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OK, since my last 'Search For A Cue' post its hard to believe but its been almost exactly FOUR years!! It was March 2011 when I had bought the famous Parris cue that Ronnie Osullivan had given away at the Crucible. That cue is now treasured by a good friend in Singapore so........my Search for a cue continued!! 
After the Ronnie cue I am really lucky as I live only 20 minutes from Greenbaize so I bought a lovely 3/4 ash GBL cue which I used for a few weeks and then, as usual sold. Next was a Master Cue one piece that was Stu Greens own playing cue but Jon Birch (ex pro) had modified and then changed his mind so as it was a lovely cue I bought it, but sadly it wasnt 'the one'. Next cue was another GBL ash cue but this time a one piece and 9mm tip. I loved the cue but didnt love the 9mm so the cue went.....and my next cue was a stunning Hunt & Osborne 'green plate' cue that looked just about perfect but for some strange reason, even though I couldnt have chosen a nicer looking cue it just didnt feel right, so it had to go! My next cue was a centre joined hand made maple cue but didnt suit me so I bought a wonderful old Aeon 'Special' cue from Jeff Cundy. He had chosen the unique number '155' and the cue was lovely and even felt right. I used this cue for a few months and played (for me) good snooker so eventually I even thought that I had found the Holy Grail.....but as usual I reached a local snooker singles final and played (also as usual) total rubbish so blamed the cue and off it went!
Next was a Master cue ash 3/4 folowed by a Master maple 3/4. I then bought a Parris Ultimate that had been owned by a pro but although the cue was a work of art it was over 19oz weight and just felt too heavy for me. I then bought an old Trevor White one piece ash cue from Paul Davies the Welsh Pro player. It had been his playing cue all his career but he had given up snooker whih is why he sold his cue. Absolutely lovely cue but sadly not for me......I then bought a one piece Trevor White maple cue from a semi pro player in Wales. This actually felt perfect and i used it for a few months until I fell out of love and sold it. My next cue was an old Cannon 3/4 ash cue from the 1980s with the white badge with a cannon. i had bought it on ebay from the guy who had owned it from new but when it arrived it was in a horrible condition so I sent it to Alan Day (local cue doctor) and he made a new butt, cut off the 8.8mm ferrule and put on a 9.3mm ferrule as requested and made the cue 58in long. When I got it back it was in perfect condition and felt good and I played with he cue for over a year, knocking in some good breaks (for me) and winning more games than I lost in the local league. So I was used to the cue and playing well and then the usual happened........I reached a local snooker pairs final and let my partner down by playing rubbish and it couldnt have been ME had to be the cue, so it went into the cupboard (I actually still have this cue!) and I then bought an old Rodney Hinde cue that had belonged to an ex pro called James Tatton. Couldnt use the cue so off it went and i tried a local cue makers centre join ash cue which I also played badly with so then bought the GBL maple cue from Mike Dunn who had bought his idntical cue to Stephen Maguires and used it on the main tour. As usual I couldnt use it so then bought a wonderful 3/4 ash Parris Traditional which was just about as good looking cue as I have ever seen.....but as usual with these perfect looking cues it just didnt 'feel' right.
My next cue was an old Parris Special cue that I bought from Scottish pro Fraser Patrick.....it had belonged to a couple of ex pro players from Scotland. The cue was too thin for me and the tip was just below 9mm so it had to go. I next bought an original Powerglide one piece Conny cue like Stephen Hendry had used but wasnt a good playing cue. Next was an Andy Giibb 3/4 ash cue followed by a GBL ash 3/4 cue and then a Maximus ash one piece cue but none of them felt right. During this time I kept going back to my old Cannon cue but it had fallen out of love with me and refused to pot anything! I then bought a beautiful LP top of the range 3/4 ash cue that had been made for Mike Russell, the billiard player. I spent a lot of money getting this cue modified to my own spec but at the end of the day it looked stunning but I just couldnt play with it.
Next was a one piece Maximus maple ultimate that John Higgins had used for a few weeks followed by a GBL 3/4 ash cue that had belonged to a really top class local player and his was followed by a Master cue Heritage 'S' and then a Master cue one piece ash cue. none of them felt right so I then bought a lovely James Butters one piece ash cue from JRC, it was a lovely cue but just didnt feel right (as usual). Next cue was a Niche 'Hunter' 3/4 ash......followed by another Master cue ash one piece......followed by a beautiful Robin Cook ash 3/4 cue with full Cocobola butt. I didnt play too bad with the Robin cue but just couldnt find a tip that I liked for the cue that gave me the feel that I was looking for.
Next cue was an antique Joe Davis ash special cue followed by a Jon Lonergan 3/4 ash cue followed by a very old John Parris 59in Classic cue. next cue was a Master cue 3/4 ash Pyragon followed by a Tony Glover 3/4 maple cue that I bought from Stephen Maguire.......but as usual I couldnt get used to maple so then bought a lovely old one piece Mac Chambers cue that had belonged to Phil Seaton an ex pro player. This cue actually felt right and I started to use it as my playing cue.
So...........the year is now 2014 (last year) and since the Ronnie cue I had used 36 different cues!!
There are another 16 cues to go to bring everything up to date but I will have to continue this later in Part 2!!
Sadly around 2014 I realised that every cue I have ever owned would probably have been perfect for just about any snooker player on the planet to use it was just my technique that was rubbish........but also I have LOVED trying out all these different cues!
