In response to the first review, I have recently 'broken in' 3 Schon shafts, one of which was from Seyberts, and they all felt a little rough when I first got them. I used the leather side of my qwiz every time I played for the first week, and it smoothed right out. My theory is that the grain needs to get filled with something (sweat, q silk, shaft conditioner) before it will become smooth. The heat from the qwiz seems to speed the process along. Small price to pay for an awesome cue. I'd rather break it in myself than have a layer of wax on it like I've seen in other cues.
Also, I am a believer in 'more inlays = less solid hit'. I owned a schon cx cue before my stl-1. Although the cx still played better than any other production cue in my opinion, the stl-1 hands down plays way better.

This is my first Schon cue. It's beautifully made, has a solid hit, and the balance is very good. While I have only played with it for a few days now, I'm getting better action on my hits then with my others cues. This Schon is definitely a step up from other cues I have played with.

One minor complaint: I had the shaft taken down from the standard 13mm to 12.5mm. But they didn't smooth the shaft out; it had a fairly rough finish that I had to spend sometime smoothing out.

i have owned several schon cues and love the hit.if you want a cue with a stiff straight hit it is the cue for you.i have never been bothered by the price because to me you get your moneys worth with this cue.