Yesterday while at the hall I decided to try a few jump/break cues. These three were what I tried:
Nick Varner NV23-5JB
Cuetec Jump/Break Cue – CT-99296
Action ACT56
The Nick Varner has a phenolic tip; which gives a harder hit but is harder to control.
The Cuetec has a fiberglass shaft which is warp resistant, leather tip and softer ferule.
The Action cue is traditional maple with an extra hard leather tip, but with what appears to be a carbon fiber ferule.
I can’t seem to decide at all. I mean, I liked each of them almost equally. The Cuetec is the same same shaft width as my playing cue, whereas the others are 1mm wider. The Cuetec has a very flat tip, the action has a nickel-radius tip, as did the NV. I really don’t do any jumping, but then again, I’ve never had the opportunity to try. Yesterday was, in fact, the first time I’ve ever *properly* jumped a ball. All three seemed to give similar results, but I think the Cuetec gave me the best results jumping. The NV seemed a bit harder to control – which makes sense due to the tip. The Action cue seemed almost identical to the Cuetec, aside from the butt-width.
The reality is that I will be able to adjust any of these equally as well in time, so I’m not sure there’s any real way for me to decide. I’m just wondering if there’s any one which I should absolutely avoid?