The Emperor's New Clothes?

[DJSTEVEZ]

I was recently in a conversation with someone who was very passionate about the use of "Tip X" over "Tip Y". I have to be honest. I don't get it. I know I don't like very hard tips (too many miscues, requires way too frequent

maintenance). I don't like soft tips because they mushroom too easily. Other than that, I really can't tell one tip from the other. I've always liked Triangle tips. I'm happy with whatever it is that comes standard with Lucasi cues, I can

absolutely feel the difference between Simonis vs. regular cloth, and Centennial Balls vs. inferior quality pool balls.

I was wondering how many other folks out there can't really tell the difference(s) in same class cuel tips either. I don't even know what I should be looking for. I realize this may be due to lack of progress past my current

playing ability. If I was a player farther down the path, perhaps these nuances would be much more overt to me.


One other possibility that's dawned on me is that is that some of these nuances are more marketing created than reality based.

THOUGHTS?

 

[SARDiver]

I can certainly tell the difference in feel. I think the proper tip can make or break a cue.

My Mezz came with a Kamui soft, and although I liked the feel of the cue, the hit was lacking, and didn't measure up to expectations. I put a Triangle on it (which, according to the tip hardness chart, is about an 81 on a scale of 100). The cue feels much better to me. Much stiffer hit and better feedback.

I have a LePro on my Adam Bushka and really like it. It's about a 78 on the scale. I also like it.

The LePro requires an occasional scuff or tip picking, but that's it. I use good chalk (Masters at first, now Magic Chalk) and almost never miscue, even with extreme English applied.

 

[DJSTEVEZ]

I can certainly tell the difference in feel. I think the proper tip can make or break a cue.

My Mezz came with a Kamui soft, and although I liked the feel of the cue, the hit was lacking, and didn't measure up to expectations. I put a Triangle on it (which, according to the tip hardness chart, is about an 81 on a scale of 100. The cue feels much better to me. Much stiffer hit and better feedback.

I have a LePro on my Adam Bushka and really like it. It's about a 78 on the scale. I also like it.

The LePro requires an occasional scuff or tip picking, but that's it. I use good chalk (Masters at first, now Magic Chalk) and almost never miscue, even with extreme English applied.

I didn't know Triangle was one of the harder tips. I once tried a synthetic "guaranteed to never mushroom" tip and it was like playing with cement at the end of my ferrule. That's my reference point, I guess I do like harder tips, LOL. I like LePro's but I find they mushroom too easily, Maybe I've never had a tip that was not to my liking other than that synthetic one(?). That could be.

 

[TX Poolnut]

Give me a house cue and a tip shaper and I can play with just about any cue. Sometimes I bring a tip tool to league and nothing else. Everything else is already there.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Tip selection is as important as the weight of the cue.

Sure, you can play with cues with varying weights just
as much as you can try different brands of tips & hardness.

Have you figured out what you like or prefer yet? If you have
not, it's likely due to a lack of variety of cues you've tried and
that applies to tips. Once you find what you like the best, the
rest becomes simple and easy.

I definitely can appreciate the differences in tips having tried
so many over more than 5 decades of pool playing in different
locations across the nation where I've lived.

Original Moori Brown was the best and despite what you may
read or be told, the current Moori tips are nice but aren't as good,
I've settled upon Kamui Black Clear in soft hardness which is a
bit harder than you'd otherwise imagine. It doesn't glaze like the
Kamui Black did and the medium hardness in Black was too hard.
The Clear series is a much better tip than Kamui Black or Brown
tips. If you try them, go down in hardness from your current tip.


Matt B.

 

[Sealegs50]

If you like Triangles, then stick with them. They can be great tips. My only issue with them is that I tend to wear them out fairly quickly. The tips are inexpensive, but the labor for replacing them adds up. Consistency has been one of the major complaints about them. A cuemaker friend recently bought a box of Triangles where all the tips are good. Cornerman posted in the past year or so that he acquired a box of Le Pros where all the tips were useable. Perhaps Tweeten has improved their product consistency.

I have been trying a variety of hard and medium hard tips for the past 10 years. Mostly I can tell the differences between them initially after installation. After break-in, several of the tips become indistinguishable. A couple brands are so identical that I suspect they are sourced from the same manufacturer. All of the tips I tried have been pretty good. While I cannot point to specific performance issues, there are some that are not particularly inspiring and lead to shafts that sit in the case and get little play. A great tip can convert a closet queen shaft into a main player. I recently had a Zan Grip Hard installed on a shaft that I hadn’t used much in the past couple of years. I am playing with that shaft about half the time now.

So, I don’t think the differences are just marketing hype. But if they don’t mean anything to you, then play with the tips you like and be happy that you don’t need to experiment with other brands.