Pool queue?
 

I need the brain trust's assistance in buying a pool queue.

I started playing pool several months back. My corner bar has free pool on Sundays. I started playing, and found I like it. Its fun, and it's a good way to meet people. Thing is, the bar's queue sticks are deplorable at best. Most don't even have tips.

I'm thinking the best solution is to just buy my own stick. You know, nothing fancy, but not junk. So, what should I get? I'd like to stay under $100 if that's reasonable.

That's not reasonable. $100 buys only wal mart junk. I(f you're4 only playing in bar leagues, a plain jane cue will work fine. But I would suggest a good USA cue maker who uses Canadian rock maple for shaft material. Stay away from the carbon fiber shaft hoopla until you understand more of the basics of cu3e deflection and english.

If you just want someone to tell you what to buy? Here's a nice cue than no beginner should be afraid of. I've bought from this online supplier, they'll treat you well.

Yes, I'm a pool junkie...hate bar tables, prefer a real pool hall with 9' tables.

https://seyberts.com/collections/mcdermott-cues/products/gs03-pool-cue?variant=41732514906310

I exclusively use the house hardware.

It levels the playing field, just out of courtesy and respect.

In the dives I play in, anyone bringing their own wood is equivalent to a guy driving a Corvette to the drive-in movies. All stick, no balls.

Well, their Chevys are all on blocks. So, yeah.... :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1697931115.jpg

Thank you Capt. Carrera for making Paul's year with your question! He's got the info to be sure

Pawn shop.

That sounds good until you're playing with raw wood because the tip and/or ferrule is gone.

It's nice to be able to blame bad shots on the stick.

Best if you know what you're looking for...also, most Pawn shops have copies of the blue book of cues, know pretty damned well what they have and charge accordingly. The days of people finding a high value cue for pennies on the dollar in a pawn shop are long gone.I did pick up a nice 1980's McDermott for Cindy in a pawn shop for $100, about what it was worth...of course, promptly made is a $130 cue by having a Kamui layered tip installed. Decent player, but she moved on to a Jacoby, another decent USA made cue.

A video on how McDermott's are made...the fancy inlays don't mean much as far as playability goes. So a plain Jane, Merry Widow, or even a sneaky would play well for a beginner and still work well for a beginner wanting to improve up to a C or B level, skill wise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj-jkVcYPpw&ab_channel=McDermottCue

LOL! Why I avoid playing in bars. "Bar rules" equates to no rules, and people generate hard feelings, which can become dangerous. League pool is safer, at least each league has a set of rules. But generally, league pool is more about drinking and socializing. Some leagues more seriously competitive, you need to do research. If you get serious about pool, I'd suggest BCAPL over APA.

LOL! Truth to that...once I'd moved up to my Keith Josey custom I couldn't blame the cue when I dogged it. While I played, I dogged it a lot. :(

Back in the day when I knew everything, I somehow ended up holding the pot, it being the prize of a ferocious 8-Ball Battle at Liquor-Food in Lansing, MI. The neon sign out front was burnt-out except for the words ‘Liquor-Food’ so the name sorta stuck.

Anyways, naturally, a dispute arose amongst the combatants regarding whether or not the object ball was sunk in accordance with the call, ‘no-slop’ having been previously agreed to.

Combatant A ended up spread-eagled on the table, out cold. Combatant B accepted my uncontested offer of the $20 prize were he to allow me an unscathed escape, which I executed perfectly.

An all too common tale...why I avoided playing in bars. Coin-op tables with tattered cloth, dead rails, bucket pockets, balls so filthy they skid a lot, and the danger...

This is what gives pool a bad image...

You forgot the felt with cigarette burn holes worthy of Michigan roads.

**** fire and hold the matches! We have pure brilliance right here.

At this point, I'm looking for a queue that's complete, and not bent like a willow branch. Then again, complete and bent like a willow branch I'm familiar with would work.

Please...they are "cues"...really. Go ahead and buy the cheapest cue & case setup on the Wal-Mart shelf. I get the impression it's not really improving your pool skill that is your goal here.

Are you incapable of making a recommendation in the $100 range?

Pretty much. In my opinion, decent playing cues begin at the $300 range...below that, might as well buy the cheapest cue you can find. Anything around $100 will have been Chinese made with a "guess what kind of wood I am?" shaft, a "genuine leather" tip, and a joint that may or may not have been aligned and installed properly.

But..if you want to buy a $100 cue, there are plenty of people willing to sell you one. Many of them look really cool from a distance because decals are a lot cheaper than inlay work.

I sense you don't feel I've properly acknowledge you're expertise, and seasoned advice. Let me assure you, I have. Thing is, I feel you're failing to realize I must now decide how your advice applies to me.

I find advice from a true expert, given to a pure novice, often needs tempering. For example, if I ask a professional driver with a race-prep GT3 what I need to run an HPDE, they're likely to recommend a Cayman or a Boxster. But honesty, any old car in good repair would suffice.

So if I unintentionally offended you, I apologize. If instead you're just a gruff and grumpy old guy, I still apologize with a "bless your heart" thrown in.