At Lambros Cues, Inc., we believe the best customer is an educated customer. In keeping with this belief, we have provided these initial education tips to help you to become a smarter and better player. Periodically in the future, we will add additional tips to this page, so keep checking back with us.
Lambros Tip #1: How to Test Any Cue
Here is a very simple test that any player can do with any cue, to help get a feel for how well or how poorly the given cue is designed and constructed. This test is structured for a pool table, but something similar can easily be done on a carom table, too.
Place an object ball on the center spot of a table. Now place the cue ball on the head string (or foot string), such that the two balls form a straight-in shot to the corner pocket.
Next, take your stance and stroke the cue ball in to the object ball, with just enough force so that the object ball barely reaches the pocket. For this test, it is not important whether or not the object ball goes in the pocket. What is important, is for the player to remember what the cue felt like in the hands and what it sounded like to the ears.
Next, set up the exact same shot and shoot towards the pocket. But this time, use a full force, break-shot speed stroke. Once again, remember what the cue felt like in the hands and what it sounded like to the ears.
The cue should feel and sound exactly the same for both shots. If the cue vibrates more during the more forceful stroke, or makes any audible noises like a “tink” or a “groan”, then there is a flaw in that cue’s design and/or construction. For these vibrations and noises that you feel, are energy from your stroke, being wasted by the cue, which is very undesirable trait.
Each and every Lambros Cue passes this test with flying colors, because each cue is designed to transmit maximum stroke energy to the cue ball, with minimum energy lost in the cue. Hence, with a Lambros Cue, the soft hit and the forceful hit sound the same and feel the same. This is a most desirable trait in a pool or billiard cue.
Lambros Tip #2: What to Look for In a Cue
Okay, you’ve decided to go out and spend several hundred (or several thousand) dollars of your hard earned money on a new cue. But what do you look for? How can you tell you are getting your money’s worth? Here are a few simple tips.
First and foremost, the cue must have a good solid, consistent hit. In the last section, we gave you a very simple test to check the hit. Any player can do this test with any cue. We recommend that you try a Lambros and then go try the rest. We think you’ll come back for the best.
But there are also many other things to look for in a cue, to help you determine the overall quality of the cue. In the following paragraphs, we are going to discuss just a few of the more important ones, such as balance, points and inlays, alignment and symmetry and overall finish.
Proper neutral balance is extremely important in a cue. If the cue is front heavy, then weight must be added in the butt to balance the cue at the proper point. While the cue may indeed have its center of balance near or at the correct spot, there is so much mass on the ends of the cue, that it may feel heavy and awkward (something like a small barbell). Each Lambros Cue is designed for neutral balance, that is to keep the cue’s mass uniformly distributed around the balance point.
With respect to points and inlays, we take care to ensure their tips are very sharply formed and disappear gracefully into the base wood. Rounded tips on points and inlays should be an indication that a cuemaker decided to not spend the extra time on them. Also, hardwood points should be deep, full miter cut points. A primary objective of the hardwood point is to strengthen and stabilize the base wood. This objective is best accomplished with deep, mitered points. At Lambros Cues, we believe that if you are paying for points and inlays, then you deserve to have them done in the proper, traditional cue making style.
Symmetry and alignment are very important points when evaluating the workmanship and esthetics of a cue. Here are some questions to ask when looking at a cue? Are the points evenly spaced and of a uniform height? Are the inlays in the points and butt sleeve perfectly aligned? Are the rings uniform and symmetrically positioned? Again, at Lambros Cues, Inc., we take the time and care to ensure that the symmetry and alignment of your custom cue will be perfect.
Finally, how does the finish look to you? Does the cue have a dull matted hazy finish, or does the wood simply glow with the grain and features seemingly jumping right out at you? At Lambros Cues, Inc., we include several extra steps in finishing a cue that others simply do not take the time to do. And the results show. Our birds-eye maple pops out at you. Our curly maple glows. Our points, rings and inlays shine with a unique hand finished luster.