Cue makers known for their ivory jointed cues

Just in my little collection there are many.
The first three that I thought of were Dave Kikel, Paul Mottey & James White.
They are known more for their piloted ivory joints, but I like my James White cues with 3/8-10 solid ivory even more.
I also like the sleeved ivory radial joints on my Joss West cues over my traditional steel jointed Joss Wests.
Chris Byrne who I hope to see today, builds cues with solid ivory-radial pin, Chris Nitti, Jensen, Andy Gilbert, A-E, Tim Scruggs,
Richard Black, and I have to look at my collection to come up with more.
I had a Mike Capone cue with a sleeved ivory-radial pin joint, and I really liked the way it played.

I have ivory jointed cues from Hercek, White, Black and some guy named Gus. Love all of them. I also have an ivory sleeved over stainless coming in the future that I am really looking forward to.

Scott

ivory joint from Jerry R, love the hit

bbb said:

thanks for the reply:thumbup:
all you knowledgeable cue enthusiasts 118 views and only ONE reply?????

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Best-playing ivory-jointed cues I've tried were by Gus Szamboti and Bill Schick, both among the handful very best cues I've tried in 26-plus years of playing/instructing/coaching. Bill Stroud/Joss West with the Radial Pin springs to mind, too. Curious about Prewitt, never tried one.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

Richard Phillippi

What about Harvey Martin! Herman Rambo, (1961 era) Red baker, Doc Fry, Abe Rich, Craig Peterson, George B Gus B. Hercek, Bender, Thomas Wayne, Perry Weston, Ricco. and many more Mark

Acousticsguru said it first but I have to say it again... there is just something magical about the hit of a Bill Schick cue with a 3/8X10 pin and flat faced ivory joint. Some cuemakers claim their cues play better with steele. My opinion is that the Schick big pin with ivory is King.

Another cuemaker known for his ivory joint is Pete Tascarella who uses a distinct metal sleeve inside the ivory collar. I assume he constructs his joint that way to ensure the playability standards he is famous for.

I just had a Carolina made with an ivory collar. It feels so different than the phenolic joint I was used to. It seems to have a softer feel,not as stiff. I never thought about that when I was having it made. It's going to take some time getting use to it.

I would guess ninety percent of cuemakers do Ivory joints. So we are all known for doing them. The question should be: What makes the various cuemakers Ivory joint installation method different from others or original?
For instance Stroud tried a several different methods and ended up using a thinner wall over phenolic. Tibbitts introduced a piloted Ivory joint with phenolic reinforcement inside. I introduced a two stage tenon going through my Ivory joints and a shorter length than most use. I have not had one of these crack yet, but the advantage I saw was that if one ever cracks the repair would be simple and clean.

For My $.02

Having owned a Josswest (piloted ivory joint) and currently owning a Tim Scruggs flat faced ivory joint cue and also a Paul Mottey piloted ivory joint cue, I can say with some certainty the Paul MOttey piloted ivory joint is superior in play to Bill Stroud's piloted ivory joint and surpisingly, even the flat faced ivory joint on my Scruggs cue.

So for my two cents, Paul Mottey makes the best piloted ivory joint cue and let's face it, neither Bill Stroud or Tim Scruggs are run of the mill cue-makers. I consider both to be among the really most elite cue-makers. Everyone that has tried my Motty cue has "immediately" and "unanimously" fallen in love with the way the cue plays......to be fair in my comparison, let me also state that all of these cues have ivory ferrules with medium tps and the Josswest weighed 19 ozs, my Scruggs weighs 18.2 0zs and the Mottey cue weighs 18.5 ozs.

For 49 yeras I always played with a 5/16x14 piloted steel joint and then 18mths ago, I bought my first ivory joint cue.....that was it....I immediately knew I was in love......absolutely nirvana......and since then then I've purchased two more ivory joint cues and that's the only cue joint I'll ever buy again to play with....NUF SED!

Your question is a bit vague .. ivory is a material that can be used for joint construction.

However, as pointed out in the thread, there are various different joint construction utilizing ivory (piloted, sleeved, capped, and used in conjunction with other materials). IMHO, the feedback from different joint construction would be different.

