Why did this cue play so well?

Slider

Slider

S.F. Bay Area
Silver Member
During my misspent youth, I whiled the days away at Lucky Lanes bowling alley in San Pablo, CA. The pool room was operated at the time by an old boy by the name of "Tex". A few road players would roll through there, and there was quite a bit of action, which I found intoxicating to be around. There were about 7 well-maintained 9' Gold Crowns, and one 5x10 converted snooker table. We played 9-Ball almost exclusively, but my friends and I bought ol' Tex quite a few "Giant Hamburgers" by way of friendly wager on One Pocket. Good times.

There was a well-used house cue that was always kept behind the counter, and it was reserved for the use of a select few players. It was an old Brunswick, with a good-sized splinter of wood missing from the butt end, but the most interesting thing about the cue was the shaft. It had been sanded down a lot over the years, and was probably on the order of 10mm - maybe less - with a fairly long taper. The cue looked goofy, because the ferrule was larger in diameter than the shaft, almost 13mm, and simply glued on, creating a noticeable step where the two met.

If the cues "designated user" wasn't in the house, Tex would let me play with it, and it was one of the best hitting cues I can remember playing with. As expected, there was a ton of cueball 'action' available if you needed it, but its accuracy seemed exceptional, in spite of the fact that I was in the habit of using english on almost every shot. It also slipped through a closed bridge smooth as silk. So now I'm wondering... What was it about that cue that made it play so well? I've considered having something like it made from an old beat-up shaft, just to see if maybe there was really something special about that configuration.

Ken
 
I would say it was more the lore behind it and the good feeling of being one of the chosen ones who got to play with it that made it play so well. ;)
Its a shame that...... having something like that.... something special to alot of people, especially in ones youth... doesnt happen much these days. Kids are jaded, and nothing is good enough anymore. Sad part of the times we live in. :(
I had an old one piece when I was 10 or so that I bought and left at a bar my dad used to take me to so I could play. It was a solid piece of maple, but the butt was painted black to make it look like it was an ebony spliced house cue. My dad sat there with a pocket knife and carved out an 8 ball in the paint at the very butt end of the cue to make it mine. I felt damn special when I played with that cue, and wish I had it now....... :)
Chuck
 
I know a few guy's That like thier shafts like that.. I myself have played with them and they feel confortable. but as far as spin was concerned they seemed pretty normal to me. I did notice I seemed to see the balls better, but not sure why.. So I couldnt say it was the taper..


SPINDOKTOR
 
It kind of makes sense to me. A thin shaft should have lower deflection than normal (certainly lower than a normal house cue). But a fatter tip should ensure that you get a solid hit on the cue ball. I'm somewhat intrigued myself. I would never want to be seen with such an ugly cue though! However, I can think of a certain notorious pro who may be looking for some new equipment at the moment, who also has a penchant for doing strange things to his cues...;-)
 
Not directly, but in a way related to your initial post. One can never be 100% sure of the exact recipe for what makes a great hitting/playing cue. The other day, a kid brought a brand new Lucasi to me to give it a light sanding. Nothing to affect the taper. More or less removing the sticky 'gunk' that new cues often come with. After a couple of turns, I put a Moori M on it and started hitting a few balls with it, and in all honesty, this was one of the better cues I have ever played with!! I couldn't believe it! The deflection was there, but minimal, and most of all, easily predictable. Draw was there, follow, widening and tightening lines..................all of it was there. And to top it off, the cue had that sound that I've only heard come from two other cues in my lifetime, and both of those cues were SWs! I was amazed while at the same time a little disappointed. I play with a Wes Hunter cue that I have sworn by for as long as I have owned it. I'm proud of the way it plays, and especially proud of the way it looks. (Wes tends to make a very non-traditional looking cue, and I've always considered his taste borderline ugly!! But, mine is the best looking and closest to traditional I've ever seen! http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=25733)
Back to my disappointment. If it weren't for the pride factor, the plastic inlays, and other details that reek of production 'fast food' cue, that Lucasi could easily replace my Hunter on any given day! And at a fraction of the price!! Just goes to say, that a magic wand can be found almost anywhere be it an expensive custom, or a production line cheapie.
Keep in mind that I don't mean to belittle Lucasi cues. My first cue was a Lucasi. I've just never played one that I liked until the other day.
dave
 
I hear you Dave. I have been "Lucky" 3 times in my career with finding that hit.
1. Black Boar
2. Lucasi with the laminated radial shaft
3. Schon thats in my case right now

A bunch of others have come close, but when you get the hit......you know it! The only way I can explain it is the cue goes through the CB and not deflect off the CB.

