ash or maple

[craigslater]

Good posting Trevor, as usual a very helpful and unbiased opinion

[Nugget]

Good posting Trevor, as usual a very helpful and unbiased opinion

Agreed, good to have a more definitive answer. I've only ever used ash, but liked the idea of a maple cue, a smooth and plain shaft.
I won't be swithching though, I'll only be playing with a maple cue if I get one for 9 ball, as I don't like subjecting my whippy, light snooker cue to the stress!
I'd like to try a maple cue anyway, just to see if I liked it. More curiosity than anything. Has there ever been a poll on here on who has ash, and who has maple cues?

[ADR147]

not sure what kevin muncaster means either! - does he mean unseasoned ?

as to the question a friend of mine when asked replied - Maple cues are for Poofs ! - make of that what you will!

[craigslater]

not sure what kevin muncaster means either! - does he mean unseasoned ?

as to the question a friend of mine when asked replied - Maple cues are for Poofs ! - make of that what you will!

lol

[Watford]

not sure what kevin muncaster means either! - does he mean unseasoned ?

as to the question a friend of mine when asked replied - Maple cues are for Poofs ! - make of that what you will!

I take that to mean Stephen Hendry is a poof!

Oh and me too!

[ADR147]

I take that to mean Stephen Hendry is a poof!

Oh and me too!

lol i have no idea - sometiimes when you live as far from civilisation as i do the grunting the locals call speach can mean all sorts of things! - maybe poof is a complimentary term?

[Qubit]

I have 2 shafts for my cue, one in ash and one in maple. What does that mean?

[ADR147]

I have 2 shafts for my cue, one in ash and one in maple. What does that mean?

that you have two cues!

[Qubit]

Well thats what I thought. (I prefer the ash one for what its worth ) Personally i always thought a poof was one of those things you put your feet up on.

[ADR147]

Well thats what I thought. (I prefer the ash one for what its worth ) Personally i always thought a poof was one of those things you put your feet up on.

no thats a pouffee ? - is it not the noise that happens when you make a rabbit dissapear?

[Qubit]

no thats a pouffee ? - is it not the noise that happens when you make a rabbit dissapear?

Heh heh . Yeh if you are the "Great Suprendo" (Piff Paff Poof was his catch phrase - must have spent hours coming up with it)

Yep Pouffe is indeed the correct spelling i believe(also known as a Tuffet - of little miss muffet fame).

[Blondie]

Hi Sunny,

Interesting question, and don't know too much about Mastercue cues themselves, but for me, if the question was being asked more generally, I'd tend to go with ash.

Always find with ash that the grain is sometimes heavier and can really help with the 'sighting' of your shot. I prefer to sight down an ash shaft than maple because the 'feathers', the triangle chevron shaped grain lines, typical of an English ash snooker shaft help to give me a better aim of reference. And for me, that would be my preference over maple, which doesn't have any visible grains. Noticed that Maple does make a quieter sound on impact with the cue-ball though, think this is becuase it absorbs the hit a bit more, and extra density.

In terms of performance of both cues, and how this affects your play, Ash tends to have more of a 'dynamic stiffness' than Maple. By this I mean, for eg, after you have hit the cue-ball off centre, the ash shaft tends to vibrate at a higher frequency, and damps out the vibration a little bit quicker than say a Maple shaft of similar dimensions. I find this doesn't necessarily affect the path of the cue-ball necessarily, although it could affect the feel, and response you get back from the strike, and you therefore may prefer one over the other.

Also, since ash is a little bit less dense than maple, I would say that an ash shaft of identical dimensions to a maple shaft, could have a little bit less squirt too, so worth bearing this in mind.

Hope this helps a little Sunny, and have fun with you new cue.

Lol........xx

[sunny3909]

Thanks a lot Blondie!I have gone for ash but not from Master,I have ordered Mike Woolridge 1 piece ash classic with plain ebony butt.Cost me a lot more than master but mike woolridge is one of the top cuemakers alogwith trevor white,so I didn't mind spending those extra 150 pounds for this cue.

[Blondie]

Thanks a lot Blondie!I have gone for ash but not from Master,I have ordered Mike Woolridge 1 piece ash classic with plain ebony butt.Cost me a lot more than master but mike woolridge is one of the top cuemakers alogwith trevor white,so I didn't mind spending those extra 150 pounds for this cue.

Hi Sunny,

............that's great, and sorry not to come back to you sooner, but I am at work. And glad that you've been able to make a choice, as it's not easy sometimes with all the good cues around, but the guys here are really great with their advice.

And don't suppose you've got a piccie of one, or when it's ready? that you could post, really interested to see, and always v.excited about any snooker equipment... [Even got a bit carried away the other day with snooker ball cleaning machines, retailing at around $518, and the spray itself around £3. I've made an exec decision though that as my brother and dad have got an awful lot more money than me, , they can buy me the machine, and I'll buy the spray.... ] - hehehehe

And can't wait to see piccie, great news, enjoy.

Lol....xx

[craigslater]

I would like to try a maple cue to see what the difference would be to my wooldridge ash cue, to see if there would be any improvement.

I have a big problem with ash, i have to have the grain a certain way or it bugs me to the point i cant play because im thinking about it all the time because i dont like my cue.

Trevor is sorting this problem for me at the minute, hopefully i will have a cue i can be happy with so i can concentrate on the game instead of the cue.

Has anyone on here gone from ash to maple, did it work for you???