to cue makers in general
- Thread starter dannylee
- Start date
The way it hits
It better perform, but what constitutes 'good' changes from person to person. Some people like shafts that are stiff as a brick while others like something comparable to a rope. Some want a cue to hit like a cream puff while others want it to feel like breaking glass. You left out 'How it feels' and 'how it hits' in your query. 'Feel' constitutes balance and if the cue feels like it has any heavy spots. Again, some like to feel the weight of a steel joint, others don't. How it hits has been covered. How a cue plays is actually exclusive of the other characteristics. How it plays revolves around what kind of results you get from it, spin and deflection.
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Both, but in the end I am concerned with how much "work" the cue does. You can play well with ugly wood, but it is still ugly wood. I don't like ugly wood.
Bob Danielson
www.bdcuesandcomix.com
Bob Danielson
www.bdcuesandcomix.com
On lower end and mid range cues both are equally important in most cases. But when building cues that are some show pieces that most likely will not get played much then appearance is most important. Weight, balance and hit on a jewel inlaid Ivory handled cue is not the first thought. Although you try to make it play the best it can, but in all honesty you could drop the Ivory handle and make it play better. So in high end cues the look often overrides the hit in importance. Some may come on now and say they make all their cues play the same or that they can build the ivory handled, ebony cue to play just like their birdseye cue. But my opinion about those who make those claims is that they probably are not good enough pool players to be able to feel the differences in how those two types of cues really play, or they have not really tested them side by side. Most cuemakers sacrifice the hit a little to create a desired look. Will they admit it? Many won't. All the coring in the world will not make every forearm play the same. You can make very fancy cues play really good, so don't think I am saying the cues will play bad. It is just that certain looks and wood combinations will not play just like other wood and material combinations. It is not a good or bad hit issue. Think of it as more of a good, better and best type of hit thing. We may choose to build a good hitting cue instead of the best hitting cue to make it look a certain way.