best cues

[vmax4steve]

It's all in the timber, simple as that. The best shafts are those with a tight straight grain, ash or maple, or even oak. I just bought some oak, enough to make four cues, and the grain is tight and dead straight from one end to the other, should be interesting when finished.

Then again if you look at Matt Stevens and Kyren Wilson's cues they both have ash shafts with a wide wavy grain, yet they play bloody good snooker with them.

It's all down to what you learned with IMO, you get a feel for a certain type of timber, and you can get that timber from any cue maker, even the cheap chinese CNC made ones, as the amount of timber they use there surely are some shafts that are going to be great,

Millimetre perfect splicing doesn't matter, you surely don't buy a cue to hang on the wall, it's a tool for some, an instrument for others, and a magic wand for one called Ronnie, but simply a badge for many who cannot play and have more money than sense.

[Ramon]

Having said that, personally, I would never wait 4 years for a cue to play this game.
the best cue is the one suits ur game . an i realy think you do'nt need to wait 4 yrs to find that cue.
still, sum people like to have one of those jpu's . it's a matter of personal preference .
good luck to them.

[golferson123]

oh , okey.
well, I do'nt think all cues made by JP are poor ( just my opinion ).
sum of them are great players . ( i've seen just a few ultimates ). so not mutch experience with this.
but realy , 3 of them wr great cues .
maybe i miss sumthing here lol ??

no ramon you have missed nothing, but the magic word is players!. you dont have to wait 4 years to get a player!. if you spend a bag of sand on an ultimate and wait 4 years for it i know you could spend the same amount on 10 £100 pound cues in one day and get a cue that plays as good

[Ramon]

It's all in the timber, simple as that. The best shafts are those with a tight straight grain, ash or maple, or even oak. I just bought some oak, enough to make four cues, and the grain is tight and dead straight from one end to the other, should be interesting when finished.

Then again if you look at Matt Stevens and Kyren Wilson's cues they both have ash shafts with a wide wavy grain, yet they play bloody good snooker with them.

It's all down to what you learned with IMO, you get a feel for a certain type of timber, and you can get that timber from any cue maker, even the cheap chinese CNC made ones, as the amount of timber they use there surely are some shafts that are going to be great,

Millimetre perfect splicing doesn't matter, you surely don't buy a cue to hang on the wall, it's a tool for some, an instrument for others, and a magic wand for one called Ronnie, but simply a badge for many who cannot play and have more money than sense.

great post !!

[golferson123]

It's all in the timber, simple as that. The best shafts are those with a tight straight grain, ash or maple, or even oak. I just bought some oak, enough to make four cues, and the grain is tight and dead straight from one end to the other, should be interesting when finished.

Then again if you look at Matt Stevens and Kyren Wilson's cues they both have ash shafts with a wide wavy grain, yet they play bloody good snooker with them.

It's all down to what you learned with IMO, you get a feel for a certain type of timber, and you can get that timber from any cue maker, even the cheap chinese CNC made ones, as the amount of timber they use there surely are some shafts that are going to be great,

Millimetre perfect splicing doesn't matter, you surely don't buy a cue to hang on the wall, it's a tool for some, an instrument for others, and a magic wand for one called Ronnie, but simply a badge for many who cannot play and have more money than sense.

spot on! nail on the head! and cant think of any more

[golferson123]

spot on! nail on the head! and cant think of any more

apart from the tight grain

[Ramon]

no ramon you have missed nothing, but the magic word is players!. you dont have to wait 4 years to get a player!. if you spend a bag of sand on an ultimate and wait 4 years for it i know you could spend the same amount on 10 £100 pound cues in one day and get a cue that plays as good

Oh yeah, well in that case ( as i mantioned in post 32 ), I'm agree with you 100 prct.
We bought a cue from ADR , last week . payed sum about 120 mark ( not for me ). wait until i'm gonna upload a few photo's of that cue.
I just heard today, he plays like a dream lol . great looking cue with great playblty .

[brookst]

From the cues i have tried in the past i would have to say the best are,
- Mike Wooldridge
- Trevor White
- Tony Glover
- Maximus
- GBL
Having said that all cues are different even if they are made to identical specs and therefore any cue maker can make a cue that plays well even if it looks awful! It just seems the above makers seem to be able to balance looks with great playability more of the time so your chance of getting a great overall cue is better. Hope that makes some sense.

[golferson123]

perfect sense, as vmax says and j and countless others its all in the wood and not how it looks!

[CueAntW147]

Some good points raised on this thread and none are wrong as such, it's a big subject best cues and all depends on how you look at it, or what you judge it on there are expensive cues, cheap cues, exceptionally well made cues perfect in every way but still might not be your best cue in terms of playability, old cues, new cues etc etc it's just how it suits you personally.

If you asked this in your local club you would get all sorts of answers, i know an old boy who would say his centre jointed Ray Reardon cue is the best and he's happy to tell everyone in the club that because to him it is his idea of best cue and probably the only cue he's owned.

As individuals the factors we use to judge " best cues " on will be different for all of us, hence the wide ranging answers, and the " best makers " around at the moment is another subject.

[Ramon]

well said ,
I think the main diff between more expensive cues and cheap one, is the finish.
lets face it , if you buy a MW or TW cue , the finish on that cue is better comperd to sum cheap Chinese cue, imo.
says nothing about playblty Although , u have to try an play with it . otherwise u never know .

[Shads147]

Some people (myself included) would say the 'best' cues are made by a craftsman with over 35 years experience at cue-making, with the cues crafted completely by hand and then (most importantly) actually tested on a snooker table. These particular cues can be discarded (snapped in half) if not up to the standard that he sets them. These are made by people like Andy Hunter.
Others may say the likes of Parris must be the best because they cost the most, good luck with one of them. Some of the vintage cues are also right up there and are better than most new cues.

This is spot on. There are not many makers out there with true knowledge surrounding timbers that make a playing cue. With modern technology, jigs and an abundance of imported shafts, making true pretty cues with even splices is not the art. Knowing timber, the differences with two of the same timbers including densities etc is where a real craftsman is at. The making of a playing cue. Ask Andy Hunter just how many of the top makers have been in contact with him learning the raw basics. It's quite a few, including the top suggestions on this post. Some take time to learn while others just make pretty cues.

[ADR147]

I would love to step in here but am bound to create a riot. there is no such thing as a best maker or best cues, every cue is different and there are these days about 50 makers around the world who make superb cues.

[winphenom]

Just my 2 cents opinion.

Majority of the JP Ultimate or JP cue buyers are mostly thinking of making big profits or saleability if they decide to switch cues. Biggest profit margin are Ultimates where the price would have earned you a bundle even before you receive it. The wait is really ridiculous made worse by these profit hunters. And the cues don't play any better, if not worse, than many other cheaper cues.
And last but not least, if you want to play well and spend such a huge sum of money plus waiting time for a cue, it only makes logical sense to use that money and get good solid coaching to improve your game. You will love and enjoy snooker better.
As for english and thai shafts, the difference in my personal opinion is that thai shafts are force treated whereas english shafts are naturally treated. Thai shafts are mass produced in large quantities in a short time by this way which makes them unable to really last very many years. Have seen many splices crack open and shafts losing its strength after a period of 6 years.
Another point to note through my experience and knowledge is that the best shafts are always reserved for the pros, national players or very good personal friends.
These are just my personal opinions and there are a rare few thai makers that are really good though.
Besides the shaft, it really boils down to your liking of a cue that can play to the best of your ability.

[golferson123]

best cues

no such thing as english shafts