buying a good cue from UK ... help needed.

[shaikh_adeel]

A friend of mine is visiting UK for 4-5 days in march..... I plan to ask him to bring me a good cue from there. He will be staying around Teesside.

Questions:

1- Can a good cue be purchased from that area in 4-5 days?
2- Any names/makers/suggestions?
3- My budget range will be around 100 pounds, will that be enough?
4- Are the BCE GrandMaster series cues any good? Are they made in UK?

[Bigmeek]

Greenbaize in Cleveland (North East England) would be worth a visit. They've got lots of ready made cues to pick from and the quality is great. You probably need to increase your budget a bit. Won't get much for £100. Have a look at the website.

[shaikh_adeel]

Hmmm

One more thing .... since my friend does not play snooker and has no idea about good cues ... will the store owner be helpful enough so that Im not disappointed?
And what kind of a budget do u think I should have?? Any make/model that u recommend?

[DeanH]

One more thing .... since my friend does not play snooker and has no idea about good cues ... will the store owner be helpful enough so that Im not disappointed?
And what kind of a budget do u think I should have?? Any make/model that u recommend?

See http://www.greenbaize.com/ for prices of various makes/models. If you can raise your budget a bit you will do well.
And I would say the staff are extremely knowledgeable and helpful BUT you will have to right down some indicators so your friend and GBL staff will not be in the dark.

Basics may help, such as cue length in inches, tip diameter, weight of cue, shaft wood (ash/maple), butt wood (Ebony/Rosewood), no splices or loads of splices, etc. etc.

I think you are putting a lot of pressure on your friend as a cue can be a VERY personal thing and two cues looking exactly the same can be very different to the player.

If you do do what you plan, do not blame your friend if you do not like the result :-)

Best of luck
DeanH

[shaikh_adeel]

See http://www.greenbaize.com/ for prices of various makes/models. If you can raise your budget a bit you will do well.
And I would say the staff are extremely knowledgeable and helpful BUT you will have to right down some indicators so your friend and GBL staff will not be in the dark.

Basics may help, such as cue length in inches, tip diameter, weight of cue, shaft wood (ash/maple), butt wood (Ebony/Rosewood), no splices or loads of splices, etc. etc.

I think you are putting a lot of pressure on your friend as a cue can be a VERY personal thing and two cues looking exactly the same can be very different to the player.

If you do do what you plan, do not blame your friend if you do not like the result :-)

Best of luck
DeanH

Aah I know .... that is exactly why i wana be absolutely sure that the store owner is helpful .... if he takes interest in the specs i send over, Im sure he will be able to sell him a good cue. The rest Ill leave on fate. Been thinking of getting a cue from the home of snooker (UK) for a long long time. Not gonna miss this chance. Ill check out the site and ill post here for suggestions and advice.

Thanks guys.

[DeanH]

Aah I know .... that is exactly why i wana be absolutely sure that the store owner is helpful .... if he takes interest in the specs i send over, Im sure he will be able to sell him a good cue. The rest Ill leave on fate. Been thinking of getting a cue from the home of snooker (UK) for a long long time. Not gonna miss this chance. Ill check out the site and ill post here for suggestions and advice.

Thanks guys.

If you post for "suggestions/advice" about cues, in the end it will always be your preference/choice
The staff at GBL are very helpful and if you give your friend good clear information and indicators from the website, I am sure they will be able to help your friend.
Best of luck
DeanH

[DeanH]

Forgot to say, don't forget about a hard case as well, for future use as well as getting it back to Pakistan!
I am sure GBL are experienced in packaging to abroad so the cue is safe

[willytan]

I m sure you will also be able to find some cues which might interest you from the forum.
There are also several cue slightly off your budget which is for sale in the sales thread.
What good abt getting a used cue is that, they are usually 30-50% off retail price.

[shaikh_adeel]

Ok Ive checked out the mastercue series. I guess I can raise my budget to 150-160 pounds. So whats your take on them? Will the quality of stock cues be as good as the ones made on order?

[shaikh_adeel]

I m sure you will also be able to find some cues which might interest you from the forum.
There are also several cue slightly off your budget which is for sale in the sales thread.
What good abt getting a used cue is that, they are usually 30-50% off retail price.

Well, I wont really mind getting one off teh forum ... ofcourse after consideration if teh cues are good and dont have any problem, but who can say. And my friend cant really move around too much to pick it up since hes on a biz trip and wont get too much time.
Any recommendations on the cues on sale here though??

[shaikh_adeel]

Forgot to say, don't forget about a hard case as well, for future use as well as getting it back to Pakistan!
I am sure GBL are experienced in packaging to abroad so the cue is safe

I knoe Dean, I check teh prices and teh cheapest hard case is 45 pounds .... taking the budget above 200 quid (

[DeanH]

I knoe Dean, I check teh prices and teh cheapest hard case is 45 pounds .... taking the budget above 200 quid (

"raid the piggy bank" as we say here
MasterCues, I have only seen good reviews of them, one poster (a person that I have noted has had many cues from mnay makers) recently said that MasterCues are probably the best budget range at the moment, so hopefully you will get a good one that you will enjoy playing with.
As to buying from members here, I would say that 95% of the time you are getting a very good cue and the poster has described good details about the cue in question, so I would say that buy one from this site has a greater level of confidence that say off ebay! no contest in my mind.
Just beware of the last 5% where the price has been bloated to the ridiculous (I am sure you have seen these already)
All the best