Two eras ago, the pros, which tip did they use?

Ok most of people telling just brand of tips in general that are in the past.

But anyone who lived or played with these guys remember exactly what they advocate for tips, for example. Any of you know exactly the tip of choice for Mosconi or Luther?


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asbani said:
Ok most of people telling just brand of tips in general that are in the past.

But anyone who lived or played with these guys remember exactly what they advocate for tips, for example. Any of you know exactly the tip of choice for Mosconi or Luther?


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Why is "exactly" so important? That was YEARS ago. There were very few tips on market back then. LePro, Champion, Triangle, Elk Master was about it. They used one of them. What difference does it make? You always ask "exactly" what shaft Busti used, exactly what Meucci Earl used, exactly what tip Mosconi used. Curious as to why EXACTLY this is so important. If you had EXACTLY the same equipment as they did you won't ever play like them.
 
garczar said:
Why is "exactly" so important? That was YEARS ago. There were very few tips on market back then. LePro, Champion, Triangle, Elk Master was about it. They used one of them. What difference does it make? You always ask "exactly" what shaft Busti used, exactly what Meucci Earl used, exactly what tip Mosconi used. Curious as to why EXACTLY this is so important. If you had EXACTLY the same equipment as they did you won't ever play like them.
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I didn't say that I am going to use what they used, I'm just interested in specific information in regards to equipment, I don't know, I just want to know.

Oh and my job is not playing billiards, if this is my job then I would be playing like them trust me, this is just a hobby to me, as it is for you.

We human beings excel at the jobs that we do, if any of us played billiards for a living, trust me you'd be playing just like these pro's, at least close to their speeds.
 
garczar said:
Why is "exactly" so important? That was YEARS ago. There were very few tips on market back then. LePro, Champion, Triangle, Elk Master was about it. They used one of them. What difference does it make? You always ask "exactly" what shaft Busti used, exactly what Meucci Earl used, exactly what tip Mosconi used. Curious as to why EXACTLY this is so important. If you had EXACTLY the same equipment as they did you won't ever play like them.
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There were also Brunswick 'Blue Ribbon' tips. Who knows, maybe Mosconi used a Brunswick tip.

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asbani said:
they seem to be very confident in their game, even though they had lesser level equipment,
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To the people of the time there was not "lesser equipment". To someone living then it was just "equipment", so they were playing on the same thing everyone else knew about. Standard for the era, and I'm sure they used the best quality for the era.
 
asbani said:
I didn't say that I am going to use what they used, I'm just interested in specific information in regards to equipment, I don't know, I just want to know.

Oh and my job is not playing billiards, if this is my job then I would be playing like them trust me, this is just a hobby to me, as it is for you.

We human beings excel at the jobs that we do, if any of us played billiards for a living, trust me you'd be playing just like these pro's, at least close to their speeds.
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I'm just jackin' with ya. Those old master builders only had a few tips to choose from back then. They were just tanned water buffalo. Depending on the tanning process and how they were pressed is how you got the various hardness levels.
 
maha said:
tips are no better now than back when those guys played. if anything layered tips are worse. and the grade of tips is much more inconsistent.
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I agree 100%! You look at videos of greats like Greenleaf and Hoppe and they worked magic with those tips just like the greats of today. It’s not just tips either, I think materials in general were better then than now. Give me an old ivory ferrule and a Triangle tip and I’m happy.


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Lawnboy77 said:
I agree 100%! You look at videos of greats like Greenleaf and Hoppe and they worked magic with those tips just like the greats of today. It’s not just tips either, I think materials in general were better then than now. Give me an old ivory ferrule and a Triangle tip and I’m happy.


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Totally disagree as to layered tips. They are far more consistent. Buy a box of LePro's and see how many are worth keeping. The ONLY complaint i've had is that some layered tips glaze kinda quick but a quick scuff cures that. Been using pretty much nothing but Ultraskins since they came out and haven't had a bad one yet. Triangles do play pretty good but they don't last very long, at least mine haven't. Don't even mention Elks. My buddy used to call them "two week tips". O'Sullivan once changed his Elks over 15 times in one snooker tournament.
 
They didnt have tips then... they would chew gum before the match and stick it on the top...

They would also walk to the poolhall in the snow...without shoes... uphill... both ways...
 
I started playing pool in 1961 in a hot bed of rooms in the N.J./N.Y. area.
I dont remember anyone ever talking about tips.
 
