What do you hate and love in the design of a cue?

In a few months I'm going to make you a cue out of nothing but balsa wood lmao. I bet your favorite samwich is a bread sandwich:thumbup:

see ya soon brother,
Grey Ghost


I like bread sandwiches. :smile:

I also like meat only sandwiches. :smile:

And, I like salads. :smile:

I'm easy to please. Just don't mix any of these! :thumbup:
 
Love Tuxedo cues (actually play with one).
Love leather wrap
Like standard 4 point cues of most any kind.

Don't care for floating points
Don't care for lot of exotic inlays as stone or shell
 
Decals.
Graphics.
Slip on tips
Nylon wraps
Rubber wraps
Screw on tips
Aluminum cues
Fiberglass cues
Painted on points
Painted on veneers
Changeable weight bolts
 
I got to thinking about what I posted after I wrote it..and I said to myself.......ftgokie, cause thats what I call myself when I talk to myself....what the HECK do you like about cues..lol

Nah, I like simple cues...I like the wood to speak for itself...I like pretty wood.....I think the more you add to a cue, the more it takes away from the harmonics of a cue..but thats just my opinion...i like the wood to just jump out at you..


and no, thats not my favorite sandwich....my fav is bread and fritos:thumbup:

dude we are on the same page for sure....

i also love a ham sandwich with chips (fritos are bomb)
salads i eat them plain no dressing, rabbit food only
 
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I think anything is good in moderation.

I love balance in design, not something that looks extra or added for no apparent reason.

I like contrasting colors, preferably natural colors.

I love unique, rarely seen woods or common woods with rarely seen figure & color.

I love finesse. I love the very fine, classy, petite design aspects that are understated but bold.

I really enjoy seeing cues that leave me scratching my head, wondering how the hell the builder pulled off a certain design aspect.

I'm not crazy about wraps in general but hey, they certainly add to some cues where a wrapless handle would look out of place.

I'm not crazy about veneers in general but there are some that I simply love. It all goes back to the balance issue.

I hate gaudy designs with large design components, especially when things are too rounded or not lined up.

I hate almost all of the scrim cues, especially those with tigers or wolves. I also don't like color in scrim. To me, scrim looks best when it's fine black lines on ivory, and done to accentuate the piece rather than overpower it.

Overall, I guess I like cues where the design is tasteful, flows from end to end, and has no apparent center of focus. Again, balance.


I guess that is why I like your cues! :thumbup:


I can't stand rounded points and inlays from CNC. There are a few high end cuemakers that have very sharp edges and that are CNC that are very attractive..

Malachite and Turquoise are not my cup of tea.

I can't stand arrogant cuemakers that are condescending.

I do not like stacked wraps.

I do not like cues that BUZZZZ.



Chris
 
Interesting comments from most of y'all. It seems that most of your replies favor old-school / simple designs.

Personally, I love the "look" of gaudy, fancy cues with lots of inlays, floating points, >four points.. the whole nine yards.


That said, I "play" with a plain o'le sneaky with a predator shaft. I guess when it comes down to it, I like to play with the simple ones but appreciate the work that goes into those fancy "gaudy" cues with lots of different materials in them.
 
Hi,
I'm tired of junk shafts mated with well constructed butts in order to maximize profit.
I'm tired of the cookie cutter half splice cues that look like a mix and match from Atlas.
I'm tired of Irish linen and steel joints when we have so many newer materials to substitute.
I'm tired of a four point full splice when apparently there is one guy on the planet doing six.
I'm tired of O.G. cue makers who will not see the relevance of a pro taper or 13 mm tip in today's market.
I'm tired of looking at thousands of sticks every year because I'm such an indecisive cue whore.

I like veneer colors that compliment the wood their installed in.
I like feruless joints and shafts and anxiously await both.
I like no-wrap cues as they allow the cue smith a larger canvas to display their artistry.
I like long splice fingers with multiple wood layers.
I like the resonance of a maple shaft.
I like the accuracy of a LD shaft.
I like looking at thousands of sticks every year as I'm a cue whore.
 
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dude we are on the same page for sure....

i also love a ham sandwich with chips (fritos are bomb)
salads i eat them plain no dressing, rabbit food only

I don't know what the hell a sandwich has to do with a cue, but a peanut-butter and dill pickle is hard to beat.
 
> Likes

I know most don't agree with me,but I actually like floating points AND inlays with rounded corners,as long as the radius isn't 1/16 or bigger.

Have no problems with using stones like malachite,turquoise,and others,as long as they are used for color contrast,not 8" long points.

I am a BIG fan of the guys that polish their SS joints so well they look like chrome.

Not a personal fan/user of leather wraps,but do appreciate the guys that hide the seams so well you need a loupe to find it.

Like the cuemakers that do everything in their power to keep full/half spliced points sharp and even.

Well-executed notched/Tiffany diamonds.

Properly sized Hoppe rings.

Guys that go the extra mile to polish the bolt on a bumperless Hoppe,even though I personally wouldn't like one.

Craftsmanship in general.

Dislikes

MOST purpleheart. The exception is when the grain has real figure like curls,or when the coloration is very bright.

Kingwood.

Quick-release pins,except in a break/jump joint. How long does it really take you to assemble your cue?

I understand the reasons for doing it this way,but I prefer veneers to have the seam in the middle,rather than one side longer than the other.

Cues that have cocobolo/purpleheart points in an ebony forearm with no contrasting color in between.

Cues with colored veneers where the colors are too similar.

Plainer cues with rings that overpower the woods used.

Big,ugly signatures.

Cues that have segmented trim rings right in the middle of the joint collar,as opposed to being offset. This goes triple for silver rings in the middle. The exception here is rings that are made up of inlays,as opposed to made from a billet like Bushka-style.

Not a fan of butterflies,just the guys that do them well.

I know it's the fault of the material and not the cuemaker,but hate the look of some of the newer phenolics. Brown phenolic should be reddish-brown to dark orange,not puke colored. Black,esp the double-black,should be BLACK,not blotchy gray. Tommy D.
 
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Don'ts:
Purple Heart
Huge Ivory Checkered Ring work
Ugly veneers that dont flow (purple green red blue black) not the 70's guys lets have a little style
Quick release
white wraps
speck wraps
new meucci (enough said)
box/windows
points that end in a shape (diamond, clover leaf, etc...)
Butterfly sneakies


Likes:
Simple designs (4 points, one/two veneers)
Wood to Wood joints
Ebony with a blue veneer (i'll never forget the Searing that was up for sale here)
Bender/SW# engraving on pins (better then some signature that you can't read)
Cocobola points into BEM
Ebony points into BEM
Snakewood points into Ebony
Hoppe rings
Micarta Ferrules
 
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