Dates and locations come from each maker's own history page, or for Lucasi, its parent company.

McDermott has made cues since 1975 and now builds in Menomonee Falls. Its catalog runs from the GS-Series with plain maple shafts to the Gallery Collection, with G-Core, i-Shaft and Defy carbon shafts in between. It is the broadest ladder in one brand.

Pechauer dates its cue making to 1963, when Jerry Pechauer finished his first cue in Green Bay. His son Joe has run the company since 2007. The shop mills and kiln-dries its own maple and makes every cue in-house.

Schön was formed in Milwaukee in 1981 by Terry Romine Sr. and Bob Runde, and has worked from the same building at 38th and Burnham since 1985. The company counted five full-time cue makers in 2013.

Jacoby started in 1982 as Dave's Cue Service, doing repairs in Dave Jacoby's basement. It now builds custom and production cues in Nekoosa, with all work done on site, and sells its own BlaCk shaft series.

Meucci is the Mississippi outlier. Bob Meucci began building cues in the Chicago area in 1960; Meucci Originals opened in Olive Branch in 1975, and production moved to Byhalia in 2006. Bob stepped back from day-to-day ownership in 2022 and stays on as designer.

Joss, family-owned, has handmade cues in Towson, Maryland since 1968.

Predator built its name on shafts. The 314 arrived in 1994, the Z in 2003 and the REVO carbon composite shaft in 2016. REVO playing shafts come in 12.4 mm and 12.9 mm (0.49 and 0.51 in) at the tip, and every Predator shaft and butt has a joint-end diameter of 0.839 to 0.842 in (21.3 to 21.4 mm). Predator claims REVO tests 5 to 10% more accurate than its third-generation wood shafts; that is the maker's own figure.

Mezz is the cue brand of Miki, a Japanese woodworking firm in Tomioka, Gunma, that traces its craft to 1924. The Mezz name debuted at the BCA Trade Expo in Las Vegas in August 1995. The WX900 wood shaft went on sale in 2013, the Ignite 12.2 carbon shaft was announced in January 2019, and 11.5 and 12.6 mm versions followed in July 2025.

Cuetec sells the Cynergy line of carbon fiber shafts and cues, the third name most shops stock beside REVO and Ignite.

Low deflection belongs to a shaft model, not to a brand. McDermott alone sells plain maple GS shafts, G-Core and i-Shaft performance shafts and the Defy carbon shaft. Carbon also has trade-offs: it stays straight and wipes clean, but Dr. Dave Alciatore's pool FAQ notes that its higher stiffness may limit maximum spin near the miscue limit. Our guide to cue shafts, taper and deflection covers the mechanics.

A "lifetime" headline hides a lot. McDermott and Predator limit coverage to the original buyer and to cues bought from an authorized dealer or the maker, so a used cue usually has no warranty.

Tips, ferrules, wraps and finish are wear items at both makers. For Schön, Pechauer, Joss and Jacoby, get the written terms for the exact model before paying.

McDermott publishes price ranges per series, a useful map of what money buys.

$365 to $405

GS-Series with a conventional maple shaft. The entry point for a full-warranty McDermott.

$445 to $1,140

G-Series with the G-Core shaft, which McDermott values at $240 on its own.

$1,275 to $2,500+

G-Series with the i-Shaft, valued at $370. Most of the jump is the shaft.

$720 to $2,150

Select and H-Series: more inlay work and figured woods.

$1,200 to $150,000

Gallery Collection: art pieces, priced as art.

A rule of thumb across brands: under about $500 you pay for a straight maple shaft and a sound joint, from $500 to $1,500 mostly for the shaft, and above that for decoration.

Longoni is the European name most American buyers meet. Alessandro Longoni opened a cue and table workshop in Mariano Comense, near Milan, in 1945. His son Renzo patented the first laminated wood shaft, later sold as Stratos, in 1965. The family still runs the company, and carom is its home game, so check the tip size and taper before buying one for pool.

The earlier version of this guide also named Zen, North Demon and Southwest. All three are small custom makers. We could not confirm their histories or terms from a maker or official source, so they stay off the table. If you buy one, get the builder's name, specifications and provenance in writing.

1. Start with the game. Pool, carom and snooker cues differ in tip size and taper. A Longoni carom cue and a Predator pool cue are not rivals.
2. Check the rulebook limits. WPA equipment specifications allow a cue of at least 40 in (101.6 cm), no heavier than 25 oz (709 g), with a tip no wider than 14 mm (0.55 in). Almost any production cue fits.
3. Choose the shaft before the brand. Decide between conventional maple, low-deflection wood and carbon, and a tip diameter (the carbon shafts named above run from 11.5 to 12.9 mm, about 0.45 to 0.51 in). Then compare models in that class.
4. Read the warranty for the exact line. Confirm the seller is an authorized dealer, that warpage is covered, and what shaft work voids it.
5. Hold it. Weight, balance and wrap are personal; see our guide to holding a cue.
6. Price decoration separately. Ask what the same shaft and joint cost in a plain butt. The difference is the price of the inlay.

The tip is the cheapest part to change; see which cue tip to use before blaming the cue.