Search For A Cue - Part 5

[Oldgit]

I nearly called this installment 'Search For A Cue - The Final Installment' but then realised that just maybe I wasn't finished!!

Right..........the next cue that I bought was an old Will Hunt cue that had been customised by Parris. The cue was in a pretty bad state so was sent to Dave Coutts for some surgery and came back as good as new but sadly was not for me so off it went along with the Mike Wololdridge cue that I had been using.

At this point Trevor White again came to the rescue. He had made himself a new playing cue so I started crying on the telephone and wouldn't stop until he agreed to sell me his new playing cue. When it arrived I was in love again, took it to the local club and two frames in I knocked in a 60 break.

I then did something very silly........I bought TWO cues!! One was Jon Birchs (ex pro) maple Parris one piece cue and the other was a Hunt & Obyrne 3/4 joined ash green plate cue with almost perfect arrows and which felt lovely.

So there I was with THREE lovely cues and no idea which one I liked the best as I seemed to play the same with all three

Thanks to a member of this forum I had managed to buy back my old Andy Bream cue that Andy had made for me a few years ago. I loved this cue and had played some of my best ever snooker with it but try as hard as I could I just couldnt play good snooker with that cue again.........!

So what did I then do? I bought a cue directly from Stephen Maguire!! It was the one that Trevor White had made him before Maguire had decided to stick with his old cue. I knew that Maguire liked longer than normal cues and this one was 58.5 in long, 17oz and a thing of beauty!! Of course I then sold all the cues that I owned apart from this Maguire cue (and my Bream cue) and tried to play with it but try as much as I could, it just didn't 'feel' right for me!

So, I sold the Maguire cue!!

This left me with the Andy Bream cue that I loved but couldn't play with so I then bought a one piece maple Mac Chambers cue from a forum member that is a lovely cue but again just didn't 'feel' right!!

I then bought possibly the best cue that I have ever held!! Trevor White made it and it is the cue that Ricky Walden (top 16 pro) was recently using for a few months before deciding to go back to his original cue. When I picked it up for the first time it just 'felt' right and my heart skipped a beat. It is 59in long, one piece ash cue that looks like a 'Traditional' and is approx 17 oz with a 9.7mm tip and I love it.........I really do!! Its fitted with one of Poolqjunkies Aurora tips thanks to Jeff Cundy and the cue and tip are wonderful. I've been playing with this cue now for the past couple of weeks and so far have played well with it and the best thing for me is that because I love the cue so much I am steadily building up confidence again. When I hit shots with this cue I can actually 'feel' them, hard to describe but I suppose that any of you with cues that you love will know what I mean!!

So thats it..........my search for a cue is hopefully over as I don't think its possible for me to find a nicer cue.

Oldgit :snooker:

[CueAntW147]

lol............you must surely leave it open......to be continued

you can't rule out part 6 just yet

all the parts have made great reading though, just goes to show that some of us will stop at nothing to find the one ! :snooker:

Its a good job your not the same with your women imagine how expensive that would have been !

[Inoffthered]

lol............you must surely leave it open......to be continued

you can't rule out part 6 just yet

all the parts have made great reading though, just goes to show that some of us will stop at nothing to find the one ! :snooker:

Its a good job your not the same with your women imagine how expensive that would have been !

Oh wow, that's some hardcore cue searching right there... Keep the faith, hope you find 'the one' some day

[jaffa.johnson]

Totally enjoyed the read.

I dont know if anybody has bought and sold as many so called playing cues as you but if they have, then I do hope they enlighten us on their story so far. Other readers, If you do tell the forum, personally my choice would be in one post as too many posts to keep track of all the comments lol.

I hope u enjoy the current trevor white. I think you should now stick with it through good games and bad games. Dont buy anymore cues lol.

Have you still got the mac chambers maple?

[hotpot]

Oldgit you are unbelieveable , i hope yo dont miss a black over the hole soon .

[CueAntW147]

There are different reasons for buying cues, some will buy one cue and be happy with it and that will be that, some will buy antique or old cues just to collect and put in the cabinet as most won't be great playing cues for the modern game, some will buy just to see what a particular make is like, or because they like the look of one and can't resist.

Some will buy for all the reasons mentioned, but when cues are made old or new they all were meant to be playing cues, and what i like about Oldgits story is its all about looking for that special "playing" cue.

Many pros play out there career with one cue as do many players and only look for another usually if a trusty one gets lost or broken or never the same after a repair, which is how this story started.

Can't help thinking Alex Higgins had a big part to play in cue searching and the emphasis on cues generally after his TV appeal for a replacement Burwat Champion after his was broken. I've heard him say many times over the years when he's played well " i've found a nice piece of wood at last " every time he found a cue he liked, or " i can't feel the shot with this cue " when he didn't like.

Whatever the reasons one things for sure when cues get you hooked there's nothing you can do about it......some will enjoy it, others with find it a nightmare or a mix of both.........lol

[gtjohnnymac1965]

Brilliant Mr Old Git!!!! I must admit I have dabbled over the years to find "the one" since my original cue from being 14 years old was stolen...however nothing to your amazing exploits!

