What are good qualities for a jump/break cue?

[jalapus logan]

I just bought a purple heart shaft to pair with a custom butt that I'm having made. I guess a hard tip is a given. Anyone have experience with a Samsara tip? Other suggestions?

As for weight, I guess I've got not clue. Is a heavier one better than a lighter one? I used to think that heavier is better, but now I just think that speed is the key. Also thinking about having the butt with the weight bolt in the forearm, if one is needed at all. The butt material will be purple heart and yellow heart.

What do y'all think?

 

[TATE]

I just bought a purple heart shaft to pair with a custom butt that I'm having made. I guess a hard tip is a given. Anyone have experience with a Samsara tip? Other suggestions?

As for weight, I guess I've got not clue. Is a heavier one better than a lighter one? I used to think that heavier is better, but now I just think that speed is the key. Also thinking about having the butt with the weight bolt in the forearm, if one is needed at all. The butt material will be purple heart and yellow heart.

What do y'all think?

Edited - just realized you want a combo jump/break cue.

 

[slide13]

I would highly recommend the Samsara tip. I recently picked up a Gilbert j/b in hopes of replacing my old break cue and my jump cue to just simplify what I carry with me. It came with a hard leather tip and it broke great, but I couldn't jump very consistently with it, definitely had better luck with my jump cue. Had a Samsara tip put on and boom...super easy to jump with, great control on the cue ball for my break shot too.

Beyond that, I would set it up about the same weight as your playing cue or maybe even a little ligther. Mine is about the same as my playing cue (19.2oz). I wouldn't mind it being a little lighter, 18.5oz maybe, but it's working and is a lovely cue.

 

[SirFitzalot]

To me samsara tips are the nuts. I really don't like the feel or control with phenolic.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[ArtOfTheCue]

I have a separate jump cue and break cue because of these questions. I think you're right, that a lighter cue helps you move faster and break harder. That said, with a heavier jump cue, you don't have to hit the ball as hard, which makes for a much more natural stroke when you're jumping. Just something to think about.

 

[TATE]

I just bought a purple heart shaft to pair with a custom butt that I'm having made. I guess a hard tip is a given. Anyone have experience with a Samsara tip? Other suggestions?

As for weight, I guess I've got not clue. Is a heavier one better than a lighter one? I used to think that heavier is better, but now I just think that speed is the key. Also thinking about having the butt with the weight bolt in the forearm, if one is needed at all. The butt material will be purple heart and yellow heart.

What do y'all think?

In my opinion, a dedicated jump cue is the way to go. If you do decide to go jump/break, a jump cue short section should be about 8 - 12 ounces and Samsara tip would be a decent compromise. Put the weight in the back of the cue - 19 ounces is pretty much average.

I break with the Samsara but jump with phenolic. Samsara is a great break tip (the best in my opinion) and an OK jump tip.

 

[Kaydon]

Opinion

I just bought a purple heart shaft to pair with a custom butt that I'm having made. I guess a hard tip is a given. Anyone have experience with a Samsara tip? Other suggestions?

As for weight, I guess I've got not clue. Is a heavier one better than a lighter one? I used to think that heavier is better, but now I just think that speed is the key. Also thinking about having the butt with the weight bolt in the forearm, if one is needed at all. The butt material will be purple heart and yellow heart.

What do y'all think?

What I think is that you are going to have a real solid break cue depending on the type of joint being used, shaft taper, and weight. But the rest of the post calls for speculation from thousands of others that will only confuse you.
It does not really matter what others think about your cue as long as you enjoy using it.
I know what works for me from using every type of cue I could get my hands on and not from what others had to tell me. Heavier is better for some because they do not have the ability to make the cue ball go down the table quickly. Lighter is better for me as I have a strong break. In order to use a lighter break cue the shaft has to have a lighter taper to feel solid. If the shaft has no backbone it feels like I am hitting a bowling ball with a pencil, but there again it is my opinion based on my experience.
What you are starting with as far as materials is great and I applaud you for going your own way trying something different. Let us know when it is done how you like it. If nothing else you will have something that you designed and the experience to know how that combination will play in the future.

 

[jalapus logan]

The shaft I am talking about came from this thread and should be arriving tomorrow. At 13.05 mm, it's kinda thick, but I think that I like that, for this cue, l'm going for a stiff, solid hit for sure. My normal player is 12.5 mm shaft and the cue in its entirety weighs 17.3 oz - quite light compared to most, but its so well balanced that it feels great. Balance is the key IMO.

I don't know the length of the shaft in transit, but I'm kinda thinking about making the butt length whatever length it takes to get the entire cue close to the length of my normal player.

Tate's comment above also has me thinking about scrapping the jump/break combo and just dedicating this as a breaker only. That has me thinking that if I go that route, I can order up a new shaft and basically have two playing cues as well, which would be nice.

Also sounding like I should give the Samsara break tip a try too.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[ScottK]

I just bought a purple heart shaft to pair with a custom butt that I'm having made. I guess a hard tip is a given. Anyone have experience with a Samsara tip? Other suggestions?

As for weight, I guess I've got not clue. Is a heavier one better than a lighter one? I used to think that heavier is better, but now I just think that speed is the key. Also thinking about having the butt with the weight bolt in the forearm, if one is needed at all. The butt material will be purple heart and yellow heart.

What do y'all think?

The Samsara is an excellent tip for both breaking and jumping. It's very close to the hardness of phenolic and if you're unable to jump with a Samsara tip you're not likely to do much better with phenolic or G-10 without fixing your stroke. Jumping and breaking are really about technique more than equipment. With that said, equipment can help and the Samsara tip offers a very good mix of performance and control for these shots.

Regarding the weight of your cue: for jumping a heavier and/or longer jump cue will tend to afford you greater control while a lighter cue will tend to get the cue ball up more quickly.

For the break cue it doesn't simply come down to the old adage "you can move a lighter stick faster than a heavier stick." While technically true, the weight involved isn't such that the cue stick speed is vastly different, ie. you're probably strong enough to move a 22 ounce cue just as fast as a 15 ounce cue. For me, very light break cues just don't feel right. What you really want to be able to do on the break is pocket a ball and control the cue. The Samsara tip fits the bill here again. The weight and balance point will be those with which you feel best able to accomplish the aforementioned task.

Andy Gilbert made the shaft and you couldn't go wrong contacting him about building a jump/break butt for it. He makes an excellent cue.

 

[JBB2388]

I just bought a purple heart shaft to pair with a custom butt that I'm having made. I guess a hard tip is a given. Anyone have experience with a Samsara tip? Other suggestions?

As for weight, I guess I've got not clue. Is a heavier one better than a lighter one? I used to think that heavier is better, but now I just think that speed is the key. Also thinking about having the butt with the weight bolt in the forearm, if one is needed at all. The butt material will be purple heart and yellow heart.

Samsaras are a great tip. Had one on my prior break cue and was so impressed with it that I just picked up another to put on my new thor hammer to replace the tip it came with. My thor is 17.5oz. I much prefer a lighter break cue. I've compared it my buddy's break cue which is 21oz and I break much better with mine it seems.