Robert Byrne says:
Getting a two-part cue will add about $30 to the price. You can get one with good wood, good workmanship, a twine or leather grip, and some decoration for $50 to $90. (This was in 1987 - ed.) If you pay more than $100, you'll be paying for ornamentation and brand name. A good tip is probably more important than the cue. Shun a cue that's more than two parts, has a screw-on tip, is painted in festive colors, or is made in Taiwan. Made in Japan is OK, the Adam line, made there, is one of the best. Get the best tips you can, the return on the money you spend is greater there than anywhere else.
Bob Jewett says:
1. The plainest butt is probably also the most solid. If you want fancy inlay work, consider Baroque antiques, not cues.
2. Beyond being solid and the right weight and length, and perhaps having the style of grip you prefer, there is little the butt does for the cue.
3. The tip is important. Many tips are no good. Tips can be replaced; learn how to do it yourself. The tip has more effect on how the cue plays than the butt.
4. The shaft is the most important part of the cue. Shafts are relatively cheap. Some highly regarded cue makers make unusable shafts.
Here's a quick test to see if the cue is worth looking at further. It tests the amount of "squirt" or deflection on extreme english shots. Many expensive sticks fail this test.
Place the cue ball on the head spot. Shoot along the main axis of the table over the foot spot to the middle of the foot rail with extreme left english, with the tip contacting the cue ball on the equator. You should be able to hit the left side rail near the side pocket (tan(theta)>0.5, where theta is the angle between incident and reflected path). Did you remember to chalk? Play the shot with enough speed that the cue will hit the far rail a second time if not caught.
Once you are comfortable and consistent with spinning the ball that much, place an object ball frozen to the middle of the foot rail. Shoot the same extreme left english shot, trying to hit on the rail just barely to the right of the object ball and then spin into the ball. Hit correctly, the object ball will be pocketed in the corner. If you miss the object ball entirely, the cue ball should still hit near the side pocket. Be sure on the final stroke that the stick comes straight through the cue ball without any curving to either side.
Now, note (or have a friend note) where your cue stick points on shots when the object ball is pocketed. If the stick points somewhere in the object ball, it's pretty good. If the stick points to the wrong side of the object ball (left side, from your viewpoint) it has too much squirt (deflection) to be usable. [It is unlikely that the line of the stick will be parallel to the desired path of the cue ball. If that's the result you get, you're probably ignoring one of the cueing instructions above.]
If several cues are available, including house cues, compare them.
Squirt is the single most important characteristic of a cue stick. Less is better. More squirt means more aiming compensation on any shot with side spin. It is remarkable that many good players are unaware of the existence of squirt.
