validity of Platinum Billiards break cue ratings
- Thread starter berlowmj
- Start date
Well after looking at thier ratings again, for breaking.
I noticed they have different ratings for cues with the same shafts, ie Meucci, 5280, action, cuetec, fury.
I mean is there that much of a difference when you put the same shaft, on a different cue butt, even though its made by the same company?
And how can there be a difference between the PBK and the PBK2? its the same shaft!!!!!!! and same butt!!!!!
Plus if you look at the deflection ratings, explain how some shafts have such a good rating like a Reddot, players, cuetec, fury, black dot, and others have a better rating than a Schon?
If this was so true and everyone went by these ratings, we'd all be out playing with a Players cue, or a Cuetec, or Fury, or Meucci !!!!!! Instead of buying custom cues.
Dont believe everything you read. I dont think anyone would give up thier Boti, or SW, or JossWest, Schon, Gilbert, or whatever cue for a 50$ Cuetec because it has a better rating!!
I noticed they have different ratings for cues with the same shafts, ie Meucci, 5280, action, cuetec, fury.
I mean is there that much of a difference when you put the same shaft, on a different cue butt, even though its made by the same company?
And how can there be a difference between the PBK and the PBK2? its the same shaft!!!!!!! and same butt!!!!!
Plus if you look at the deflection ratings, explain how some shafts have such a good rating like a Reddot, players, cuetec, fury, black dot, and others have a better rating than a Schon?
If this was so true and everyone went by these ratings, we'd all be out playing with a Players cue, or a Cuetec, or Fury, or Meucci !!!!!! Instead of buying custom cues.
Dont believe everything you read. I dont think anyone would give up thier Boti, or SW, or JossWest, Schon, Gilbert, or whatever cue for a 50$ Cuetec because it has a better rating!!
Ask yourself this one question, "will any one of us ever own or have access to every single cue they tested?". The answer of course is no. What relevance does this have?. Platinum can claim anything they wish and no one can argue against it. Had the research been completed by an independent study group I might give it some merit. As it stands it's just too easy for Platinum to skew or manipulate the results in order to move product out the door.
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StormHotRod300 said:
First, who knows how a cue hits when the same shaft is used on different butts? Not to mention, even the same type of shaft can be different from one shaft to the next. Yes, largely the performance of a cue is in the tip/shaft area. But for a break shot, you have to believe that the whole cue, butt and shaft, have a say in how the cue breaks the balls, not to mention the breaker him/herself.
You refer to PBK/PBK2. I don't know if you are referring to the Predator BK and BK2, or the Mezz Power Break I and II. Either way, for a company to come out with anything and label it as "2", there must be some difference to it. In the Mezz case, I can tell you that the PBII is shorter in length than a standard 58" cue, as well as other small things, probably. In the Predator case, I'm sure they have claimed that something is different, otherwise why label it BK2?
It is not accurate to say that if we all went by the deflection ratings, we'd all be playing with "X" cue which is rated lower than "Y" cue. The deflection ratings, true or not, are merely that...deflection ratings. It is not the sole determinant with which we all decide what we want to play with. The deflection rating is simply a statement of what (in Platinum's tests, anyway) deflected the least. There are cues that, in general, have less deflection than Schon...whether you believe the brands that have been listed by Platinum have less deflection than Schon, that is up to you.
I would say that I have had a positive transaction with Platinum Billiards, and Shane personally (who posts on these forums). But I will say that it always seemed a little fishy that they would even post such results of things like least deflection, and fastest break cue, which are both topped by Predator. Platinum makes it very clear on their website how buddy-buddy they are with Predator. I'm not saying they're lying, and I'm not saying these results can't necessarily be correct...but it just kind of feels like their pushing Predator products with their results.
Yes i was talking about the Predator BK and the BK2.
I'd love to hear what the difference is between these two cues? all I have heard is they put a different tip on the cue.
And I've them both side by side.
And yes i know the Mezz and Mezz 2 break cues are different.
I'd love to hear what the difference is between these two cues? all I have heard is they put a different tip on the cue.
And I've them both side by side.
And yes i know the Mezz and Mezz 2 break cues are different.
Just because Platinum sells cues doesn't make their results automatically invalid. They have less of a conflict of interest than the companies that produce these cues, and as far as I know, those are the only other sources of such information.
Does anyone know of a better survey than Platinum's?
