Tips to stock

macguy

macguy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I am curious, given so many tips on the market today and you can't have them all as a repairman if you had to choose say 5, what would you, or do you stock?

The customer often asks your advice and doesn't really have a preference, especially just the casual player. What is the general tip you recommend to the average player who just wants a good tip?

Actually it is more then curiosity I need some advice.
 
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First of all, go ahead and stock the cheap single layer tips.
Triangle
LePro
Elk Master
Water Buffalo

Then stock some layered, I like Tiger's stuff, it's made in the US, and the quality is good.
Emerald (cheap)
Everest
Sniper
Onyx (spendy, but very nice)

Moori still has a pretty loyal following, might as well stock a few of those.
As for the rest, you can special order single tips if a customer can wait...

What do YOU like to play with? Try a few different tips, so that when a customer asks you what they should get, you can give them an informed opinion. ;)

I've been playing with Everests for years. Recently switched to the Onyx. I occasionally put a WB on, just for fun, and to check my stroke.
I usually start people off with the prices, then go from there. Cheap, I recommend a Triangle. Price no object? I recommend the Onyx.
 
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Talisman - medium and soft. Water buffalo medium and Hard.
Everest
Wizard
A couple of Snipers
Emerald
Moori
Kamui
Super Pro
Triangle
Le Pro
Elk Master
Duds
California
Adams - Shooter Pro
Phenolic
Porper synthetic

Couldn't stick with just 5. Some of these tips, I keep on hand for specific customers because thats what they use.
 
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Most of the players I talk to recently seem to come down to these:

Triangle, Moori, Kamui, Elk Master (pressed/milk dud type usually), various Tiger stuff.

There are so many tips out there now I dont even try to keep up with whats available. A guy could spend a fortune building a stock of them thats for sure. I'm sure a few informal surveys at local events would be the cheapest way to figure out what would be best for a particular area.


<----not a cuemaker but sees a lot of cues
 
I would suggest:
Waterbuffalo For break cues
Triangle For league players that don't want to spend too much
Talisman pro M For players that are ready to move up to layers tips
Moori M For players that demand and can afford the best
Elkmaster For snooker players or 8-Ball players that think softer is better
 
Mase said:
I would suggest:
Waterbuffalo For break cues
Triangle For league players that don't want to spend too much
Talisman pro M For players that are ready to move up to layers tips
Moori M For players that demand and can afford the best
Elkmaster For snooker players or 8-Ball players that think softer is better
Click to expand...

this is pretty good for your first stock pile of tips.

bill
 
1. triangle
2. LePro
3. elkmaster (i sell more of these than anything else to league players)
4. kamui
5. everest
 
If it was strictly only 5, almost the same as Mase said for me. I would substitute Kamui for the Elkmaster.

Talisman (very affordable for a more than decent layered tip)
Moori (still a good following like mentioned)
Kamui (getting more popular)

Triangle (good all around standard tip)
WB (as mentioned, very hard for J/B)

For people who want a soft tip, encourage them to try a layered soft tip.

Kelly
 
I stock
elk master, triangle, le pro
Moori, quick, medium and slow
a few asst Kamui
Samsara jump break
phenolic rod
G-10 rod
A few everest

I will also order in whatever the customer will pay for :)
 
Thats good to hear that more than a few guys are recommending the Talisman.
For the money, they are a great tip and I guarantee you that you won't get any complaints from your customers.

I mentioned the California. If you're interested, check EBay.
You can buy in groups of 10, 20 and 50. Under $50 for a box of 50.
They are a 5 layered tip. They play very nice and for the money, built well.
For the price, you can introduce someone to a layered tip for less and your profit margin can still be good. Your customers will appreciate it. They come from Taiwan and shipping is a few dollars. he sends air mail and you will get them fast.

I like the Wizards but with Talisman, you can skip those. I like those myself
and they are just an extra luxury for me once in a while. Altho the Wizards are a good tip, if you are pushing Talisman, then you don't need the extra expense.

I just added those because in reality, I am a tip Whore.
Also, you can't beat the price of Super Pro.
I mainly install those for an inexpensive break tip. Altho, if you invest in a tip press, the Triangle can be very useful for a break tip.
Kind of a dual purpose tip.
 
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Elkmaster
Lepro
Triangle
WB
Talisman
Everest
Moori
Kamui
are the ones i keep a good stock of, the other layered and phenolic tips i keep a few of each on hand just in case some one wants one.
 
