The sound of the cue

[denja]

Hope members dont think this is a stupid post but do you think the sound of the cue hitting the cue ball has any bearing on the quality and age of the shaft (eg) I have two cues identical spec however one had a ash shaft that is very new looking and white and bleached in appearance the other is very yellowed and has what I would term as a very aged look the aged looking shaft has a very compact whack sound when hitting the cue ball, the ash shaft that is very white and new looking produces what I would call a dull thump,I have noticed that many cues do sound different whats your thoughts on this.

[golferson123]

new american ash tends to be a bit pingy ,whilst old mature ash is more clicky(tips aside) the white ash might not have been finished the same,no stain or oil.you would need to eliminate tips,ferrules ect.

[cueman]

Nope, mainly because the tip creates more of the sound than the cue does.

[Terry Davidson]

I did have a cue which was custom made and had a weird 'hollow' sound when I hit the ball. I did find it off-putting and I tried changing the tip and that didn't work. Changed the ferrule over to black fiber and that didn't work either.

What did change the sound to normal was using the cue with its mini-butt, so I concluded it must have been a matter of harmonics in the wood itself.

I agree with cueman though, the tip generally creates most of the sound

Terry

[itsnoteasy]

Can the density of the wood make any difference , or is ash more or less uniform? What about the woods used to splice, or the length of splices, probably more on a one piece.
Denja, I have an Omin that is pingy, but my craftsman custom cue well it's like playing with a silencer on it makes so little noise, the omin is white looking ash, and the craftsman much darker, not sure if that's age though or just the finish.

[golferson123]

I did have a cue which was custom made and had a weird 'hollow' sound when I hit the ball. I did find it off-putting and I tried changing the tip and that didn't work. Changed the ferrule over to black fiber and that didn't work either.

What did change the sound to normal was using the cue with its mini-butt, so I concluded it must have been a matter of harmonics in the wood itself.

I agree with cueman though, the tip generally creates most of the sound

Terry

terry ,yes the tip does have some effect on sound but only in extremes ie too hard or too soft.you would be suprised what comes from the wood itself. allthough ash and maple have ratings on the janka scale for hardness it still varies from plank to plank.as for timber on the butt the same applies.look on the janka scale and stay away from the highest rating timbers as they tend to harshen the hit.higgins swore by tulipwood on the butt as he thought it made the hit softer.just as an experiment wrap some leccy tape round the butt as tight as you can, you will hear the hit change.