CUE BUYING ADVICE - The Definitive Thread - Please Read First Post

[vmax4steve]

This is mis leading tho !!! i heard it was more than that, but anyway back then £30 was worth maybe 10 times what it is now
Ie it was NOT a cheap cue

I had a cue hand made for me around the same time and it cost me £75, still using it.
The point is that he didn't p*ss around changing cues all the time and honed his game around a mass produced cue that anyone could buy.

[jrc750]

Yes ideally we should all stick to using one cue, as long as it's near enough correct specs it shouldn't really matter
IF only .......

[cueman]

I think the problem with amatuer players inparticular, and some pros for that matter, is that they are searching for something that feels right. Its okay to stick within the parameters of certain sizes, but to say that expecting a cue to play differently or better is the reality. Many players when going for a new cue tend to have two made up and then decide out of them which feels right. Dominic Dale recently did this with his Maximus cues and he knows his cues.

Constantly chopping and changing sizes and weights and tip size is definitely not the right way to go. Whenever I order a cue it is always near the same sizes as I've used from the outset. But all cues play differently, I agree that when starting out you should try and stick with one cue and learn the game completely with that but once you have got a good level of ability then you can start experimenting a little.

My biggest regret to this day was going to Craftsman cue about 8-9 years ago and tried out a number of cues they had. I settled for one that was completely different to my old cue, it was longer, smaller tip, and heavier, yet I couldn't miss with it on their table.
Played really well with it for the next 5-6 weeks or so but unfortunately it didn't come with an end joint for extensions. Having bought it from Craftsman I felt it only right to send it back to have an end joint fitted but that was the big regret. As they used a very different joint to other cue makers it played completely different when I got it back. Weight was different, balance and it made a strange hollow sounding noise when striking the ball. I hated the cue after that and sold it shortly afterwards. Tried plenty of cues since but not one has played anywhere near as well as this did. So there is another lesson, once you have settled on a cue don't change anything about it as it probably won't play the same again.

[humperdingle]

This is mis leading tho !!! i heard it was more than that, but anyway back then £30 was worth maybe 10 times what it is now
Ie it was NOT a cheap cue

According to the historic inflation calculator... £30 in 1982 would be £90 of today's money.

[jrc750]

According to the historic inflation calculator... £30 in 1982 would be £90 of today's money.

I like to exaggerate a little for effect

[Gerry Armstrong]

According to the historic inflation calculator... £30 in 1982 would be £90 of today's money.

SH's cue brand new in 1982 would have cost £80. I've heard various stories, some saying it was bought brand new and others that is was 2nd hand but I don't know one way or the other.

[jrc750]

SH's cue brand new in 1982 would have cost £80. I've heard various stories, some saying it was bought brand new and others that is was 2nd hand but I don't know one way or the other.

In that case then maybe £240 in today's money, so was not a cheap cue at all

[Byrom]

With cues - One man's perfume is another man's Poison.

I don't feel qualified to comment because after all these years I am still sniffing around and I got a cold at the moment.

[Bigmeek]

I've posted this comment up on many threads but here we go again! I bought my Powerglide Purist around the same time as Stephen and it cost me £42. The Purist is plain ebony. As we all know Stephen's "Conny" was a fancy multi-spliced affair so a price of £80 doesn't seem unreasonable although Stephen has mentioned many times he thought the cue, bought for him by his Dad, had cost about £40. At that price it looks like it could have been second hand but I think it's more likely that Stephen's Dad got a discount or maybe Stephens recollection of things is incorrect. He was only 14 at the time. Stephen's cue was bought at Millers in Broxburn, Scotland and there is a Forum member on here who remembers looking at it but it was too expensive for him at the time.

[vmax4steve]

SH's cue brand new in 1982 would have cost £80. I've heard various stories, some saying it was bought brand new and others that is was 2nd hand but I don't know one way or the other.

I bought a Rex Williams Powerglide handspliced ash shafted something or other around 1985, replacing my Ray Reardon maple mid jointed two piece, and it cost around the £30 mark. It was no different to all the other cues I used up until then, ie: fine for pool but too short for snooker for someone of my height and albatross like wingspan.

It wasn't until I had a cue handmade for me at 62 inches (now 61 & 1/2) that my game went forward.

Which is the point of this thread and my original comment on it, why bother buying an expensive cue to the same spec as the one you learned with. If your game isn't going forward try a different spec by all means but I fail to see the point of handing over your hard earned to some asian cue importer or middle man simply looking for a fast buck.

I wonder just how many people on this forum have handed over their dosh for such a cue, sold their original, and now deeply regret it.

The key to this game if you have a naural talent for it is perseverance and practise.

A bad workman always blames his tools.

[tommo146]

if he did i would he throws comments around like stupid and silly not me

[tommo146]

MUG.........................you are as bad as him

[DeanH]

MUG.........................you are as bad as him

hi tommo, please can you use the Reply with Quote (or if on a phone, just Quote) so others can see who you are replying to

[tommo146]

hi tommo, please can you use the Reply with Quote (or if on a phone, just Quote) so others can see who you are replying to

Good advice will do

[DeanH]

cheers
....