The numbers have never made any sense to me. I can tell you from experience that it doesn’t much matter. The TAD cues are as good as the day TAD started making them. Whatever Fred learned was certainly enough to carry on the legacy.
I do not believe that many players or collectors on here have don’t the comparison as I have. Reason being there was a thread about a month ago that someone started asking that exact question. I was able to answer due to the fact that I have several TAD cues that range from 30 years to 1 year. Some Tad some Fred. I have played both and made a Fred my new player cue. In that post nobody else chimed in.