u/OnePoolCueAintEnough

I've made my Cuelees my primary player, but with such a long session today I brought a couple of extras to test some different shafts on. Fun stuff for a cue junky.

All is not peachy though. Pretty much every curse I experience as a pool player is happening all at once. Scratches, at least a dozen in two hours, missing easy shots...and my favorite 9 ball opponent, whom I'm normally evenly matched with, is experiencing an outstanding day of making balls even after missing the primary shot, early 9 balls (damn near as many times as I've scratched) & at least 5 golden breaks. I'm used to that from Seth, actually. He plays 9 ball unlike anybody I've ever played. It's freaking uncanny when he's in full Seth mode, but I've learned to deal with it and still be a competitor. It's the scratching the bothers me the most.

I can control the cue ball well enough, but some days, no matter what I do with the cue ball, it finds a way to roll in the hole. It's worse today than it's been in a long time. It's very disheartening.

I never drink when the sun is up, but I'm about to knock back a double shot of tequila. And that.won't be the last shot.

The best of which was a Dufferin Silver Leaf conversion done by Scott Erwin. Goddamn that was a sweet playing cue! No exaggeration!

I also tried a How M6 bocote with the How Flash shaft (beautiful & nice hitting), a Zokue Elite (surprisingly good), a Kyperus cue (good enough, but not for the price) & a new Raven Raw carbon fiber cue (very good, but lots of competition at that price).

Loved every moment of it!

I'm more than experienced enough to know that it's real easy to feel that something new is something fantastic, so it's possible more time could change my opinion here, but I don't think it will this time.

Now, my Cuelees, which I bought butt only, was a special purchase - it was a treat for my 60th birthday. I already had a variety of shafts that would fit it, but after some time with them I just didn't feel any of them matched the specialness of my birthday cue. So, the search began for THE shaft. Despite having a preference for maple & Kielwood, the Cuelees gave me pretty clear signals that IT would prefer carbon fiber. I wanted to keep the price under $400, by the way.

I initially bought a used Jacoby Black V4, thinking it might be the one. Fantastic hit, but ultimately too heavy. My cue was over 19oz with it - that's a no-go for me. I tried a Cuebots Z Nitro shaft, thinking it might be a hidden gem based off how their cheaper Z Wave shaft plays. Nope, nothing special there. I considered a Triple 60 TS1, but reviews on it were quite mixed. Finally, as I do like to take chances, I ordered this custom CF shaft that I heard mentioned often on Facebook and in forums - the ICE carbon fiber shaft from Mike Johnson.

Gentlemen, I think we have a winner! Out of the box it felt so light that I thought there's no way it's not going to sound tinky-tonky like cheaper CF can. Wrong! It's hits fantastically & solidly, but not so solidly that it feels dead. And the weight feels perfect on my Cuelees! With the Jacoby my cue was over 19 Oz, with this shaft my cue is 18.1 Oz and balanced beautifully. I think part of the reason it hits so well is because the joint pin interface isn't made from black plastic like many CF shafts use, as seen in the photo.

The tip, which I've had no previous experience with, is an SIB medium (11.8mm). The default tip Mike Johnson prefers. Its quite impressive so far. No idea, really, on low deflection qualities yet (which don't matter to me anyway).

Sorry for the long post, but this shaft has inspired me to go WOW and is, so far, living up to the praise I've seen for Mike Johnson's shafts online. Oh, it was $299 delivered.

Especially if they're quality tables. Still hard for me to take them seriously, but I enjoyed my brief session on this one today. Playing pool is playing pool and it's fun! Fuck that coin operated nonsense, however. If you shoot casually and shoot decently, you just spent $1.50 for 2 or 3 minutes of table time.

I love cues (clearly) and would totally love to have this one in the collection! The white stuff is the hush-hush stuff and it's just beautiful!

Outta reach for me though.

If you like the Merry Widow style and want a well built, great playing cue for under $400, this is an excellent option, in my opinion. It's in the Cuelees family, so the fit & finish is excellent and the weight/balance is near perfect (for me). The hit is crisp & solid ( I chose a Techno Dud tip) and the feedback quite good. In addition to my Mezz sneaky, this is the only other cue in my collection that I prefer to use the original shaft with, though I do occasionally put my Sawdust Kielwood on it.

I got mine from Seybert's, where they're completely sold out at the moment, but I think they can be found elsewhere. Check them out!

My opponent is playing with a nice custom Jerry Rauenzahn cue. $2,500 value. As a lover of turquoise in cues, I'm quite smitten by this one.

As much as I do like it, however, I'm not sure I would trade. I love my Cuelees too!

