Shout out to Wigglybridge
- Thread starter Dan White
- Start date
Hey Dan, thank you so much for checking in!
life indeed got in the way all this spring, in the form of a crazy work schedule and at the same time facing a deadline to get out of my condo; fortunately -- and at the last possible instant -- the whole thing had a story book ending when i found and bought a house and moved on an impossible timeline (while doing my biggest sound job of the year).
during all that, i did manage to shoot a reasonably non-fussy 51 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojrdSDKxBq0), despite not being able to play enough, so yes, i feel like i'm in good position to start putting up some serious numbers.
the status right now is that i'm exhausted and still in moving limbo to some extent, but the end is in sight. my GC is moved and recovered, but Jay Spielberg, who's doing it, discovered a real horror show when he took the old cloth off the rails; i was there when he did it, and even i could see what a nightmare it was: cushions had been inaccurately reglued several times, and the final time with superglue [!] making it impossible to remove them without tearing up the rail wood.
the bright side of that is that it forced the decision to do it the right way: Jay took the rails back to his shop and practically rebuilt them. in the process, he's extended them, so Steve Matthieu (sparkle84 here) will be happy: the pockets have been tightend to about 4.75", with new Diamond rubber and facings. the pocket openings have been recut in the process to a more standard profile; Jay pointed out that even though the old pockets were buckets, they were part way to being snooker pockets between the opening angles and the way the facings were undersized, which made them convex. maybe explains why the few times i've played on Diamonds i've thought "yeah, they're tight alright, but if you hit the ball in, it Goes in".
i should get the rails back tomorrow, and excited doesn't begin to describe it for me. i've got about one more week of moving-related stuff to horse through, and then my time should be freed up a bit. oh, and the new room is 20x16!!! no more short stick off the rails!!!
life indeed got in the way all this spring, in the form of a crazy work schedule and at the same time facing a deadline to get out of my condo; fortunately -- and at the last possible instant -- the whole thing had a story book ending when i found and bought a house and moved on an impossible timeline (while doing my biggest sound job of the year).
during all that, i did manage to shoot a reasonably non-fussy 51 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojrdSDKxBq0), despite not being able to play enough, so yes, i feel like i'm in good position to start putting up some serious numbers.
the status right now is that i'm exhausted and still in moving limbo to some extent, but the end is in sight. my GC is moved and recovered, but Jay Spielberg, who's doing it, discovered a real horror show when he took the old cloth off the rails; i was there when he did it, and even i could see what a nightmare it was: cushions had been inaccurately reglued several times, and the final time with superglue [!] making it impossible to remove them without tearing up the rail wood.
the bright side of that is that it forced the decision to do it the right way: Jay took the rails back to his shop and practically rebuilt them. in the process, he's extended them, so Steve Matthieu (sparkle84 here) will be happy: the pockets have been tightend to about 4.75", with new Diamond rubber and facings. the pocket openings have been recut in the process to a more standard profile; Jay pointed out that even though the old pockets were buckets, they were part way to being snooker pockets between the opening angles and the way the facings were undersized, which made them convex. maybe explains why the few times i've played on Diamonds i've thought "yeah, they're tight alright, but if you hit the ball in, it Goes in".
i should get the rails back tomorrow, and excited doesn't begin to describe it for me. i've got about one more week of moving-related stuff to horse through, and then my time should be freed up a bit. oh, and the new room is 20x16!!! no more short stick off the rails!!!
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yes, we were supposed to be aiming for 4.75. this is pretty brutal; finally got to play for 45 minutes tonight, managed to run 12 twice. [!] some of that had to do with the table speed (new cushions + 860hr = crazy fast), but i was definitely leaving the table on misses rather than snookering myself, which was rare with the old pockets. otoh, it Was the first time i've played in more than 10 days (not counting a little 8-ball on a friend's bar box with an unfamiliar cue) so i was not exactly up to par.
pondering what to do; i Do feel that it's making me really focus, and that's gotta be good for the long run, and it will make any table i ever play on anywhere after this feel like a walk in the park, for sure. but it's pretty frustrating right now.
pondering what to do; i Do feel that it's making me really focus, and that's gotta be good for the long run, and it will make any table i ever play on anywhere after this feel like a walk in the park, for sure. but it's pretty frustrating right now.
