Cue Reviews - feel free to add

[Belloz22]

Hi, because of the scarce amount of honest reviews of cues on the internet, i have decided to start a thread where people can add their review of the cues they have used for people to look at, be honest, even if it means saying negatives about your own cue....

My first cue was a Geordie Pool 'Supreme' - cost £110

I found this cue to be very good, and value for money, compared to other top quality cuemakers, remeber this is a massed produced cue so it is not top top end, but is still a very good standard.

Wood: The wood was of reasonable quality, shaft was a bit rough but alot better than avergae club cues. The walnut butt was very nice, very attracative, it shown attractivness, also had a good feel in the hand.

Shaft & Butt: The shaft was the main downfall to the cue, it was very thin, and made the cue whippy and unrealiable on power shots, and screw shots, it also tended to throw the white alot more with side (this may be due to the tip being 8.5mm) It also had the tendency to warp easier than average cues, however this may not happen if looked after better

Playablility : : the cue played reasonably well, was very easy to line up your shots with the cue as the shaft gave the impression of an arrow, and the grain was quite predominate on the cue, giving good guidelines. It was also very good at imparting spin on the ball, and you gained alot more reaction for less power, however, because of the occasionally throwing of the white, long shots become alot harder

Rating: In general this is a very good cue for club players, however i would not recommend to players who compete as this cue is not the most reliable. It however is a very good cue for 8ball pool, as the standard cue, 8.5mm, and thin shaft is perfect

IMO - 7/10

[Belloz22]

the 2nd cue i owned was Limited Edition 7, John Parris Cue - cost £452 + VAT

Wood: The wood on this cue is quality, the shaft was very very good, had a lovely grain, and ran very smooth along the bridge of your hand, the grain was very attractive and gave the shaft a nice look and feel. The ebony on the butt was very very nice, it was very smooth and shone when wiped down and cleaned. It was a very dark ebony, not one where there is light wood showing up. The maple in the chequered patteren was very nice, however i think a different wood would have gave a better look, it still had a very traditional look, but unique

Shaft & Butt: The shaft was very solid and durable, i found though that it was not as responsive as some cheaper cues i have used, which is a very bit disappointment for the price and reputation of the cue maker. It also thumped the white rather than gave a clean strike through the ball, so occasionally the white would jump. However, the shaft was very very smooth, and never began sticky like alot of cues, the varnish and finish was immaculate and gave the cue the feeling of being new everytime you played with it.

Playability: For the price of the cue, it did not play as well as i thought it would, and i believe it didnt quite give you the full range of shots required. It was perfect for stun shots, but when it came to putting spin, especially top spin, it did not give that clean strike and thus the white didnt pick up as much spin. For long shots it was very good, giving a solid feel, but close in the balls, the cue was a bit clumsy and you occasionally could lose the touch as there was not much feel there.

Rating:

In my opinion this cue did not really live up to the hype i heard surrounding John Parris cues, and for the price, it certainly did not live up to this price. It was felt like it lacked quality, it felt like it was massed produced and no serious time and effort was took over it

IMO 5-6/10

[Wity]

Just reserving this spot for geordie pool cue comment thinking it'd read better if they were closer in the thread.

off for a game in a mo so i'll edit it sometime after midnight.


edit 2 days later , sorry I forgot.

The geordie pool "supreme" cue (ebony) can be had for far less at auction on ebay at around £35 I bought two at £38 I was so impressed and was offered another for £37 when I failed to win the bidding. So how would price effect your 7/10 rating?

Not a top flight cue by any means the ebony was artifically darkened and the ash may well have been discarded by the top makers as with the one I kept although the shaft and the grain is straight and there are 3 nice arrows at the buisness end it's not the mature ash with say 10 grain lines you'd find in a better shaft. Splices were perfectly even but on the one did not line up with the butts splices. That's no big deal really and they almost line up perfectly if it's really tightened. The base of the butt was really poor though and I had to resand that etc to get it the same as the finish in the rest of the butt. At that price though it's the best you can get by far, and you could resell it at no loss unlike any other new cue.

I rebadged the one I kept and put on a talisman tip which was a big improvement on the ??? tip it came with and although i'm somewhat weary of the shafts likespan with power shots because of it's small tip so far it's been fine but I rarely blast the cue ball anyway and if I want to in pool I'd use a house cue (bugger paying money for a break cue). Actually having the the small tip has helped me some in that i'm far more aware of it being easier to miscue with and my stroke has improved. I miscued twice with it the first day and not once in the 6 months since.

As a cue, 6/10
Value for money 11/10 (at £38 not at £100+)

P.S. If i could only contact the chinaman who made it I'd ask him to spend an extra £30 on better materials, give him a weeks wages extra per cue (£5) for spending a couple of hours more time on one and thus a better finish and for a total of what? £65 I'd have a cracker.

