Vanquish is McDermott's fully carbon-fiber cue line, built with a carbon-fiber butt and a Defy carbon-fiber shaft rather than the wood-and-maple construction used across the rest of the McDermott catalog. We carry both Vanquish models: the VQ1 playing cue and the Mach 1 break cue, both built around McDermott's Variable Balance Point (VBP) weight system. It's a small line, just 2 products, both currently in stock, priced from about $730 to about $880.
Every item is brand new and 100% genuine, backed by its full manufacturer warranty. Free shipping on orders over $98 (contiguous US) and 30-day returns. Every spec on this page is checked against the manufacturer's published data by our Wilmington, NC store team.
McDermott has built pool cues since 1975 out of its Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin factory, using a build process the company says runs more than 150 separate steps per cue, and Vanquish is the one line in that catalog built entirely without wood. Where the rest of McDermott's lineup pairs a hardwood butt with either a maple, G-Core or Intimidator i-Shaft, Vanquish uses a carbon-fiber butt matched to a Defy carbon-fiber shaft, no wood core anywhere in the cue. That all-carbon-fiber construction is what sets Vanquish apart inside McDermott's own catalog, and it puts the line at a premium relative to most of the rest of the range: the two Vanquish SKUs we carry price at $733 and $877.50. That's a different kind of premium than McDermott charges on its collectible 50th Anniversary Series, where the price comes from limited-edition inlay work on a wood cue rather than carbon-fiber material and construction.
Both Vanquish cues use McDermott's patented VBP system, a carbon-fiber butt built to let the internal weight and balance point be fine-tuned rather than fixed at the factory. McDermott describes it as delivering enhanced strength, stability and consistency shot to shot, which is the main selling point of building a butt out of carbon fiber instead of wood in the first place.
The VQ1 pairs that butt with a Defy shaft, McDermott's true carbon-fiber shaft with no wood core, offered on the VQ1 in a choice of 12mm, 12.5mm or 13mm tip diameter. Defy uses SmacWrap, a vibration-dampening layer developed originally for aerospace use, which McDermott says gives the shaft a quieter, softer-feeling hit and a low-friction glide through the bridge hand.
The Mach 1 break cue swaps in a Defy break shaft fitted with a Navigator Break Impact tip, a hybrid phenolic tip, and a phenolic ferrule rather than the standard Defy playing-shaft setup. McDermott positions the Mach 1 as its most technologically advanced break cue, built to put more power into the break while still keeping the carbon-fiber butt's VBP weight adjustment.
The Vanquish VQ1 is the playing cue in the line, priced at $877.50 in our catalog, built for a player who wants a carbon-fiber hit for everyday 8-ball, 9-ball or straight pool play rather than just for breaking. It's built in black, blue or red, and it's currently in stock.
The Mach 1, priced at $733, is the break-cue half of the line, built around the Navigator Break Impact tip and phenolic ferrule described above rather than a playing-shaft setup. It comes in black or grey, and McDermott sells it with a choice of leather wrap, linen wrap or no wrap at all, and it's currently in stock.
The first decision is role, not spec: the VQ1 is built as a playing cue for everyday 8-ball, 9-ball or straight pool, while the Mach 1 is purpose-built for breaking, with the Navigator Break Impact tip and phenolic ferrule swapped in place of a playing-shaft setup. Most buyers land on one or the other rather than treating either as an all-purpose cue.
Within the Mach 1 itself there's a second, genuine choice: McDermott sells it with a leather wrap, a linen wrap, or wrapless, all on the same carbon-fiber butt and Defy break shaft. A wrap adds grip and a softer feel in the hand; going wrapless leaves the bare carbon-fiber butt exposed, which is closer to how the VQ1 playing cue ships. None of the three wrap choices changes the underlying VBP weight system or the break shaft itself, so it comes down to hand feel rather than performance.
Carbon fiber is the material both Vanquish cues are built from, in the butt as well as the shaft, which is what separates this line from the rest of McDermott's wood-bodied catalog. It's a woven composite material, not a hardwood, and because there's no wood anywhere in the cue, the humidity and temperature swings that can affect a wood shaft's straightness over time are less of a factor here, which is the practical case McDermott makes for building a butt out of carbon fiber in the first place rather than pairing a carbon shaft with a traditional wood handle.
The Mach 1's Navigator Break Impact tip and phenolic ferrule are both built around phenolic resin, a hard, dense composite material rather than the leather used on the VQ1's playing tip. Cue makers turn to phenolic on break and jump cues specifically because it's rigid enough to transfer impact energy into the cue ball on a hard break rather than absorbing it the way a softer leather tip would.
