What was the Worst "Good" Stick You've Hit With ?

S

stikapos

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey Folks. I am so appreciative to all of you for supporting the "killing stroke" thread as even if some of the stuff was repetitive for some, I've sure some newcomers benefitted from the exercise. By the time you get to my age, any repetition is good (hehehe..).

Here's another question for you all. What was the worst "good" stick you've hit with ?? These days, its becoming clearer that the workmanship going into even the least expensive production cues is getting better and better. So, that being the case, and knowing full well that such issues are tremendously subjective and subject to the skill of the indian, what is the worst cue you've hit with that others thought was "good" ?

tim
 
When I was in college I got a financial windfall of sorts and decided to buy a high end cue to celebrate...

I bought a very nice Joss West from John Wright for around $1200 (Joss West was all the rage at the time).

The cue arrived and it was absolutely gorgeous. Maybe one of the best looking cues I have ever seen.

And then I shot it with it...

I literally believe a Steve Mizerak K-Mart cue would have hit better...

This is nothing against John Wright, certainly, and really nothing against Bill Stroud. I have owned other cues of his that have hit fantastic.

There was nothing obviously wrong with the construction, etc. it just didn't hit right.

I think sometimes a cue just doesn't come together right for whatever reason.

Mine happened to be a $1200 Joss West.

I traded the cue even for an Omega/DPK, but I heard later that the new owner pretty much thought the same thing about the cue as I did.

Wonder where that cue ended up...
 
McKinneyMiner said:
When I was in college I got a financial windfall of sorts and decided to buy a high end cue to celebrate...

I bought a very nice Joss West from John Wright for around $1200 (Joss West was all the rage at the time).

The cue arrived and it was absolutely gorgeous. Maybe one of the best looking cues I have ever seen.

And then I shot it with it...

I literally believe a Steve Mizerak K-Mart cue would have hit better...

This is nothing against John Wright, certainly, and really nothing against Bill Stroud. I have owned other cues of his that have hit fantastic.

There was nothing obviously wrong with the construction, etc. it just didn't hit right.

I think sometimes a cue just doesn't come together right for whatever reason.

Mine happened to be a $1200 Joss West.

I traded the cue even for an Omega/DPK, but I heard later that the new owner pretty much thought the same thing about the cue as I did.

Wonder where that cue ended up...
Click to expand...

Disclaimer - not knocking Pechauer - just a funny story from a long time ago..

Hey Jeff... lol

About 15 years ago when you and I were playing on the Airport Billiards team, Mike Griego had a Pechauer that he had from the store (Lone Star Billiard Supply). We got into a conversation about cues and he said that the hit was probably 10X better than my McDermott. I knew he was just trying to sell the damn thing to me.

So, I was curious and I took a few shots with "the thing" and the hit was "dead". I mean there was no life at all, no balance whatsoever. I couldn't get any spin on the ball at all. It was so bad, Perry Fisher was laughing at me trying to get the cue ball to move.

Jerry Cordova is watching me and he gets that shitt-eating grin on his face. Jerry comes over to me and says, "Yeah I took a few stabs with that thing too. He showed it to me last week. I told him that if it was my cue, I'd shoot just like he does, and I don't want to embarrass myself."

rotflmfao
 
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Been there done that

I had a ZAC Cue that I had the same experience with, and traded it away. It was not so much the hit, as it was the balance. The cue was forward balanced, and the butt weighed 1 OZ less than my Cochran. Without the option of a weight bolt or spending more $ than I wanted to, I let it go.
 
For some reason I get the feeling this thread is going to turn into a cue bashing flame war thread.....:eek:

I hit a few balls with a SW and the way that specific cue was set up...I did not care for the hit at all.


I can't think this would be a fair representation of a any line of cues since the (end) owner may make changes to the specific cue and completly change the hit causing a skewed hit from what the manufacturer intends.
 
Paul Mottey... It's not just one of his cues that turned me off, I've tried three different ones. All of them were great looking cues but had a hit and feel like that Hathaway Broom that Jay's talking about in the Earls cue thread....

Saw
 
A friend of mine had an old Rambo cue he was selling. I hit some balls and it was HORRIBLE. A stick off the rack at Walmart wouldf hit better than this thing.
 
