For my Nephew, who is large enough to use a full size cue, and has a full size table to practice on at home (lucky buggr). I want to pay less than $100 and preferably less than $80 for a Christmas present.
Any coments on whether wood or graphite is better in this price range.
Thanks for any help, Bippy
I played a LOT when I was younger. And had a full size table to practice on.
I had an aluminum cue. Won’t warp and had a very nice feel to it. The aluminum slid very well and did not bind on your bridge.
I have no idea if they make them anymore, and its not as impressive as graphite.
I won a local contest with it in my age group.
I was a tall and strong kid, yet the cue was only a 17 ounce. I still choose a light cue.
The material the cue is made from may not be as important to your nephew as the weight of the cue. I have used a variety of cues, probably made from a variety of materials, and pretty much the only difference I’ve felt was a factor in how the cue played was its weight. I prefer heavier ones, at least 19oz.
If it matters, mine’s a Meucci, probably made of wood. I bought it from my friend for about $100, hard case included, back in 1995 or so. I do not know how much he paid for it. Meuccis I’ve seen in shops have started around $250, though. Cuetec brand cues may be in your price range. Try eBay-- there are quite a few auctions up now that might fit what you’re looking for.
I have had many cues, including a $1500 custom cue.
The best playing cue I ever had was a ‘sneaky pete’ from the Dufferin Games Room. They’re about $50.
Here’s the thing about cues - Past about $100, they all play well. There are some slight differences in feel due to different joint designs and shaft tapers and stuff, but they all get the job done. As Bob Byrne has said, “Give Willie Mosconi a broom handle with a good tip, and not only will he run a hundred balls on you, he’ll sweep the joint out afterwards.”
Expensive cues are really only expensive for one reason - decoration. The custom cues like my stout have very fine inlays, rare woods, etc. They’re art pieces. But those pieces actually hurt the structural integrity of the cue.
The best playing cues are one-piece solid wood, unadorned. But it’s pretty hard to carry a round a 5ft stick with you all the time, so we compromise by putting a joint in them. The best joints mimic the reaction of the wood itself.
The Dufferin Sneaky Pete is an excellent one-piece cue which was cut in half and then drilled and tapped for a big lag screw. When you screw the two halves together, it looks like a one-piece cue (hence the ‘sneaky’). And the joint is wood-on-wood without any pieces in the middle. A little additional stiffness from the screw, but that’s about it.
Plus, with the sneaky pete you can take it out to the local pool hall with friends and not look like a total showoff.
I’ve got two I could sell you cheap. They’re both about 20 yrs old, but in good condition. Neww, they cost me about $80 and $150 resp.
I used to have a 5 joint model once, that I bought for $10 for the novelty. Couldn’t use it, because the joint rubbed my knuckle.
Personally, I’d go with wood, especially for a first cue. I like the feel better, anyway.
Sam’s right, by the way. Right after you get that first cue you’ve always wanted, you realize you can’t take it anywhere without looking like a show off.
I’m seriously considereing the Dufferin Sneaky Pete, I can get one off the internet for about $65.00 including p&p. As it is an Xmas present I prefer to buy new than second hand.
The Dufferin is a great cue. If you’ve only got $80 or so to spend, then IMO it’s your only choice (Dufferin makes a couple of other cues in that range, though, and they would be acceptable). If you go for a cheap cue that has decorations like inlays, they’ll be cheap plastic inlays and the cue eventually will come apart and start buzzing. Plus, they generally put crappy tips on cheap cues.
Speaking of tips… Be careful to buy the right kind of cue for the type of pool your nephew plays. A snooker cue has a very narrow tip (about 11mm), with a brass ring around the ferrule. A snooker cue typically also has a constant taper, and is made out of ash. You can tell because ash cues usually have quite a prominent grain.
Cues for 8-ball and 9-ball have tips that vary in width from 12.5 to 13.5 mm typically, and have a constant taper near the tip (the shaft stays the same diameter for 12-18" back from the tip). This is important because in 8-ball and 9-ball you hit some shots with a lot of power and a lot of english on the cueball, so you want a thicker shaft to prevent bending, and you want a constant taper so your fingers aren’t pushed apart as you stroke.
Finally, make sure you do not buy a cue with a screw-on tip, or a tip that is attached to a slide-on ferrule (the white plastic part below the tip). These are junk. A decent cue will have a glued-on pressed leather tip and a separate ferrule. The tips can be cut off and replaced as needed, which is important, and the leather-glue interface gives you the best connection to the shaft of the cue.
How good is your nephew right now?
I prefer light cues that don’t taper much along their length and have uniform weight distribution. I don’t own a cue, but I’ve played with many wooden ones and a few graphite ones. Didn’t matter much to me.
I don’t know how good he is now, but it’s how could he might become that counts ;). My Brother is much ritcher than me, so I figure when he needs a multi hundred dollar cue, my bro can buy it. From Sam Stone’s email it sounds like a Duffin is useful even when you have a really flash cue, just for those times you don’t want to appear too much of a poser.
Sorry I didn’t mean email, I meant message above…
A straight one.
No need to be homophobic Michael Ellis 
I bought my husband a McDermott for about $250 ten or so years ago. It really makes a difference in our games. Very nice balance, etc. You never want to pick up a pool hall stick again!