From an incureable addict
Oldgit
After the Ronnie cue I am really lucky as I live only 20 minutes from Greenbaize so I bought a lovely 3/4 ash GBL cue which I used for a few weeks and then, as usual sold. Next was a Master Cue one piece that was Stu Greens own playing cue but Jon Birch (ex pro) had modified and then changed his mind so as it was a lovely cue I bought it, but sadly it wasnt 'the one'. Next cue was another GBL ash cue but this time a one piece and 9mm tip. I loved the cue but didnt love the 9mm so the cue went.....and my next cue was a stunning Hunt & Osborne 'green plate' cue that looked just about perfect but for some strange reason, even though I couldnt have chosen a nicer looking cue it just didnt feel right, so it had to go! My next cue was a centre joined hand made maple cue but didnt suit me so I bought a wonderful old Aeon 'Special' cue from Jeff Cundy. He had chosen the unique number '155' and the cue was lovely and even felt right. I used this cue for a few months and played (for me) good snooker so eventually I even thought that I had found the Holy Grail.....but as usual I reached a local snooker singles final and played (also as usual) total rubbish so blamed the cue and off it went!
Next was a Master cue ash 3/4 folowed by a Master maple 3/4. I then bought a Parris Ultimate that had been owned by a pro but although the cue was a work of art it was over 19oz weight and just felt too heavy for me. I then bought an old Trevor White one piece ash cue from Paul Davies the Welsh Pro player. It had been his playing cue all his career but he had given up snooker whih is why he sold his cue. Absolutely lovely cue but sadly not for me......I then bought a one piece Trevor White maple cue from a semi pro player in Wales. This actually felt perfect and i used it for a few months until I fell out of love and sold it. My next cue was an old Cannon 3/4 ash cue from the 1980s with the white badge with a cannon. i had bought it on ebay from the guy who had owned it from new but when it arrived it was in a horrible condition so I sent it to Alan Day (local cue doctor) and he made a new butt, cut off the 8.8mm ferrule and put on a 9.3mm ferrule as requested and made the cue 58in long. When I got it back it was in perfect condition and felt good and I played with he cue for over a year, knocking in some good breaks (for me) and winning more games than I lost in the local league. So I was used to the cue and playing well and then the usual happened........I reached a local snooker pairs final and let my partner down by playing rubbish and it couldnt have been ME had to be the cue, so it went into the cupboard (I actually still have this cue!) and I then bought an old Rodney Hinde cue that had belonged to an ex pro called James Tatton. Couldnt use the cue so off it went and i tried a local cue makers centre join ash cue which I also played badly with so then bought the GBL maple cue from Mike Dunn who had bought his idntical cue to Stephen Maguires and used it on the main tour. As usual I couldnt use it so then bought a wonderful 3/4 ash Parris Traditional which was just about as good looking cue as I have ever seen.....but as usual with these perfect looking cues it just didnt 'feel' right.
My next cue was an old Parris Special cue that I bought from Scottish pro Fraser Patrick.....it had belonged to a couple of ex pro players from Scotland. The cue was too thin for me and the tip was just below 9mm so it had to go. I next bought an original Powerglide one piece Conny cue like Stephen Hendry had used but wasnt a good playing cue. Next was an Andy Giibb 3/4 ash cue followed by a GBL ash 3/4 cue and then a Maximus ash one piece cue but none of them felt right. During this time I kept going back to my old Cannon cue but it had fallen out of love with me and refused to pot anything! I then bought a beautiful LP top of the range 3/4 ash cue that had been made for Mike Russell, the billiard player. I spent a lot of money getting this cue modified to my own spec but at the end of the day it looked stunning but I just couldnt play with it.
Next was a one piece Maximus maple ultimate that John Higgins had used for a few weeks followed by a GBL 3/4 ash cue that had belonged to a really top class local player and his was followed by a Master cue Heritage 'S' and then a Master cue one piece ash cue. none of them felt right so I then bought a lovely James Butters one piece ash cue from JRC, it was a lovely cue but just didnt feel right (as usual). Next cue was a Niche 'Hunter' 3/4 ash......followed by another Master cue ash one piece......followed by a beautiful Robin Cook ash 3/4 cue with full Cocobola butt. I didnt play too bad with the Robin cue but just couldnt find a tip that I liked for the cue that gave me the feel that I was looking for.
Next cue was an antique Joe Davis ash special cue followed by a Jon Lonergan 3/4 ash cue followed by a very old John Parris 59in Classic cue. next cue was a Master cue 3/4 ash Pyragon followed by a Tony Glover 3/4 maple cue that I bought from Stephen Maguire.......but as usual I couldnt get used to maple so then bought a lovely old one piece Mac Chambers cue that had belonged to Phil Seaton an ex pro player. This cue actually felt right and I started to use it as my playing cue.
So...........the year is now 2014 (last year) and since the Ronnie cue I had used 36 different cues!!
There are another 16 cues to go to bring everything up to date but I will have to continue this later in Part 2!!
Sadly around 2014 I realised that every cue I have ever owned would probably have been perfect for just about any snooker player on the planet to use it was just my technique that was rubbish........but also I have LOVED trying out all these different cues!
From an incureable addict
Oldgit
- but at least people like us are keeping these cue sellers in the manner they are accustomed.
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