Who makes forward balanced cues?
- Thread starter Catamount
- Start date
Good question. I have no idea who makes cues that are forward balanced.
What I did is install a Balance Rite between the cue shaft and butt. It adds almost 4" of length to the cue and 2oz. of weight in the middle of the cue.
My cue, without the BR is 17.4oz (changed out the butt screw). With the BR the weight is 19.4oz.
With this setup the cue, to me, feels more balanced. I don't care for a butt heavy cue.
The balance point is now at 21" and is 62 1/2" long. I'm 6'2 so the extra length was a bonus.
I can say, that if you can find a cue maker who will build you a cue butt made of ebony with maple where the wrap goes you will find a more balanced cue. (no steel joint)
Have fun
John
Brunswick made the Willie Hoppe cues, those are the pinnacle of rear weighted, I love them.
Titlist
My old 1930's or early 40's Brunswick Willie hoppe was converted by Murrell
and it's very forward balanced. It took a little getting use to because I liked rear weighted
cues. But now that I got use to this forward balance my game has went up a ball
maybe even two.
My old 1930's or early 40's Brunswick Willie hoppe was converted by Murrell
and it's very forward balanced. It took a little getting use to because I liked rear weighted
cues. But now that I got use to this forward balance my game has went up a ball
maybe even two.
Yeah, but he thinned the handle. The original cues were monstrously thick in the back end.
Stainless steel joints are a common means for providing a forward balance in a cue, but they are not a guarantee. My old Joss has a 15 oz. butt and a 5/16x14 piloted SS joint, but only balances at 19" if the shafts are >4 oz.
All but one of my cues have SS joints to keep the balance above 19". Since all of those SS joint screws are 5/16x14, my shafts are mostly interchangeable.
Try Pechauer too. Their break cues are forward weighted. Perhaps they make some players with ahead balance as well.
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Not arguing or picking at you...
I am holding a Hoppe right now. Just measured it. 57 inch cue with a balance point a hair over 18 inches from the butt.
Seems fairly on par with everything else that is posted. The ones that are posting 58 inch cues with 19 inch balance points call them forward balanced and don't seem far off from this Hoppe cue. Unless that fraction of an inch difference is what we are talking about? The Hoppe cue lays as firmly in my bridge hand as my block letter JOSS, my Dayton, and my Espiritu to name a few.
Incidentally, this Hoppe is all original, "as new", and not the later Asian made unit.
As far as I remember I haven't seen anything truly rear balanced that wasn't essentially a K-Mart cue, as in made of ramin wood with removable weights in the back.
Even then, the question is who makes (present tense) a rear balanced cue. I honestly don't know any.
.
Schon
Keith in Colorado
Keith in Colorado
I wouldn't put Nitti in this category.
I have one Nitti and when I ordered it I did not specify any balance point so his default,
which is what this cue has, is 17 1/4".
It weights 18.5 oz and feels like there's clearly more weight in the right hand than a
Lambros I have that weights exactly 19.0 oz....
I'm only using these cues as a comparison because they're both my players these days,
and the difference is very striking when you go back and forth.
If you didn't have a scale you'd definitely think the Nitti was much heavier.
Put them on the scale and there's a clear 1/2 oz difference.
The Lambros is balanced at 18 1/2".
Since I hate LD's I measured both cues with one of their original shafts.
The shaft on the Nitti is 3.90 oz and the one on the Lambros is 3.55 oz.
All this being said Nitti can do anything the op orders with ease.
His cues are amazing, craftsmanship second to none, and the hit is really nice.
Schon and Josey
Jim Buss and Espiritu.
Both thin with heavy SS collars.
Both thin with heavy SS collars.