Gerry
 
Slider said:
During my misspent youth, I whiled the days away at Lucky Lanes bowling alley in San Pablo, CA. The pool room was operated at the time by an old boy by the name of "Tex". A few road players would roll through there, and there was quite a bit of action, which I found intoxicating to be around. There were about 7 well-maintained 9' Gold Crowns, and one 5x10 converted snooker table. We played 9-Ball almost exclusively, but my friends and I bought ol' Tex quite a few "Giant Hamburgers" by way of friendly wager on One Pocket. Good times.

There was a well-used house cue that was always kept behind the counter, and it was reserved for the use of a select few players. It was an old Brunswick, with a good-sized splinter of wood missing from the butt end, but the most interesting thing about the cue was the shaft. It had been sanded down a lot over the years, and was probably on the order of 10mm - maybe less - with a fairly long taper. The cue looked goofy, because the ferrule was larger in diameter than the shaft, almost 13mm, and simply glued on, creating a noticeable step where the two met.

If the cues "designated user" wasn't in the house, Tex would let me play with it, and it was one of the best hitting cues I can remember playing with. As expected, there was a ton of cueball 'action' available if you needed it, but its accuracy seemed exceptional, in spite of the fact that I was in the habit of using english on almost every shot. It also slipped through a closed bridge smooth as silk. So now I'm wondering... What was it about that cue that made it play so well? I've considered having something like it made from an old beat-up shaft, just to see if maybe there was really something special about that configuration.

Ken
Click to expand...

It's hard to dupicate the hit and feel of a good, well balanced house cue. You'll often hear cuemakers talk about dupicating the one piece hit.
 
The Hit.....

jay helfert said:
It's hard to dupicate the hit and feel of a good, well balanced house cue. You'll often hear cuemakers talk about dupicating the one piece hit.
Click to expand...

Jay (is this the same Jay from the Al Gore/Inconvenient Truth Fan Club?;) )

I've had/have three cues that have, for me, absolutely memorable hits. The only thing in common with those three is that they have or had a radial pin in them.

I mentioned this to one of the local cuemakers here and we decided to do the the pool cue version of the "Pepsi Challenge". We picked 4 one piece house type cues (inexpensive Action cues) that we both agreed hit pretty darn sporty.

He did his thing and put a radial pin in two of them and left the other two intact. All four cues had the same tip, approximate same weight etc etc. We duct taped over the middle of the cues so we couldn't see which had been "jointified" and which hadn't.

We just couldn't tell the difference. The one cue that I was sure was unjointed did have the radial pin.

Although neither one of us wanted to drag the cues into the pool room to extend the participants in the "Cue Challenge" - we were satisfied with our results.

The next part of the challenge should be to take the two cues that were not jointed and put in a 3/8 10 or 11 and see what difference that makes.

But screwing around like doesn't pay real well so we bagged it:p .

I'm betting that Al Gore could give GW Bush the break and play him 10 to 5 and clean his clock.

Keith
 
Funnily enough I came across a house cue similar to that a few weeks ago, although it was a 2 piece. Very skinny towards the middle of the shaft then getting thicker again towards the tip. I even showed it to my buddy because I'd really never seen anything like it. I picked it out to use as a break cue but damn, it had a nice hit to it!
 
While glancing at this thread this morning and reading all of the interesting replies, I remembered the name of the fellow who "owned" that old cue, and an interesting story to go with it.

Ray was one of the established players in the room, probably in his late 20's, and a smooth, "Bobby Vinton" type. He was always dressed nice, slacks and a sweater, as if he was on his way to impress some nice young lady's parents. He was no slouch on the table, and had a very businesslike style of play - not a lot of flash to his game. I never heard of him gambling, but I do remember him playing some straight pool occasionally with a nice old guy with one leg who went by the name of "Whitey". Mostly though, Ray spent a lot of time minding the counter or just sitting back there with Tex, shooting the bull.

Gary, on the other hand was one of the "Tough Guys" who hung around. He was a lanky Italian kid around 22, with the stereotypical pompadour, pumped arms, and a black lowrider '64 Impala. He had a parochial school upbringing, and was well-mannered around the room, (not really a choice with Tex running the place) but it was well-known that he didn't mind a good fight, and you always heard stories about him being involved in some kind of shady business in his free time. Always had plenty of cash in his pocket. As a player, he was damn good, and could pull off some pretty amazing tricks, the most impressive of which were wingshots. His 9-ball game was fast, confident and showy, and he played with a lot of "juice" on the ball. Not too many people would gamble with him because there was just no percentage in it. He wasn't the best around, but he came up near the top of the stack as far as the regulars went.

Well, one evening I rolled in and everyone was talking about the match between Ray and Gary that had just gone down that afternoon. It turned out that Gary had walked in feeling a little froggy and started woofing at Ray, and Ray didn't back down. When it was all over, Ray had given Gary some very expensive lessons, busting him using that goofy-looking "Shade-tree Predator" behind the counter. I was impressed and surprised, so I asked Ray how in the hell he had managed to beat Gary. He just smiled and said, "Never play your best for free."
 
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