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I'm told by a certified master club builder that all major club manufacturers use commercial grade shafts which vary greatly in terms of quality and physical characteristics and that the shafts he buys as replacements are "tour grade" and quality controlled to insure that the shafts are what the label says they are. I would appreciate any comments from this very knowledgable forum. Thanks.

I've seen commercial grade steel shafts for a dollar each, which is very cheap. After market shafts you can get at say Golfsmith, will vary in price from $5 to $30 each. If depends on how good a shaft you want. The True Temper Dynamic Gold shaft sell for around $10. Remember, some so called master builders will tell you all OEM shafts are cheap shafts, just so they can try to sell you new ones for a lot more money.

For the most part, the clubmaker is right. Most stock shafts found in OEMs are not on the same level as the aftermarket shafts. Its a simple matter of economics and the bottomline. They also tend to play softer with higher torque than their replacements. Its gives the consumer a better feel and boosts their egos a bit. This isn't a huge deal, unless you are looking to upgrade, in which case its best to get fitted anyway. That being said, I have noticed a few more companies using the real deal as of late right from the factory.

If you go to Custom Golf Clubs & Equipment by HorsePower Golf & Pat Dempsey Web Cam Watch Us Build Clubs, and then to the shafts section, you'll see that HP Golf is an authorized tour shop for UST. Near the top of the shafts page, the tour shafts are listed.

IMO, those shafts aren't for many people here. They're all built stiffer and with firmer tips than an average golfer would benefit from in a shaft.

Other than that, the only thing I've heard of is weight and spine sorting/matching. Are you really going to tell if your 5-iron shaft weighed 3 grams more than your 6-iron shaft at raw length? Probably not in a million years.