FIRST I AM GOING TO START BY POINTING OUT MANY OF MY REFLECTIONS ARE BASED ON MY OPINION. Perhaps you do not feel that my opinion should be used to write a buying guide for pool cues but as an example:

My Opinion: Meucci is a highly overrated company that ships low quality cues at a ridiculous price.

You may ask WHY? an or How dare he?

Earlier this month I received an email from one of my neighboring eBay billiard stores. It included a conversation between Mark Patrick Meucci Sales & Marketing and the friendly eBay store owner. Now I have never been a fan of meucci but this all puts it much clearer for my dislike of their product.

Meucci Demanded that this seller take all of their products off from ebay.

Mark,

I sell cues at our pool room that are Meucci at the same prices afforded by the Map of 80% of the MSRP. What are you telling me here? Hi, nice to meet you and I appreciate your support through the years but you can't sell an item on the Internet that you do in your store. Ebay is a mulit-billion dollar company and could buy and sell the Meucci company 1000 times over. What are you telling me you don't want any part of a mulit-billion dollar business or any  more business from me and my pool room and my customers??? This is an outrage and I think this is ridiculous!!! I demand an answer immediatelly......

Ebayer,

Meucci wants our cues sold in brick and mortar store fronts, mainly billiard supplies. We do also sell
to some pool rooms. These stores can have a website and sell them but we do not allow our dealers to sell our cues, even with a "buy now" price on ebay, ebay stores, or any auction sites. We have just met with our largest distributors
to help enforce this.

We appreciate your business, but please remove any from ebay.

Thank you,
Mark Patrick
Meucci Sales & Marketing Manager

I’m going to cut the last message a bit down to the finer points

Morning Mark,

Thank you for your reply that's a month late. I've pulled all the Meucci cues from my store. The last 6 that I sold, I had to send 4 back due to customer dissatisfaction. I will never sell another Meucci at any cost. The quality has been absolutely horrendous. And you've got the nerve to tell me I can't sell this crap in my Ebay store. Thank you for helping me push this brand out of my business. I've copied some of my friends (ME) that sell cues and supplies and some who own pool halls so they can see firsthand what a crock this is. Hopefully you are helping me spread the word quicker than I could on my own.

IN OTHER WORDS FROM A MAN THAT HAS HAD 100's OF MEUCCI CUES RUN THROUGH HIS HANDS.

DO NOT BUY MEUCCI POOL CUES UNLESS YOU ARE PREPARED TO BE DISAPPOINTED!

OK so now you may have an idea of where I may get my opinions from. I have more experience than the average consumer and I would like to share some of my experiences with you.

OK, So now some basics on what to look for.

The biggest flaw that many cue manufacturers will overlook is the joint. Many manufacturers will not make a joint that is fluent with the design of the cue. A break cue should have a solid hit and in that instance they should use a solid feeling heavy joint like a steel on steel. I have also seen custom cues that had joints that did not match up flush with each other. That's a big no-no.

The next thing I would look for in a quality made cue is the inlays. Do the points make an actual sharp point or are they somewhat rounded. An expensive cue should look like you could poke someones eye out with the points.

Another consideration should be the material used.

Exotic hardwoods: like cocobolo, purple-heart, Ebony, Bacote, Jatoba, Kingwood, Tulipwood etc.

Exotic materials: Mother of pearl, Abalone, Pearl, Paua shell, and the mothers of all value Ivory, etc.

Exotic wraps: Lizard skins, Ostrich skins, Snake skins, Etc.

Heritage is another big part of value. I have seen custom cue makers spending twice the money on materials as a well known manufacturer being forced to sell their product for half the price as the well known cue manufacturer. This all has to do with brand recognition. Their brand may not make it and their cue may go from a value of $100 to 10 years later being worth $100. The opposite can also go for a cue manufacturer. Take a well known cue manufacturer from Russia for instance. His cues were originally around $150 fifty years ago. He wasn't very well known until some well known players started shooting with his cues exclusively. His cues are now worth in the upwards of $50-100K. That cue crafter of course is none other than George Balabushka and I doubt another will come around but you can see my point. If you really believe that your unknown cue maker has a great product then he has probably got a great product and others will find out too! And maybe their cues will be worth 5000 times the price you paid for it today.

