what's the best cue you ever hit with, and why?

[middleofnowhere]

I hung out in a room in Jersey that the owner and Gus were friends.
The owner had about 15 Gus cues and there were a handful owned by some players.
I got to hit balls with most of the cues and there was one with green veneers that just didn't feel right.
I never cared for the hit of his cues,way too stiff for me.

It sounds almost sacrilegious to say but I agree. I had at least four of his cues and my wife had one. They just felt kind of dead playing 9 ball. I did not feel like I could move the cue ball well with any of my Szamboti cues.

I felt the same way about Richard Black. I know Mizerak played with a Richard Black cue, but they were good friends and he probably made him a cue right to his liking. I played some with Mizeraks cue and if I remember right it had a slimmer butt and felt a little different than other Blacks I had picked up.

The pictures below are my wife with Gus and his Wife picking up her new cue. She has it under her arm as Gus is looking down at his dog. The second picture is my wife with Gus in his shop. The cue was beautiful but sadly she ultimately went back to using her Huebler.

I'm sorry, I deleted the pictures. I don't think I should be posting pictures of Mr Szamboti on line. You should probably have permission of some kind.

 

[middleofnowhere]

I never blamed the cue for good or bad shots. I always held the shooter at fault.

That's true but there's more to playing good pool then shot making. The cue has to be responsive and feel like you can do anything you want with the cue ball like an extension of your will. I've played with cues that were literally the opposite. They were actually an impediment to playing good pool and I'm not talking about junk cues.

I think this can also be a very personal thing. A cue that I can't play with someone else may pick up and it's like magic to them. I don't think this stuff is necessarily in your head, I think it's a real thing.

 

[measureman]

I feel that way about SW. Love the look and wood
combinations. Well executed. The hit, meh.

Hit is so elusive to explain,we are have our likes and dislikes.
Funny thing the only Southwest I ever got to hit with I thought it was great.

 

[measureman]

A few months ago I got a new Schmelke cue.
I now like it better then my Troy Downey and Lucasi cues.
It was $230 and I think it plays great,at least for me.

 

[chenjy9]

A few months ago I got a new Schmelke cue.
I now like it better then my Troy Downey and Lucasi cues.
It was $230 and I think it plays great,at least for me.

Always been a fan of Schmelke cues. My house's "house cues" is a set of Schmelke Sneaky Petes.

 

[Thunder Thighs]

I had an ebony Dufferin conversion made by Chad McLennan years ago. Miss that cue, still regret selling it.

 

[measureman]

Always been a fan of Schmelke cues. My house's "house cues" is a set of Schmelke Sneaky Petes.

Yeah about $100 each.
Great value for the buck.
And American made.

 

[CincyQCollector]

The 1982 Huebler Custom #1 Paul built for me.

 

[ShootingArts]

Hit is so elusive to explain,we are have our likes and dislikes.
Funny thing the only Southwest I ever got to hit with I thought it was great.

I don't like a dead cue, I don't like a pingy cue. The hit I like is slightly towards pingy, maybe 2/3 of the way. Try to explain that to a cue builder!

I think we would get a bell curve if we could make twenty cues that looked the same but hit slightly differently and made them available to try at a big event. I think the range of preference would be a little more towards pingy than I like, maybe centering at about 3/4 to 7/8 towards pingy.

Hu

 

[middleofnowhere]

Interesting no one mentions Meucci. I have to say, a lot of players played with them. The ferrules would break, joints would crack but they did play pretty good. It seemed like you could draw the ball two lengths of the table with them. Spin balls in, make thin cuts, shoot with extreme inside and make the ball. They shot straight.

 

[JoeyInCali]

I had an ebony Dufferin conversion made by Chad McLennan years ago. Miss that cue, still regret selling it.

I'll be really honest .
Some of those are insane jewels .
Dufferin had a great source for maple . They were in Canada after all .
Some of those house cues had insanely tight heavy old growth maple . Some logs were probably centuries old.
You make the bottom a little thinner because they were bottom heavy . Keep the forward section a little fatter .
With a good brass 3/8 screw or small screw with brass inserts on heavy shafts , they would outhit SW and company easily.

 

[ShootingArts]

I'll be really honest .
Some of those are insane jewels .
Dufferin had a great source for maple . They were in Canada after all .
Some of those house cues had insanely tight heavy old growth maple . Some logs were probably centuries old.
You make the bottom a little thinner because they were bottom heavy . Keep the forward section a little fatter .
With a good brass 3/8 screw or small screw with brass inserts on heavy shafts , they would outhit SW and company easily.

