Advice on a new cue

[JohnnyFiama]

Admittedly I'm not new to the sport, but I've certainly never owned a decent snooker cue.

There seem to be many, many mass produced £50~£150 cues (LP, Cue craft, Peradon, etc.) and I'm finding it particularly hard to tell a good one from a bad one. Any advice would be appreciated, budget wise I'm happy with forking out around £150.

Cheers.

[jack_dougles]

for that budget may be worth going second hand, the master cue and craftsman are good around that price, depending on model and specs, lot of rubbish out there think cuecraft and peradon over priced for there low end stuff, have you tried ebay although sometimes dont know what you are getting and feedback can be misleading
whats your location the better snooker centres and suppliers will let you try before you buy
hope this helps, plus some good stuff on here

[JohnnyFiama]

Thanks Jack, I'd wondered if I should be pushing my budget upwards a little! If that were possible what would you recommend as being a reasonable starting point? I'm based in-between Durham & Newcastle (both equally commutable). I've certainly looked on eBay, but like you say its hard to get a good idea for what you're buying.

[rob s]

Phoenix cues are the best cue you can buy for under £200 IMO, they seem to have better shafts than the mastercue and a really good price. I've played with a cue from every top cuemaker you could think of and these phoenix cues play just as good. For £220 you could get a cue, telescopic and delivery from craftsman so if your willing to up your budget slightly I'd highly recommend them. Craftsman are in leeds so if you can travel that far they have 100s of cues you can try out on their table so that is worth a though. Also you can pick them up 2nd hand for good money, I got 1 for £110 in mint condition a couple of months ago for a friend from a tsf member. The reason you can get them cheap is due to being a newer brand they don't hold their value as well as established brands so keep an eye out on eBay and the forum but be careful as you can have problems buying a cue 2nd hand if its not a trusted seller

[jack_dougles]

may be worth a trip to stuart green at thornaby snooker centre not far from you got a good selection, some of the newer mastercues have quallity shafts as they have been bulk buying all the better wood, making it difficult for british cue makers to compete, the pheonix are decent enough cues but you can get a craftsman panther for £173 and pick your own specs, as you are not too far i do have a mastercue probut, the starter model in there range, plain ebony but solid ash shaft not a lot of chevrons/arrows bit on heavy side at 19 ounces, 58 inches long with 9.6 mil tip, its but jointed at 14 inches and has a mini but and telescopic extensions, if you wanted a look im in hartlepool, its in an old sh&rp black leather case thats tatty on ends but solid, worth £140 of anybodys money, i use a craftsman and there are as good as anything, worth a trip to kippex, about 90 minutes from you

[JohnnyFiama]

Thank you both, sound advice all round! Craftsman seem like a decent way to go, I'll also up my budget as necessary.

Jack: I may well take you up on that cue, but perhaps I'll do as you suggest first and visit either Thornaby (bit of a trek from DH8) or another more local reseller if I can find one ...if nothing else it means I can try out a different cue specs, wouldn't have a clue what to order if I went with the Panther series otherwise.

[jack_dougles]

well worth a trip to craftsman and if you do go to thornaby make a day of it and have a couple of hours playing, happy hunting

[SouthPaw]

I think Stu treats his customers better from experience, from craftsmans perspective if someone goes wrong with a cue you buy whether that be in transit or natural occurrences they're more than likely to decline to help, where as Stu wouldn't think twice, only thing with visiting Greenbaize is you'll more than likely end up with a gbl as you'll notice the higher quality straight away...

[jack_dougles]

I think Stu treats his customers better from experience, from craftsmans perspective if someone goes wrong with a cue you buy whether that be in transit or natural occurrences they're more than likely to decline to help, where as Stu wouldn't think twice, only thing with visiting Greenbaize is you'll more than likely end up with a gbl as you'll notice the higher quality straight away...

i think stu is a top bloke but from personel experience have been visiting craftsman cues for last 15 years and found them very helpful on every occasion, i have cues made for me to very exacting specs and despite cues being fantastic i have never been obligated to buy if i didnt want them, had loads of repairs and alterations carried out and always found complete satisfaction with service and cost

[SouthPaw]

i think stu is a top bloke but from personel experience have been visiting craftsman cues for last 15 years and found them very helpful on every occasion, i have cues made for me to very exacting specs and despite cues being fantastic i have never been obligated to buy if i didnt want them, had loads of repairs and alterations carried out and always found complete satisfaction with service and cost

I can only give my personal experience, all their cues seem reasonably priced though and i'm sure when the cue stays 100% it's no problem, but i'd still opt for greenbaize for that piece of mind knowing he'll bend over backwards if something goes wrong no questions asked, no disrespect to Craftsman...

[sinkrate]

Nice posts, just what I'm looking for. Looking for a new cue myself, cheers all