What types of wood are cue butts made of? How do they affect the way a cue hits?

I have one shaft that I've used on at least 5 different cue butts, and while the deflection and shot making stays effectively the same, the feel ( and sound) completely changes from butt to butt.

To some people this may not matter at all, but for me, I need some feedback from the cue. Especially for those who play with Revo's, feedback is meaningless to you, the shaft hit is so dead 😂😂😉

Scotty Cameron always touts that sound = feel, and I have to agree that applies here. Some hate the "ping" sound from older cues, but that music note tells me when I'm striking the cue ball well. The butt construction plays a pivotal role in sound, feedback, and liveliness of the hit.
 
Ģüśţāṿ said:
I have one shaft that I've used on at least 5 different cue butts, and while the deflection and shot making stays effectively the same, the feel ( and sound) completely changes from butt to butt.

To some people this may not matter at all, but for me, I need some feedback from the cue. Especially for those who play with Revo's, feedback is meaningless to you, the shaft hit is so dead 😂😂😉

Scotty Cameron always touts that sound = feel, and I have to agree that applies here. Some hate the "ping" sound from older cues, but that music note tells me when I'm striking the cue ball well. The butt construction plays a pivotal role in sound, feedback, and liveliness of the hit.
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I've never had anywhere near these same reactions to how a shaft plays on a given butt. Been doing this a long time and this aspect of cues has never been even remotely an issue. I had an old Meucci shaft that i used on Meucci's, Players, no-name sneakys and never thought once about how it played. It was all shaft to me. The butt just holds it. BTW, that 'ping' you mention is all shaft. I've had a few cues that were 'pingy' and 99% of the time that sound was all from the shaft. Put it on different butts and it was still there. To each his own i guess.
 
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The Old Jaybird said:
cue butt is about the cue balance, diameter and joint type....and then all the fancy work that looks great but really doesn't effect the play.
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Agree 100% on the balance part but the 'feel' that people describe comes from the shaft: the tip/ferrule/material/taper combo is where it comes from. The butt plays some role in feel but its very minor compared to the shaft.
 
garczar said:
No clue what 'follow through feel' entails. IMO its just more techno-babble minutia. I pick up a cue and i can play my normal gear with it in 20minutes, maybe less. So much of this stuff is over-ANAL-ized to the extreme.
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That's why most stay scrubs. Just play the fucking game an don't worry bout dumb shit. Especially ones on here worrying about shafts next.
 
garczar said:
I've never had anywhere near these same reactions to how a shaft plays on a given butt. Been doing this a long time and this aspect of cues has never been even remotely an issue. I had an old Meucci shaft that i used on Meucci's, Players, no-name sneakys and never thought once about how it played. It was all shaft to me. The butt just holds it. BTW, that 'ping' you mention is all shaft. I've had a few cues that were 'pingy' and 99% of the time that sound was all from the shaft. Put it on different butts and it was still there. To each his own i guess.
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There's no right or wrong here, everyone has a different feel and different experience.

Just like how many players feel that CF shafts provide additional spin or power (although it can be disproven to some extent), I can certainly feel and hear a difference from butt to butt. It could be all in my mind, but I know what works best for me.

I've played with butts from makers or production companies that were complete duds, and others where the cueball would jump off the tip with so much energy. There's an inherent quality from certain woods, be it tone or energy transfer, otherwise tone woods wouldn't have the appeal they do.

Side note, you can change the ping of a cue by removing or installing a rubber bumper from the butt, so clearly it has an impact. Years ago this was called a sound dampener from the brunswick catalog.
 
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HelpMeScrubs0013 said:
That's why most stay scrubs. Just play the fucking game an don't worry bout dumb shit. Especially ones on here worrying about shafts next.
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I feel the transfer of vibration from the joint is the only thing worth while on the butt end. Depending on the material type changes the vibration.
 
muskyed said:
I used to think that way, but don't totally agree anymore after purchasing my last cue. I have 3 McDermott's, 4 Schons, 1 Jacoby, and 1 DZ.
McDermotts with their G cores are probably softest smoothest hit.
DZ leather wrap 30"12.8 mm shaft, smooth great hit, slightly crisper than McDermotts.
Jacoby no wrap great hit,30" ultra12.5mm shaft, very slightly crisper than DZ
Schon's, 1 linen, 2 leather, 1 no wrap, Jacoby Ultra 30" 12.75's and 30" 12.5 mm, all crisper hit than the rest w/ no wrap the crispest.
All Ultraskin tips, mostly fire med, and some black med
The Jacoby 12.5 and Schon 12.5 both with fire med tips although one 12.75 has black med.
I shoot just as well with all of them, but my personal preference is the Schon no wrap with it's crisper hit.
The DZ and Jacoby are fantastic shooters, just a very slightly softer hit
The McDermotts shoot great also, very smooth, but a little too rear balanced for me
The DZ might firm up a bit after the tip breaks in, but I really haven't used it much as I am trying to keep it new condition in case I decide to sell it.
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What does “crisp hit” mean?

