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New cue advice please

Postby CC2020

Hi

I have misplaced my cue, which gives me a good opportunity to buy myself a christmas present!, however I am not familiar with what constitutes a good cue and so am seeking some guidance.

I'd had the cue over a decade, i considered it a decent cue, it had cost about £90, was a 3 piece and was unbranded. I didn't really like the feel of the cue going through my table hand due to the way it was coated.

I play both pool and snooker, but i will predominantly use the cue for snooker. I'm not great at snooker! (max break is mid 20s, average in the 10s!) But am better at pool!

I once used a friends Parris cue and loved it, because it felt well balanced, was a good weight (dont know what weight) and felt good sliding on my hand. Unfortunately they are slightly out of my budget! My budget is £130 max.

My gut feel is that I would like a lighter cue as i think it gives more of a 'feel' for playing a shot (i've noticed this when using pub sticks).

Regarding configurations, this is not something i've come across before, so not sure of the benefits of one over the other?

All advice appreciated!

Thanks!

Re: New cue advice please

Postby CC2020

Thanks! All advice appreciated.

I said “misplaced” but I don’t misplace things... it’s been nabbed either by a car clean place or someone doing some work in my garage... I don’t know which and can’t prove it either way :(

I think a decade is a good run and am looking forward to treating myself to a new cue!

Re: New cue advice please

Postby chengdufan

Hi CC, welcome to the forum.

I play with a Jianying cue. My friend bought it for £25 but shortly afterwards his parents bought him a cue as a birthday present, so he sold the Jianying to me for £15.

It's a two piece, and came with case, extensions, sand paper, cloth etc. But most importantly, it's straight and super smooth. It plays beautifully. I've been playing the best snooker of my life since buying the cue.
I've seen expensive cues and been lucky enough to try a few. They've all felt similar to my Jianying to be honest.

Point is, you don't need to spend much to get a good cue. If you're playing once every week or two, look at the less expensive options, first check it's straight, run it through your hand and see if you like the feel. At the end of the day, they're all pieces of wood.

Fully expect the 50+ break guys to come on here and strongly disagree with this.
If you're expecting to get serious at snooker, play regularly and move up to the 50+, 100+ break level, you should probably listen to them.

Re: New cue advice please

Postby Badsnookerplayer

Chengdu - I entirely agree with you.

I play with a cue I found in the rack,

Snooker is played with a cue but from the mind. A great author is not constrained by the pen with which they write.

Re: New cue advice please

Postby Prop

I’ll just echo what others have said - cost is largely irrelevant. Sometimes it’s just a case of trying a load out if you have the chance, and seeing which feels better. Hendry played with a really cheap cue for much of his career. There are a few players at our local club that fit into the ‘all the gear but no idea’ category of club player. Banging on about why their cue is ‘better’. Titanium ferrules, blah blah. And then you watch them play rofl

The majority of my decent snooker was played with a cheap two piece; joined in the centre, with a bend in it! I don’t know where that cue is now but nothing since has felt right, or made any kind of positive impact on my game.

The HQ of Cue Craft isn’t far from me, and they sell from there. They’ve got a little table set up and dozens of cues, from £30 up to hundreds. That would be ideal for you. I’m not sure where you’re based, but depending on your current local restrictions it might be worth you looking for somewhere like that.

Good luck <ok>

Re: New cue advice please

Postby CC2020

Thansk for all the responses!

I agree theres no point in spending loads of cash if i dont need to! and ive often found a rack cue has served me well.

im based in swindon. we have a few snooker halls, but to my knowledge, not a set up that Prop has mentioned where you can try cues out. i'll do some research though to see if there is somewhere driveable later next year where hopefully we can all do a but more.

thanks again. any further advice welcomed.

Re: New cue advice please

Postby rekoons

Yes, all the advice above + maybe worth mentioning it might be a good idea to immediately change the cue tip because the standard tips that come with the cue are not always very good or responsive I’ve heard.
And the cue tip is probably the most important part of your cue.

Re: New cue advice please

Postby CC2020

Great suggestion to go to a 'try before you buy' place. Having researched, there isnt anywhere close by, but there IS one in a place where we visit every Novemeber, so i can wait til next year to book an appointment.

In the meantime, i can get a reasonably decent cue...

What's opinon on this one...? https://cuecraft.com/product/cue-craft- ... ooker-cue/

Thinking maybe selecting lighter weight i.e. 18 or 18.5oz (as mentioned in OP, i *think* i'd prefer a lighter cue for the 'feel' of the shot (and no extension which is £25.99). so delivered will be £33.93...

Is this too much to pay for an 'interim' cue?
Is it sensible to forego the extension?

All opinions appreciated :)

Re: New cue advice please

Postby Prop

CC2020 wrote:Great suggestion to go to a 'try before you buy' place. Having researched, there isnt anywhere close by, but there IS one in a place where we visit every Novemeber, so i can wait til next year to book an appointment.

In the meantime, i can get a reasonably decent cue...

