One of blog readers is selling his 20 year-old Meucci Original 84-4 cue. If you're looking for a Meucci cue, then this might be a better deal than getting a new one.  Check it out, before it is gone. This cue has already been sold. Check out other Meucci Cues listed to the right ----> According to Dan, this cue is in MINT condition.  From my experience, the older Meucci's play better than new ones.  I'm not sure why.  Could it be the age of the shaft that makes them play better? Any opinions on this, give a comment. If I'm full of crap, let me know. Cheers, Skippy

I saw this Tiger cue and really liked it, so I thought I would share it with you.   It is called "Cocobolo".  I love the simplicity of the cue.  I like the "classic" color combo in the 4 point veneers (black, red, orange & natural), along with the cocobolo wood and birdseye maple forearm. The thing that I like most about this cue is the "stack" wrap.  This is a type of wrap that Tiger installs that uses two different types/colors of leather.  It gives it a unique look.  I'd be interested to know what the wrap "feels" like in your hand. Anyone out there who knows, please comment. At just over $700 from PoolDawg.com, the Cocobolo cue isn't a bad deal.   Especially, considering the cue comes with the Tiger X-Shaft Ultra, which is a great shaft that is getting a lot of good press and developing a loyal following.  Also, the shaft has a unique "Tiger ferrule" and a laminated Sniper cue tip. Let me know what you think of this cue. Cheers, Skippy

You might be familiar with Tiger Products, because of their great laminated cue tips like the Sniper and Everest tips.  You may not know that they make pool cues, too and they are VERY popular. The first thing you should know about the Tiger pool cue is the unique shaft design.  They call it the Tiger X-Shaft Ultra. The shaft is a laminated shaft, but different than other laminated shafts on the market. It is called the X-Shaft, because there are 4 quadrants laminated around a center square core.  See picture below... [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="224" caption="Illustration of Tiger X-Shaft Design"][/caption] One of the unique aspects of this design is the orientation of the grain in the 4 quadrants of the radial peices.  The grain is all facing outward in an "X" pattern, hence the name.  This is supposed to be the reason for the consistent play, radially. I would love to hear some opinions from anyone that has used this shaft.  I'm torn between transitioning to this shaft or a Z-shaft from Predator. Here is a short video about the Tiger X-Shaft... I found a short video of the Tiger Products shop.  check it out below... One of the things that I noticed in ...

This is such a cool idea...I just had to share it with you. Shawn Smith of FT Gibson in Oklahoma (AKA FTGoki on the AZ forums) put together a custom cue building contest. He found 6 custom pool cuemakers to participate in his grand idea. They all agreed to build a cue to the same basic specifications. Then, the cues would be sent to pre-selected (LUCKY) players around the country for them to evaluate how the cues play, look, feel, etc. The cues do not have any identifying marks, so the participants don't know who made them. That's what makes this so cool. They will be giving a totally unbiased opinion of the cues. In the video below, Shawn is showing the cues that have been made by the cuemakers.  The case was made and supplied by John Barton of JBcases.com (his cases are THE BEST, IMHO).   Now, these cues will travel to the participants for their review.  I can't wait to see what they have to say. I forgot to mention that the cues and cases are going to be raffled-off to one lucky winner, when this project is completed, so stay tuned.  I'll keep you well ...

I love this cue!  This is classic Gus Szamboti work.  It isn't fancy, but in my mind it is what a cue is "supposed" to look like.  I'd love to be able to play with a Gus Szamboti cue to see how it plays. This cue is owned by the legendary Danny DiLiberto and was used to achieve his personal best run of 14.1, which must have been a pretty big run. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="350" caption="This is Danny DiLiberto's personal Gus Szamboti cue."][/caption] This cue is featured over at Cuezilla.com.  If you haven't checked out that site, you should.  They have some very unique cues that you can enjoy and give your rating and opinions.  It is a great site for cue enthusiasts. Here is their description of the cue... The pictured Gus Szamboti cue features four ebony points each with four veneers of black/mahogany/blue/natural into a Birdseye maple nose. The butt is Ebony with Birdseye Maple boxes and two stitch rings. The cue is all original and was made for Danny Deliberto. There is documentation that makes claim to it being used in Danny’s highest run in 14.1 straight pool. This cue also features four Ivory spearhead inlays in the base of the ...

Ok Folks... I am giving away my "lightly used" copy of Banking with the Beard by Freddy Bentivegna [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="350" caption="Win my copy of "Banking with the Beard""][/caption] So, what do you have to do to win?? It's simple. As of Sept. 1st, 2009, I'm tracking the comments on this site. After I get 100 comments, I'm going to randomly pick a winner from the people that posted those 100 comments. There are a couple of important conditions to this contest, though. First, I will not count "spammy" type of comments like "good post", I really like this..." Basically, the comment doesn't have to be long, but it needs to add positively to the conversation. Secondly, be sure to include a good email so I can email you if you win. Remember, the more you comment, the less competition there will be. Good Luck! Skippy

Hi folks. I was contacted by one of my readers about a Jim Rempe Meucci cue that he acquired. This cue is pretty cool. It has an inlaw (or scrimshaw?) that is an outline of Jim Rempe in his shooting stance. I've never seen this Meucci cue before. Have you? He is trying to get some background on it and find out if any others were produced. Check out the pictures below. Please, comment if you have any insights, questions or facts about this particular cue stick. My readers are GREAT...I'm sure someone out there has seen this vintage Meucci before. [caption id="attachment_277" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Rare Jim Rempe Meucci cue - complete cue."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_274" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Meucci cue picture 1"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_275" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Meucci Pool Cue picture 2"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_276" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Rare Jim Rempe Cue pic 3"][/caption] [caption id="attachment_278" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Rare Jim Rempe Meucci cue - butt cap."][/caption] [caption id="attachment_287" align="aligncenter" width="350" caption="Rare Jim Rempe Meucci cue - butt cap closeup"][/caption] Leave a comment or contact me if you have any helpful information or thoughts about this cue. Cheers, Skippy

There is always a lot of debate on the subject of pool cues and deflection. One of the cues that always inspires a lot of strong opinions is the Meucci Black Dot shaft.  Bob Meucci has invested a lot of time and energy into bringing the deflection debate to the fore-front of pool cue discussions.  I've seen him travel to shows like the Valley Forge Expo and work tirelessly to show how his cues stack up against the rest of the field. Now he has introduced the Power Piston butt, which he claims helps reduce deflection even more.  I can't say that I can make a scientific argument about his methods of measurement, but something seems a bit off when I see his results. What do you think? I'd love to hear your opinion on this subject.  Have you played with one of his black dot cues before?  Please, share what you've found.  I think people need to hear some unbiased reviews before buying. Here is Bob's video showing his latest expirement with his Meucci black dot cue. Cheers, Skippy