Another seal of approval for Black Pearl Cues by Al Bautista

Patiktik

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have waited this long before I thought I can write a review for a couple of Black Pearl cues that I have. One is a wrapless, cocobolo with amboyna burl points butterfly while the other is a MW plain jane with a very dark ebony with buckeye burl handle (pattern on the burls are sick!).

The butterfly cue is 60" long and might be close to 20 oz. thanks to thr dense shaft woods. The ebony MW is 58" and around 19-19.5 oz. What is surprising though is that both cues balance the same. Can't believe it too. I have no adjustments going back and forth. The longer cue feels just that, a longer cue. No change in balance or hit, same stiffness every time. Might be the woods, might be the construction technique, just pure joy to hit with.

Which brings me to my next points - hit and playability. I am not sure if everyone has read reviews for Al Bautista cues, but these 2 are the same - absolute, jam-up players. It made me not look for a production shaft because the shafts that came with the cue hits like it was really meant for the cue. I only played with one of each shafts (both came with 2 shafts each) buy damn these can play. Hit is soft to medium, but what's great is it is not dead. Vibrations can be felt and you will know you are hitting close to the edge of a miscue because the cue will "tell" you. Perfect if you are testing tolerances on how far can you spin the ball without making an error.

I can definitely say the shafts are just about right there in the Pred 314-2/OB-1/2 in terms of LD qualities, but is far more livelier. A bit stiffer and the cue ball come around a bit quick/tighter on masse shots. You can even jump with the shaft and still hit long shots with little adjustments on aim. I will leave it at that, just imagine if the shaft you are playing with right now can do that. ;)

In terms of looks, I will let the 2 pictures speak for now. The butterfly is better than most cue makers for sure (you can put it in the Barenbrugge, Dieckman, Diveney league and it will not look out of place). Fine, straight points and no "burnt" edges. All points are sharp and more importantly, same height. I bet majority of the bad reviews for pointed cues much more for butterfly cues are point height, nothing to worry here. The MW, the woods speak for themselves. The ebony though not Gabon and is not jet black, but rich dark/black. From 1 feet out, everything looks jet black. But upon closer inspection, the grains will show, which is more astonishing, you get the best of both worlds. The buckeye burl, what can I say, the swirls look like pictures taken by NASA from far-away galaxies. :)

Almost 2 year now and everything is still straight as an arrow. Although I could not say if they will warp eventually, probably after 25 years, but it did definitely survived the extreme weather here. Al's construction is on par with US cuemakers' quality and techniques. I feel for Al though as he cannot charge at the same price point because of the current stigmas on cues coming from the PI. Need I say more on the customer service? Al answers emails and messages anytime he reads them, no regards for time. :) He's that guy who knows and is not afraid to share it. Value for money in comparison to other Philippine-made cues is that he's on the upper tier. But still less expensive than another cuemaker I will not name, but you probably will guess anyway. Lol!

If I had to look for negatives, and the word "negative" in the cue world is very subjective, but for these cues, it's the finish. In just almost 2 years I have the cues, the finish have thinned-out or gassed-out a bit. The MW has double sterling silver rings in all positions, so it somehow highlights this. Some of the handle rings of the butterfly can be ever so slightly felt too. Other than that, nothing else. Metal rings tend to do this for 95% of the cues in existence, not a question of if, but when. Am I bothered by them? Why should I? It rolls straight, and definitely shoots straight. I don't bridge starting from the cue butt, when I start doing that, it might bother me a bit. Hahaha!

Am I willing to trade or sell them, I do believe everything has a price, but I don't oversell items that I like. :) I have received offers, definitely highlighting the rings "issue", I don't fall for it, not because of that. I am still looking for someone who will tell me that the cues don't play good and I will give this away, but no luck there yet. :)

I hope this adds another vote or 2 for Al Bautista's Black Pearl cues. Some might call this an endorsement rather than a review, I have no problems with the as well. :) Let me know your thoughts. And if you are looking for cues that has the quality of a state-side made cue but the price of a second-hand top tier, take a close look at Al's cues, send him a message and let the man turn your design dream into a reality. Last time I've heard, he just got his CNC. ;) More designs coming in the next few months or 2.
 

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Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
The man does incredible work at super reasonable rates
I'm hoping to get my custom black pearl going here very soon
 
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