What makes a cue a GREAT cue?

[vmax4steve]

The late great John Spencer won two of his three world titles with a cue that was as bent as a dogs hind leg with the butt held together with a nail. Now if you fork out five hundred smackers for a handmade John Parris or Trevor White you'll get craftmanship for sure, but what you won't get is that feel, that extension of your arm feel that you get with a cue that you have grown with.
I've had my cue now for twenty five years, last year I had a copy made, same length, balance point, weight and tip size, yet it's dead straight so it should be better, and while I can play o.k. with it, there's an edge missing. If my cue gets damaged or stolen the new one will do, until that day it's two hundred quid wasted.

[cazmac1]

I think you hit the nail on the head. what makes a good cue is one that feels right. Every thing else is cosmetic.

[mick 142]

i think a great cue is a cue you can play all the shots with the same all the time .

[cazmac1]

I'll let you know when I pick it up from H&O tomorrow

[BoBnoGG!n]

i agree with pqj that its got to do with 'feel'. everyones perception of wat a cue can do, or how they use it changes, and because of that, there can be no one great cue that everyone thinks is the best. some people like dead hitting stiff cues that dont flex, if they never play side then who cares right? others need really responsive cues, others who cant tell dont know wat tip to put on. i myself reckon every cue shld b paired with a different tip, depending on how the cue hits. ive spent the last week changing my mates tip and he has got to be the fussiest guy when it comes to tips. he tried a hard elk (one i pikced out). wasnt hard enough (despite the fact hes used elks his whole life) then i tried a hard elk put through a vice, still no good. then he tried a pro granite. too hard, too much throw apparently. then he tried a pro granite thinned all the way down to 1mm. too hard this time. then he tried another elk i picked and put in a vice, played alright, knocked in 2 80's in 5 frames with it. still wasnt happy cause there was throw hitting long distance side. then i walked around the club floor n ripped off a rockhard played in tip from a house cue. put it on. he likes this one. -__-

but admittingly, i could tell what he was talking about with each tip i put on. and for me, that sorta showed me that i should pick different kinds of tips, on different cues, cause every cue feels different. but that feeling isnt always the same for everyone. just cause its great for me doesnt mean its great for them.

[poolqjunkie]

Ultimately if your technique is wrong it does not whatter what equipment you use you will still be useless. however if one looks at tennis raquets for example. No one plays with wooden frames anymore because the wooden frames don't give enough power as graphite frames. Therefor equiment does make a difference provided the player using it is able to utilise the full potential of the equipment he is using.

Yes, I agree. A "great cue" is a delight to have, and makes the game so much more enjoyable. It gives the player confidence, and allows him to play the full range of shot comfortably. Playing with a rubbish cue, on the other hand, is such an agony and a nightmare, it totally takes the enjoyment away from the game.

[damienlch]

...When you find a cue that you really like, it is like you have gotten to know the "sound" your cue makes, you can "talk" to your cue and you are now connected. A cue with a "sound" that you can really connect to is unique and very precious. You may never find another cue with the same "sound" ever again.

...Does this make any sense?

pqj, there's this japanese anime "Bleach" which has been going on forever (nearing 300 episodes!!) but seems to be coming to a finale... main gist is about good guys "Soul Reapers" vs evil spirits (Hollows) and baddies renegade reapers...

each Soul Reaper wields his own sword but in order to really "own" the sword, he has to be able to connect with his sword... to literally hear the sword and talk to it. each sword is a unique personified character and its wielder has to enter into his sword's inner world, get tested and prove himself to be a worthy owner before the sword finally acknowledges him and allows its owner to release its hidden powers in a mode called "Bankai"... only few attain Bankai and they would usually be of captain status... except the lead character, he is only a substitute soul reaper but becomes the most powerful of them all.

so, to cut a long story short... yes, what u say makes total sense to me, but then again, i'm drawing parallel from a japanese anime...

[cazmac1]

I do have a theory about cue's and that is that when you strike the white ball perfectly dead centre the cue will bend, this is a fact, so as we've seen on tv slow motion replays the time the tip/cue is in contact with the white ball is much longer than we think. So if you imagine holding the cue so that the arrows are on top and now say that the cue weak spot is from left to right or right to left the cue will throw the white even with dead centre striking.
This means the ideal cue/shaft weak spot should be up to down or down to up as this would not throw the white off. I personly think the weak spot on the cue should bend down to up. I'm sure their are machines out the there that can measure the weak spot/nautral bend of the cue regardless on grain.

[glaken]

I think one of my friends said it best when I was looking for my cue and that your cue is your friend on the table, something you know and are used too and can give you that feeling of not being totally alone in front of the green baize. However I am still saving for my Trevor White so what do I know lol.

[poolqjunkie]

I re-read the original post and I want to point out that even if you put all the "ingredients" the original poster mentioned together, i.e. good timber, solid joint...you still may not get a great cue.
A "great cue" is all about the way it feels and the way it sounds when striking the ball.
A cue maker does not need to be a great player, but he needs to understand the concepts behind the "why" and "how" of cues. If not, he might be making very beautiful looking cues, but not great cues with great playability.

[Inoffthered]

So if you got the talent and the cue is half decent I't don't matter too much, not at our level anyhow.
I became obcessed with the cue and this as held me back, If your constantly thinking about the cue your not thinking about whats really going wrong with your game and you won't improve.
Just my view anyhow.

So true... you loving your TW more now Caz?

[Inoffthered]

I'll let you know when I pick it up from H&O tomorrow

Oh wow... you went and got an H&O now? Let us know how it plays...

[jrc750]

I think he got them to modify some of his cues he already has
(JP & TW i think)

[cazmac1]

Oh wow... you went and got an H&O now? Let us know how it plays...

I wish, no after visiting del hill for coaching he said that my bridge over hang was too much and advise me to hold the cue futher up the butt. I could not get used to it and found i kept going back to the long bridge so I put my TW in to have it shorten. Picking it up to day along with my JP (had some work done on the joint).

[cazmac1]

went to H&O today met Neil and his kids and Robert, Robert done a great job on the ques. I popped into the club quickly on the way home but think it to early to make any judements.

On a different note and back on topic, How much does the throw of the que play in what makes a good cue, and how can it be measured, and does maple throw less than ash?
In another thread it was apparent that a lot of players have won the WC with maple cues. yet people seem to think ash is better, including me.