I don't think think thin sleeved ivory will impact the feel of the hit that much (vs. if thin ivory was replaced with phenolic or steel). If the sleeve was thick as typical phenolic collars then perhaps it influence the feedback a bit more.

I do like piloted ivory joint from Mottey/JMW.

Some people swear that if we do a blind test, most people would not be able to tell the joint material.

Bavafongoul said:

Having owned a Josswest (piloted ivory joint) and currently owning a Tim Scruggs flat faced ivory joint cue and also a Paul Mottey piloted ivory joint cue, I can say with some certainty the Paul MOttey piloted ivory joint is superior in play to Bill Stroud's piloted ivory joint and surpisingly, even the flat faced ivory joint on my Scruggs cue.

So for my two cents, Paul Mottey makes the best piloted ivory joint cue and let's face it, neither Bill Stroud or Tim Scruggs are run of the mill cue-makers. I consder both to be among the really most elite cue-makers. Everyone that hs tried my Motty cue has "immediately" and "unanimously" fallen in love with the way the cue plays......to be fair in my comparison, let me also state that all of these cues have ivory ferrules with medium tps and the Josswest weighed 19 ozs, my Scruggs weighs 18.2 0zs and the Mottey cue weighs 18.5 ozs.

For 49 yeras I always played with a 5/16x14 piloted steel joint and then 18mths ago, I bought my first ivory joint cue.....that was it....I immediately knew I was in love......absolutely nirvana......and since then then I've purchased two more ivory joint cues and that's the only cue joint I'll ever buy again....NUF SED!

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I've already listed my preferences, but reading this (no disagreement), I'd like to add that the hit of the Stroud ivory joint, due to its construction, barely feels like a traditional ivory joint at all, rather, it reminds me completely unrelated joints such as Lambros in that the through-vibration feels a bit more as in a one-piece. However, the Stroud ivory/phenolic/wood-to-wood joint feels more vague. That on the other hand seems to be the great advantage of traditional ivory joints: the hit should not feel vague at all. Of course, the through-vibration (as felt in one's grip hand) of an ivory-jointed cue feels different (a bit sedate, less lively, crisp yet softened in the best sense of the term, perhaps because less vibration goes back and forth through the joint/whole cue) from e.g. Lambros Ultra Joint, which probably comes closest to feeling like no joint (remains unclear if that's the goal anyway, as long as the hit and feel suits the player, anything will do, I believe). Although most of my students (or other players), when they're trying cues of mine, come to the same conclusions, putting all this in words sounds a bit wishi washi - impossibe to "review" cues, let alone construction details.

Greetings from Switzerland, David.
_________________

„J'ai gâché vingt ans de mes plus belles années au billard. Si c'était à refaire, je recommencerais.“ – Roger Conti

I have always heard that Steve Kornele does nice work with Ivory and I have only heard good things about his cues.

I own a Dave Kikel that has a flat faced radial joint which has a phenolic collar. I am having Dave make me a new cue and during the design I asked him what feedback he has gotten on his different joint configurations. He said hands down that he gets more positive comments on his 5/16 x 14 piloted ivory joints than any other. Based on his comment that's what I will have on my next Kikel. I have also read this from folks that already have his cues with that setup.

Ivory

Richard Black is known for his hit on the ivory joint. Hercek,Gus, Ginacue, Tasceralla, Shick, All are known for the hit. Scruggs made a ivory joint with 3/8 10 pin that feels great also. I have played with a Black with ivory I would not trade for any other and I have one from all the above and several others I like it the best.:thumbup:

Dave Kikel makes a great cue and his ivory sleeved 5/16 pin piloted joint is considered by many as the most desirable of his joints. They are reasonable in price, great workmanship and wood selection.

Ivory Jointed Cues

For me, Bill Schick flat face 3/8x10 ivory joint, wonderful feel and hit

If we are talking modern day I have to go with Dennis Searing. He combined the Ivory with his 3/4 stainless steel which allows a squeese fit piolited joint with the feel of Ivory.

Days of years gone past? Harvey Martin. I owned one of his cues and someday I will own another.