Adams - Soft hit
Adams (Musashi Series) - Never owned one
Ariel Carmeli - NOO
Arthur (Marcus Dienst) - NOO
Andy Gilbert - Solid with a little softer hit than a SW
Barry Szamboti - Very solid hit. Not stiff. Great ping and nice feedback to the hands
Bebot Bautista - NOO
Bill McDaniel - One of my favorite playing cues. Leans toward Szam hit at an affordable price
Bill Schick - A softer hitting cue
Black Boar (Tony Scianella) - Owned a couple. Stiff hits on both. Not SW stiff, just a little stiffer than a Scruggs
Blackcreek (Travis Niklich) - Very good playing cue. Midway between soft and firm. Excellent balance
Bluegrass (Richard Harris) - Owned several. As close to SW hit as anything other than a SW...and a little cheaper
Bob Runde - Soft hit. Can't beat the feel of old Runde Schons.
Chris Nitti - Not a bad hit, but didn't work for me
Cory Banhart - NOO
Cognescenti - Lots of people love the hit, but I'm not a fan of G-10 pins
Darrin Hill - NOO
Dave Jacoby - Soft hit similar to a Schon
Ed Prewitt - Very crisp hit. I sold a fancy sneaky and regretted it for years
George Balabushka - When the glue is good, the hit is one of the most solid out there. If the glue is bad and starting to deteriorate, a little less than stellar
Gina - Softer hit, nice balance and sound
Guz Szamboti - Heavy hit with a great feel to the hands. As solid as a cue comes and a little tough to explain the feel you get. If you let your cue do the work, Gus' will do just that
Jack Madden - Solid players with a medium hit
James White - Only owned one, but it played nicely. A little stiff, if I remember right
Jeff Olney - SW like hit. Stiff and firm. Great deal for the bucks
Jerry Olivier - NOO
Jerry Mcworter - NOO
Jim Pierce - NOO
Joel Hercek - NOO
Jerry Pechauer - Solid bar cues that hit kind of like Mc Dermotts
Josswest (Bill Stroud) - One of my favorite playing cues. Firm playing cues with a little life to them. Seem to be very consistent in several that I've owned
Keith Josey - Medium firmness with a little weight forward feeling
Leon Sly - Reminded me of a Scruggs hit, sweet and lively
Mezz Cue stocked w WD700 shaft (This acts as a stiffness guide. I've known WD700 to be one of the stiffer production shafts so far) - NOO
Mike Bender - Stiff and consistent from cue to cue
Mike Capone - Reminiscent of the Josey hit. Good old radial pin on the ones I've had
Mike Gulyassy - Great break cues, maybe the best breakers on the market! Never have tried any of his playing cues
Mike Stacey - Very stiff, I love his workmanship, but don't care for the hit
Omega - Owned a sneaky. Very stiff and plenty of feedback to the hands.
Paul Dayton - Medium firmness
Paul F. Drexler - NOO
Paul Mottey - NOO
Pat Diveney - I don't care for his G-10 pin. It makes the cues too whippy IMO
Pete Tascarella - Great work with obvious Bushka influence
Phillippi - Nice cues with a soft to medium hit
Predator stocked with 314-2 shaft (this acts as a stiffness guide since i believe most people played with a 314-2 shaft before) - Not a big fan of LD shafted cues, but I think the Predators are the best of their breed
Richard Black - Had a few. These can be all over the board. Some of the best playing cues and worst playing cues from the same guy
Rc3 (Rick Chudy) - I had a cue that was marked as a Chudy. It played real strong, actually. I had it on Ebay and Rick emailed me and said it was a fake, so I guess I've never owned one to test.
Russ Espiritus - Don't like Espiritu hit at all. I've owned several and they remind me of hitting with a glass rod
Ron Haley - NOO
Steve Klapp - NOO
Steve Klein - My personal playing cue is a Klein. It hits just like a Bushka IMO!
Steve Lomax - NOO
Southwest (Jerry Franklin) - I think SW hit is the milestone that all other stiff hitting cues are gauged by. Consistent hit on every one I've owned...
Southwest (Laurie Franklin) - No difference than above IMO
TAD (Tad Kohara) - Nice hitting old cues. Solid, but with a softer hit
Tim Scruggs - Very lively hit that doesn't feel at all whippy
Verl Horn - NOO
These are my opinions, which I know people will have issues with. I almost always have the same type and hardness of tip put on as soon as I receive a cue, so we can take the tip out of the equation. I also buy cues that are similar in weight and shaft diameter. My ferrules are all over the board and I have used different joints, which obviously are going to make a difference.
I haven't owned nearly as many cues as some on this forum, but have had the ones I've critiqued (with the exception of Balabushka, but I have played with enough old Bushkas to give an opinion. I also own a real Bushka shaft that fits on my Bushka Tribute Klein, too). There is a lot of subjectivity in evaluating cues and a lot of a hit is simply how it feels and reacts to the player that's using it. These are my opinions, nothing more and nothing less...
