Do more inlays on a cue make the cue more back weighted or butt heavy?

Question

continuing on my quest for my 2nd cue, I was wondering if anyone have advice on cues that are neither butt heavy nor front heavy. I am looking for a very well balanced cue, being that my first cue was rear heavy and very annoying to cope with and stroke with. Also, do more inlays on the cue mean more weight towards the back and a more back weighted cue? Does the price of a cue go up the less back weighted it is? any advice is appreciated .

Answer 1

Inlays can be a double-edged sword.  For sure, they are attractive and can sometimes add financial value to the cue.  The problem with inlays (particularly deep inlays) is that very often deep holes have to be dug into the wood to secure the inlays.  This causes a few problems in terms of playability.  Inlays create void spaces and put different types of wood together.  This combination is horrible for the cue's harmonics.  Harmonics deal with vibrations and directly affects how the cue "feels" in your hand when you contact the cue ball.  How the shot feels is just as important as how it looks and sounds.  I wouldn't worry too much about inlays making the cue butt heavy.  If you want the look of inlays without all of the problems that they cause, I might suggest that you look into getting a cue with very thin veneers.  They give the look of deeper inlays and to the naked eye are nearly impossible to spot.  Furthermore, they will not affect the harmonics of the cue to any noticeable degree.  Another important factor will be the joint.  Ideally, you want a two-piece cue that plays like a single piece of wood.  Again, I'm going back to harmonics.  You're going to want a large amount of wood-to-wood contact with no void spaces.  So many cues today have thick metal and plastic rings at the joints, steel pins going into brass holes, and huge void spaces.  Cues like this have a very poor acoustic junction.  I'm usually not one to plug one type of cue over another, but I'm going to suggest that you look at the Schuler Cue, because of the joint.  Additionally, Schuler Cues don't typically use a weight bolt in the butt of the cue.  This distributes the weight more uniformly over the length of the cue and actually makes the cue feel lighter than it really is.  There are plenty of cues on the market that can play just as successfully, but none of them has a joint like the Schuler.  I'll let you read up on that at your leisure.  Happy hunting.  M.D.-BCA Instructor/Referee.

Answer 2

Not at all  inlays ore so thin a entirley coverd cue the inlays would not weigh more than a few grams .I have one longoni that has silver inlays but it is perfecly balanced for 4k + it better stay that way a cheap cue is all paint anyway. Get out your check book and dont worry about it dont take it till it feels right thats why its a custom its made for you if you aint nobody aint happy + its your money make it your cue  only other advice get a hard tip if your going to show off your new stick

Chaulk it up and come down to texas well be waiting

Veneers thats the word i was looking for

Answer 3

Depending on how big the inlays are, how deep they go, the material they are made from - and their exact placement on the cue, most of the time they don't affect it noticeably.

They are mostly for decor, but I'm sure there are some that are more functional.  Try out several cues and find what works for you - if you know your last cue wasn't balanced the way you want it - then try to find one that suits your needs better.  The Earl Strickland I've been using is a little butt heavy, but not overly so.  I've found it has less to do with the cue, and more what you do with it.  I used to have a cheap one that continued to get more and more warped - and yet I could still stomp a lot of people with it (I was used to how warped it was, which made for some interesting shots - it actually took me a while to get used to a straight one again).

Answer 4

Inlays have very little to do with whether a cue is butt heavy or not.  Most of the time, inlays will not effect weight that greatly.  What does effect a cue's weight is the wood and whether or not the butt of the cue is cored.  If you want a center to forward heavy cue, I recommend a Schon or other steel jointed cue around the 19 ounce range.  With this metal jointed cue, a majority of the weight will be forward to center...therefore balancing the cue out better.  A McDermott for instance, tends to be butt heavy because their cues are wood to wood and the butt of their cues are on the thicker side.  Even with the lightest possible weight bolt in the McDermott I had, it was still butt heavy.  That is the other thing, remove the rubber bumper and see if your cue has a weight bolt, if so, remove it and try to cut it down or replace it with an aluminum bolt.