do you know this cue Brand?

[Sam-Romford]

Hello i am considering buying a this cue

http://www.snookerstuff.com/cues.html#English

but the cue maker "Taylor made" isnt a common name is it.

if anyone knows this cue maker or bought or used any cue from the maker please tell me how good or bad it is please

Thanks

[Terry Davidson]

I've never heard of Del Smith as a cuemaker so cannot really say although normally cues at this price range are purchased as blanks from China or Thailand and then 'finished' in the UK although the site says 'British Made'.

My advice would be to try and find a place where you can try out the cues like GreenBaize

Terry

[glaken]

I believe Taylor made is the brand name being used by Gary Taylor of Southend these days, he used to go under the cue doctor brand.

[DeanH]

£995 for a Del Smith gold and diamond decorated cue! Blimey!
If I had that sort of money to splash out on a cue - I am damn sure it would not be an un-known as this person!
Does anyone know this cue-designer - and who actually makes these cues to his design?

[Sam-Romford]

Yea i asked Del about who makes these cues and he said a cue maker with the surname or first name "Taylor" makes these cue, and he does it in his workshop in Essex near where he lives.

I thought probabley he sells one or two of them once in a blue moon from his website, but i was shocked to know that he sold about 16 of them already. But he told that people who buy these cues are not the best players buy have a lot of money and snooker is one of their indulgence. you can probably beat them with a Riley 2 piece cue :-).

[Sam-Romford]

Hi Terry you got it wrong, Del Smith is not a cue maker, he is a grade A WPBSA snooker coach, he is a professional player but playes in big tournaments very rarely, i think he told me the only proper tournament he played recently was the 2011 qualifying round for the crucible, but he does a lot of other businesses which includes two of his websites www.snookerstuff.com and www.snookergear.com.
Now within his website snookerstuff.com the cue i wanted to buy is that hand spliced English cue
http://www.snookerstuff.com/cues.html#English

which is made by a cue maker who lives in Essex. I bought a different cue from the same "Taylor Made" cue as a gift for my friend who is 45 break standard player. i tried it, it 'feels' good and feels like a cue made from genuine woods.

Now the trouble is i want to buy a cue to keep it long enough so that eventually after playing for so many years it becomes an extension of my arm, and my budget was £800 for just the cue and i wanted to get a JP ultimate. Eventually i thought a cue is a cue as long its a genuine hand spliced English cue, so to improve my game i thought i should spend less on a cue and more on coaching.

But to cut the long story short after trying one of the cue from the "Taylor Made" brand i was impressed enough to consider buying one of them for long term use. Now the only problem is its not a known brand, and i may sound a bit funny here because i like the cue from this brand by i dont quite trust the brand yet as it is not well known.

so i was thinking if anyone else knows this cue and give me a bit of review that might help me to make up my mind whether or not to get this cue. if i dont get any good reviews i am gona have to go for my 2nd option which is a Mastercraft cue made to my desired specification with the splicing i can fall in love with.

[glaken]

I do not know abour reviewing the Taylor made brand but I do know that Gary Taylor made Stuart Binghams cue, I have tried a few of his cues at his shop in southend and they seem well built and good cues imo for what that is worth, do know Garys been making cues for a long time now so must have an idea what he is doing. As for what to do its horses for courses imho one players magic cue might well be anothers dead stick as they all play different no matter what they cost. hope this helps a little.

[The Stig]

But to cut the long story short after trying one of the cue from the "Taylor Made" brand i was impressed enough to consider buying one of them for long term use. Now the only problem is its not a known brand, and i may sound a bit funny here because i like the cue from this brand by i dont quite trust the brand yet as it is not well known.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter what badge is on a cue or who it was made by, if that cue feels perfect in your hand and feels like a dream to play with then thats the right cue for you.

I currently play with a Phoenix cue what i bought recently, when i was searching for a new cue i could have bought any of the top makes like a John Parris, Trevor White or Mike Wooldridge etc, those names speak for themselves both in quality and reputation.

When i picked up this Phoenix cue it felt perfect in my hand, the finish felt quality, the balance was superb and the hit was a dream, its what i had been searching for in a cue for a long time. It doesn't bother me one bit that Phoenix isn't as well known or as established as some cue brands or what badge is on the cue, its the actual cue that feels perfect in my hand which is more important to me.

[Sam-Romford]

Stig, what you said makes 100% sense, but what i am trying to say is a cue which is made from a well known brand and you like its other features, then you can completely rely on it, if you are not happy with your game the only thing you can blame is yourself not the cue. so a cue from a maker with high reputation one can get his peace of mind provided that he likes the feel and other features.

but anyway i phoned Del today to enquire about the orginal maker of the cue, to my delight it is made by Gary Taylor aka "Cue Doctor" from southend on sea, and he happens to be the guy who made Stuart Binghams cue.
No i understand why the feel was really good.

I think i should upload a review of the other taylor made cue i bought for my friend.

[Sam-Romford]

Glaken you are right mate, I phoned up Del today, he confirmed these are made by Gary Taylor aka cue doctor.
Does he actually have a physical shop where i can go and buy a cue? dont mind traveling to his shop.
I would do anything to get a custom made cue made by him.

[glaken]

He has a shop in Southend directly on the A127 where he carries a stock of cues best to ring for opening times google for the number and directions under the cue doctor, southend will give you both. Glad I could help mate it's not often on here I know what I am talking about

[deant1982]

and he happens to be the guy who made Stuart Binghams cue.

Doesn't Stuart Bingham use a Rex Williams Powerglide Connoisseur the same as Hendry's old one? All of the pics of him have him using one of them. It has probably been modified by the Cue Doctor....

[glaken]

The cue Start Bingham uses was 1 of 7 made for him by Gary Taylor, if you look closely you will see that it has 4 splices of ebony with thick maple splices then a further 4 splices of ebony, I think the back splices on a connoiseur are rosewood. I also know that he used to play with a very small tip in the region of 8.5mm but after he missed the pink for the 147 at the crucible he changed this to a larger tip.

[Sam-Romford]

Glaken you helped me out big time.
Found the cue doctor shop on google, phoned them up, unfortunately they cannot make any cue to my own splicing desing and specification.

I think its time for me to switch to my next option, a custom made cue from mastercraft.

[DeanH]

I think its time for me to switch to my next option, a custom made cue from mastercraft.

I am sure you wont be disappointed with Mastercraft. question, have you spoken with them directly yet? As someone else was saying that they may still be on holiday till next week. cheers