What's opinon on this one...? https://cuecraft.com/product/cue-craft- ... ooker-cue/

Thinking maybe selecting lighter weight i.e. 18 or 18.5oz (as mentioned in OP, i *think* i'd prefer a lighter cue for the 'feel' of the shot (and no extension which is £25.99). so delivered will be £33.93...

Is this too much to pay for an 'interim' cue?
Is it sensible to forego the extension?

All opinions appreciated :)


It’ll be a decently-built cue for the money, and it’d likely make an ideal affordable cue for someone. But... the question is whether that someone is you!

It really does boil down to a bit of a gamble, ordering before you try it. Yes, you can specify the wood, the length, the weight and so on, but this is an organic object - it’s nearly impossible to make 2 cues from the same wood and to identical specifications that then go on to actually feel identical in application.

I’m not trying to put you off here, more trying to make you aware of how much of a lottery it can be.

If you’re willing to take the hit if it turns out you don’t like the cue, by all means go for it, on the off-chance that you love it.

It’s a difficult situation to be looking for a new cue at the minute. Snooker clubs will be closed as far as I know, unless you’re tier 1 or 2, and it sounds like most parts of the country are going to be facing tougher restrictions after Christmas anyway. Is it something that can wait, or are you lucky enough to have access to a table throughout these lockdowns?

Re: New cue advice please

Postby CC2020

Thanks for your thoughts :)

Yes i agree there is certainly no urgent rush. I could use house sticks in the interim.

I did drive past the snoker hall yesterday and it LOOKED open (I best give the snooker hall a call to check!). We are tier 2, potentially to go to 3 i think, but yes i feel a lockdown is coming anyway.

Take your point about the gamble. I took a gamble on my last cue and that was nearly triple the value, so i am willing to take a risk to have a 'personal cue' until i can 'try before you buy'.

I probably need to wait to see how often i feel i can get out to use it over the next year!

cheers

Re: New cue advice please

Postby SnookerEd25

Snooker club near me was open when we were tier 2 in October...

Re: New cue advice please

Postby Johnny Bravo

Badsnookerplayer wrote:Chengdu - I entirely agree with you.

I play with a cue I found in the rack,

Snooker is played with a cue but from the mind. A great author is not constrained by the pen with which they write.

You're right and wrong at the same time. Yes, if we take a top player/natural talent like Ronnie, Trump, Hendry, Ding, they will be able to play well with any cue, but make no mistake, they won't play at the same level with a cheap cue as they would with a high end cue.

Re: New cue advice please

Postby Iranu

Johnny Bravo wrote:
Badsnookerplayer wrote:Chengdu - I entirely agree with you.

I play with a cue I found in the rack,

Snooker is played with a cue but from the mind. A great author is not constrained by the pen with which they write.

You're right and wrong at the same time. Yes, if we take a top player/natural talent like Ronnie, Trump, Hendry, Ding, they will be able to play well with any cue, but make no mistake, they won't play at the same level with a cheap cue as they would with a high end cue.

Funny that you include Hendry in that considering he won all his world titles and almost every title he won with a £40 cue.

Re: New cue advice please

Postby AlfGit

If you take the game seriously, or intend to, do not choose a cue based on price. Snooker is a relatively cheap sport to get into anyway. Whatever you get is going to be far cheaper than, say, a decent set of golf clubs.

As you get better, you get more and more tuned to your cue. The last thing you want is to have to change your cue every few years because they're developing problems. Get a quality cue that you can trust to last because your time practising with it will be by far your biggest investment.

I play with a Mastercue 3/4 length that I had custom made in Thailand in 2004. I knew the weight, length and tip size that I wanted, but as others have said, no two cues play the same. It took me a little while to adjust, which I expected, but it was not too bad.

If I was living in the UK, I would probably have gone with a Parris, but the wait time of around a year was a huge obstacle. I have been very happy with my cue and it still plays as well as when it was new. Of course, I never let it out of my sight, and it is oiled and maintained as it should be. I fully expect it to outlast me.

Re: New cue advice please

Postby Running side

I prefer older secondhand cue,was given a Burroughs and Watts at 14,one piece fantastic grain straight as a barrel. Loved that cue,best break, lost in van fire.Repleced with another secondhand cuecraft, took 6 months to feel comfortable but happy now.Depends where you live but i would recommend secondhand market, cue should be ready to play rather than the flat tipped new ones if there's a chance to try before buy.

Re: New cue advice please

Postby Johnny Bravo

Iranu wrote:
Johnny Bravo wrote:
Badsnookerplayer wrote:Chengdu - I entirely agree with you.

I play with a cue I found in the rack,

Snooker is played with a cue but from the mind. A great author is not constrained by the pen with which they write.

You're right and wrong at the same time. Yes, if we take a top player/natural talent like Ronnie, Trump, Hendry, Ding, they will be able to play well with any cue, but make no mistake, they won't play at the same level with a cheap cue as they would with a high end cue.

Funny that you include Hendry in that considering he won all his world titles and almost every title he won with a £40 cue.

It was around 40 £ when he bought it, nowadays it would be at least 100 £ if we adjust for inflation.