Why do you choose ash over maple?

[poolqjunkie]

From the thread started by Mike and from watching the pros it seems ash is the choice of most people, pro and recreational players alike.

Do you choose ash because you feel a certain distint advantage of it over maple, or do you choose it because you like the uniqueness or the look of your ash shaft, or do you just choose it for the sake of fitting in(choice of opinion leader)...?

I have used both. Although I am not a very good player, I have bashed in some 60's and such with ash, and then made my first century with a maple cue. But I think I can get used to both. They both seem to allow me the full range of shots, and they both feel pretty good.

I think ash is a bit quieter because it tends to absorb the shock a bit better than maple.

The way I look at it, ash is like a laminated shaft in a sense, as the wood consists of two components, one of which is denser than the other, and they are laminated naturally.

Maple on the other hand is a homogenous material consist of only one single material as opposed to two, and it is solid with good feedback.

As I think about it, ash is like a laminated tip and maple is a one piece tip. I am not sure if it means anything really, just an idea that occurs to me.

Anyway, enough of that...why do you prefer ash?

[marcoboy102]

hmm... i'd go with ash because i like to feeling when the ash runs on my bridge~~
which maple doesnt have lol... sound stupid yeah....

[CTquick147]

I like that you can instantly identify an ash cue as a snooker cue, you won't see many guys playing 8-ball with an an ash cue. In a practical sense, good ash is stiffer, and I personally like the feel that gives me when I strike the white. I used to have a very nice two piece maple cue, but whenever it was being re-tipped and I'd grab a one piece ash off the rack, I'd really hit well with it, so now that's what I have, a one piece ash cue. Personally, providing the wood on the cue is high quality. then ash or maple is less important to me than tip size, grip size, weight, taper, straightness, ect. I think generally ash is more common because it's cheaper, but it's now becoming harder hand harder to find first rate ash to make cues with.

[Dan27]

I mainly choose ash for cosmetic reasons, it looks so sexy.

[MattCash]

I choose ash as i've never used maple

[spike]

Just the look & feel of Ash appeals to me more than maple ever has. Simple as that really..

[Krypton]

First of all, I don't prefer ash... I got a maple cue. And I got a maple cue before the one I'm actually playing with...

In a practical sense, good ash is stiffer ...

Now this is non-sense, sorry. Both ash and maple can be stiff, whippy, heavy, light - wood can be so various in it's specifications that such a generalising sentence is just simply not true.
Correct that to: "My current ash cue is stiffer than the maple cue I had to compare with."

Then, arguments that count:

I like that you can instantly identify an ash cue as a snooker cue...

Then ash or maple is less important to me than tip size, grip size, weight, taper, straightness...

and

I mainly choose ash for cosmetic reasons, it looks so sexy.

These are all quite reasonable and I think that's really the only thing that counts: If you like the look of ash, go for it. If you like the look of maple - give it a try. What looks the best to you might FEEL better to you (in a mental approach, as physically cues can be made out of both kinds of wood the same way). And finally, what feels the best (confidence) will make you play the best.

One point to add:

The way I look at it, ash is like a laminated shaft in a sense, as the wood consists of two components, one of which is denser than the other, and they are laminated naturally.

Maple on the other hand is a homogenous material consist of only one single material as opposed to two, and it is solid with good feedback.

As I think about it, ash is like a laminated tip and maple is a one piece tip. I am not sure if it means anything really, just an idea that occurs to me.

I got to dissapoint you there - That's a way to look at it (optically only), but it's certainly wrong from a wood workers point of view.

Ash grows differently in summertime than in wintertime, and that's the reason why you can see the rings in a tree. So do all trees, but not with all you can see the rings so clearly. Maple just doesn't vary so much in colour (it does virtually NOT), so you can't see different arrows on a finished cue. That does NOT AT ALL mean that maple is a homogenous material, which it is neither more nor less than ash. Both consist of single plant cells that have grown in alternating circles during the change of seasons. It can be that maple varies its density less over a growing period, but it grows the same way as all the trees.

But it's a nice way to look at it and a certainly different idea to look at it. And optically, you're right

(There is of course an exeption: Trees growing near the equator or in other regions with extremly little climatic change during a year, where the vegetation period in witch plants grow lasts about the whole year, you won't find year/seasonal rings in trees - which is true for most of the exotic woods. A great example is the ebony on your cue)

[ChatLag]

I am sure you can have an ash or a maple cue with quite similar feel and playability.

I prefer ash because it makes each cue unique. And ash looks a bit too plain and lifeless to me.

[Snoo]

My current cue is ash but there is no denying the sexiness of maple shaft with an ebony butt.

[paulbur]

The reason i would choose ash over maple is because i have used ash since i started playing snooker, ive tried maple a couple of time but i didnt really like the feel of it, i suppose most people would choose what they started playing with!

[neptar]

I don't know anyone with a maple cue, so I have never tried one. Yet i have played with ash cues that feel good, so if I was to order a cue now, it would be ash.

[thai_son22]

im actually going for maple for my next cue because the grains on ash irritate me.

they have to be a certain way and im too picky so yup. maple is the way forward. :snooker:

[Asi]

Maple has no character

[JamesFoster]

I was looking for a decent off the shelf maple cue for around £100-£150. I didn't see anything from Peradon, Mastercue etc. It disappoints me that maple snooker cues are hard to find. Any recommendations?

[noel]

Maple has no character

Asi...
I have been called (among many less endearing names) "a character".
... and my Mike Wooldrdge maple cue has me.


=o/

Noel