Great read...it probably is an illness my friend...and I think I might have a version of it too.

Keep on with that search and good luck!

[Andy W]

A great read and what a huge amount of cues, it puts my small collection of budget cues in thier place. Give it a few months and there will be a part 6.

[CueAntW147]

A great read and what a huge amount of cues, it puts my small collection of budget cues in thier place. Give it a few months and there will be a part 6.

Probably a few weeks......

[Andy W]

Probably a few weeks......

I think you might be right

[poolqjunkie]

I nearly called this installment 'Search For A Cue - The Final Installment' but then realised that just maybe I wasn't finished!!

Right..........the next cue that I bought was an old Will Hunt cue that had been customised by Parris. The cue was in a pretty bad state so was sent to Dave Coutts for some surgery and came back as good as new but sadly was not for me so off it went along with the Mike Wololdridge cue that I had been using.

At this point Trevor White again came to the rescue. He had made himself a new playing cue so I started crying on the telephone and wouldn't stop until he agreed to sell me his new playing cue. When it arrived I was in love again, took it to the local club and two frames in I knocked in a 60 break.

I then did something very silly........I bought TWO cues!! One was Jon Birchs (ex pro) maple Parris one piece cue and the other was a Hunt & Obyrne 3/4 joined ash green plate cue with almost perfect arrows and which felt lovely.

So there I was with THREE lovely cues and no idea which one I liked the best as I seemed to play the same with all three

Thanks to a member of this forum I had managed to buy back my old Andy Bream cue that Andy had made for me a few years ago. I loved this cue and had played some of my best ever snooker with it but try as hard as I could I just couldnt play good snooker with that cue again.........!

So what did I then do? I bought a cue directly from Stephen Maguire!! It was the one that Trevor White had made him before Maguire had decided to stick with his old cue. I knew that Maguire liked longer than normal cues and this one was 58.5 in long, 17oz and a thing of beauty!! Of course I then sold all the cues that I owned apart from this Maguire cue (and my Bream cue) and tried to play with it but try as much as I could, it just didn't 'feel' right for me!

So, I sold the Maguire cue!!

This left me with the Andy Bream cue that I loved but couldn't play with so I then bought a one piece maple Mac Chambers cue from a forum member that is a lovely cue but again just didn't 'feel' right!!

I then bought possibly the best cue that I have ever held!! Trevor White made it and it is the cue that Ricky Walden (top 16 pro) was recently using for a few months before deciding to go back to his original cue. When I picked it up for the first time it just 'felt' right and my heart skipped a beat. It is 59in long, one piece ash cue that looks like a 'Traditional' and is approx 17 oz with a 9.7mm tip and I love it.........I really do!! Its fitted with one of Poolqjunkies Aurora tips thanks to Jeff Cundy and the cue and tip are wonderful. I've been playing with this cue now for the past couple of weeks and so far have played well with it and the best thing for me is that because I love the cue so much I am steadily building up confidence again. When I hit shots with this cue I can actually 'feel' them, hard to describe but I suppose that any of you with cues that you love will know what I mean!!

So thats it..........my search for a cue is hopefully over as I don't think its possible for me to find a nicer cue.

Oldgit :snooker:

Thank you for a wonderful account of your search.
I am very curious that you seem to be taking to both maple and ash, while most people would stay with one wood. Does it not really matter to you whether it is ash or maple?

[garyng147]

Oldgit you're lucky cos........Walden's Trevor White cue is really too long for me....

[Oldgit]

My original cue was maple so I guess I was biased towards maple but I was looking for that elusive 'feel' when you hit the ball and that was far more important to me than the actual wood. I think that ash has a 'softer' feel but I have found that the main problem with ash is that the best looking ash is not necessarily the best ash for a cue!!

Oldgit :snooker:

Thank you for a wonderful account of your search.
I am very curious that you seem to be taking to both maple and ash, while most people would stay with one wood. Does it not really matter to you whether it is ash or maple?

[Oldgit]

Gary, your loss is my gain!!

Oldgit you're lucky cos........Walden's Trevor White cue is really too long for me....

[Oldgit]

Funnily enough, after talking to Andrew Ramsay I have now remembered a few more cues that I forgot all about (A Tony Wilshaw cue, a Master cue, a Mac Chambers cue and another Hunt & Obyrne black plate cue)......all long gone!!

I would also like to thank Andrew for his help in fuelling my addiction over the years. Andrew was selling 'Big Issues' and living rough on the streets before meeting me and now he lives in a Scottish Castle with a fleet of cars and a private jet!!

I have met some really nice people over the years, the snooker and cue collecting fraternity is made up of passionate people who enjoy trying out different cues and most people are happy to buy and sell for roughly what the cues cost......of course there are a few who are in it purely for the money but they are easy to spot and avoid.

Oldgit