How about the other way around

I had a Predator-sneakie SPJW that played so good, that people used to borrow it from me when they got into action. I have no idea why that Predator played so good. I also have an old D-series McDermott that I had Chris Byrne replace the standard aluminum 3/8-10 pin, (yes, we were surprised it was aluminum) with a stainless radial pin, and make a new shaft. This cue plays exceptionally well. Out of all my cues, my son prefers to play with this McDermott whenever we go out and shoot.

I think that as your stroke gets better, the tip & shaft taper become more important, and it's easier to see what is actually going on with certain cues. The cues I like best, all seem to have a long taper, with a nice smooth professionally done finish.
 
The Saw said:
Paul Mottey... It's not just one of his cues that turned me off, I've tried three different ones. All of them were great looking cues but had a hit and feel like that Hathaway Broom that Jay's talking about in the Earls cue thread....

Saw
Click to expand...


All I can say is WOW!

Talk about the very last guy I would have ever thought might make a list like this.
 
stikapos said:
Hey Folks. I am so appreciative to all of you for supporting the "killing stroke" thread as even if some of the stuff was repetitive for some, I've sure some newcomers benefitted from the exercise. By the time you get to my age, any repetition is good (hehehe..).

Here's another question for you all. What was the worst "good" stick you've hit with ?? These days, its becoming clearer that the workmanship going into even the least expensive production cues is getting better and better. So, that being the case, and knowing full well that such issues are tremendously subjective and subject to the skill of the indian, what is the worst cue you've hit with that others thought was "good" ?

tim
Click to expand...

Ginacue's and Balabushka's (overall) have a less than notable hit, IMO :cool:
 
sadly i havent been able to hit with many of the top cuemakers cues......friend tried to sell me an upper level jacoby once that had a really odd hit. I think in that case it was the tip though. Used to have a steve klein that i thought had a dead hit.
 
Ironicly for me, it was the same maker that was responsible for one of the best cues I ever hit with, and one of the worst. Sadly it was George Balabushka. I believe he rarely spliced his own butts. He used Titleist, Gus Szamboti, Burton Spain, and a few others. The best Bushka I hit with had a Szamboti spliced butt. The worst had a Titleist.:(
 
BPG24 said:
All I can say is WOW!

Talk about the very last guy I would have ever thought might make a list like this.
Click to expand...

Paul Mottey makes some of the finest cues in the world, but I'll have to say that I agree, at least when it comes to the ivory joint cues. However, Pete at Accu shot with it in action and LOVED it. Go figure.

tim
 
I often get the request to fine tune cues, whitch useualy means a tip change, weight adjustment, and sometimes a taper adjustment or shaft replacement....you would be surprised at how many people change thier tune about a cue.....


SPINDOKTOR
 
stikapos said:
Hey Folks. I am so appreciative to all of you for supporting the "killing stroke" thread as even if some of the stuff was repetitive for some, I've sure some newcomers benefitted from the exercise. By the time you get to my age, any repetition is good (hehehe..).

Here's another question for you all. What was the worst "good" stick you've hit with ?? These days, its becoming clearer that the workmanship going into even the least expensive production cues is getting better and better. So, that being the case, and knowing full well that such issues are tremendously subjective and subject to the skill of the indian, what is the worst cue you've hit with that others thought was "good" ?

tim
Click to expand...

The manager or owner of the place that is now Firefly's in MA was a pool buff and had a wall of high-end cues in the pool room area. I got to hit with pretty much each of them, and the 2 AE ones that I tried hit pretty bad. It was almost a jarring hit.
 
Good Stick bad Hit

I know its hard to believe this but I have hit with several Tads and several Ginacues and to me they "click" really bad. I wouldn't give you 10.00 for either one when it comes to playing with it. JMHO
 
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I have to say that the most disapointing cue that I got was a Darrin Hill with ivory joints and ferrules. $2400 cue I paid $1400 for...did'nt like the playability at all. Gorgeous cue...but the hit isn't what I like.
By the way..anyone interested in a Darrin Hill?
 
Originally Posted by The Saw
Paul Mottey... It's not just one of his cues that turned me off, I've tried three different ones. All of them were great looking cues but had a hit and feel like that Hathaway Broom that Jay's talking about in the Earls cue thread....

Saw

BPG24 said:
All I can say is WOW!

Talk about the very last guy I would have ever thought might make a list like this.
Click to expand...

When I've offered my opinion on Mottey's I get the same reaction most of the time... But the three cues were all built in different periods 5 years apart. They all had a "dead stick" feel to them.

Saw
 
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