Top 10 Snooker Cue Manufacturers

[ghost121]

I'm not so sure because quite often players who go to JP for a cue tend to use it and adapt to it very quickly and have a lot of success with it. Whereas other players who frequently chop and change cues tend not to go to JP but end up using loads of different cues and never find one that suits them.

I mean look at Murphy, his cue broke at the end of 2013 season, he went to JP, got a cue, took a little while to adapt and now he's playing better than ever. Then you have other players who've gone to JP for cues in the past few years and are playing well again, Perry, Milkins, Carter for example. They didn't need to go through numerous cues, they asked for something specific, JP provided and their game improved.

Whilst there may be other good cue makers out there and the blind test could well lead to one or two players using a cue not made by JP, the fact is the players trust him and that is important because a cue is the single most important thing for a player. What JP does and has a record of doing is providing players with what they want and more often than not they play to the best of their ability with it. Few players have a JP cue and their game goes downhill, yet many players who change cues that don't go to JP often do go downhill, that for me says a lot.

I take your point and agree that JP is the most accommodating and experienced of the top makers in providing what the players ask for or feel they need. I guess that then raises the question; does JP put anything extra in terms of the quality of materials, build, care and attention for a pro than he would someone from Joe Public buying an Ultimate? It must be very tempting, for example, to save the very best ash for building pro cues.

[cueman]

I take your point and agree that JP is the most accommodating and experienced of the top makers in providing what the players ask for or feel they need. I guess that then raises the question; does JP put anything extra in terms of the quality of materials, build, care and attention for a pro than he would someone from Joe Public buying an Ultimate? It must be very tempting, for example, to save the very best ash for building pro cues.

No I don't believe any cue maker reserves the best materials for pros because they can never be sure when the call will come to make a cue for a pro. The Ultimate grade shafts are put aside as the very best out of all the boards they go through. I guess only a small percentage of all the boards they use go towards are good enough for the Ultimate range, the rest are then graded for the special, paragon and standard range of cues. I suppose in theory that is how JP does his business, what he does give to pros is they are put ahead in the waiting time so for instance if Ronnie or Judd or a top player comes calling for a cue they are not going to be told the wait is 2 years +.

However if people recall, Ronnie did go to JP for his current cue but at the time JP had nothing suitable, Ronnie went to Rob Osbourne and used a cue from him for the next 5-6 months before JP finally got a few cues for Ronnie done and he selected this current cue.
So even the very best player doesn't always get a cue quickly from JP which proves that finding the right shaft is true and not some bs to make these cues more expensive.

[ADR147]

Top Players Cues:

Ronnie O'Sullivan - Parris
Neil Robertson - Parris
Judd Trump - Parris
Mark Allen - Parris
Shaun Murphy - Parris
Hawkins - Parris
Milkins - Parris
Selby - Stamford
Ding - Stamford
Fu - Deroo

Could it be that folk who aren't happy with their Ultimates don't know how to wield them? Or are the pro Ultimates different? Discuss!

interesting assessment of top players!

[ADR147]

Apparently they get a few to try. Dominic sale Said that parris is very good at replicating their old cues, the ones they had been playing with a long time. That could contribute to them being good players. All the talk about the players using them cos they are free is nonsense imo. Top players who make enough money aren't going to risk their game for the sake of a few hundred quid.

in reality most players use their geographically nearest cue maker.

[itsnoteasy]

Are these shafts graded for looks rather than playability?

[cueman]

Are these shafts graded for looks rather than playability?

Both I suspect. I mean the Ultimates are hand planed over stages which takes roughly 12 months before they are ready to be made into cues. Then there is the customers request of how many arrows or other demands so that will also add to the wait in finding the right shaft. Most ash is usually good enough to play with, a standard range cue shouldn't play any better than an Ultimate because at the end of the day what makes one piece of ash better playing characteristics than another? Stiffness is sometimes one criteria but then some players don't like stiff ash, some like a whippy cue.

The price you are paying for an Ultimate though is really down to the customer requesting everything. Taper, appearance, stiffness, balance etc, and the fact its hand planed from start to finish, rather than turned on a lathe to an oversized taper and then finished by hand like the other ranges.

[ADR147]

Both I suspect. I mean the Ultimates are hand planed over stages which takes roughly 12 months before they are ready to be made into cues. Then there is the customers request of how many arrows or other demands so that will also add to the wait in finding the right shaft. Most ash is usually good enough to play with, a standard range cue shouldn't play any better than an Ultimate because at the end of the day what makes one piece of ash better playing characteristics than another? Stiffness is sometimes one criteria but then some players don't like stiff ash, some like a whippy cue.

The price you are paying for an Ultimate though is really down to the customer requesting everything. Taper, appearance, stiffness, balance etc, and the fact its hand planed from start to finish, rather than turned on a lathe to an oversized taper and then finished by hand like the other ranges.

are you sure they are planed by hand

[billabong]

Why, who is missing from this top Ten of current players as per rankings?

Bingham & Walden

[ADR147]

Why, who is missing from this top Ten of current players as per rankings?

Stu Bingham for a start.

http://www.worldsnooker.com/staticFi...~181946,00.pdf

[ADR147]

I suppose all the professionals live in London then?! So they can accidentally happen upon Parris Cues?! lol.

how many scots pros are using a parris cue? maguire, higgins, mcgill, dott, frazz, mcmanus?

[Leo]

are you sure they are planed by hand

with all the orders Parris get I would probably say there's about a 1.5% chance these are planed by hand

[Byrom]

how many scots pros are using a parris cue? maguire, higgins, mcgill, dott, frazz, mcmanus?

My answer would be none?

[itsnoteasy]

That's because they are all to tight to buy one(only I can say that anyone else and it's racist )

[Byrom]

I think I did mention the phrase 'top ten'. Mags apart (ranked 12th), the Scots aren't much threat. And here's what Mags said -

"I've played with Parris Cues all my career and they are second to no one. Anyone who wants to improve their game can't go wrong with Johns cues. 1st class service and always willing to help."

Everyone would be nice getting free cues now wont they? Hell If John Parris gave me an Ultimate I'd be nice give him a nice quote for his website and clean his car for him too - also the quote is common sense he Stephen is a nice guy so I bet he said something similar about GBL Maximus, Trevor White Jason Owen Exquisite and every other cue maker he has tried too.

Scottish snooker players have dominated a lot of the top snooker rankings for much of the past few decades at the top level so I also think that is a bit unkind to say they are not much threat don't you?

[jrc750]

I think I did mention the phrase 'top ten'. Mags apart (ranked 12th), the Scots aren't much threat. And here's what Mags said -

"I've played with Parris Cues all my career and they are second to no one. Anyone who wants to improve their game can't go wrong with Johns cues. 1st class service and always willing to help."

Must be an old quote ehh
He used a GBL for last 3 years i think