Give it time Bob !!! The numbers will come.
This will put more importance on good position !!! Tighter pockets are not conducive of large numbers, but the will hone in your pocketting skills.
Wish I were closer, would love to come spar with you
-Steve
This will put more importance on good position !!! Tighter pockets are not conducive of large numbers, but the will hone in your pocketting skills.
Wish I were closer, would love to come spar with you
-Steve
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thanks, Steve!
Jay texted me this morning (the man is all about customer service) to ask how it was. i sent him the pic and he right away said he'd come and adjust it. now scheduled for sometime in the week of the 22nd-26th, so i've got time to live with it and think it over.
i hear ya loud and clear on position! this makes it blindingly obvious how important it is to make sure Every shot is a dunk.
pretty sure i will have him loosen it up, it's just not realistic for 14.1. a 100 on this would be like a 300 on a normal table, it makes a Diamond with 4.5's look sloppy. right now, i'm betting that in the ~2 weeks i've got with it like this that i don't run 2 racks.
Jay texted me this morning (the man is all about customer service) to ask how it was. i sent him the pic and he right away said he'd come and adjust it. now scheduled for sometime in the week of the 22nd-26th, so i've got time to live with it and think it over.
i hear ya loud and clear on position! this makes it blindingly obvious how important it is to make sure Every shot is a dunk.
pretty sure i will have him loosen it up, it's just not realistic for 14.1. a 100 on this would be like a 300 on a normal table, it makes a Diamond with 4.5's look sloppy. right now, i'm betting that in the ~2 weeks i've got with it like this that i don't run 2 racks.
huh. so much for That bet. here's a 32 right away this morning on the Impossitable.
http://youtu.be/2cDF6fK22bE
guess i don't suck irremediably.
imagine what it could have been without the poorly-executed shots and even worse shot choices at the end?
http://youtu.be/2cDF6fK22bE
guess i don't suck irremediably.
imagine what it could have been without the poorly-executed shots and even worse shot choices at the end?
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Dan, the situation was more complicated than he expected from the outset, and so it wound up being stretched over a week and multiple long-distance trips.
Jay showed up with 2 helpers -- Joshua and Austin -- and we initially thought that should be adequate to get the move and re-assemble done in one day. however, as soon as he cut the cloth off the rails, it was clear that the cushions were a disaster. in addition, because they had been superglued to the rails, a lot of wood came away in removing the rubber to replace it with new. added on top of all that, i did want the pockets closed up a bit.
all of that rail work took a few days in Jay's shop, and when it came time to schedule driving the rails back out from eastern NH to western Mass, Josh & Austin did that. everyone thought that would be fine: just pop the rails on and we're good. only at the end did i see the tightness, and Jay at that point was on another install elsewhere, and it was the end of the day on Friday, and both the guys And i were ready to do something else.
i'm still quite happy with the service (and followup support with "customer is right" attitude) that i've gotten. i feel the tight pockets have already firmed up my shot making in just a few hours, and am half-tempted to leave things as is. but that would probably ensure that i never reach higher numbers (although i've clearly been wrong on that count already, and in some ways they make me Really focus and bear down on every shot and play tighter position).
Jay has offered to take 2 hours (on his dime) while on another install out this way to make the pockets how i want them, his base offer being to open them up another 1/2" from the current 4 3/8. another possibility would be just to replace the Diamond facings on there now with Brunswick facings, which would pick up 1/8" on each pocket. to be honest, i'm finding that pretty attractive, because it would get me pretty close to the Diamond 4.5" tournament setup that's becoming more common all the time.
i've got 2 weeks to think about this and play on it as is, and i value any wisdom from the group on what the best course would be.