Cuebots Z Wave & Cuelees Phantom Sword 1

With the exception of the synthetic wrap and its easily seen seam on the cheaper cue, differences are not super apparent. My ability to shoot very well with either of them is remarkably similar, as well. They do feel & hit differently though.

Even though the weight is similar, the Z Wave butt feels a little more condensed in the center of the core than the Cuelees, almost like there's a thin lead core. Balance is different because the cheaper shaft is lighter than the Bulletproof & Jacoby shafts I use on the Cuelees and the Cuelees hits more solidly. Despite the wrap on the Cuelees being genuine shark skin, I almost think the synthetic wrap feels a little softer & more grippy. It's clear which one looks better though.

I almost start to feel a little weird when I think about how similarly they play vs how much different they cost, but I don't really make an effort to rationalize it. Maybe because I've learned more expensive doesn't necessarily mean better and I find just as much delight with the game whether banging away with cheap or expensive cues, as long as they play well. I've shot with cheap cues that play like garbage and I've shot with expensive cues that don't work for me either.

Anyway, thanks for indulging my boredom.

The Z Wave, which came on a $120 cue, a $200 Bulletproof & a Jacoby Black which goes for about $400 new.

Distinctly different sounds, especially with the Z Wave. Less distinct between the Bulletproof and the Jacoby, but the Jacoby does sound just a little more solid. Hits that way too.

All 3 play good, however. I've swapped them back & forth between the two cues on the left, one of which is the Z Wave cue & the other a Cuelees (another big price difference). Aside from clear differences in sound & feel, the differences in how they play are surprisingly minimal. Even the difference between the cue butts themselves are minimal.

One can, and many do, point out the supposed foolishness of buying expensive pool cues. With the varied collection of cues I have I am very familiar with that notion. The difference, for me at least, is that I don't really pay more expecting a whole lot more in performance. I buy what I buy because it speaks to me on some other level.

A well done review of a product I own and I fully agree with his take on this cue. I love mine and I personally can't imagine getting a better cue for even 3 times the money that the Raven cost.

His has the stock tip on it and his praise of its performance with that tip makes me wonder how it compares to the Cuetec Kintrol tip I chose for mine. I spoke to Raven on the phone about break tips and they suggested I just go with the stock tip, saying "Not so phenolic tips are equal". I still choose the Cuetec tip and I feel it's a good one, but I do now wonder how the stock tip compares.

https://youtu.be/OHWvVnvQHw0?is=3hycxZf4W5MR460q

ZW3 is the model - $120 from Amazon

I've been very curious about Cuebots as they have some interesting designs across several series - Z Fusion, Z Pure, Z Luk & Z Wave. There is also a Cuebots series that use a glass fiber shaft. They seem to be very closely connected with Rhino & Evo cues, as well. I chose the entry level Z Wave series.

I only received it today and played for about an hour & a half with it. Right off the bat, I will say the way this $120 cue plays makes me even more curious about their other series, especially the Z Fusion models.

It weighs in at exactly 19oz (a tad heavy for my tastes) and feels well balanced. The hit is stiff & solid and the microfiber tip it comes with actually feels pretty good. I may change it eventually, but I'm not hating it. The wrap feels great, grippy & unobtrusive. The fit & finish seems good with the decal work looking pretty nice.

I tried the Z Wave shaft on a Zokue butt I have - plays great! I also tried my Jacoby Black V4 on the Z Wave butt and it definitely took the cue up a level. Despite having some pricey cues, I have a fondness for cheap cues that okay very well. So far, this cue is triggering that fondness very nicely!

We did 6 races to 9 and I won 4 of them! It's usually much closer between us, with victories going back & forth.

Seriously though - orange is not my favorite color, but, because I ended up with an orange break cue & an orange veneered Cuelees, a buddy, trying to be cute, bought me an orange playing glove. Not to be outdone, my girlfriend bought me the orange Adidas. I've had the watch & pocket knife for years. I knew a marathon match with my afternoon pool hall nemesis was coming up today (we played almost 7hrs), so I decided to pile it on with the orange. He and several other regulars got a good chuckle out of it.

Raven break cue with a Cuetec Kintrol tip. It sounds pretty good to me, though some breakers do offer more of a POP on the snap, which can be even more satisfying. Regardless, I love this sound!

I say $100 or so because the delivered price was $145. Also, I hesitated even sharing this because I don't think it's readily available here in the U.S. I bought this one from a guy I know on Facebook who moves a lot of billiards equipment. If you do come across one, however, for cheap, you should totally consider it.