[ADR147]

obviously every single cue if different but the geordie cues i have seen (maybe 10 of them) have all been cheap and nasty poorly made chinese rubbish, but at least you can pick them up on ebay for the price of a round - you would not be happy if you had paid £110 for one! also they all have tips at 8mm or 8.5mm which is no good for snooker.

[Qubit]

Pro Snooker from ebay. Cheap chinese cue with case. Purchased because my pool team needed a shorter cue and i needed a cheap 3/4 useable case. (came with mini butt and extension)


Wood: OK i guess, not sure of its origins or what sort of ebony (if any) is used. Finished quite well though, no rough joints, nice and smooth. Overall weight of just over 18.5oz. As far as i can tell not handspliced.

Shaft: Overall the cue is pretty butt heavy - i suspect the butt is weighted. (balance point/length ratio of ~27, i prefer 30-31) The shaft is a very light piece of wood both in colour and weight, but fairly stiff. Smells bit funny, not sure what its been treated with but its not linseed oil.

Playablility : OK, nothing spectacular. Seems to generate power but thats more to do with its weight than shaft quality. Wouldnt like to comment on its longevity though.

Rating: 5/10. With a better tip it does the job it was bought for well.

[trevs1]

I've just noticed this thread, interesting.

The thing from my perspective is this:

I think it's easy enough to offer a review of any given cue, but, this can be a little misleading.

For example:

Let's take a Peradon cue, any cue they build, with a certain model name.
I think they make one called 'The Prince', please let me know if I'm wrong there.

We could have a review of the prince here, with the author giving it a good hiding, criticising everything about it, when in reality, there may be many other Peradon Prince cues that are just great.

Similarly, we could have someone post a review of a Parris Superior cue, praising it to pieces, stating it's the best thing they've ever seen, when there may be a number of other players with the same 'MODEL' of cue, who are not entirely satisfied.

What I'm getting at is that any cue, even if it's of a 'certain model or type', can, and will, differ from those of the same name, model or type.

So, while this is an interesting read, and, can also offer some insight into what players think of any 'ONE INDIVIDUAL CUE', it can't serve to prove that any type of cue, by any particular maker, will be consistently the same.

This is still a valuable source of information however, so do keep posting your thoughts, we can all learn something here.

[trevs1]

The last post I made is mainly intended for those reading with less knowledge of cues.

It might appear a bit condescending to those with more experience but that was not my intention, sorry if it appeared this way.

[GreenBaize]

I've just noticed this thread, interesting.

The thing from my perspective is this:

I think it's easy enough to offer a review of any given cue, but, this can be a little misleading.

For example:

Let's take a Peradon cue, any cue they build, with a certain model name.
I think they make one called 'The Prince', please let me know if I'm wrong there.

We could have a review of the prince here, with the author giving it a good hiding, criticising everything about it, when in reality, there may be many other Peradon Prince cues that are just great.

Similarly, we could have someone post a review of a Parris Superior cue, praising it to pieces, stating it's the best thing they've ever seen, when there may be a number of other players with the same 'MODEL' of cue, who are not entirely satisfied.

What I'm getting at is that any cue, even if it's of a 'certain model or type', can, and will, differ from those of the same name, model or type.

So, while this is an interesting read, and, can also offer some insight into what players think of any 'ONE INDIVIDUAL CUE', it can't serve to prove that any type of cue, by any particular maker, will be consistently the same.

This is still a valuable source of information however, so do keep posting your thoughts, we can all learn something here.

Totally agree Trev , every cue is an individual and there for will feel and play differently , its a players individual preferences that will determine if a cue is good or bad.
A good player never chooses a new cue by how much it costs , its the way it feels and plays that is always the deciding factor . a cue that suits the individual .
Although quality of materials and build will give a player confidence in a cue .

[Qubit]

Trevs1 is completely right. (obviously he should know!) Ive learnt a lot recently and it does seem that its very difficult to build 2 cues the same due to wood variations etc etc.

[ADR147]

I've just noticed this thread, interesting.

The thing from my perspective is this:

I think it's easy enough to offer a review of any given cue, but, this can be a little misleading.

For example:

Let's take a Peradon cue, any cue they build, with a certain model name.
I think they make one called 'The Prince', please let me know if I'm wrong there.

We could have a review of the prince here, with the author giving it a good hiding, criticising everything about it, when in reality, there may be many other Peradon Prince cues that are just great.

Similarly, we could have someone post a review of a Parris Superior cue, praising it to pieces, stating it's the best thing they've ever seen, when there may be a number of other players with the same 'MODEL' of cue, who are not entirely satisfied.

