Bruce S. de Lis said:
Lets hear the Pros, and Cons... If the Dread Weight Bolt. Think the ONE PRO is the ability to Adjust Weights, but when you do Balance point Changes...
I'll go out on a limb and say that NO ONE on here has experimented more with weight bolts than I have. I have a couple of sets of bolts for different cues that go from 4 grams, or about 1/4 oz. to over 3.5 oz. in 1 gram (or .5 oz.) increments. I've put in and taken out each one, in weight order, a number of times to get a feel for what happens to the cue, the stroke, CB action, speed and english with varying weights.
Certain ways the cue is made can affect the balance more or less than others. First off, it depends on how heavy the cue is when you purchase it WITHOUT the weight bolt. If you have an extremely light cue at a little over 17 oz. and then pump in a 3 oz. weight bolt to get it a little over 20, that makes it extremely butt heavy and can change balance by over an inch.
On the other hand, it might not be so bad with certain cues like a Joss or Meucci because they are cored and threaded very deeply, so you can take a weight bolt and screw it much further up into the butt with a long handle wrench to get a more desirable balance and feel in your stroke hand. If the weight bolt is right at the end of the butt cap, it'll become more butt heavy feeling.
I'd say the only real downside is that sometimes the weight bolt can become loose and you'll get a clanky sound. But it's no big deal and can be fixed easily.
I think all in all weight bolts are a great tool and give a player the ability to change things out from time to time. Hell, our feel changes.
Didn't you ever pick up your cue to play and say to yourself, "man, this thing feels light today for some reason"...or "it feels heavy", and damn if it didn't seem to throw your timing off.
That having been said, I still have yet to feel a cue more solid than the ones I have with NO WEIGHT BOLT. However, that could also be due to a full splice.