Steve
Adams (Musashi Series) - Never owned one
Ariel Carmeli - NOO
Arthur (Marcus Dienst) - NOO
Andy Gilbert - Solid with a little softer hit than a SW
Barry Szamboti - Very solid hit. Not stiff. Great ping and nice feedback to the hands
Bebot Bautista - NOO
Bill McDaniel - One of my favorite playing cues. Leans toward Szam hit at an affordable price
Bill Schick - A softer hitting cue
Black Boar (Tony Scianella) - Owned a couple. Stiff hits on both. Not SW stiff, just a little stiffer than a Scruggs
Blackcreek (Travis Niklich) - Very good playing cue. Midway between soft and firm. Excellent balance
Bluegrass (Richard Harris) - Owned several. As close to SW hit as anything other than a SW...and a little cheaper
Bob Runde - Soft hit. Can't beat the feel of old Runde Schons.
Chris Nitti - Not a bad hit, but didn't work for me
Cory Banhart - NOO
Cognescenti - Lots of people love the hit, but I'm not a fan of G-10 pins
Darrin Hill - NOO
Dave Jacoby - Soft hit similar to a Schon
Ed Prewitt - Very crisp hit. I sold a fancy sneaky and regretted it for years
George Balabushka - When the glue is good, the hit is one of the most solid out there. If the glue is bad and starting to deteriorate, a little less than stellar
Gina - Softer hit, nice balance and sound
Guz Szamboti - Heavy hit with a great feel to the hands. As solid as a cue comes and a little tough to explain the feel you get. If you let your cue do the work, Gus' will do just that
Jack Madden - Solid players with a medium hit
James White - Only owned one, but it played nicely. A little stiff, if I remember right
Jeff Olney - SW like hit. Stiff and firm. Great deal for the bucks
Jerry Olivier - NOO
Jerry Mcworter - NOO
Jim Pierce - NOO
Joel Hercek - NOO
Jerry Pechauer - Solid bar cues that hit kind of like Mc Dermotts
Josswest (Bill Stroud) - One of my favorite playing cues. Firm playing cues with a little life to them. Seem to be very consistent in several that I've owned
Keith Josey - Medium firmness with a little weight forward feeling
Leon Sly - Reminded me of a Scruggs hit, sweet and lively
Mezz Cue stocked w WD700 shaft (This acts as a stiffness guide. I've known WD700 to be one of the stiffer production shafts so far) - NOO
Mike Bender - Stiff and consistent from cue to cue
Mike Capone - Reminiscent of the Josey hit. Good old radial pin on the ones I've had
Mike Gulyassy - Great break cues, maybe the best breakers on the market! Never have tried any of his playing cues
Mike Stacey - Very stiff, I love his workmanship, but don't care for the hit
Omega - Owned a sneaky. Very stiff and plenty of feedback to the hands.
Paul Dayton - Medium firmness
Paul F. Drexler - NOO
Paul Mottey - NOO
Pat Diveney - I don't care for his G-10 pin. It makes the cues too whippy IMO
Pete Tascarella - Great work with obvious Bushka influence
Phillippi - Nice cues with a soft to medium hit
Predator stocked with 314-2 shaft (this acts as a stiffness guide since i believe most people played with a 314-2 shaft before) - Not a big fan of LD shafted cues, but I think the Predators are the best of their breed
Richard Black - Had a few. These can be all over the board. Some of the best playing cues and worst playing cues from the same guy
Rc3 (Rick Chudy) - I had a cue that was marked as a Chudy. It played real strong, actually. I had it on Ebay and Rick emailed me and said it was a fake, so I guess I've never owned one to test.
Russ Espiritus - Don't like Espiritu hit at all. I've owned several and they remind me of hitting with a glass rod
Ron Haley - NOO
Steve Klapp - NOO
Steve Klein - My personal playing cue is a Klein. It hits just like a Bushka IMO!
Steve Lomax - NOO
Southwest (Jerry Franklin) - I think SW hit is the milestone that all other stiff hitting cues are gauged by. Consistent hit on every one I've owned...
Southwest (Laurie Franklin) - No difference than above IMO
TAD (Tad Kohara) - Nice hitting old cues. Solid, but with a softer hit
Tim Scruggs - Very lively hit that doesn't feel at all whippy
Verl Horn - NOO
These are my opinions, which I know people will have issues with. I almost always have the same type and hardness of tip put on as soon as I receive a cue, so we can take the tip out of the equation. I also buy cues that are similar in weight and shaft diameter. My ferrules are all over the board and I have used different joints, which obviously are going to make a difference.
I haven't owned nearly as many cues as some on this forum, but have had the ones I've critiqued (with the exception of Balabushka, but I have played with enough old Bushkas to give an opinion. I also own a real Bushka shaft that fits on my Bushka Tribute Klein, too). There is a lot of subjectivity in evaluating cues and a lot of a hit is simply how it feels and reacts to the player that's using it. These are my opinions, nothing more and nothing less...
Steve
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