What I'm getting at is that any cue, even if it's of a 'certain model or type', can, and will, differ from those of the same name, model or type.

So, while this is an interesting read, and, can also offer some insight into what players think of any 'ONE INDIVIDUAL CUE', it can't serve to prove that any type of cue, by any particular maker, will be consistently the same.

This is still a valuable source of information however, so do keep posting your thoughts, we can all learn something here.

agreed, as i said before every cue is different but there are some generalisations that are valid, i have never seen a cue made in china with jet black ebony for example.

[Belloz22]

i understand trevs, no two cues are alike if it was everything would be so much easier - the real aim of this thread is to show how different people can have different opinions over the same cue, some may think it has good wood, some may not!!!

I thought it would be good to have a big collection of peoples personal opinions on the cues they have played with, the more comprehensive the better, it then gives an body the ability to have a look at how other people views certain cues - because in my opinion you cannot always really on reviews on the internet as there are so many people who ar their to promote people's cues - endorsments, etc - at least on here we should get some honest opinions - HOPEFULLY

[trevs1]

Greenbaize, I agree with much of what you say, though I'd disagree that cost plays no part with 'good players'. I think cost always plays a part.

Qubit, it is actually possible to build 'twins' as far as cues go. If the selection of timber is correct and they're built to very exacting standards, it's not too much of a problem, I've done many like this.

ADR, I agree that there are many generalisations that are totally valid throughout this topic. The ebony thing is possibly more to do with the grading they're willing to accept. If it's not the best quality, it's cheaper obviously.

Belloz22, it's a great thread.
I think many will enjoy reading through it and many will find it useful too.

[Belloz22]

Another cue i owned Peradon King - cost £175

Wood: The quality of this wood was pretty good, felt nice in the hand and had a nice attractive appeal to it, however you somehow could see that it was not top end wood, but for the price i was not expecting top, top quality. The wood however became sticky very easily, and seem to be very soft and marked easy

Shaft & Butt: The shaft had a very strong and visible grain, and this was actually quite detering for the eyes, IMO, it tended to draw your attention away from the white. Also, the shaft felt hollow and cheap, not very solid, and the shaft tended to be a bit thick compared to other cues. It didn't always have the best response on the shot, and tended to be a bit dead, however this did not always occur, strange - i found the cue very hard to put top spin on and screw back as it felt like it lacked a solid shaft to make a good impact on the shot, this tended to make the cue feel dead, it also tended to lack a solid feel on stun shots, however i have had many cues that were alot worst. The butt of the cue is also slightly thinner than other cues, so it may not suit the player with a bigger hand.

Playability: The cue is a very good all round cue, for a club player who plays now and again, this is a top quality cue, however for a serious all round player i think it lacks the ability to give a solid and consistent array of shots. Compared to the cost i think it is quite reasonable, it is one of the top end modern Peradon cues, and it does have a better feel of quality over some of the other Peradon Models

Rating: IMO the cue offers a very good all round feel, and it plays reasonable well, compared to more expensive top end cues. It is a very attractive cue, and is very made, 7/10

[craigslater]

the 2nd cue i owned was Limited Edition 7, John Parris Cue - cost £452 + VAT

Wood: The wood on this cue is quality, the shaft was very very good, had a lovely grain, and ran very smooth along the bridge of your hand, the grain was very attractive and gave the shaft a nice look and feel. The ebony on the butt was very very nice, it was very smooth and shone when wiped down and cleaned. It was a very dark ebony, not one where there is light wood showing up. The maple in the chequered patteren was very nice, however i think a different wood would have gave a better look, it still had a very traditional look, but unique

Shaft & Butt: The shaft was very solid and durable, i found though that it was not as responsive as some cheaper cues i have used, which is a very bit disappointment for the price and reputation of the cue maker. It also thumped the white rather than gave a clean strike through the ball, so occasionally the white would jump. However, the shaft was very very smooth, and never began sticky like alot of cues, the varnish and finish was immaculate and gave the cue the feeling of being new everytime you played with it.

Playability: For the price of the cue, it did not play as well as i thought it would, and i believe it didnt quite give you the full range of shots required. It was perfect for stun shots, but when it came to putting spin, especially top spin, it did not give that clean strike and thus the white didnt pick up as much spin. For long shots it was very good, giving a solid feel, but close in the balls, the cue was a bit clumsy and you occasionally could lose the touch as there was not much feel there.

Rating:

In my opinion this cue did not really live up to the hype i heard surrounding John Parris cues, and for the price, it certainly did not live up to this price. It was felt like it lacked quality, it felt like it was massed produced and no serious time and effort was took over it

IMO 5-6/10

do you still have this cue?

[Belloz22]

no, i sold it on ebay, made most of my money back... waiting for my new trevor white cue to be made