Does anyone know of a better survey than Platinum's?
suckershot said:
Well, well. I have four different butts all with the 5/16 X 18 joint, and six different shafts all with the same joint. The custom Ed Young shaft is the "best" of all of them, IMHO, although it squirts the cue ball the most. It is the densest of all the shafts, and has the most solid hit, even though it has a 12 mm tip. It plays the best, IMHO, although others may disagree. However, it plays differently on all four butts. One of them is a Meucci, another is a steel jointed Players, the third is an Excalibur 19 oz. sneaky, the fourth is an Excalibur 18 oz. sneaky. The BEST hit and playable combination is the 19 oz Excalibur with the Ed Young shaft. A very good player/friend tells me this combination hits and plays better than a very collectible cue of his probably worth over 10K.
Don't believe that the butt of a cue has little to no influence upon how a given shaft/ferrule/tip combination works. The differences can be huge.
Flex
Nostroke said:
We do sell cues, and tables and accessories.
If by independent you mean a company that does not sell anything and just does testing, then by that reasoning we are not independent. If you consider an Independent company to be one that is not a manufacturer of the prouducts tested and has no financial stock in the companies whose products we test, then yes, we are independent.
As for asking for free cues, EVERY product that we have ever tested we have PURCHASED. We still purchase product for testing and in fact will be doing another round of testing shortly, however, if a company proactively contacts us and wants their product tested, they are welcome to send product to us (saves us having to buy it) and once it is tested it would be returned to them. Companies are constantly releasing new products and as you can imagine, it is very expensive to constantly buy new versions of the latest and greatest product on the market. We would RATHER to not have to buy the product but will continue to do so if need be.
Your advice of "I wouldnt pay them any attention" is your right to have and give but I would suggest that a lot of people do pay attention to our testing which is evident by the amount of traffic we get and the number of views of our test rersults.
suckershot said:
Thanks for the comments.
I just wanted to mention that with regards to Predator, prior to the BK2 being released, the Predator BK was not the #1 break cue for speed. That honor for quite a while was held by the Fury and then the Mezz Power Break2 IIRC, Guess what cues we sold more of when the Fury was #1?, the Fury Break Cue.
Do we make more money when we sell a Predator BK, yes. Could we have lied and made the Predator BK ahead of the Fury so that we would sell more of them and make more money?, yes. Did we?, NO.
When the Predator BK2 was released it was the fastest cue tested and is top of the list, we can't help that, it is just the way it is. Take the results any way you want but I can ssure you that they are accurate.
If Joss came out with a new break cue and we tested it and it was faster than the Predator BK2, then it would be put at the top of the list and I am sure we (and many other retailers of cues) would sell a bunch of the Joss Break Cue. If this happened, maybe people would then feel that we are pushing Joss with our test results? Maybe
Thanks for listening.
rackem said:Of course they are buddy buddy Shane was with Predator for years before starting Platinum. That does not matter I trust Shane and I am sure that the tests do have some merit
This is true, I was with Predator for almost 8 years, until I was fired in October 2003
shanesinnott said:
I was unaware of this, and stand corrected.
I had a Fury, but not because of your tests. My friend had one and dangled it in my face for $100 so I said sure.
I've had nothing but positive and honest dealings with Shane and Platinum Billiiards and don't really see a reason why they would be skewing tests. What do they care what they sell? They are making money off any product that goes through their door. Any "stock" could be unloaded on ebay and often even returned to the manufacturer depending on the marketing deal you have with them, this is true in electronics and can only assume it's true in this market as well.
I believe the tests, it may bother some that their cue or the cues they like may not be falling in line with where they wanted it to but deflection isn't the end all be all of ratings for a cue so if people like their Schon or their Pechauer and shoot well with it then who cares what the results of a deflection test or any test is.
I, for one, don't doubt the integrity of Shane or his company.
I believe the tests, it may bother some that their cue or the cues they like may not be falling in line with where they wanted it to but deflection isn't the end all be all of ratings for a cue so if people like their Schon or their Pechauer and shoot well with it then who cares what the results of a deflection test or any test is.
I, for one, don't doubt the integrity of Shane or his company.
GTeye said:
Again, I still have doubts about the tests themselves, but my opinion of Shane and Platinum is the same as yours. I had a great transaction with them, Shane even gave me a personal call before shipping. I have no complaints about business with them. If I needed anything else, I would go to Platinum first, no doubt. My opinion on the tests does not deter me at all in doing business with them.