MCDERMOTT POOL CUES

I will start with one of my favorites McDermott. First off all of their cues are made right here in the good old USA. If you have a chance check out their video of their factory on their website do so, you will be impressed you can find it on there website mcdermottcue dot com under the McDermott experience tab (factory tour video).

Its definitely a good thing to spend time watching if your thinking about shelling out a couple hundred dollars on a cue. They do all of their work by hand (lathe machined etc.) but they do it with the consumer & craftsmanship in mind.

Recently there has been a spurt of cue sellers on ebay selling damaged cues on ebay and describing them as “dinged or dented”. And in the spirit of following the market, I decided to call McDermott to see what they do with their damaged stock. They throw it away!! They would not sell me a damaged cue for any price. Just to add to there reputation that they only sell the best.

BEST OF SHOW: JD30 Jack Daniels even though you are looking at a $800 cue You can not beat the legacy and design behind it.

RUNNER UP:M2-9B Bridgeport

Central American cocobolo, one of the most beautiful woods in the world, on the forearm and sleeve; 6 genuine Southwestern turquoise and recon ivory floating points in a “sword” motif

UNBEATABLE VALUE IN THAT THERE WERE ONLY 200 MADE BUT WERE TALKING BEST IN SHOW TURQUOISE & COCOBOLO ONE OF THE BEST MATCHES IN MATERIAL I HAVE EVER SEEN.

Now if your looking for a beautiful cue its all in the eye of the beholder.

BUT PURE VALUE IS A DIFFERENT STORY.

When you are looking at a McDermott I would steer away from the lower priced cues. I have been told by the leader in McDermott distribution 2005 that anything McDermott prices under $200 are not worth the money. They use less material and second picks on the material and some of them are made out of the country. Not something that McDermott would want you to know. I don’t really believe I would agree with that statement entirely. When I asked Mcdermott about it they made it clear that they are all inspected to the same (very strict) regulations that they have in the US. And I have held some of these lower priced cues and it seems to me that they are of the same quality of the higher end cues.

How to get a good price on a McDermott cue Using BEST OFFER    (This will work for alot of the well known cue manufacturers like Predator, Viking, Lucasi, Players, 5280, etc.)

Well you have to figure that the price that you are looking at on a buy it now with a best offer is the MAP price of 80% of McDermott's retail price. Then figure on how much the cue seller is making on the cue. I personally will not take anything less than 10% off the map price (99% of the time I will always accept an offer of 10% off). In some cases I will make an exception and take a lower offer. But on lower priced cues the mark-up is going to be less so figure he is making 20% as an example:

Tom is selling a cue that retails for $200. Tom is asking $160 ( 80% Of 200).

Now the cue is selling for relatively low end of McDermott's cues so I would not expect him to accept an offer of less than 10%. I would however start at around 10-15%. So you make an offer of $144 and Tom declines your offer. Now take half of the shipping cost or in more expensive cues half of the percentage (5% in this case) whichever you like. If he doesn't accept the offer he is probably not ready to sell the cue for anything less than his asking price of $160.

The higher the price of the cue the larger your percentage should be off on your first offer. It doesn't hurt to make three offers and win on the last one.

DO NOT offer like 40% off to begin with.. This irritates sellers(ME!) because most of the time the offer will be less that what the wholesale price is. Offer what you think you might get it for or a LITTLE less, not what you would be super happy to pay for the cue. Buyers can block bidders from making offers on there cues and a 40% off offer on a cue that is already discounted may spur the buyer into blocking you. Meaning you cant do a second or third offer. 

TIP: Find McDermotts Cue Of The Month and look for auctions on them. You can offer a little less than you normaly would and get your offer accepted.

FURY - The best of the best for Price-Value

Fury Cues are by far the best constructed cue for the money

Tru Lock Joints, What's the big deal?

