Help!!! I am going nuts picking a cue

[Tim the Crazy Canadian]

I have been twisting and turning at night trying to figure out what cue to buy. I was convinced I was going to buy the Viking VM19 (love the design) but tried my friend's Mcdermott Sunrise and liked the feel. I am considering a Mcdermott Genesis model because I like the plain look (half the price of the Viking though not the reason for my decision). The problem is I cannot hit both side by side so I have no idea what I would like best. There are so many opinions. What I want is a solid cue hit with a medium/stiff shaft. A player in my town said that Viking is a bit whippier than Mcdermott but from what I have read here that is not accurate (more confusion). I would appretiate any opinions and would love to hear from anyone who has hit both cues.

I want to buy myself a Xmas present!!

Currently own a Meucci with a predator shaft (soon to be for sale).

Thx,

Tim

http://www.poolplayers.com/ntc99/9-ball.html

I'm Tim D. - the idiot with his eye's closed in the bottom left - just call me forrest[/url]

[parrothead]

Tim,

I have very little experience with Mcdermott, however I have owned several Viking cues. I think that Viking has one of the best hitting, solid shafts that you can get. Mine have never felt whippy, and actually to the contrary. They seem stiff to me, at 12.75mm my viking feels much stiffer than my Joss shaft at 13mm. Also Viking has done a great job engineering their shafts to have very low deflection for a one piece shaft. I think that you would be very happy with a Viking.

[skor]

a Meucci with a Predator shaft !!!!!
sound like a great combo, what's wrong with what you have,
If you want a great xmas present get some pool lessons from a pro or someone who can show you what you can do with the predator shaft that most players don't even know

[Poolman]

I got my Viking VM-7 two months ago. I really love the cue, after a few weeks adjusting to it. This was probably due to the fact that I also have a predator 314 shaft, which was completely new to me.
I never played a McDermott, but the Viking is really superb.
The Viking shaft is very good, but the predator 314 gives you the advantage to use tremendous amounts of spin.

Hopefully this helps you making your cue decision. I know what you're going through, I've spend a lot of hours searching the internet for THAT cue.

My advice: don't rush it, just look at all the brands, all their cues and don't look at the price too much. After all, what's $ 200 extra when you gonna play it for years to come, it's a couple of cents per hour extra!
I thought that the $ 600 (ex. 314) was/is a lot of money, but everytime I look at it and play with it, I get a good feeling, plus a lot of pool players really like my cue which makes it worth EVERY single penny. :D