TS Long BA Tips - Anyone Tried Them?

[blahblah01]

Brilliantly contradictory posts

On my old Ash cue(s) they rocked, but I have an olde Greenheart one after much searching for a cue that I got the right buzz\feel from, but tip is too big for a TS tip

[stemidd]

they are amazing, virtually ready to play soon as you put one on, fairly stiff, you get the odd one in the box that plays very soft like an elk but overall very good, use them now and have tried lots different ones, well worth trying

[vmax]

Superb tip for the price, I'm halfway through my first of two boxes and only found one poor one, use them for all the cues I make.
I did up an old two piece for a local player that was actually two different cues; I made the two separate pieces fit flush together and got it straight, it was crap really but what he wanted. He lent it to a mate who bought it off him and then won our local league's singles with it, he loved it until he put on a new tip.
He asked the original owner what tip he had used and was told that it was one I put on it so he came to me for another and the love affair is on again.
So crap cue + great tip = good snooker while nice cue + crap tip = bad snooker.

[anish147]

Ronnie has said similar in that video where he visits the Elk Master factory - the tip is 90% of the feel

[TornadoTim]

After reading this forum on the Long Ba tips, i decided to make a change from the old trusty but pricey Elk that i have only ever used. Got a box of 50 for $7 so not complaining and they suppose to be ok and medium.firm? from what others said here.
Ideally you want a firm tip but but takes chalk and grips the ball. Too soft and it wear too fast and too much give. Too hard and last long time but working the ball is near too impossible. Clubs will put cheap hard tips on house cues for economy.
One thing to keep in mind is that even a box of Elks , you will find some dodgy ones and others the fibres will open up or be too soft or inconsistent. So you end up sorting through the good ones and bad ones. I be happy if i get 2/3 good for that price and will try them and report back what i think of them.

[qc2]

I think you'll do well to find 2 or 3 bad ones! they're pretty good and very consistent based on the recent tip changes I've done.

[stemidd]

i use them and they are great, might be a bit hard if you like medium to soft tips

[TornadoTim]

i use them and they are great, might be a bit hard if you like medium to soft tips

I like a firm tip that can talk chalk and grip the ball. The elks and BD's, most in the box will be ok. So i dont mind going through the box squeezing each tips fibres looking for that one that is just right.I had the option of buying a Sapphire brand for about 5$ a box, but a poster here said they were used on house cues-- so would be hard, long wearing but crap for a decent player. I have had to reject a few Elks i the past that wouldnt settle down and absorb the chalk and grip, so any box i find you need to go through and pick good ones and dump the rest.
Actually i not worried about the new tips, like George Costanza from Seinfeld, i cant resist a bargain 7$ box. Remember thriftiness is not a sickness!! haha
Interestingly its the same with DVD-R, +R, Even a good brand like TDK, 50 disk box, i get at least a couple with errors which i have a program to check the whole disk after recording and redo if it fails test.

[stemidd]

they are med / hard, but you do get the odd soft one in a box so try another one, i use all the time very impressed with them

[TornadoTim]

After buying some of these Long Ba tips, i spent a few hours testing one i put on my cue. They are supposed to be one harder perhaps than the Elks which are rated as soft. I spent an hour after re-tipping to artificially "age" the tip so it be a little worked in by the time i went to hit a ball. I also shaped an Elk at the same time to see which would be easier to sandpaper and shape. The Elk with its fine fibres smoothed and rounded slightly faster then the long ba but it was a close contest.
Reaction- I very surprised by the feel and grip spin and wouldnt know the diff if didnt know i had put on a Long Ba tip. i found the Long Ba to feel slightly softer than an elk which would make sense as i had 50% more fibres in this tall tip. Given the tip still wasnt fully rounded and pressed down through many games, i was getting at least the same backspin as Elks and BD's and felt control would be the same in a few more weeks of play.
Conclusion- I will use them from now on unless i find this tip craps out as it beds down, but i cant foresee that as i have only found a tip gets better with time not worse as its all the same material through the layers. So the whole box should be good or bad if from the same hide section if thats the case. You never need be held hostage to over priced traditional tips anymore as at least these Chinese tips seem to be the ticket.
3 Thumbs UP from me.....

[stemidd]

ts long tips are very good, you do find 1 or 2 that are a lot softer in the box but with care you can see which they are, but great price and quality overall

[TornadoTim]

Yeah, i was going through the box looking for some bad tips which i would expect a few out of 50 of any brand and totally ok with that.
I found one which i could squeeze between my nails and crush the fibres with gentle pressure. That tip may grip great but would collapse and wear pretty quickly. However on the positive side, if i was re-tipping for a petite girl player who plays very gently on her shots all the time, i might recommend this tip as she will get plenty of spin and not wear it too quickly anyway. The last thing you want to find are half the tips of any brand all hard and horrible but that wont happen with a good brand like Elk, BD, and Long Ba! but i hear some "other" good brands are often reported as terrible in playability so it good to read reviews. A box of fifty tips should last a very long time if you play a few hours each week but like car batteries , they have a shelf life anyway as dried out tips LOSE their moisture and wont play well after time. So stocking up with 10 boxes may be good "value" but actually wont be. haha

[rdsalt]

My order arrived from Aliexpress today, surprised they only took 2 weeks with the free postage, £2.20 delivered for 50 tips

[Mark187187]

if i was re-tipping for a petite girl player who plays very gently on her shots all the time, i might recommend this tip as she will get plenty of spin and not wear it too quickly anyway.

Wtf? These petite women must be made of sponge. My 8 year old hits the ball pretty hard, and is less than 4ft tall with arms like twiglets. Uses a medium-hard tip just fine. I think women, even petite ones, could manage the same, and still not have to play every shot very gently. Have you ever seen a women play snooker?

[TornadoTim]

Wtf? These petite women must be made of sponge. My 8 year old hits the ball pretty hard, and is less than 4ft tall with arms like twiglets. Uses a medium-hard tip just fine. I think women, even petite ones, could manage the same, and still not have to play every shot very gently. Have you ever seen a women play snooker?

If you read carefully i said "who plays very gently on her shots" So i was referring not to all girls or even guys sometimes and presides some players actually play with a very soft tip that wears through quickly and i tell them that this will happen and they will have to retip more often.
Its a fact that women golf shafts are also softer than mens so its a general build requirement NOT for all specific cases of "amazon" female players!!.

I am A grade in Golf , snooker and billiards so seen and played and reffed and re tipped many a cue for club players in the last 30 years.....