South West vs. Bluegrass

Hal

Hal

Daaang!
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I've heard some people say these two cues play very similar. I've also heard some people say they play completely different.

My personal opinion is that they play similar. I switch between the two regularly. The only noticeable difference is the weight and feel of the shaft.

The SW has curly maple shafts which I like very much. I will also add that the SW feels just a bit more stiff.

So actually I guess you can say that there is a little difference due to the SW stiffness. I'm curious to hear other opinions.
 
The BG taper (butt taper, not shaft taper) is similar to the way SW's use to be back in the early days. His shafts are stiffer, too.

The one thing I remember about the Blue Grass cue I owned was that it had, BAR NONE, the smoothest shafts of ANY cue I have ever owned. I mean they were like glass.

I talked to Richard about this, and he mentioned that it was due to putting SEVERAL coats of carnuba wax on the cue and spinning/polishing it on the lathe. It takes a few days to do this, but if you have ever had the pleasure of feeling one of his shafts, it is time well spent.

Hands down the best shaft finish in the business.
 
he last BG i had had an 8" pro taper on it and was not a good player,imo.i have had several over the years,but never mic'ed one except this one.i had a fancy one years ago that i rmember playing very well.if they are 8" pro taper standard then they couldn't be as stiff as the SW standard taper,buti might have had one someone had tapered.it was 13mm though.

you are right about the shafts.i have had probably over 100 different cues by unique makers and no one has better feeling shafts out of the box.
 
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Yeah the shafts feel excellent. I showed someone the Bluegrass a while back in a pool room and the first words out of his mouth were, "Man that shaft feels good".
 
The Bluegrass 'Standard' taper is every much the same as the SW 'Standard' taper...they has the same stiffness and hit. The Pro tapers changes everything.
I 'personally' more conmfortable with the SW. I just prefer the balance and feel of a SW. JMO.
 
I Have had both. I'm in the Bluegrass camp. You will NEVER figure out which is best for you by getting other people's opinions. Both of these cues are absolutly first rate ,and play that way. You will have to hit both to decide for yourself. IMHO
thanks-jeff
 
I never played with a SW, but i use a BG as a daily player. I love the way how it plays and 2 days ago i had just put a new Kamui tip on it at my local cue maker, Arthur cues by the way, and they cleaned my shaft and you guys are f....... right, Richards shafts are way down the smoothest i ever played with, they are feeling like glass sliding through your fingers.
David.
 
gmcole said:
I Have had both. I'm in the Bluegrass camp. You will NEVER figure out which is best for you by getting other people's opinions. Both of these cues are absolutly first rate ,and play that way. You will have to hit both to decide for yourself. IMHO
thanks-jeff
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I own both.... one Franklin era SW and 1 or 5 BGs. My SW is one of main reason I got into this cue hobby thing. I actually like the design of BG cues and it's much easier and cheaper to find a "fancy" BG than SW.
 
I have owned both and my opinion is that BG cues are more consistent, giving a nice stiff, crisp hit. I have played with about 9 SW cues and all of them hit differently from stiff to soft. In fact, one of them is owned by a friend of mine in league and it is the softest hitting cue I have ever experienced. Now, this may be related to the tip, but that cue hits very, very softly. Only one man's experience.
 
i have had the same experience as DJkeys on findind some to hit soft and some to hit hard.i had a '94 that was one of the hardets hitting cues i ever owned and an '05 that was one of the softest.however they did play the same.

i like the playability of SW better than BG,and i must not have ever gotten one of the stiff tapered BG's b/c the 4 i have owned were all weaker tapered than a standard SW taper.
 
personally i tried both cues belonging to a buddy of mine and the bluegrass hit much more stiff then the sw. the sw hit kinda soft.and slightly whippy but both the cues have one thing in common, they hit solid.
just my 2cents
 
Agree

gmcole said:
I Have had both. I'm in the Bluegrass camp. You will NEVER figure out which is best for you by getting other people's opinions. Both of these cues are absolutly first rate ,and play that way. You will have to hit both to decide for yourself. IMHO
thanks-jeff
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Very well said, both are great cues. I own a Southwest and love the way it plays. Richard Harris makes a fine cue, and both are highly sought after in the secondary market.
 
Since I made the original post I now lean slightly towards my Bluegrass. I think it's because the SW shafts are so full. Maybe it's the taper. I don't really have an answer as to why.

Anyway the Bluegrass is now my regular player.
 
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