Help with a good list of some of the highest quality Snooker cues?

[itsnoteasy]

correct me if i'm wrong,, but i think it also depends on kind of wood !!

higher temperatures—combined with pollution from auto exhaust and farms—
are making t wood less in term of density .

The wood physical characteristics- elasticity, and strength,
depends on the climate where the tree is grown.
Difference in characteristics means difference in playability of t wood .
as simple as that .
these vintage cues ,,CC is talking about ,, were mainly made from English ash.
piece of wood which is grown in Europe ( less warm and more humid climate ) .

I remember my first cue ( craftsman ) many years ago.
The ratio between stiffness /density of
that piece of wood was just about perfect . both around was 9/10.
i could create as much as spin as i wanted and the cue had 00 deflection .
I called David Brown at the time to ask him what kind of ash he had used .
He said , English ash.
I am wondering what kind of wood ,thai cuemakers are using .
I did ask Ton Praram few years ago ragarding this matter . He preferred not to share
information.

Which is from a business point of view , understandable !! it's his right not to do so if he do'nt want to.

This is just my thinking but I can't see any way Thai cues are made from English Ash, the main reason being is we don't produce enough for the of cues that gets churned out from Thailand.
I'm not sure how the Ash die back has affected the availability of Ash boards, maybe one of the cue makers could tell us.

[itsnoteasy]

You should look for something with a pro taper which means the tip end is like a dowell and only starts to taper to the butt about fifteen inches from the ferrule. My old machine spliced racker that I won all my pool trophies with had a pro taper, 11mm tip and no ferrule but had great feel due to the pro taper which makes it less stiff at the business end.
American pool cues are pro tapered but for a different reason as they believe that the tip is delivered less accurately due to the rising taper of traditional snooker cues, a good theory but theory and practise are two different things.
The thing is that pro tapers don't work very well with cues that have small ferrules, a 9mm dowelled shaft in the bridge would feel quite narrow, probably why my old racker felt so good with an 11mm tip.

I've often thought about that Vmax, also thought about an older cue, for some reason I have it in my head they aren't as stiff. Some of these Thai and Chinese cues I've tried it's like playing with an iron bar, my cue is so quiet, it has a nice low dull sound, with the other cues I have tried various tips but it doesn't matter what tip I try putting on them to dampen down the noise I get that awful Ping from the hit. Also the feel of the shot is like hitting a stinger on a cold day at the golf.

[cueman]

The reason Thai cues are so stiff is because they are essentially a 3/4 length so therefore stiffer than a normal full length shaft. It's only recently that some of the Thai cue makers are now offering FS or full shafts now but they are charging a premium for them.

Not only that but every one I've seen listed, the balance points seem mostly less than the ideal 17". Some around 15-16".
I imagine a full shaft Thai cue won't be as stiff, though I'd hate to pay a premium for a cue with a balance point less than 17".

[Ramon]

This is just my thinking but I can't see any way Thai cues are made from English Ash, the main reason being is we don't produce enough for the of cues that gets churned out from Thailand.
I'm not sure how the Ash die back has affected the availability of Ash boards, maybe one of the cue makers could tell us.

yep, agreed .

Given the total NR of cues produced by thai cue makers every year,, !!! wel ..
no, most definitely not enough !!
Canada could be a option . Import from Canada is not gonna be cheap , tho .
Not to mention import duty which is around 18% ( if i'm not mistaking ) .
Malaysia and singapore also exp ash wood . In fact the cheapest in t market.
( in term of Prices , of cours ) .

[vmax]

I've often thought about that Vmax, also thought about an older cue, for some reason I have it in my head they aren't as stiff. Some of these Thai and Chinese cues I've tried it's like playing with an iron bar, my cue is so quiet, it has a nice low dull sound, with the other cues I have tried various tips but it doesn't matter what tip I try putting on them to dampen down the noise I get that awful Ping from the hit. Also the feel of the shot is like hitting a stinger on a cold day at the golf.

You could send one of your stiff cues to a cuemaker and get it pro tapered but it might need to be cut down to at least a true 10mm tip size or maybe a tad more as that's fine for snooker, no need for these very small tip sizes for snooker really. That pearwood cue I've just made with a 10.5mm tip is great for snooker and takes me back to my old 11mm racker that I played so well with, wish I'd kept it