Cue make/model advice please

[MarkP]

Hello Frankthered. I agree that I will be best going somewhere to try a few. You've given me a bit of a conundrum now. I was thinking of going to Green Baise in Stockton as they seem to have a good range and get excellent reviews; however, there is a Taylor Made stockist in Kippax. Kippax is half the distance, and the Taylor Made are probably cheaper, but the range would seem to be better in Stockton. Thank you for your help, the Taylor Made do look nice and good value, and well worth considering.

[Cue crafty]

Why not go Craftsman cues in Kippax then?
https://www.craftsmancues.com/

[itsnoteasy]

Yorkshire cue sports in Keighley anywhere near you?

[MarkP]

itsnoteasy, I looked to see if I could do Kippax and Keighley together. I can, but it is almost as long to get to Keighley as it is to Stockton where the range seems better.

Cue crafty, I might well do, but I think I will be making a few phone calls first to check stock, prices etc. in each shop.

[itsnoteasy]

itsnoteasy, I looked to see if I could do Kippax and Keighley together. I can, but it is almost as long to get to Keighley as it is to Stockton where the range seems better.

Cue crafty, I might well do, but I think I will be making a few phone calls first to check stock, prices etc. in each shop.

Ive been to Green baize a few times, its a great shop, it used to be upstairs but they moved it to downstairs and its far better.
Stu Green is a good lad, there is no pressure to buy and you can try as many cues as you want. I went round the whole shop and picked out every cue within my specs, put them all in one rack and spent a couple of hours trying them all on one of the tables. No one hassled me, they just let me be and gave me all the time I needed, you can't ask for more than that.
sometimes the odd pro pops in, last time I got to catch up with Liam Graham, who I knew from playing in the Pro ams in my old club, small world right enough.

[MarkP]

Thank you for the help and advice. Although visiting somewhere to try out cues seemed the best advice, I didn't do that; I bought online. Having looked at the Green Baize website, I realised that if I went in with a budget of, say £200 for a cue, case and extension, I would try the GBL at £225 and think, "I can get the caser and extension later". Then, if I'm trying a £225 cue, I might as well try a Ton Praram at £230 or a Life Cue at £235, or perhaps... Then I would think I've spent so much on the cue that I'd better get a case now to protect it in the car boot, and whilst I'm here, it makes sense to buy the extensions, that way I'll save postage and be sure they fit. By the time I'd done that, I would have doubled my budget.

However Taylor Made cues seemed to get recommended and I looked at SnookerStuff.com where there seemed to be some bundles around the price I wanted to pay. As the owner, Del Smith, is an accredited WPBSA coach, I thought it wouldn't reflect well on him as a coach if he sent out poor quality equipment so I thought it worth taking a chance. I left a message on Del's answer phone and he rang back a few minutes later.. After discussing what I wanted he said he would get back to me in a couple of days after he'd been to his supplier. I placed the order and Del got back to me. He said there weren't many cues in at the time that he thought were any good, but if I was happy with a plain ebony handle, he'd got a very nice one of the spec I wanted. I confirmed that I was happy with this, and the following day my new cue arrived. I have to say, I am delighted with it, and I would recommend having a chat with Del if you are thinking of buying off the internet.