I stock 70 different types of tips but I mainly install the following;

Triangle
LePro
Elkmaster
WB(Sumo around here)

Everest
Tiger Med
Emerald
Wizards
Super Pros(for breaking)
Moori
Kamui

Synthetics like
G-10
phenolics(black, brown)

I used to do a lot of Talisman but not as much anymore. A lot can be said for the region you are in as well. Some people have never heard of half the tips I have. When I show them the whole stock they go into overload. I always push Tiger products, when possible. They are good tips, American made, and I like Tony and the guys. Good people.
 
ratcues said:
I stock 70 different types of tips but I mainly install the following;

Triangle
LePro
Elkmaster
WB(Sumo around here)

Everest
Tiger Med
Emerald
Wizards
Super Pros(for breaking)
Moori
Kamui

Synthetics like
G-10
phenolics(black, brown)

I used to do a lot of Talisman but not as much anymore. A lot can be said for the region you are in as well. Some people have never heard of half the tips I have. When I show them the whole stock they go into overload. I always push Tiger products, when possible. They are good tips, American made, and I like Tony and the guys. Good people.
Click to expand...

this is a real good list if you want to stock heavy on your first order.

bill
 
I just wanted to check back to let you know I am reading your responces. There seems to be a consenses forming on some tips. I am surprised about the Elkmaster though. Do most use them as a basis for pressing such as "Milkduds" or right out of the box? They used to be only on house cues for the most part and were pretty soft.
 
I move a lot of:

Triangle
Le Pro
ElkMaster
Water Buffalo

Not Many Talisman unless I push them on people who are undecided on a tip
Flying Pig tips Don't seem to move
Blue Elf Tips Dont seem to move
The Emeralds get a lot of interest until people see that they are green
Dynamites move but a lot of people don't like them afterwords - Too Hard
Tiger laminated go slow
Tiger Snipers Go somewhat slow
Kamui's go fast- Black Mediums are the #1 seller out of everything
Mooris barely move for me, I havent put one on in a good while.
Samsara break tips move when people get to try them out.
White Diamonds are pretty popular. Install them correctly Or Else.
 
I bought a box of Hercules many moons ago.
Had problems with every one I installed from going accordion to delaminating.
I tossed the rest, not worth the aggravation. The only thing worth keeping was the box.
 
> Until I went out and worked my first tournament,I had NEVER installed a layered tip for a paying customer,because in over 15 years of installing tips for people,no one locally had EVER been willing to pay the price.

I bought 5 of the original,handmade Moori from Joe Gold in 1994,at 25.00 each. NO takers at 35.00 installed with my standard shaft cleaning. I wound up using all of them myself,lol.

The one I installed at the tournament was a medium Kamui Black,at 35.00 with the cleaning.

Before this tournament,I stocked up on Kamui Black,Snipers,Tiger Onyx,and Moori M and H.

Oddly enough,I had a customer bring me 2 shafts that he wanted the Kamui's CUT OFF and replaced with a pressed Le Pro :confused:.

I still have the layered tips I ordered,but doubt anyone asks for them until I work my next tournament.

All I stock for local business are Le Pro,Triangle,and Elk Master. I press ALL of them before gluing,and can make Le Pro's and Triangles as hard as someone wants.

The ones I'm looking for right now are for my own use,these being the good old red Sumos. I haven't had as good of results off the regular WB for whatever reason.

I do however have some of the one piece and layered Madman tips on hand. Tommy D.
 
Destroyer125 said:
I move a lot of:

Triangle
Le Pro
ElkMaster
Water Buffalo

Not Many Talisman unless I push them on people who are undecided on a tip
Flying Pig tips Don't seem to move
Blue Elf Tips Dont seem to move
The Emeralds get a lot of interest until people see that they are green
Dynamites move but a lot of people don't like them afterwords - Too Hard
Tiger laminated go slow
Tiger Snipers Go somewhat slow
Kamui's go fast- Black Mediums are the #1 seller out of everything
Mooris barely move for me, I havent put one on in a good while.
Samsara break tips move when people get to try them out.
White Diamonds are pretty popular. Install them correctly Or Else.
Click to expand...

Have Talisman tips improved there quality as far as delaminating? I've probably put on at least 2000 of them in the past as I thought the Pro hard was the best tip that I ever played with and put them on the cues that I built plus pushed them in the shop but the delaminating got so bad that I started telling everyone to quit using them. Last year I read somewhere that Tony said that he was using a different type of glue but I've put on so few since then that I don't know if they've improved or not.

Dick
 
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