There are many types of cues, some are made for a specific type of shot, others are made specially to play on certain equipment.

Cue types: Snooker, pool, Carom, Break, jump, break/jump, masse.

Snooker cues are made to play on snooker equipment. Snooker is a game played on 10-12 foot tables with a special set of balls that are smaller then regular pool balls. Pool cues, break, jump, jump/break, and masse cues are use to play on pool tables or pocket billiards table. This includes 8 ball, 9 ball, and any other game that uses similar equipment. Tables range from 6-9 foot in length. Carom cues are used to play on Carom tables or billiard tables. These tables do not have pockets and are on average 10 feet in length. The games played on this equipment are carom games.

Differences between cues. 

Quality: manufactured, custom

There are 2 ways cues are made: Manufactured and Custom. Manufacture cues are Mizeraks, Cuetecs, Scorpions, Meucci, etc. Manufacture cues are made from wood, graphite, layered pieces of wood, or a combination of wood and graphite. They are mass produced and sold in stores and catalogs. The materials used are not as expensive or rare as you would find in a custom cue. These cue are usually the first cues anyone buys because of there affordability and availability.

Custom Cues are hand from wood picked out by the cue maker; they don’t make them out of graphite like the manufactures do. And you can decide on what ever materials you want to use to make your cue. Customs cost a lot more then manufactured cues. George Balabushka (1912-1975) is considered one of the best cue makers and an original Balabushka cue today can go for more then $10,000. There are other great cue makers out there and you can get a brand new custom cue anywhere between $300-$2,000 depending on who is making it and what materials you use.

Materials used in the cue making process will have an effect on the price, the more expensive and rare the material, the more the cue is going to cost.

Here are some examples of the different materials used to make and/or customize a cue.

Wraps: Irish Linen, Leather wraps, Exotic skins: Alligator, Ostrich, Python, Cobra, rattlesnake, whitesnake, stingray, buffalo, eel skin, lizard, karung snake.

Exotic Leathers: Alligator, tinga, lizard, crocodile, elephant, ostrich leg, ostrich

Inlays: Stones, gems, metals, plastic, wood.

Tips: Phenolic(jump/break), cow hide, boar hide, buffalo. Type: Soft, Medium, Medium-hard, hard.

Ferrules: Ivory, Buffalo horn, white linen based, plastic, phenolic (jump/break).

Joint Size: 3/8, Uni-loc, 5/16, Radial. Material: Brass, titanium, stainless steel.

Join types: wood to wood, wood to metal, metal to metal.

Shaft Taper: Standard, Pro Taper

It is well worth it to buy a custom cue if you are serious about playing because there is nothing else like shooting a rack with a custom cue. The hit on a good custom cue is way better then any manufacture cue. But wait a few years before you start looking. Try out different cues and see what you like, then invest the money into a custom cue.