Advice on puirchase of new Snooker cue

[michaelthrane]

Hi,

Im new to the sport and the forum, so please forgive me if this has been asked before. My friend and I are looking for new cues (our first), and we came to find the Peradon Cues, which seem to be in the price-range we can afford (around 100-150£). Now, I've read on different forums about how the tend to get sticky and about 5+ different ways to remove this stickyness. But it just doesnt seem right that you buy a new cue from 100+ year old Cue maker firm and then you have to start repairing it before use. So my question is, can you recommend these Peradon Cues or should I look for some other brand or just save money until I can buy a John Parris cue?

Looking forward to hearing from you, cheers from Denmark.
Michael

[channy]

Hello Michael,

I have recently been looking into buying a new cue too. I have had my old cue for years but have only just recently started taking snooker seriously. So I went and did as much research as I could into cue makers etc. here is some knowledge I can pass on:

First thing I realised that if you’re going to buy a cue you really need to know what you like before you invest in anything decent. Things such as: length, weight, butt diameter, ferrule diameter, 1 piece or 2 piece, joint location 3/4 etc, wood type for the shaft such as maple or ash and splice pattern. So my advice is to really think about what you like and try other people’s cues, as many as you can get your hands on. I walked around with a measuring tape in my pocket to measure the cues I tried. Consciously think about weight of the cue and all those other specifications I mentioned. Maybe also check online for cues and look at patterns you like for splicing if that’s your fancy.

When I felt I knew these things I went looking for a cue maker. First one I heard of was John Parris and that’s not surprising as he has marketed his product well such as giving famous players cues to use. This is not to bad mouth the quality of his cues they wouldn't get famous if they were not good. However it is my understanding he doesn't really have much to do with the making of the cues anymore. So after further investigation I found some names of other cue makers such as Trevor White, Mike Woolridge and Dan Shelton (there are others just the three I remember of the top of my head). Maybe you should investigate yourself about these guys by reading more on the forum. I have chosen to contact Trevor White to make my cue and after talking to him I can say he is a very honest guy. He makes all his cues himself and doesn't actively market himself, his reputation and reviews do that for him which is the main reason I chose him rather then others. Again not to bad mouth any other cue makers its just my own opinion. Anyway in short John Parris isn't the only guy out there who makes solid cues. Do some research and see how you feel about it.

Hope this helps in some way
Channy

[old school]

Try Craftsman at Kippax near Leeds.Good website,friendly service,right price.There are threads all over this forum to suggest they are worth dealing with,even if you cant visit.When you know "exactly" what you want Dave at Craftsman could even build a custom cue from scratch.Check out previous threads on King cues and Craftsman,it may surprise you.