Universal Smart Shaft

[StevenPWaldon]

For all of you who have been curious / waiting for it to come out, I guess it's finally on sale.

Billiard Warehouse (www.billiardwarehouse.com) has it for $199 and $229 for the different options (Regular Squirt / Low Squirt).

Hollywood Billiards house pro and UPA Touring Pro Max Eberle told me he took one shot with it at the BCA Trade Show a few months ago, and said it was the best hitting shaft he's ever used. Coming from him, that carries a lot of weight with me.

I put in my order today and should get it within a few days. I'll write a review / initial impressions if anyone is interested. I can also try some squirt tests comparing it with my stock shaft, my Predator 314 shaft, and Tiger X-Shaft if there's interest.

Cheers.

SW

 

[Tbeaux]

I can also try some squirt tests comparing it with my stock shaft, my Predator 314 shaft, and Tiger X-Shaft if there's interest.

Cheers.

SW

There will be interest. Somebody posts on the subject of best shaft at least once a week.Do your analysis on squirt but also on "english".

Terry

 

[StevenPWaldon]

There will be interest. Somebody posts on the subject of best shaft at least once a week.Do your analysis on squirt but also on "english".

Terry

Will do. I'll give it to Max and have him give impressions as well. It may be of more interest to hear what a seasoned pro thinks of it in terms of feel / squirt / english.

I'll also give it to one of the managers, Mike, at Hollywood. He used to work for Padgett and is an equipment nut. His thoughts I'm curious about.

 

[Regulator1956]

Bunk

Hollywood Billiards house pro and UPA Touring Pro Max Eberle told me he took one shot with it at the BCA Trade Show a few months ago, and said it was the best hitting shaft he's ever used. Coming from him, that carries a lot of weight with me.

With just one shot he declared it the best he's ever used ??????

That comment carries a lot of weight with me too. That he's full of crap.

Hard, medium, soft, english, draw, etc. - without hitting a shaft through a number of different shots, it's impossible to give an honest opinion.

(And yes, my game sucks, but at least I'm honest.)

 

[StevenPWaldon]

Who knows -- maybe if your game was better you'd be able to tell. Regardless, if you knew Max you'd know he's never full of crap.

With just one shot he declared it the best he's ever used ??????

That comment carries a lot of weight with me too. That he's full of crap.

Hard, medium, soft, english, draw, etc. - without hitting a shaft through a number of different shots, it's impossible to give an honest opinion.

(And yes, my game sucks, but at least I'm honest.)

 

[bruin70]

For all of you who have been curious / waiting for it to come out, I guess it's finally on sale.

Billiard Warehouse (www.billiardwarehouse.com) has it for $199 and $229 for the different options (Regular Squirt / Low Squirt).

Hollywood Billiards house pro and UPA Touring Pro Max Eberle told me he took one shot with it at the BCA Trade Show a few months ago, and said it was the best hitting shaft he's ever used. Coming from him, that carries a lot of weight with me.

I put in my order today and should get it within a few days. I'll write a review / initial impressions if anyone is interested. I can also try some squirt tests comparing it with my stock shaft, my Predator 314 shaft, and Tiger X-Shaft if there's interest.

Cheers.

SW

stroud is actually getting quite a few pros behind the shaft.

 

[Michael Webb]

, my Predator 314 shaft, and Tiger X-Shaft if there's interest.

Cheers.

SW

And what is your opinion on stock, versus Predator, versus Tiger X. You can email me in Private if you wish, I wouldn't want to ruin your post. Max is a great guy and a very good player but I have never seen him test for deflection. He can play with anything as most pro's.

 

[freddy the beard]

It plays awful good.

And what is your opinion on stock, versus Predator, versus Tiger X. You can email me in Private if you wish, I wouldn't want to ruin your post. Max is a great guy and a very good player but I have never seen him test for deflection. He can play with anything as most pro's.

