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I sort of get where he is coming from but I also think he is talking a little in riddles when he goes on about specifics such as the shoulder being too thin and throws the ball.
This is untrue because different pieces of maple or ash will have varying amounts of flex and therefore a cue maker will taper the cue according to the flex of the timber they are working with. A stiff cue will benefit from a slimmer taper as it will give it better spring and obviously a whippy cue will benefit from a thicker taper across the length of the shaft.
As for only a handful of cue makers knowing what they are doing, well in a way he is right. Its easy to make a cue, not so easy to make a good cue or have a consistency to your work where you can produce top quality and more importantly good playing cues.
I do feel that many cue makers knock out cues far too quickly and use sub standard ash or maple due to not wanting to waste money. I don't blame them for this but that is the drawback for many cue makers who don't have the buying power or space to keep hold a good stock of timber. They get their hands on what is left most of the time which is not the top drawer AAA quality of wood that you would want if buying a cue for 4-500 pounds or more.
This is where I will go back about Parris and never understand people who always want to knock him. Unlike many of the names who are popular amongst members on this board, many of them make nice very nice looking cues and some judge a cue maker by how accurate the splices are or how nice a shaft looks. However JP is very popular amongst the pros because he is extremely good at knowing what a player wants in a cue and is able to make a cue to suit that individual. IF these other cue makers where so good, don't you think the pros would have caught on by now and many would be using them instead!
You ask these accurate splicing cue makers to make you a cue with a specfic type of hit or balance point and they will tell you they can, until you get the cue and find they have just made you a cue with what they had available and often not the hit you wanted or the BP and you back to the drawing board hoping the next cue maker can do better. This is where the real skill is in cue making, forget the fancy exotics or mm perfect 16 splice butts, that doesn't constitute a good cue, just a pretty one.
This is untrue because different pieces of maple or ash will have varying amounts of flex and therefore a cue maker will taper the cue according to the flex of the timber they are working with. A stiff cue will benefit from a slimmer taper as it will give it better spring and obviously a whippy cue will benefit from a thicker taper across the length of the shaft.
As for only a handful of cue makers knowing what they are doing, well in a way he is right. Its easy to make a cue, not so easy to make a good cue or have a consistency to your work where you can produce top quality and more importantly good playing cues.
I do feel that many cue makers knock out cues far too quickly and use sub standard ash or maple due to not wanting to waste money. I don't blame them for this but that is the drawback for many cue makers who don't have the buying power or space to keep hold a good stock of timber. They get their hands on what is left most of the time which is not the top drawer AAA quality of wood that you would want if buying a cue for 4-500 pounds or more.
This is where I will go back about Parris and never understand people who always want to knock him. Unlike many of the names who are popular amongst members on this board, many of them make nice very nice looking cues and some judge a cue maker by how accurate the splices are or how nice a shaft looks. However JP is very popular amongst the pros because he is extremely good at knowing what a player wants in a cue and is able to make a cue to suit that individual. IF these other cue makers where so good, don't you think the pros would have caught on by now and many would be using them instead!
You ask these accurate splicing cue makers to make you a cue with a specfic type of hit or balance point and they will tell you they can, until you get the cue and find they have just made you a cue with what they had available and often not the hit you wanted or the BP and you back to the drawing board hoping the next cue maker can do better. This is where the real skill is in cue making, forget the fancy exotics or mm perfect 16 splice butts, that doesn't constitute a good cue, just a pretty one.
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