Well the obvious is you can LOCK! your cue tight with 3 turns it allows an extra half a minute to let you prepare for that big money game that your stomach is already starting to feel. And if you had to sit there turning your cue 18 times you would feel even worse because your opponent is staring you down out of the corner of your eye looking like he is going to run the table day after day on you.

Secondly the Tru Lock offers you some security. You know you are going to get the same hit from that cue every single time.

An added Idea you should consider is a predator shaft. Their shafts "produce 50% less cue ball deflections" which can mean the difference between good position while making a shot or being forced to take a more difficult shot and loosing the game. Predator actually came out with two 314 shafts built specifically for Fury cues. They feature the same technology as the standard 314 with an added checkerboard ring to match up with Fury's cues.

FURY CUES ARE EASY TO FIND AT A SUPER LOW PRICE.

THEY START AT THE LOWER:

DL SERIES  (around $50-100) They have fake inlays but you really cant tell

 THEN NR    ($90-170) Real inlays are the only advantage to the DL series

 THEN RP    ($150-400) Real inlays that are more intricate than the NR series

THE BEST VALUE? Well the NR series do have real inlays and are only about $20 to $30 more. In my opinion the added cost is well worth it. But if you are just looking to buy a great playing cue and you want to save the $30 for a jump cue or a set of balls the DL series plays just as well as the 400 dollar RP series Cues

ALL OF THEIR CUES HAVE THE SAME CONSTRUCTION SO ITS ALL A MATTER OF TASTE. 

JOSS CUSTOM CUES

JOSS IS THE ORIGINAL JOSS WEST

MOST JOSS CUES (NOT ALL!) HAVE A UNIQUE SERIAL NUMBER

JOSS SELLS MOST OF THEIR CUES EXCLUSIVELY TO SEPARATE DEALERS.

ANY JOSS THAT IS AN "EXCLUSIVE" PLAIN AND SIMPLE WILL BE WORTH MORE MONEY.

ITS SORT OF LIKE CHEVY AND THE YENKO CAMARO. WHICH WAS AN EXCLUSIVE FROM ONE DEALER IN THE WORLD. THOSE CARS ARE SELLING FOR 5 TIMES THE PRICE OF A STANDARD CAMARO OF THE SAME YEAR.

THE SAME WILL GO FOR EXCLUSIVE CUES.

FOR EXAMPLE WE WERE TOLD FROM CRYSTAL LEISURE THAT THEIR EXCLUSIVE MODELS SHOULD SELL FOR IN EXCESS OF 3 TIMES WHAT WE PAY FOR THEM. DUE TO SOME STORES SELLING THESE CUES VERY CHEAPLY WE ARE UNABLE TO DO THAT BUT YOU CAN SEE WHAT THE WORD EXCLUSIVE CAN DO TO THE MSRP

ANOTHER ASPECT IS PRODUCTION NUMBERS. MANY OF THESE CUES MAY BE EXCLUSIVES BUT THEY ARE BEING DISTRIBUTED IN THE THOUSANDS.

A RECENT CUE (EXCLUSIVE) THAT I PROCURED FROM CRYSTAL LEISURE, HAD ONLY 99 MATCHING CUES IN THE WORLD. THE CUE IS SELLING FOR LESS THAN CUES OF MATCHING BEAUTY AND THAT HAVE HAD THOUSANDS OF SISTER CUES.

WHAT ARE PEOPLE THINKING?

TOP CUE OF HIGH DEMAND:  JOSS JHC05 An exclusive from Crystal Leisure Hustler Style Cocobolo and Birds eye Maple – People Love This Cue CHECK OUT OUR FEEDBACK!

Best Value: Hard to explain but My favorite is actually the JHC05. I haven't found any other Joss cue that was a hustler cue anything like this. An interesting addition to any one's collection.

A TIP: “Custom Cue” in the ebay world generally means absolutely nothing. You will see many dealers using these keywords. A true custom cue is a 1 of a kind not 1 of 1000

I actualy utilize this technique to a short extent as one of the top search terms in the billiards field is "custom pool cue" well yes this may seem mischievous but we have to keep up with the times and the times call for keywords.

