As told to me by another player who said he witnessed it:
Earl is playing in a tournament on the Florida tour in the mid 80s and is complaining about his cue having too much deflection. He misses a shot and break the cue over his knee, throws it into the garbage and grabs a cue off the wall to finish his match. Bob Meucci is sitting there and says to Earl, This cue I made doesn't have deflection, give it a try. Earl takes the cue and starts playing with it. A few games later he misses a shot, and breaks the butt of the cue over his knee. He walks back to Bob and hands him the cue and says, "Now it doesn't have any deflection!"