Billy Stroud sent me a pre-production one a few months ago to test, I chose the regular squirt model. I can honestly say that it is the best shaft I ever had in feel and hit. It improved the total feel for my cue 30%. Now Billy is a good friend of mine, but nobody could get me to endorse a product that I didn't like. The best they could hope to get out of me is for me to keep my mouth shut about it.
The Beard

 

[mjantti]

Billy Stroud sent me a pre-production one a few months ago to test, I chose the regular squirt model. I can honestly say that it is the best shaft I ever had in feel and hit. It improved the total feel for my cue 30%. Now Billy is a good friend of mine, but nobody could get me to endorse a product that I didn't like. The best they could hope to get out of me is for me to keep my mouth shut about it.
The Beard

Sounds like a good shaft. I have never liked Predator, because of the hollow feel of it. Anyone in this forum has tried both Predator and Smart shaft and can compare ? I've been using a regular squirt cues for ages, do you think it would be a wise decision going for a regular squirt smart shaft or take a risk and trying the low squirt version if I'm ever going to get one ?

I think I wouldn't buy a smart shaft for my Scruggs (does it come in 3/8-10 Acme anyway ?), but I'm planning to buy a second cue, a simple plain jane or fancy sneaky pete to take with me to weekly tournaments and some bars to shoot a few racks and have a few beers. If the smart shaft is as solid as they claim it is, I might buy a cheap cue and a Smart shaft for it.

Btw, that Bill Stroud guy is quite an innovator. I've heard this is not the only thing he've come up with...

 

[LWW]

I'd love to see some comparison testing.

LWW

 

[Tbeaux]

The technology behind the smart shaft seems to be very much like that of the McDermott I-shafts. What I'm really interested in hearing about are impressions of the hit. Does the universal joint system affect the hit and feel of the shaft? Does it affect the hit positively or negatively? Does the ferrule setup really make the shaft normal or low squirt? Does the low squirt version affect the use of english the way many of the new tech shafts do?


Terry

 

[Fred Agnir]

Sounds like a good shaft. I have never liked Predator, because of the hollow feel of it. Anyone in this forum has tried both Predator and Smart shaft and can compare ? .

Please remember that the Smart Shaft is meant to reduce vibration. He has two versions: normal squirt and low squirt.

I hit with both, and they play as advertised: very low vibration. Shooting with english with either squirt version gets no increase or decrease compared to any other shaft. For the record, IMO there's no indication that Predator gets any more or less english either. Just less squirt (which could mislead someone to think they are getting more english).

Anyway, the Smart Shaft feels great. Both versions. If you like low squirt cues, the Smart Shaft low squirt version could be for you. It feels nice and solid. OTOH, I never thought the Predator felt bad either.

If you like normal squirt, and are looking for less vibration, the Smart Shaft normal version could be for you. But, then again, so could a LimbSaver, or a Schuler Cue. And Schuler makes a low squirt shaft, for those that wanted to try it out on their Schuler.

Fred

 

[ScottR]

Do these shafts come in different weights, too? I ask because changing to a shaft with a different weight will change the balance point and overall weight of the cue, right? Won't that affect the perceived "hit" / "feel"? Or, is this only about vibration, "squirt" or "deflection"???

A quality cue maker takes into account the weight of all of the components when building a cue. I am skeptical about replacing a shaft. Think Bill would recommend that I try it on my old JW cues?

I'm very serious with these questions and not just trying to poke a sleeping bear.

 

[Egg McDogit]

Fred, would you say the smartshaft low squirt and predator have similar amounts of squirt?

Please remember that the Smart Shaft is meant to reduce vibration. He has two versions: normal squirt and low squirt.

I hit with both, and they play as advertised: very low vibration. Shooting with english with either squirt version gets no increase or decrease compared to any other shaft. For the record, IMO there's no indication that Predator gets any more or less english either. Just less squirt (which could mislead someone to think they are getting more english).

Anyway, the Smart Shaft feels great. Both versions. If you like low squirt cues, the Smart Shaft low squirt version could be for you. It feels nice and solid. OTOH, I never thought the Predator felt bad either.