IMO it was Moori who let the cat out of the bag. Once people saw that there was a better way to make tips the layered revolution was on. With layered tips a player can choose from ultra soft to rock hard and everything in between. If i was to play solid leather again it would most likely be a Triangle but i don't ever see that happening.
 
I started playing in 63' and there were only about three makers of tips. They were Le Pro, Triangle and a Brunswick brand which I can't remember now. We did everything we could to stop the mushrooming including soaking them in beer, milk or soda water. If you got a good box of Le Pro's it was like finding gold. I spent many a day sanding down my tips with a nail file after using Elmers glue on the tip for at least 24 hours. I think that's why early cuemakers began making two shafts with their cues so that you always had a playing cue. Those tools to apply tips were common place for players. Very few rooms had lathes and in some cities one room did all the tips for the other rooms. We made it work. There were great players then as now. Way too much emphasis is placed on tips these days and not enough on fundamental skills of players.
 
From the early 70’s I remember Champion, Le Pro, and probably Elk Master.

I always like the Champions with the red fiber backing, though often the tip would pop off the backing. The Le Pros were hard as rocks and of course the EM relatively soft. I always found that within a box of Champions only like maybe a third of the tips were to my liking. What I’d do is scratch the surface of the tips with my fingernail. If the grain came up, kind of like suede, those were the ones for me.

Lou Figueroa
 
lfigueroa said:
From the early 70’s I remember Champion, Le Pro, and probably Elk Master.

I always like the Champions with the red fiber backing, though often the tip would pop off the backing. The Le Pros were hard as rocks and of course the EM relatively soft. I always found that within a box of Champions only like maybe a third of the tips were to my liking. What I’d do is scratch the surface of the tips with my fingernail. If the grain came up, kind of like suede, those were the ones for me.

Lou Figueroa
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the reason the tips would pop off the red backing was who ever installed it cut too fast.
the resulting heat weakened the glue between the red backing and the tip.
years ago i did many tips in a pool room with a lath in the back room and always slowed down cutting a champion tip.
 
most players didnt know how to burnish a tip so they mushroomed.
the french tip or the water buffalo tip held up the best and was fairly hard.
chalk was better then as well.
after an hour or so any tip with some shaping was just fine.
those that agonize over equipment usually are the weaker players in the field.
 
In the 60's and 70's in northern va, most players used champion tips with the fiber backing. The tips were medium - hard or hard. Most ferrules were ivory and the fiber helped not cracking the ivory. I used them until the 90's when Bob Frey started using triangle tips on his cues. Lassiter used champion tips in the 70's. At Beenies, we had a guy called " Alibi Al " who did tips for most players. Al did 1 for me and then Lassiter had 1 put on. Mosconi said he always used a ' composite tip ' which I thought was ElkMaster.
Still got a box of the original champions from the 70's , but they have become very-very hard ! Put 1 on my old meucci sneaky. When you hit the QB it sounds like an old aluminum cues ! Very hard, so I break with it now.
 
Alibi Al was a pretty good player too (I played him). Players back then were particular about their tips, just like today, and how they wanted them to play. I preferred Champions and had a box that I coveted (all good tips). They were a little hard for me out of the box and I would put them on myself, let them set overnight and clean the sides of the tip the next day, getting it perfectly even with the ferrule. I had a good four-way file that I would use to beat softly (but not too soft) on the tip for maybe five minutes to tenderize it and then it was just right. I would work the tip on top just the way I liked it with sandpaper and I was good to go for another three months!

I always carried a good tip shaping tool (the grey heavy plastic one), several grades of sandpaper, some razor blades, Tweeten's glue, a four-way file and my box of tips wherever I went. For me the extra shaft was like a spare tire, to be used in case of an emergency (no two shafts play exactly the same). My number one shaft was the one I always preferred to play with. A piece of super fine sandpaper was what I used to keep my shaft clean. Oh, one more thing - a good piece of leather to burnish the side of my tip after I wet it. I could use a matchbook cover if necessary to do the same thing.
 
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When I started playing in the late 80s, I bought some cheap ass cue from the swap meet that had screw on replacement tips. As a matter of fact I wanted that cue specifically because I was always filing my tips down to the shape I liked and wanted a way to replace it. I was always messing with it during tournaments, twisting it tighter so it wouldn't come off. LOL. I even argued with someone who was a lot better than me at the time that screw on tips were the only way to go.
 
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