It has been a little over two weeks since I got my new and shiny BD SS360'2 United joint from Seyberts. I now feel like I have had enough time to write a little review for you to read.
To start off, I will say that I had high hopes from other reviews that I had read before buying one myself.
I got the package delivered to me in just over a week from Seyberts. That is really fast coming from the US to Finland, thanks to UPS Expedited delivery
The shaft was well packaged and arrived to me unharmed.
First thing to catch my eye was the distinctively light colour of wood. Its is the whitest shaft I have seen in my life
The pie construction made of 6 equal pieces is easy on the eye with very well matching wood colour and glue lines so minimal they are hard to even notice. A lot nicer lamination than what I got to see on the Tiger shafts that I went through (All 3 of them had differentiating colour of wood or grain pattern so different that it caught the eye). Thumbs up to Bob Danielson for construction quality here.
I screwed it on a Mezz AYA-K butt to shoot a few balls with it. Before even chalking up I found a minor defect on it. There was a minor, yet noticeable lip where the ferrule meets the wood. The ferrule was a tiny bit larger than the rest of the shaft. That is very easy to fix so it didnt bother me too much. I chalked up and started off with some stop shots to get a feel for the shaft.
It hits sweet. The sound of impact this shaft makes is phenomenal. It sounds pure, soft yet firm at the same time. Easy to like audibly, that is all I can say. A little squishy feel bothered me a little, maybe the tip was a little too soft or left too tall for my taste. After a while of play the shafts surface started to feel tacky. There appears to be a coating of some kind on the shaft that feels a little rough and uneven when sliding the shaft over your fingers. This tacky feeling combined with bit squishy feeling annoyed me enough to try to improve on it a little bit.
I cut off the standard Ultraskin and put on a Zan Hybrid Max tip, turned the ferrule to size and then proceeded to get the surface substance off it. I used sandpapers (spare me the lecture please
) starting from 600 grit to get the shaft smooth as it should be. While I was already working on it, I took the taper back a tiny bit to match the taper of a 314 that I am used to. There is nothing wrong with the standard taper but I felt the urge to match it to what I am already accustomed to. When the shaft was clean and the taper matched my preferration I proceeded with 800, 1000, 1200, 1500 and finally 2000 grit papers to get all the scratches out. I took off about 0.1mm in diameter in the process, but it was well worth the time in my opinion. I used Nick's Edge microfilms to get the smoothest finish I could and put on a layer of Renaissance Wax.
Finally the shaft was flawless regarding the finish, no imperfections at all. As a shaft should be in my opinion. I keep my equipment pristine at all times so even the slightest flaw in finish or a scratch annoys me quite a bit. Many others wouldnt have any problems with the shaft the way it comes out of the box. The few flaws were small but still they were there.
The tip change made a world of difference. The Zan gives this shaft the "spine" it lacked before and the squishy feeling was no longer there. Center ball hit is remarkably similar to an original 314. It has a little more flex on it than my precat 314 when using a lot of english, giving it a bit softer, more lively feel. Deflection is very similar to a 314. That was a pleasant surprise as I feel like that amount is just the right compromise between long distance accuracy and ability to use deflection in positional play. Please note that this is my personal opinion, others may disagreee but I like a little deflection on a shaft. Too little is difficult to play for me.
I used this shaft mostly on a Mezz AYA. It does fit Schons too as the United joint is based on a standard 5/16x14 thread. Currently I have the 360 on the Mezz and Precat 314 on my Schon. I can change between them without a need to adjust aiming. There is a difference in feel of course, the Mezz is softer hitting, especially with a leather wrap. Schon with the 314 hits a little rough compared to the other but it also gives a nice touch of finesse to have this rigid, stiff feel to it combined with it being wrapless. I have a Mezz sneaky coming to me in the next few weeks and honestly I cant say for sure wich shaft I will end up using on it.
To summ that all up I conclude my review to this:
A SS360'2 is a great shaft for its price. It is significantly cheaper than a Predator shaft is and it performs just like one with a little different feel to it. The downside that comes with the very affordable price of only 180$ is the quality of finishing touches. If you are okay having tiny imperfections on your cue or if you are willing to use an hour or two to get it just right I would definitely recommend getting one.
If you are willing to spend the extra $ and get a predator you will get a shaft that is just right right out of the package. Its a matter of preference really, you will not go wrong the either way if you are looking to get a nice LD shaft for your cue.
Feelwise a SS360 is softer that the newest 314. The 3rd gen Predators are great shafts to play with and their rather stiff hitting nature makes them great for precise position play. The only downsides with 314'3s are the rather high cost and the bit artificial sound wich they have on hit. It is not as pleasant as that of a BD shaft, it has a higher tone to it and more vibrations can be felt from the shaft itself.
360 is more like a standard maple shaft, with a traditional nice feel with very little vibration, a little more deflection and not quite as nicely finished as Predators are off the shelf.
I compared the shaft to Predators as they are often considered to be the standard in LD shaft technology. Nearly everyone has tried one and most have their opinion on them, so there is then something to relate my words about these shafts to. Hopefully this is of some value to anyone looking to buy one or just to fulfill ones curiosity
And to your viewing pleasure a few pictures in the end. The Predator shafts are there as a reference so that it is easier to get an understanding about the taper and colour of the shaft