JUMP CUES / BREAK CUES

Under $100:

 Go with J&J's Jump Breaks. They are very reasonably priced and will add that secret weapon your opponent doesn't have they feature quick lock joints the same as fury's and are about a quarter the price they also come with the famous phenol tip/ ferrule which you can REALY!! tell helps. It makes the difference between night and day. Its the difference between smacking a rock with a steel hammer or smacking a rock with a rubber mallet.

Over $100:

 Hands Down Fury's Jump Breaks. Quick Lock joints paired with original design and a one piece phenol tip THEY HIT HARD!. Most sell for around $110-150

also I haven't tested out the Mezz power break (send me a message if you have) but I have gotten some super feedback from them. Apparently one of the guys that bought one made his money back the day he got it playing some nine ball. He was happy and he made sure I knew it. 

LITTLE ITEMS THAT WILL HELP YOUR GAME THAT YOU PROBABLY HAVENT HEARD OF.

OK, #1 Get a set of joint protectors if your going to drop a couple hundred on a cue. Or strike that if your going to spend $50 on a cue get yourself a set of joint protectors. For one your protecting your cue. Secondly if you go to any big league pool hall 90% of the players there are going to have joint protectors and the other 10% are going to look like amatures. If your shooting a cash game do you really want to look like an amature. Probably not.

#2 LIMB-SAVERS!!  OK maybe you have some experience with bow hunting or archery or maybe you have just seen the big rods sticking off the end of a bow. Those are called limbsavers and the smart people at Vibration labs have created a similar product for the pool player. The limb saver is a device that you install on the butt end of the cue and eliminates vibrations in the cue. I don't know from a technical standpoint if it actually has a great effect on the shot but I know from experience that it does wonders. I highly suggest installing them especially on break cues.

#3 WEIGHT BOLTS!! OK for those of you whose cue weight is at that perfect spot you can skip this part and move on. For those of you who are 5 Foot 1 and shooting with a 21 oz cue just because your buddy does please read. Your are not a lesser man or woman because you use a lighter weight cue than your buddy. I'm pretty sure 99.9% of the country can lift 21oz over their head. Now customize your cue to yourself rather than have someone else do it. That way when you do find your sweet spot, the next time you buy a cue you can have the seller customize it to you for you. Weight bolt sets are very cheap usually under $10 and shooting with a consistent weight for you is well worth the price.

#4 A Break Cue!! My Dad has this horrible habit of using his $800 Joss cue to break with. Now I know that some of you are saying well I bought the cue and that is part of why I bought it. EVERY TIME YOU BREAK YOU ARE DAMAGING THAT CUE. The internal structure breaks down microscopically when you break, over time the cue will weaken and it will not shoot like it should. Please, If you spent good money on a regular cue invest some money in a break cue or just use a bar cue. You can find break cues for less than $40 on ebay (J&J) or if you like the conventional, you can find two piece hustler style cues for around the same price.  

#5 Ever wondered if you could get that new shaft feel without buying a new shaft? Well if you don't have major dings in your shaft you can. With Q-Smooth Micro Burnishing film (or any micro burnishing film) you can get the smoothness of a baby's bottom .. or smoother. You simply use the Highest grit for those larger scratches and then move to lower and lower grit as you go. Please note that these will not work for scratches that are very deep, and that there are generic versions of this product available on ebay.

ANYWAY I COULD CONTINUE ON BUT THE DAY IS SHORT AND MY TIME IS PRECIOUS.

THANK YOU FOR VIEWING MY RAMBLINGS I APPRECIATE ALL THE SUPPORT I HAVE RECEIVED FROM THE COMMUNITY AND I LOOK FOREWORD TO WORKING WITH ALL OF YOU IN THE YEARS TO COME. I WILL BE UPDATING THIS GUIDE AS MY EXPERIENCE WITH DIFFERENT CUES INCREASES.

ANDREW WOLF

SALES MANAGER TIGHT RACK BILLIARDS

WOLFS GLOBAL MARKETING

Please Take Some Time To Check Out Our Store For Great deals On Pool Cue Sticks Billiards Accessories and more!!