Now, I don't know a damn thing about the brand. I believe I was told it's part of the Peri Cues family, but I could be making that up. I bought it simply because I trust the guy who sold it to me and because I like how it looks. After I got it, I also discovered I like how it performs. It's a solid breaker that has one of the better phenolic tips I've experienced. The tip is so good that I may not bother to change it, which is something I normally do with phenolic. It seems to jump well too, though I am a total novice with jumping. Weight is under 19oz.

This cue isn't magic -you need a good technique - but it will deliver quite well for the price. I'll include a photo in the comments.

These are the only two playing cues I have that can survive time in Hell without warping. Movie time with a buddy is coming up and they'll be at least 2hrs in a car at 100° outside, so yeah, the fancier stuff stayed home today!

Fortunately, they both play well and the all black one did an ok job as a breaker today, with an Evo jump cue shaft on it.

If you live where extreme temps happen, I feel it's a good idea to have a simple, all-carbon setup, just in case you can't always bring your cues into climate controlled areas.

Monday I played for 12hrs and I used two shafts mounted on two different cues. Only once, for about 20 minutes, did I swap the shafts from one cue to the other.

A little background. The Cuedesg shaft came with a full cue, bought off Amazon. My first venture into carbon fiber. The butt didn't last, developing a noise I couldn't fix, so I got rid of it. The shaft, however, proved very nice, especially after a tip change, and played well on every butt I tried it on. That I still have it years later, even after owning a Cuetec Cynergy, says a lot I think. The Jacoby I just recently bought.

Conclusions? In a nutshell, there's not a whole lot of difference between them, and I'm not truly surprised by that based on what limited experience I've had with carbon fiber I've owned. The Jacoby does offer a more solid hit and just feels more polished overall, but I can't discern much of a difference in how they play. Any differences perceived are probably due to the Cuedesg being 11.8mm & the Jacoby being 12.3.

I don't go crazy with spin, so deflection means little to me, but I did do some side spin shots aiming for a specific spot on an 8ft table. I hit the same spot with either shaft without feeling I needed to adjust my aim.

Keeping in mind that I haven't tried every shaft on my personal cues (no Revo, Whyte Carbon, Becue, Bull Carbon, etc), I'm much less convinced that CF shafts over $400 bring any real benefit over some well-made less expensive options. That being said, some cheap shafts are garbage, so research and/or hands-on experience is still highly recommended. There's only so much that can be done with carbon fiber, however, and I just don't see how any differences in that regard warrant hundreds of dollars difference in pricing.

I already own this cue, so I'm not seeking buying advice. I'm just curious about this brand as I don't really see it sold here in the U.S. is it a sub-brand of Peri? Is it well regarded as a budget jump/break cue? I'm personally pretty impressed by it. I paid $145 shipped.

I bought it from a buddy on Facebook who has sold me some other things and does me right. He told me it breaks & jumps very well and my brief experience with it supports his opinion strongly. I think my Raven break cue is a little better, but this smacks the rack nicely. Even with the stock phenolic tip, which I was certain I would need to replace. I'm not seeing a need at the moment, however, to replace it.

Being from the same family, these shafts are more alike than different, but there are a couple of differences, from my perspective.

I feel like the PureX is just a little more stiff & solid, which I like, on the hit. The difference is marginal and might just be in my head. The counter take could be that the Lucasi feels just a little more lively, offers more feedback. Again, so marginal that I could be simply looking for some kind of difference.

There's a bit more difference in regard to tip size - the PureX is 12mm & the Lucasi 12.5. Despite the supposed forgiveness of the larger size, I feel I was a little more accurate with the smaller tip. I do prefer smaller tips and I am much more used to the PureX, however, so not really a helpful opinion. Deflection, something I don't pay attention to, seems less on the PureX. Probably due to smaller tip size and/or my familiarity with that shaft.

Speaking of tips, as far as I know both tips are the same.

Last thing, and this is pure preference, I really like darker shafts on most cues. The PureX looks really good to me on this cue, helping to give the cue a more vintage or antique look, but without making it look older. I like that.

My choice here would be the PureX. A little cheaper &, to my mind, a little better playing. Throw in the appearance and it's a unanimous winner for me. I'll be keeping both, though, as the primary & secondary shafts for this cue. Plus, the Lucasi does play well on my other cues, so a definite keeper.

I haven't put them all together like this before. It throws a little different light on things, at least to me. As you can tell from the labels, all of them see some occasional table time, but just a little over half are used pretty frequently. You can also easily tell that I prefer wood to carbon fiber. It just provides a better shooting experience for my, both in feel & accuracy. The recent Jacoby Black V4 is the only CF shaft that sees consistent use.

I think this has something to do with why I don't obsess over or discuss deflection. It's clearly going to be quite variable in this group.