which conical wood shaft? Z3 or WX900?

C

CanadianGuy

Well-known member
I'm going to try moving back to my old school preference of a wood player with stiffer conical shaft,
currently using a Mezz Ignite, I'm finding carbon far too slick and slippery when using an open bridge and shooting glove, went back to an old wooden beater to test this theory and problem was no more

any suggestions please on a good wooden conical shaft? at the moment Z3 and WX900 are at the top of my list
 
CanadianGuy said:
I'm going to try moving back to my old school preference of a wood player with stiffer conical shaft,
currently using a Mezz Ignite, I'm finding carbon far too slick and slippery when using an open bridge and shooting glove, went back to an old wooden beater to test this theory and problem was no more

any suggestions please on a good wooden conical shaft? at the moment Z3 and WX900 are at the top of my list
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I love the WX900. It’s the lowest deflecting shaft I’ve ever used - way less deflection than the Ignite shaft. It also feels and sounds way better than a Z3. If you don’t have an issue with a conical taper, this is a great choice.
 
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Played with both (and also the other few Mezz shafts), I like the Z3 2/4 times, meaning two of the Z3 shafts I have used I like better, two I did not like as much but the other two were 'tuned' so not quite a Z3. Carbon and a glove for sure would make things loose pretty much all friction and can at times feel a bit odd, you want a bit of feedback from the shaft IMHO. But, if you like the Ignite, just don't use a glove with it, issue solved.

I am actually not really a fan of any of the Mezz shafts I played with, including the Ignite, which I do like, but it's 4th on my list of CF shafts, and the other Mezz shafts fall in the "meh" category for me, a bit like Pechaur and the LD McDermott shafts, just never found any of those I like either enough over a Z3 or several custom shafts I have from a local cuemaker, or my Revo.
 
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I don't think the z3 is truly conical- I seem to recall it's a hybrid taper ?
I'm curious to see if any custom cuemakers get recommended here
hope you find a good one tho..I admire the conical cue shape as well
 
The WX900 is pretty hard to beat. Slight issue might be that they're no longer being made but I guess if you really like it just pick up 1 spare and you're good for 10-20 years.
 
As someone who was playing with a Z2 for decades and was faced with having to move to something more current since it's discontinuation. I can say that although the Z3 seemed like the next best thing, it really wasn't. Nothing I found on the market had a similar deflection rate to the Z2. The reality here is that given enough time a player should be able to fully adapt to a different shaft. Although the Z3 played well enough, it wasn't the same. This is what spurred me into action with an equipment overhaul.

This brings in the Mezz product (Exceed). The stock wx700 my cue came with played fine enough, but it was like playing with a club at 12.5mm. I bought a BNIB 30" wx900 (12mm) from a forum member here as an experiment. Although, it was closer to my beloved Z2, it still was much closer to the Z3 then anything else. I could play with any of them. However my 'comfort' wasn't there. Always felt like I was battling something.

As a last resort, I gave the otherwise flawless wx900 to my cue guy and told him to lop off the extra 1" of length, and turn it down to the Z2 stock dimension of 11.75mm. He over shot it a little bit and I ended up with 11.6mm. However after years of play my Z2 is closer to 11.6 then the stock dimension, so lets call it a happy accident.

Long story short... If you prefer a conical shaft and have ever enjoyed the hit/feel of the Z2. It's worth the experiment of turning down a wx900 to Z2 spec. The day this modified shaft got into my hands, I was lights out with it. Us small tip, conical taper guys simply struggle with the mop handles most pool players use. Playing with the thinner wx900 was like a deep breath of familiar air.

This thread has reminded me to purchase a couple of wx900's before they disappear from the market. Shame Mezz is moving away from the wx700/900 series of shafts. The 700 I understand. It was just another pro-taper. However the 900 was the only wood conical they had, I think...
 
Double-Dave said:
The WX900 is pretty hard to beat. Slight issue might be that they're no longer being made but I guess if you really like it just pick up 1 spare and you're good for 10-20 years.
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I'm glad I read your post. I'm going to find an extra while I can!

A few years ago, I bought a black Mezz cue to match the Ignite shaft. However, the Ignite was fairly new and back-ordered, so I got a wx900 until the carbon shafts became available. Well, I fell in love the wx900 and dropped my plans to change to CF.

To the OP, I've haven't played with the Z3, so I can't answer your question. However, I do have a Z2 and find it quite dead feeling compared to the wx900. I hope you fine one you like.
 
Mobiker said:
I'm glad I read your post. I'm going to find an extra while I can!
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I ordered one this afternoon from Mezzusa... ;)

Almost went for two, but figured the Z2 is still going strong after nearly 20yrs so I can't imagine wearing out 2 wx900's....lol
 
I've played a couple z shafts and didn't like the hit....coulda been the tip idk. they weren't my shafts.
. I have a wx900 that I played with for about 6 months exclusively. It took me a while to get used to the way it shoots but once I got settled in with it I played great. I did have a problem of fanning the cueball withit when using extreme high.... for some reason...not often but I would do it say every 15 games.(i think its because i wasnt used to the balance and light weight of it compared to a 12.5 plus solid maple shaft who knows? But after a few weeks I never did it again when using it

My opinion is it felt better than the predator. Something about the Z that made me not want to use it after ten minutes with it.

I have a 31 inch viking conical taper shaft 11.75 mil that I really like too. It's the shaft I prefer for 8 ball on a 9 footer
 
I played with a 3/8x10 WX900 and can say, it doesn't feel like a 12 mm shaft. Pretty much what everyone already mentioned, it is pretty hard to beat.

It is not whippy and it has a nice sound to it too. Power transfer is also leagues better. Though I had to put it back in the case for now as I find the little deflection in the Mezz Ignite and the additional albeit very tiny .2 mm makes a difference for me.

And to your point, sometimes when you play with gloves, the sleekness could be a negative, not for me, I usually play without gloves, and if I ever need one, it's not even a glove, I use an Unglove. 😁
 
garczar said:
Is the 900 still made? Its not on Mezz's home Japanese site.
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They still make this as standard, but getting scarce again. I believe the brand new ones available are the ones with their Shaft Weight System (SWS) - i.e. shafts that you can put tiny weight bolts in
 
Patiktik said:
They still make this as standard, but getting scarce again. I believe the brand new ones available are the ones with their Shaft Weight System (SWS) - i.e. shafts that you can put tiny weight bolts in
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its on sale on the US Mezz site but gone from Japan home site. That usually means its being discontinued.
 
garczar said:
its on sale on the US Mezz site but gone from Japan home site. That usually means its being discontinued.
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This is why I pulled the trigger on the purchase this time around. The last time I read that they were discontinued they were still available on the Mezz home site, so I didn't give it a second thought. Now all I can find on the Mezz site is solid maple in every joint imaginable and their Sigma, Expro and of course the Ignite. None of the wood offerings come with a conical taper.
 
Mezzusa has them for 270. jjcues has them for 254. They are authorized dealers. Idk why they would be discontinued or hard to find?. A lot of vendor have them in stock.
 
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