimes a tool can just feel right and call your name.

The sad part about this whole ordeal, I will probably sell off my 1000.00 dollars worth of predator and LD shafts and just keep this plain old inexpensive cue as my main shooter..
Click to expand...

I had a $40.00 retail Palmer that was magic. Everybody who hit with it wanted to buy it, just name a reasonable price. I felt the same way and the cue was not for sale. I turned down $200.00 for the cue from a guy who borrowed it and made a good score. This was a time when $200.00 got you a top of the line Joss. Unfortunately the cue got stolen.

When I read on here people say a player can play with anything and it is all in their minds it makes me laugh. They have never owned a magic cue. I have owned two. That Palmer and a Ginacue I had in the early 70's. I foolishly sold the Gina for a very good price. When I tried to buy it back it was no deal. It was a magic cue to him as well. Some cues are just like that I don't care what anyone says.
 
Maniac said:
So....if I play with a different cue every time I go to the poolhall, I will play 2 balls better than I would if I used my main player every time??? :grin:

Maniac (gonna hafta buy more cues now, dang it!!!)
Click to expand...

Great idea! Everybody needs to buy more cues.

Larry
 
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