HELP NEEDED, In the market for a new hand crafted personalised professional cue.....

[jaffa.johnson]

That cue is actually 12 splices with 8 veneers.

IMO, its not even a nice design.

I think you need to go to craftsman in leeds. You dont have to buy there and then but you will get to see laods of cues with different designs and specifications to help you decide.

[jrc750]

That cue is actually 12 splices with 8 veneers....

Errrrr no its not, the "normal" 4 splices aren't counted, so this is 8 splices + 8 veneers
Read the description for the Nemesis cue (which is virtually the same)
http://www.mastercraft-cues.co.uk/10....php?p=2&pno=0

[jaffa.johnson]

Errrrr no its not, the "normal" 4 splices aren't counted, so this is 8 splices + 8 veneers
Read the description for the Nemesis cue (which is virtually the same)
http://www.mastercraft-cues.co.uk/10....php?p=2&pno=0

Is that mastercrafts view?

I have always included the first 4 as total splices.

[jrc750]

Is that mastercrafts view?

I have always included the first 4 as total splices.

No i think you will find all makers don't count the "normal" 4 splices in with the others, see Greenbaize page for same explanation as mastercrafts;
http://greenbaize.com/gbl.htm

[cueman]

To be honest i didn't think you could visit them ! maybe i'm wrong, here are contact details from their site, try giving them a ring to see if your allowed to visit

Contact InformationMastercraft Snooker Cues
Mr. David Buswell
Unit 8a Rodenhurst Business Park
Rodington
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY4 4QU(Map).

Tel: 01952 770800 Fax: 01952 770800

If you are making the journey make sure you get directions or better still a sat nav to guide you. Its smack bang in the middle of nowhere, very very narrow country lanes and you come to a little set of huts, like a mini trading estate. Nice little place though!

[jwhitbread]

ok guys let's all calm down haha. I'm sorry if this has caused arguments I'm just trying to get help from you all haha. you all seem liek you have alot of knowledge that is really going to help me finding the perfect cue. The problem I have with going to leeds is just the trip alone will be a total of 6 hours and will have to be made on a saturday due to work cueman....have you visited them before? do you know if you can visit their workshop? do you know what they have there?

do you guys think it would be worthwhile me finding a snooker workshop nearby with facilities for me to try cues and then when I have decided there and recieved advice and the specification then to order my cue with mastercraft? jaffa is there any reason why you say to go to craftsman rather than mastercraft?

[jaffa.johnson]

ok guys let's all calm down haha. I'm sorry if this has caused arguments I'm just trying to get help from you all haha. you all seem liek you have alot of knowledge that is really going to help me finding the perfect cue. The problem I have with going to leeds is just the trip alone will be a total of 6 hours and will have to be made on a saturday due to work cueman....have you visited them before? do you know if you can visit their workshop? do you know what they have there?

do you guys think it would be worthwhile me finding a snooker workshop nearby with facilities for me to try cues and then when I have decided there and recieved advice and the specification then to order my cue with mastercraft? jaffa is there any reason why you say to go to craftsman rather than mastercraft?

As I previously said, I have had 2 x craftsman cues and they were fantastically crafted and super players. Craftsman also stock hundreds of cues ready to play with & buy. U have a snooker table and a pool table to try them on.

I also have had a walter lindrum 4137 from craftsman, they did a fantasic job in changing the cue to my length and tip size and refinishing.

I am not 100% sure but I dont think mastercraft hold too many stock cues if any at all. I have no idea whether they have a table to try cues on either.

Again I have said, I am only recommending craftsman from my experience, I cannot say dont get a mastercraft as I have not seen a mastercraft in the flesh.

I did however contact mastercraft on a couple of occasions with a very specific custom cue but I didnt receive the best service and didnt get a response to my last 2 emails so I gave up and went elsewhere.

As I said earlier, there is matchplay-cues.com in gloucester so you dont have to travel too far to visit a workshop. I dont know whether they hold stock cues but you maybe able to visit once a few cues are ready for delivery, you can then see and feel a cue ready for action.

[jwhitbread]

ok sorry that you're repeating yourself. That's very good and sound advice I think what I may do is find a store locally that I can find out what my specifications are and then decide whether to go with a mastercraft or a craftsman. As you are recommending craftsman is there anyone else that has any advice on whether to go to mastercraft or craftsman? many thanks jaffa for your help btw

[hotpot]

Both will make you a first class cue but there is no substitute for getting a cue in the hand and knocking a few balls with it .

Finding you,re specs should be a priority then you will find that each cue in that category will play different , some will will like the feel of and others you wont like at all .

Once you know what specs feel right try all the cues that spec and gradually narrow it down to the ones you like and hopefully you can pick one , odd,s on that there will be a few you really like .

[jwhitbread]

thanks hotpot. So what I think i'm going to go do is find a place more local and really test different specs out and find out which suits me. then when I have narrowed it down fully and made a decision I'll then place an order with craftsman or mastercraft. god knows i'm going to choose between the 2 though :S

[hotpot]

It may well be worth a trip to Craftsman if you can manage it adleast youll find exactly what you,re looking for .

More experienced members will know the exact specs they want so dont mind buying blind as they usually sell if they dont get on with the cue but in you,re case a trip to them would well be worth it .

[jwhitbread]

I think you're right, good job they're open from 9-4 on a Saturday then haha. I'll let you all know how I get on! in the mean time thank you hotpot and everyone else who has helped so far if you have any more pieces of advice for me please post them here for me to read as I'm continuing to do more and more research

[hotpot]

You,re doing exactly right by doing you,re homework before buying .

[DeanH]

Hi jwhitbread
As hotpot has said you are doing the right thing with the homework.
About the number of splices, when I was asking around for quotes I noticed that UncleVit did count the main butt splices of the ebony/rosewood with the number of the fancy splices but "almost" everyone else does not.
Also, just to poke the fire a bit , don’t forget about a butterfly spliced butt – this is where there are only two pieces (not four) of (usually) ebony added to the butt of the shaft, not common but you do see them around
Let us know how your search progresses.
All the best

[cueman]

You can visit their workshop but that really is all it is. There is no room for a table so no opportunity to try a cue out. Its better to ring first and find out if you can visit, I was going with a mate of mine to pick up his cue after a repair job. This was a about 2 years ago, they had a few cues on a wall which were available to buy but they were not the best IMO. I think they were probably cues that didn't come out perfect so were sold for less than normal if I remember correctly.