This subject is in eternal debate among players and cue makers.  My take on it is that how a cue feels is a very personal thing based on a person’s experience and influences.  However here is a very interesting experiment performed by the late John McChesney one of the three founders of the Texas Express Nine Ball Tour, and the two surviving members Randy Goetlicher and Robin Adair,

Here’s something interesting we tried in 1991:
At an event we had 16 cues with the butt, joint and the ferrules covered with masking tape…then numbered. No one could “see” if the cue was a steel, plastic or wood joint (as in a Pete), nor detect by the style of ferrule. We had 70 players…each hit balls with the cues throughout the weekend.

The results:
Of nearly 800 attempts over the time period, the players guessed wrong about what type joint was in the cue more than 7 out of 10 times. A top pro (Meucci staffer) happened to be there, having done an exhibition and the cuehe liked the most during the attempts: He thought was surely a Meucci, plastic joint when in reality it was an older Adams with a piloted steel joint; and additionally guessed the Meucci he shot with as a cue with a steel joint.

Again, I maintain that cues with different joint materials may sound differently; may be balanced differently, but what is “hit” ? Doesn’t “hit” have to do with all the senses: Vibration (feel), sound, balance, etc. What is a “soft” hit? What is a “hard” hit? (what does this mean, if not the sound the cue makes upon impact, or are people ref. to the vibration in the butt?) Does a hard hit vibrate more and make a different sound? A soft hit vibrate less with a different sound? I  maintain that the primary criteria that differentiates one cue from another begins with: The tip (soft, med or hard) The shaft diameter and density of the wood The taper (or stiffness of the shaft) To this day, I still don’t believe the joint has
much to do with the reaction of the cueball off the shaft, rather it is the 3 aforementioned that have far more bearing on how a cue plays than anything else. Remember, what makes the predator shaft play differently is what is located at the tip, inside the shaft, the ferrule and the laminations….not the joint or butt.

In closing, our experiment asked which cue the players liked best: Of the 70 players, nearly 55 liked the hit of two cues with different numbers: When the two were exposed, they both were sneaky petes, wood to wood joints, (one a Scruggs and the other a Huebler); both about 19 oz., both about 13 1/4mm and tended to be on the stiff side of “hit”. By the way, the 55 who liked the hit of these two cues: more than half thought they would be steel jointed.

- John McChesney Posted on Rec.Sport.Billiards circa 1999

For the best value in Sneaky Pete style pool cues with wood-to-wood joints please check out the ones from Sterling Cues and Fury Cues.

Well it's been a while.  I am not much of a blogger although I should be since I really do write a lot on several forums I participate in. The John Barton update for this year is that my wife Karen and I are about to have our first child.  Woo hoo!  I am pretty scared but it's time I had something to be responsible for that I don't feel like I could walk away from at any time. The case business is doing well despite the slow economy.  Money might be tighter but people's dreams don't die and when it comes to custom cue cases we are one of the few who can and will do just about anything so that keeps us rolling along. I also started another line to pay tribute to a pioneer in tube style cases.  Jay Flowers pretty much invented the genre of cases that use plumbing and electrical tubes to make cue cases.  He wrapped them in a distinctive covering of tooled leather using a wide variety of patterns and pockets and handles and straps and lids.  He didn't tie himself down to just one way to build cases, didn't just offer a narrow set of options, and basically he inspired a generation of cue case makers to try their hand at the craft. My first "fancy" case that I owned as a young player was a J. E.F. Case as they were really called.  Of course everyone now just calls them Flowers cases.  I felt like a world champion whenever I walked into the pool room with that case. Jay really doesn't get much credit for the style he created though and people like Dennis Swift and Jack Justis who both make incredible cases get more credit simply because they are still active.  I feel it's important to remember our roots and so I created the J.Flowers line to showcase what the man did and give him credit for the style. I met Jay once in Las Vegas while I had a booth there selling the Instroke cases, the last brand I created.  We chatted for a while and Jay gave me permission to make a Flowers style case.  I promised to call him later and discuss the details and never did.  Sadly Jay passed on before he could see what I could create in his honor. Just today I received a gift from another person who stands as a giant among men in my eyes.  Doug Wiley, aka Smorgass Bored on more internet forums than I can count, sent me Jay Flowers' personal case and according to Doug it was Jay's very first case.  Doug had asked me a year ago if I would make him a case in trade for this one.   He was especially enamored over one we called the BasketCase, which stood out by it's extensive basket weave pattern stamped all over it. I agreed and it took me a year and prodding from Doug to get this done.  Doug's case is called For, Um….Insanity  Doug says he is very happy with it but here is what brings me to tears over the deal.  Doug is someone who spends a lot of time online and what distinguishes him from most others in the forums is that he is so very funny and sharp and ALWAYS comes in at just the right time with the right line to break everyone up and cause general laughter.  I completely regret that we once had cross words a decade ago, but as usual he made everyone laugh while upbraiding me. Now, he is not doing too well and still he remembered me enough to know that Jay's case would be so meaningful to me.  He could have easily sold it and probably would have gotten far more money than the case I made for him is worth.  I really have no words to describe the incredible generosity that Doug's gift is and what it means to me. I hope that Doug recovers from what is ailing him.  It's serious but not insurmountable.  We need him and more like him to keep reminding us that things that we get upset over are not nearly as serious as we think they are. Best of luck Smorg and thank you for all the laughs, now get your ass in gear so we can have you around busting on us for the next 50 years!