pj
chgo
 
garczar said:
Agree 100% on the balance part but the 'feel' that people describe comes from the shaft: the tip/ferrule/material/taper combo is where it comes from. The butt plays some role in feel but its very minor compared to the shaft.
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Could be, but in my case with the Schon no wrap, and Jacoby no wrap, they are using the same shafts, same tips and same diameter, and same taper. The hit difference is very noticeable. Noticeable in fact amongst all four of my Schons vs the Jacoby, although when comparing the no wrap Schon vs the no wrap Jacoby it is the most noticeable. When putting that shaft on my 2 leather wrap Schons or the linen wrapped Schons it the difference is still there but not as noticeable. Both cues are weighted the same with the only difference being the Jacoby has a balance point 3/8" more rearward.
These are their ultra shafts for both the Schon and Jacoby with I think 128 laminations, and I have three of them for my Schons, 1-30" 12.5 mm, 1-30" 12.75 mm, and 1-29" 12.75 mm.
I specifically was comparing the 30" 12.5mm on the Jacoby and the Schon, but honestly the two other 12.75 Jacoby shafts for my Schons play similar in feel with the Jacoby and Schon tapered the same.
I realize everyone has their opinion, but these are my cues with as similar as can be shafts, and cues, and there is a noticeable difference in feel of the hit, so you can save your arguments. Then again you're all welcome to come try them for yourself.
 
HelpMeScrubs0013 said:
That's why most stay scrubs. Just play the fucking game an don't worry bout dumb shit. Especially ones on here worrying about shafts next.
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Same with golfers. I see people all the time worrying about what shaft to put in their driver when they can't hit it out of their shadow or even sniff breaking 110. Sure a nice cue is sweet to have but it plays such a small part in how you play. Find me a house-cue with a decent tip and i'm gonna play same speed as with a hi-end stick. I see league hacks all the time with their $1000cue, gloves, exotic tips/chalk/shafts and they literally can't run four balls on a bucket-mouth barbox. And now we're discussing how wood type figures into the equation. Please, gimme a break. done. bye...........................
 
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hang-the-9 said:
There is a big difference with cue butts and joints as well in how the hit feels, it's all connected. I have shot with many cues using the same shaft and there is a difference in vibrations that you feel in the grip. For example the Ned Morris cue with a 3/8 x 10 joint I had and just sold had a super sweet smooth softer hit with any shaft I put on it, more so than a McDermott and several other cues I used with the same shafts.

Hit feel is basically vibration either through the touch or audio from the hit sound (and yes I think that sound is part of a hit feel, like smell is a big part of taste). Different woods and materials transmit vibrations differently, so different butt materials and construction methods absolutely have to have different hit feels.
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Could one even say that the same type of wood in different butts can feel different based on their varying density and such? Ideally it would be best if you could test run any cue before you buy if you have the experience to feel small differences.
 
R2PQZ said:
Every time I read similar posts I wonder if a balsa wood cue would as good as others
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The cues they use in movie fights are light soft woods like balsa. My local cue maker has some on display. Definitely not useable as a cue.
 
Ģüśţāṿ said:
Side note, you can change the ping of a cue by removing or installing a rubber bumper from the butt, so clearly it has an impact. Years ago this was called a sound dampener from the brunswick catalog.
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For clarity, just putting the cue butt down while waiting or as it was very common back in the day (and still a little now) to bang the cue on the floor to praise a good shot, the bumper dampened that noise.

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SSDiver2112 said:
For clarity, just putting the cue butt down while waiting or as it was very common back in the day (and still a little now) to bang the cue on the floor to praise a good shot, the bumper dampened that noise.

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Interesting! I have not seen this excerpt before.

The sound of the hit is definitely increased by removing the bumper, but I've never anything that said it specifically prevents the noise when in contact to the floor. I learn something new every day, Thanks!

Side note, I'm happy about your post asking which type of wood that butterfly butt is, I have the exact same one that I'm about to convert and was wondering the same thing. Great timing 👍
 
SSDiver2112 said:
For clarity, just putting the cue butt down while waiting or as it was very common back in the day (and still a little now) to bang the cue on the floor to praise a good shot, the bumper dampened that noise.

View attachment 771619
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the pool hall "I grew up in" the house racked the balls and collected the per game money. The way you "called" the guy to rack was to bang the butt of the cue on the floor, all house cues with NO butt plates or covers. The proprietor was Daskel Fox, Dak for short, so the call was "rack'em Dak".
 
The type of wood in the cue butt entirely relates to the cue’s esthetics or more simply put, appearance. It has nothing to do with feel other than the weight of the entire cue butt including the forearm should be weight proportional to the top half of the cue, i.e., cue shaft weight. I’ve posted about this several times on this website and it is true with original maple shafts. Low deflection shafts, like Kielwood, are designed to be lighter weight in the initial 4-5 inches thus reducing the squirt factor induced by a pool cue’s elevation while delivering a cue stroke.
 
Bavafongoul said:
The type of wood in the cue butt entirely relates to the cue’s esthetics or more simply put, appearance. It has nothing to do with feel other than the weight of the entire cue butt including the forearm should be weight proportional to the top half of the cue, i.e., cue shaft weight. I’ve posted about this several times on this website and it is true with original maple shafts. Low deflection shafts, like Kielwood, are designed to be lighter weight in the initial 4-5 inches thus reducing the squirt factor induced by a pool cue’s elevation while delivering a cue stroke.
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What you described is balances point. The butt is important on follow through and feedbacks. Especially for extremely long draw shot
 
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