As you know, early hinged cue builders were just trying to make a cue that hit as good as those Dufferin cues and was easy to tote. For the most part they fell short. It was a tall order.

I needed a shaft for my Meucci on the fly. I went to a store with a big sporting goods department and picked through about forty Dufferin hinged cues. Found a couple shafts I liked the looks of, gave them the ping test off of the floor which might have raised some eyebrows, and bought my new shaft for $39.95 plus tax! It hit every bit as well with the Dufferin butt as the Meucci.

Hu

 

[measureman]

Interesting no one mentions Meucci. I have to say, a lot of players played with them. The ferrules would break, joints would crack but they did play pretty good. It seemed like you could draw the ball two lengths of the table with them. Spin balls in, make thin cuts, shoot with extreme inside and make the ball. They shot straight.

Mid 80's I had a brand new Schon ebony cue,it played great.
I sold it and bought a Meucci and that cue did everything so much easier then the Schon,really a much better playing cue.
Sadly in a short time the ferrule cracked and it warped.
That was my first and last Meucci.

 

[md Doc]

I realize "hit" is often subjective, and that's ok- I'd still like to hear about it
and if there's some technical spec., balance, length, weight, wood, etc. worth mentioning, please do

As you mentioned, it is subjective. For instance I dislike steel joints. Some of the Brands that I found "pleasing" were ivory Scruggs, Samsara, Meucci, Nitti. I also like light cues. Some like 20oz. Bottom line is you have to feel it to decide.

 

[khessler]

I've got 6 low-priced $ 100-260 but I borrow a predator to break with . It just feels like hitting the sweet spot while batting.77 years old shooting for 50

 

[Brookeland Bill]

That's true but there's more to playing good pool then shot making. The cue has to be responsive and feel like you can do anything you want with the cue ball like an extension of your will. I've played with cues that were literally the opposite. They were actually an impediment to playing good pool and I'm not talking about junk cues.

I think this can also be a very personal thing. A cue that I can't play with someone else may pick up and it's like magic to them. I don't think this stuff is necessarily in your head, I think it's a real thing.

In the early sixties a road player told me if you can’t take a house cue off the wall and beat everyone in the house then don’t even think about it. He also said don’t necessarily look for the straitest cue, look for a cue with the best tip.

 

[ShootingArts]

In the early sixties a road player told me if you can’t take a house cue off the wall and beat everyone in the house then don’t even think about it. He also said don’t necessarily look for the straitest cue, look for a cue with the best tip.

It was a rare night in the late sixties through the seventies and into the early eighties when I wasn't gambling on a pool table, never played any way but off the wall. Almost always with a badly warped stick. If it was only warped in one direction it worked, and was often marked where to index it to. A brad tool and a bit of sand paper or scotchbrite in my watch pocket would do any tuning needed when the other player wasn't looking. The only sticks I hated were cracked or had a loose weight. I usually shook a stick hard when I grabbed it out the rack. No rattle and I was ready to rock and roll.

Hu

 

[Rusty in Montana]

Pick a favorite pool cue for me that's nearly impossible I like the cue in my hand at the time the best whether it's a Dufferin Billy Bushka made by a friend many year's ago or a Meucci Original or any of my other cues which I'm sure many of you have bigger and better cues than I but every once in awhile I'll have a moment of greatness and not miss many if any shots before me .
One afternoon at a broomstick 8 ball tournament everyone had to use a broomstick and I took the cash ha ha
I watched my good friend Lance Saunders take on all challengers with his Dufferin 2 piece Billy cue and walk away with the cash as well .
Last I heard he lives in Iowa I'd like to catch up with him , I missed my chance he came back to Billings for his brother's funeral ( Billy )

 

[RacerX750]

I'm using a Cuetec Cynergy SVB Dakota Edition now. I can't play like Shane, but the cue helped me to be more consistent than any other. Hit, feel, whatever, I trust my stroke better when using it. And that makes the cue ball listen to me more often.
I doubt it's the best overall because we respond individually to different cue characteristics.

 

[dirtvictim]

In the early sixties a road player told me if you can’t take a house cue off the wall and beat everyone in the house then don’t even think about it. He also said don’t necessarily look for the straitest cue, look for a cue with the best tip.

So true. The best player I ever knew Bruce Campbell RIP would win using a chalked up broom stick, not kidding. He said your best game is played with a consistently chalked and shaped tip.