If you like normal squirt, and are looking for less vibration, the Smart Shaft normal version could be for you. But, then again, so could a LimbSaver, or a Schuler Cue. And Schuler makes a low squirt shaft, for those that wanted to try it out on their Schuler.

Fred

 

[StevenPWaldon]

Agreed, Max can play with anything. However, he solely plays with Predator 314s. Tiger even gave him an X-Shaft prototype and what'd he end up doing with it? He dold it for $20 to my friend because all it did was gather dust in his cue case. He said it was a nice shaft, but the Predator was lower in deflection and that's what was most important to him. So on that note, the way I understand it Max has a good feel for the subjective (feel, hit) as well as for deflection / squirt.

I've got a few impressions on the other shafts. I'll PM you so as not to stuff up this thread.

And what is your opinion on stock, versus Predator, versus Tiger X. You can email me in Private if you wish, I wouldn't want to ruin your post. Max is a great guy and a very good player but I have never seen him test for deflection. He can play with anything as most pro's.

 

[Fred Agnir]

Fred, would you say the smartshaft low squirt and predator have similar amounts of squirt?

Yes. Probably in the 40" pivot point range, but with that length of pivot point, parallel shooting would be the way to go, IMO.

Fred

 

[Tbeaux]

Yes. Probably in the 40" pivot point range, but with that length of pivot point, parallel shooting would be the way to go, IMO.

Fred

40" pivot point hunh? I've seen stats for Preds being 11 1/2 " to 14" tip to pivot point. Is the 40" from butt to pivot point?

Terry

 

[mjantti]

Please remember that the Smart Shaft is meant to reduce vibration. He has two versions: normal squirt and low squirt.

I hit with both, and they play as advertised: very low vibration. Shooting with english with either squirt version gets no increase or decrease compared to any other shaft. For the record, IMO there's no indication that Predator gets any more or less english either. Just less squirt (which could mislead someone to think they are getting more english).

Anyway, the Smart Shaft feels great. Both versions. If you like low squirt cues, the Smart Shaft low squirt version could be for you. It feels nice and solid. OTOH, I never thought the Predator felt bad either.

If you like normal squirt, and are looking for less vibration, the Smart Shaft normal version could be for you. But, then again, so could a LimbSaver, or a Schuler Cue. And Schuler makes a low squirt shaft, for those that wanted to try it out on their Schuler.

Fred

Thanks for the info, Fred. I'm not afraid of squirt, I prefer a good quality and solid shaft. Less vibrations equal more solid feel ? That's what my gut is telling me.

If you compare it to a regular shaft, do you feel that the regular squirt smart shaft is just more solid version of a regular shaft without any other benefits ? Or if I have a very solid custom cue shaft, do you see any reason why to acquire a smart shaft ?

 

[Fred Agnir]

If you compare it to a regular shaft, do you feel that the regular squirt smart shaft is just more solid version of a regular shaft without any other benefits ?

Yes. In fact, the Smart Shafts I tried out were on an Action or Players cue butt. But, it felt as solid as any custom cue I've played with.

Or if I have a very solid custom cue shaft, do you see any reason why to acquire a smart shaft ?

That's the rub. The hit it gives is the hit I am looking for in a cue. So, that means most of my cues already hit like that Smart Shaft, so for me, there's no reason to buy it. It might make sense however for many other who are looking to keep their butts, but get that more solid, less vibration hit.

Fred

 

[mjantti]

Yes. In fact, the Smart Shafts I tried out were on an Action or Players cue butt. But, it felt as solid as any custom cue I've played with.

That's the rub. The hit it gives is the hit I am looking for in a cue. So, that means most of my cues already hit like that Smart Shaft, so for me, there's no reason to buy it. It might make sense however for many other who are looking to keep their butts, but get that more solid, less vibration hit.

Fred

Thanks Fred, that makes sense to me. At least for a production cue a Smart Shaft could be quite a good purchase.