Jay showed up with 2 helpers -- Joshua and Austin -- and we initially thought that should be adequate to get the move and re-assemble done in one day. however, as soon as he cut the cloth off the rails, it was clear that the cushions were a disaster. in addition, because they had been superglued to the rails, a lot of wood came away in removing the rubber to replace it with new. added on top of all that, i did want the pockets closed up a bit.
all of that rail work took a few days in Jay's shop, and when it came time to schedule driving the rails back out from eastern NH to western Mass, Josh & Austin did that. everyone thought that would be fine: just pop the rails on and we're good. only at the end did i see the tightness, and Jay at that point was on another install elsewhere, and it was the end of the day on Friday, and both the guys And i were ready to do something else.
i'm still quite happy with the service (and followup support with "customer is right" attitude) that i've gotten. i feel the tight pockets have already firmed up my shot making in just a few hours, and am half-tempted to leave things as is. but that would probably ensure that i never reach higher numbers (although i've clearly been wrong on that count already, and in some ways they make me Really focus and bear down on every shot and play tighter position).
Jay has offered to take 2 hours (on his dime) while on another install out this way to make the pockets how i want them, his base offer being to open them up another 1/2" from the current 4 3/8. another possibility would be just to replace the Diamond facings on there now with Brunswick facings, which would pick up 1/8" on each pocket. to be honest, i'm finding that pretty attractive, because it would get me pretty close to the Diamond 4.5" tournament setup that's becoming more common all the time.
i've got 2 weeks to think about this and play on it as is, and i value any wisdom from the group on what the best course would be.
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If you've got a cooperative mechanic who actually shows up for the job then you're way ahead of the game!
I had a Brunswick GC5 put in last year (no, didn't pay sticker price, or anywhere near it, fwiw). I had the option of using the factory made pro cut rails, which came with a 4 1/2" opening, or my installer would mount the cushions in his shop with the "normal"rails, and a slightly thicker facing. So that pocket opening would be 4 13/16, or 1/16 over 4 3/4". I thought about which one I should pick and for me it came down to this: I wanted an opening that would keep me honest, but that wouldn't change the nature of straight pool. For me, 4.5" pockets were invented to make 9 ball more challenging, not to improve on straight pool. I took the larger pockets because I saw it as a good compromise. They are smaller than my old table, so I have to pay attention, but still allow some pocket cheating as needed for more shot options.
Of course the opening is only one variable. If you hit a ball very softly on my table, the pockets play very loose and you can slop in a ball. If you hit it "normal" speed and it hits the facing it will probably go in. If you hit it any harder and don't get it deep into the pocket, it'll never go in.
I don't think you should feel like less of a man if you choose the wider pockets.
You wouldn't play 1 pocket with 5" pockets, you wouldn't play 9 ball with 5" pockets, and you wouldn't play straight pool with 4 3/8" pockets.
Go with the wider pockets. When you are so good that running 200's is no fun any more, then have Jay come back and tighten it up!
I had a Brunswick GC5 put in last year (no, didn't pay sticker price, or anywhere near it, fwiw). I had the option of using the factory made pro cut rails, which came with a 4 1/2" opening, or my installer would mount the cushions in his shop with the "normal"rails, and a slightly thicker facing. So that pocket opening would be 4 13/16, or 1/16 over 4 3/4". I thought about which one I should pick and for me it came down to this: I wanted an opening that would keep me honest, but that wouldn't change the nature of straight pool. For me, 4.5" pockets were invented to make 9 ball more challenging, not to improve on straight pool. I took the larger pockets because I saw it as a good compromise. They are smaller than my old table, so I have to pay attention, but still allow some pocket cheating as needed for more shot options.
Of course the opening is only one variable. If you hit a ball very softly on my table, the pockets play very loose and you can slop in a ball. If you hit it "normal" speed and it hits the facing it will probably go in. If you hit it any harder and don't get it deep into the pocket, it'll never go in.
I don't think you should feel like less of a man if you choose the wider pockets.
You wouldn't play 1 pocket with 5" pockets, you wouldn't play 9 ball with 5" pockets, and you wouldn't play straight pool with 4 3/8" pockets.Go with the wider pockets. When you are so good that running 200's is no fun any more, then have Jay come back and tighten it up!