Nick T.
03-10-2005, 02:11 AM
In my opinion butts and shafts should be considered as separate entities whether you are a shooter, a collector, or a combination of the two. If you have more than one cue, then it’s very nice to be able to interchange your shafts and butts.
Let’s leave shafts for later except for weight and length which is usually between 103-113 grams (3.6-4.0 ounces) and close to 29 inches.
Butt weight should be whatever it takes to bring the butt plus shaft weight to whatever you prefer. Most players seem to prefer 19.0 to 19.5 oz butt plus shaft, but Sid or Rick should be able to tell us the average weight requested by Seybert’s buyers. The is no best weight, but heavier than 20 ounces starts to feel like a club instead of a cue. Good quality commercial butts (such as Predator) have weight screws, so it’s easy to achieve your desired weight. A good custom cuemaker can build a butt that comes close to your desired weight by judicious selection of materials - - even bringing down the weight of an all ebony cue by using a lighter core in the handle.
Balance: When asked, most players seemed to prefer a balance point about 19” from the butt end. In my opinion you should learn (and specify) the balance point in reference to the joint face without a shaft. Yet again, there is no best balance point.
Length is usually 58 inches for the cue which equates to 29 inches for the butt. Some seem to feel that because they’re very tall they need a longer cue.
Diameter: Most cues have a 1.25 inch diameter at the butt cap. Seems to work for most of us.
Joints: Although these are probably fighting words, IMO there is little difference between the various joint screws available - with the possible exception of Joe Gold’s G-10 epoxy. The big difference is in the joint method and material. If you expect to ever have more than one cue, then it might be a good idea to specify the Uni-Loc joint since it is built to very tight specifications and you will have no trouble matching butts and shafts from different sources. The joint can be all wood, have a thin or thick collar of a different material, or the entire collar can be a different material. Predator uses both the thin-walled and the thick-walled stainless collars on their cues. The joint makes a very large difference in the feel of the cue’s hit, it boils down to a matter of personal reference.
Handle (wrap area): Linen, leather, or no wrap - also purely a matter of person preference.
Appearance: Fancy inlays, invisible glue lines, exotic materials, etc. will not make the cue (or you) play any better! A sneaky pete will not fool anybody! There is a wide range to choose from. Martyne (Sue) Bachmen (http://www.chalkers.com/id49.htm) has a very fancy cue built by Cognoscenti for Jennifer Chen at $35,000 and BilliardCue (http://www.billiardcue.com/) used to have a very plain cue built by Herman Rambow for Willie Mosconi to give to Jackie Gleason also at $35,000.
My preferences & experiences:
Butt weight: When ordering a custom cue I specify a butt weight of 14.5 to 15.25 ounces with a target weight of 14.6 ounces.
Butt balance: When ordering a custom cue I specify a butt only balance point 15.0 to 15.25 inches aft of the joint face. IMO the balance point is more important than the weight for consistency of feel between cues.
Butt length and diameter: 29 inches long and 1.25 inches in diameter works well for me. It allow interchanging off the shelf and custom cues without a change in grip. Unless you bridge more that 12-14 inches from the CB, I don’t think that an extra long cue is needed.
Joint: All of my cues have the Uni-Loc quick release joint screw and the Uni-Loc standard collar diameter of 0.842”. This allows free interchange of shafts and butts. Since I like a softer hit feel I prefer the thin-walled stainless collar on commercial cues (although I really like my Predator wood-to-wood sneaky pete). More expensive, but an even better feel with a linen or ivory collar.
Handle: I prefer no wrap - - if my hands get a little sweaty it’s easy to wipe down the handle. On a custom cue it gives more area to display a nice wood figuring.
Appearance: I get a lot of pleasure from top quality workmanship. My eight year old amboyna burl and snakewood Samsara puts a smile on my face every time I shoot with it as does my african olive, ebony, and ivory PFD Studios cue. As soon as Madame Treasurer gives her approval I’ll be ordering a twin of the Drexler cue substituting amboyna burl for the african olive.
Summary: An expensive cue will not improve your shooting! A few years ago I found an old one piece Dufferin house cue that had the weight, balance, and hit feel that I prefer as well as a lot of dings on the shaft. After spending countless hours raising and smoothing the dings with Snake Oil and light sanding, and more hours burnishing the shaft area - I now have a cue that has a glass smooth shaft and plays as well as my standard of comparison (a Predator P2), all for $25 and a lot of work.
Recommendations: If money is tight, then buy a Predator sneaky pete. If you have a larger budget, then go for a Predator P2. In either case you will get a very good hitting cue with no surprises. If you want a fancier appearance that these cues (I think that the leopard & curly maple with no wrap looks great), then it might be better to go for a custom butt since no matter how fancy your commercial butt looks, there will be thousands of others that are identical to it. I can highly recommend both of the above cuemakers as well as Bob Dzuricky (http://www.DZCues.com/) and Dan Trogdon (http://trogdoncues.com/) in descending order of price.
