Cue purchase advice - under £100

[The Artful Dodger]

Only thing I would suggest is dependant on where you are - looking for a dealer that sells on Amazon that is based reasonably close to you or at least not too long a drive. They will normally let you visit by appointment where you can actually try and pick a cue you like the feel of.. for me thats the start point.. get one that feels right to you personally.

[sanman]

Good advice in trying out. However at that or CE range choices are limited. I would suggest upping to around 150 quid and looking around and you would get a fabulous cue.

Only thing I would suggest is dependant on where you are - looking for a dealer that sells on Amazon that is based reasonably close to you or at least not too long a drive. They will normally let you visit by appointment where you can actually try and pick a cue you like the feel of.. for me thats the start point.. get one that feels right to you personally.

[The Artful Dodger]

Good advice in trying out. However at that or CE range choices are limited. I would suggest upping to around 150 quid and looking around and you would get a fabulous cue.

Also good advice. The difference in cue quality between sub 100 & sub 150 is wide - remember tho - factor in a half decent case if you dont already have one.

[Big SAM]

You're always welcome to pop down to SAM Leisure in Coventry if you'd like to test a large array of cues before you buy.

[Beefheart]

I've got a number of grand (and grand emperor) cues. Mostly they were not finished well on receipt, but came up a treat with a bit of sanding and oiling.

All nice cues, all play slightly differently. Not necessarily better or worse, but all slightly different. All different grains.

For me the big issue with buying one cue sight unseen is that you might not necessarily find that you get on best with it.

I solved that by buying a few and choosing the one I preferred, then putting the others in the rack. This is not practical for most people.

the first half of steve mcqueen is probably my favourite 20 minutes of music ever made, that is all

[mrbluejay]

I was just taking a look at them... but as with anyone I'm conflicted due to them being from China but people seem to think they are fine.

Interestingly "Taylor Made" cues look IDENTICAL to Grand Cues but have very good reviews. Do you know if they are just rebadged?

At that price, you won’t have much choice other than Chinese.

[qc2]

I was just taking a look at them... but as with anyone I'm conflicted due to them being from China but people seem to think they are fine.

Interestingly "Taylor Made" cues look IDENTICAL to Grand Cues but have very good reviews. Do you know if they are just rebadged?

You'll find that several brands out there will look identical to the Grand cues

[presprout]

I've got a number of ordinary Grands (a couple very good indeed), and a couple of emperors (uniformly very good). I notice they seem to have a "paragon" series now. Does anyone know what the differences are between the different series these days? (I'm fighting with myself to just get a paragon and see what I think).