SmacWrap, the vibration-dampening layer inside the Defy shaft on both Vanquish models, is a material McDermott says it adapted from aerospace use. Its job is to absorb vibration and dampen noise at the moment of contact, which McDermott says gives the shaft a quieter, softer-feeling hit and a smoother glide through the bridge hand than an unwrapped carbon shaft would have on its own. For more on terms like ferrule, tenon and taper, see our cue glossary.
The hardware at the back of both cues carries the Vanquish name rather than generic McDermott branding: the VQ1 ships with a McDermott plug bumper, and the Mach 1 carries a silver butt plate stamped with the Vanquish logo over a grey collar. Neither detail changes how the cue plays, but it does mark the line as visually distinct from McDermott's wood-bodied cues on the rack.
Both Vanquish cues in our catalog use McDermott's standard 3/8x10 joint, so a Vanquish shaft or butt is compatible with other McDermott cues built on the same pin, at least mechanically. Between the two models, one runs a 13.00mm tip and the other a 12.50mm tip, reflecting the VQ1's playing-shaft sizing versus the Mach 1's break-shaft sizing; the VQ1 is also offered by McDermott in a 12mm option, though we currently stock the 13mm build. Both are built on a carbon fiber shaft and both ship wrapless, which fits the all-carbon-fiber construction, there is no separate wrap material to apply over a carbon-fiber butt the way there would be over a wood one. If you want to compare shaft diameters against McDermott's wood-bodied lines, the shafts category carries the G-Core, i-Shaft and Defy options on their own.
Vanquish is built for a player who has already decided they want a carbon-fiber cue rather than a traditional wood one, and who wants that carbon construction in both the butt and the shaft rather than just the shaft. McDermott's own description leans on strength, stability and shot-to-shot consistency as the case for the VBP carbon butt, which is the same pitch carbon-fiber golf shafts and bike frames make relative to their traditional-material counterparts. Because the line splits into one playing cue and one break cue, a buyer generally picks based on which role they need filled: the VQ1 for everyday play, the Mach 1 specifically for breaking, rather than treating either as an all-purpose cue the way many of McDermott's wood-bodied lines are marketed. A player weighing Vanquish against McDermott's GS-Series or G-Series should also know it sits well above both on price, since this is McDermott's carbon-fiber flagship rather than a volume line.
As a McDermott product, Vanquish is covered by the company's Lifetime Warranty against manufacturing defects, which McDermott extends to the original purchaser for as long as they own the cue, provided the cue was bought through an authorized McDermott retailer. Because Vanquish is an all-carbon-fiber cue rather than a traditional wood build, the warpage clause that applies to McDermott's wood-shafted lines is less of a practical concern here, though the general defect coverage still applies. McDermott's warranty terms require the complete cue to be sent in for evaluation at the company's facility if you ever need to file a claim.
McDermott's warpage clause only kicks in on cues built since 2004 and applies mainly to its wood-shafted lines in practice, since there's no wood in a Vanquish cue to warp; the general defect coverage above still applies regardless. McDermott also backs its American-made cues, Vanquish included, with a free Lifetime Maintenance Plan, with a flat $25 domestic return-shipping charge by insured UPS Ground with signature required if a Vanquish cue ever needs to go back to the factory.
That Maintenance Plan excludes butt refinishing on a short list of models, the Sledgehammer SH1, Stinger, Star, Lucky and Element lines; neither Vanquish cue is on that exclusion list, though refinishing a carbon-fiber butt is a different kind of service call than resurfacing a wood one in the first place.
For McDermott's other pool cue lines, including the wood-bodied G-Series and GS-Series, see the McDermott Pool Cues category, or browse the full pool cues selection.
Vanquish is McDermott's only cue line built with a carbon-fiber butt as well as a carbon-fiber shaft. Every other McDermott line pairs a wood butt with a maple, G-Core or Intimidator i-Shaft, so Vanquish is the brand's sole all-carbon-fiber cue.
The VQ1 uses McDermott's Defy shaft, a true carbon-fiber shaft with no wood core, offered in 12mm, 12.5mm or 13mm tip diameters and built with aerospace-derived SmacWrap vibration dampening.
The Mach 1 model in the Vanquish line is built specifically for breaking, with a Defy break shaft, a Navigator Break Impact tip and a phenolic ferrule, separate from the VQ1 playing cue in the same line.
VBP, Variable Balance Point, is a weight system built into the Vanquish's carbon-fiber butt that lets the cue's internal weight and balance point be adjusted, which McDermott says adds strength, stability and consistency.
The VQ1 playing cue is available in black, blue or red. The Mach 1 break cue comes in black or grey, with a choice of leather wrap, linen wrap or no wrap.
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