How to pick the right cue?

[Cullen]

I've had enough of using the $5 cue's at the club I usually play at and I think its time I finally invest in a decent cue.

How would you recommend the first cue purchase, what should I be looking for and what to avoid?

Thanks in advance,
Cullen

[jaffa.johnson]

Welcome to the forum,

Plenty of threads on here with people who joined in your position.

The direct answer to "How to pick the right cue" is, the one which feels right for you and the one which you play well with.

If you have any idea of the spec you want, post them on here, also where you are in the world and how much you want to spend.

[Cullen]

Thanks for the welcoming.

To be honest I don't know how to "spot" the right cue, I don't know what I should be looking for nor what exactly feels right but I guess I just know when I know.

But could you define "specs" of a cue - I'm willing to spend up to about 170 pounds for a good one, but I have the feeling I should start with a cheaper one and then go up if I'll continue playing.

After all, I bet that any cue for 40-60 pounds are so much better than the cues I'm playing with right now, so I would probably be happy with anything.

[jaffa.johnson]

Thanks for the welcoming.

To be honest I don't know how to "spot" the right cue, I don't know what I should be looking for nor what exactly feels right but I guess I just know when I know.

But could you define "specs" of a cue - I'm willing to spend up to about 170 pounds for a good one, but I have the feeling I should start with a cheaper one and then go up if I'll continue playing.

After all, I bet that any cue for 40-60 pounds are so much better than the cues I'm playing with right now, so I would probably be happy with anything.

by specs I mean, weight, length, tip size etc.

As you dont know, this is irrelevant and if you pick something up which is a good cue, you will get used to it.

Are you in UK?

[DeanH]

"how to spot the right cue?" now that is a loaded question and many on here have been trying for years to find it and only a few have "found it"!
As you have probabaly have seen in many other threads, the choice of cue is very - very - personal, not just the looks of it but the specifications and how if feels when you use it!
What often happens is that even with a cue that is to your spec and looks good to you, you just cannot play with it
And then you pick up a "rubbish" cue and it is a marriage made in snooker heaven!
The only advice I will give is to get a good idea of the spec you like, tip size, length, weight, then see what is around in that range to your budget, and then cross-fingers
In your budget, I would look at Craftsman cues and Mastercraft cues, there is also a hobby cue maker in Sheffield, Andy Travis (trav1 on TSF) who is making some good value cues, have a look at the recent posts in the Picture of your cue thread for what he is producing.
best of luck and have fun :snooker:

[Cullen]

by specs I mean, weight, length, tip size etc.

As you dont know, this is irrelevant and if you pick something up which is a good cue, you will get used to it.

Are you in UK?

Ahh, gotcha - specification. Unfortunately I haven't played that much nor tried enough amount of cues to know what exactly I want.

And I'm not in UK, live at Iceland.

Text

Yeah I figured it might be hard to find the one and only cue, and only time will tell. I'm on my way to the club right now, hopefully I'll get any closer to what I really want.

Thanks for the reply's!

[DeanH]

Welcome to TSF.
Not sure but you could be the first from Iceland on TSF ?
Is your flag in the listing for you country under "Your Profile" ?
:snooker:

[ADR147]

how tall are you? how often do you play. what game do you play etc etc etc

[gazza147]

Welcome to the Tsf Forum.

If you could goto Club or try a few cues locally and weigh, measure length and Tip size then you would have rough idea what suits you as everybody is Different!

Most Snooker Players use Approx 17oz-18.5oz, Length 57" 1/2- 58", Tip 9mm-10mm Tips.

Hope this Helps.


Gaz.

[cally]

Welcome to TSF cullen, plenty of good advice here for selecting a new cue.

Enjoy TSF....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

@Gaz... Just to point out...

Do yu not realise that TSF stands for "The Snooker Forum"...

You are saying Welcome to "the the snooker forum forum' over and over mun...lol..

Soz fella, not a dig/ It's just you say it all the time and it reads like you got a stammer...


Jus' sayin...

[Cullen]

Lots of good post, thanks for that!

how tall are you? how often do you play. what game do you play etc etc etc

I'm about 1.76m, I usually play 3-4 times a week, I believe I just play the "normal" snooker game, what ever that means. Take notice, I'm very new to this game, been playing 8 and 9-ball for years but snooker recently got my attention.

Welcome to TSF.
Not sure but you could be the first from Iceland on TSF ?
Is your flag in the listing for you country under "Your Profile" ?
:snooker:

By golly, you might be right! I'll check for the flag as soon as my account gets activated!

I've been doing extensive research on this "Finding The Right Cue Journey" - here is the complete list of all cues sold at Iceland. (although I could of course buy my cue from any online store, topcue.co.uk, eBay etc.)

Ronnie O Sullivan ROS2. 2 Piece
- £78

Ronnie O Sullivan ROS1. 2 Piece
- £68

Paul Hunter. 2 Piece
- £69

Pallas. 3 Piece
- £155

Kallisto. 1 Piece
- £14

Jimmy White JW2. 2 Piece
- £63

Jimmy White JW1. 2 Piece
- £68

Cuetec. 2 Piece
- £55

Cuetec. 1 Piece
- £39

Classic. 3 Piece
- £110

Carat A2. 3 Piece
- £97

Carat A1. 3 Piece
- £82

Apollo. 2 Piece /w. extension.
- £62

Riley- Burwat Gold
RBG-1 £184
RBG-2 £236
RBG-3 £250 (handcrafted)
RBG-4 £146
RBG-5 £167
RBG-6 £185

Riley - Burwat Platinum
RBP-1 £288
RBP-2 £227
RBP-3 £242
RBP-4 £262

I know its very personal opinion, but which of these cue would you recommend.

[MikeWooldridge]

I've had enough of using the $5 cue's at the club I usually play at and I think its time I finally invest in a decent cue.

How would you recommend the first cue purchase, what should I be looking for and what to avoid?

Thanks in advance,
Cullen

reading this will help:

http://www.handmadecues.com/home/20-advice.htm

[poolqjunkie]

My honest advice is to buy a decent cue and then just get on with it.
A good cue can be kept for life and will win you many frames and give you tones of pleasure.
A rubbish cue might be cheaper but it is like having 5 condoms on.
Not only will it take away all the fun from the game you will need/want to buy another one soon. You wont get most of your money back when you sell because people who know about cues will know it is a piece of crab.
Get a cue from a master craftsman such as Mike Wooldridge, Trevor White, Robert Osborne, or Dave Coutts.
Talk to the cue maker and let him know what you want.
Then leave him alone and just wait.
When your cue is ready, it will be posted to you and you will be a happy camper.

[MikeWooldridge]

A rubbish cue might be cheaper but it is like having 5 condoms on.

lol. great analogy airin.

can't speak for any other cues but this immediately sprung to mind:

mw cue = bareback + high on coke with three strippers in a las vegas high roller suite

[paddybhoy30]

Any free chips mike.