Let’s leave shafts for later except for weight and length which is usually between 103-113 grams (3.6-4.0 ounces) and close to 29 inches.
Butt weight should be whatever it takes to bring the butt plus shaft weight to whatever you prefer. Most players seem to prefer 19.0 to 19.5 oz butt plus shaft, but Sid or Rick should be able to tell us the average weight requested by Seybert’s buyers. The is no best weight, but heavier than 20 ounces starts to feel like a club instead of a cue. Good quality commercial butts (such as Predator) have weight screws, so it’s easy to achieve your desired weight. A good custom cuemaker can build a butt that comes close to your desired weight by judicious selection of materials - - even bringing down the weight of an all ebony cue by using a lighter core in the handle.
Balance: When asked, most players seemed to prefer a balance point about 19” from the butt end. In my opinion you should learn (and specify) the balance point in reference to the joint face without a shaft. Yet again, there is no best balance point.
Length is usually 58 inches for the cue which equates to 29 inches for the butt. Some seem to feel that because they’re very tall they need a longer cue.
Diameter: Most cues have a 1.25 inch diameter at the butt cap. Seems to work for most of us.
Joints: Although these are probably fighting words, IMO there is little difference between the various joint screws available - with the possible exception of Joe Gold’s G-10 epoxy. The big difference is in the joint method and material. If you expect to ever have more than one cue, then it might be a good idea to specify the Uni-Loc joint since it is built to very tight specifications and you will have no trouble matching butts and shafts from different sources. The joint can be all wood, have a thin or thick collar of a different material, or the entire collar can be a different material. Predator uses both the thin-walled and the thick-walled stainless collars on their cues. The joint makes a very large difference in the feel of the cue’s hit, it boils down to a matter of personal reference.
Handle (wrap area): Linen, leather, or no wrap - also purely a matter of person preference.
Appearance: Fancy inlays, invisible glue lines, exotic materials, etc. will not make the cue (or you) play any better! A sneaky pete will not fool anybody! There is a wide range to choose from. Martyne (Sue) Bachmen (http://www.chalkers.com/id49.htm) has a very fancy cue built by Cognoscenti for Jennifer Chen at $35,000 and BilliardCue (http://www.billiardcue.com/) used to have a very plain cue built by Herman Rambow for Willie Mosconi to give to Jackie Gleason also at $35,000.
My preferences & experiences:
Butt weight: When ordering a custom cue I specify a butt weight of 14.5 to 15.25 ounces with a target weight of 14.6 ounces.
Butt balance: When ordering a custom cue I specify a butt only balance point 15.0 to 15.25 inches aft of the joint face. IMO the balance point is more important than the weight for consistency of feel between cues.
Butt length and diameter: 29 inches long and 1.25 inches in diameter works well for me. It allow interchanging off the shelf and custom cues without a change in grip. Unless you bridge more that 12-14 inches from the CB, I don’t think that an extra long cue is needed.
Joint: All of my cues have the Uni-Loc quick release joint screw and the Uni-Loc standard collar diameter of 0.842”. This allows free interchange of shafts and butts. Since I like a softer hit feel I prefer the thin-walled stainless collar on commercial cues (although I really like my Predator wood-to-wood sneaky pete). More expensive, but an even better feel with a linen or ivory collar.
Handle: I prefer no wrap - - if my hands get a little sweaty it’s easy to wipe down the handle. On a custom cue it gives more area to display a nice wood figuring.
Appearance: I get a lot of pleasure from top quality workmanship. My eight year old amboyna burl and snakewood Samsara puts a smile on my face every time I shoot with it as does my african olive, ebony, and ivory PFD Studios cue. As soon as Madame Treasurer gives her approval I’ll be ordering a twin of the Drexler cue substituting amboyna burl for the african olive.
Summary: An expensive cue will not improve your shooting! A few years ago I found an old one piece Dufferin house cue that had the weight, balance, and hit feel that I prefer as well as a lot of dings on the shaft. After spending countless hours raising and smoothing the dings with Snake Oil and light sanding, and more hours burnishing the shaft area - I now have a cue that has a glass smooth shaft and plays as well as my standard of comparison (a Predator P2), all for $25 and a lot of work.
Recommendations: If money is tight, then buy a Predator sneaky pete. If you have a larger budget, then go for a Predator P2. In either case you will get a very good hitting cue with no surprises. If you want a fancier appearance that these cues (I think that the leopard & curly maple with no wrap looks great), then it might be better to go for a custom butt since no matter how fancy your commercial butt looks, there will be thousands of others that are identical to it. I can highly recommend both of the above cuemakers as well as Bob Dzuricky (http://www.DZCues.com/) and Dan Trogdon (http://trogdoncues.com/) in descending order of price.