Is this a GC?

markmdz

Registered
Sorry in advance for the poor pictures, but I've been looking for a table for my new (to me) house, and as luck should have it, I stumbled across this sad looking unit on eBay. Much to my surprise, it is only a couple towns over from me in CT.

To my very amateur and untrained eye, this looked like it could be a GC. So, sight unseen, I pulled the trigger on it. Worst case, I'm out a few $$ but have some accessories (ball set, house cues, etc) that I can get from it.

Best case, I just scored a hell of a deal on a GC.

Can anyone confirm?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/272348077950
 

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poolhustler

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Yes... GCI or GCII for sure... looks like it was sitting in water at some point. Hopefully not any damage.

Killer price and with a little elbow grease it should be a killer table.

Nice score!!
 

jalapus logan

be all. and supports it to
Silver Member
I would guess it will need new rails, certainly will need new cloth. About $1000 total would get it set up with all of that by a pro I would guess. Then you would have a nice playing table for about $1200. Not bad.
 

markmdz

Registered
I would guess it will need new rails, certainly will need new cloth. About $1000 total would get it set up with all of that by a pro I would guess. Then you would have a nice playing table for about $1200. Not bad.

I won't even pretend to know why, so I'll ask... Why do you think it'd need new rails?

I do agree that new cloth is all but a guarantee.

I posted up a "help me ID this table" thread for another table I had already committed to buying, so I'm thinking I'll use that other table (and try my hand at disassembly, re-assembly, leveling the slates, new cloth, etc) and take my time with this GC.

My plan is to see just how bad the aprons are and repair/replace/refinish everything needed to get this thing looking as close to new as possible, then punt the other table and setup the GC.
 

JoeyInCali

Maker of Joey Bautista Cues
Silver Member
Looks like a beat-up GC2.
It will probably cost some $1,000 to get it to a good playable condition.
 

book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I had never put a cloth on a table or leveled slates and I dug around on here and a couple other places and put mine on almost perfect, and I had the table as level as it was ever going to be after about 200 tries the wrong way.
Take the rails to a couple of poolrooms and ask some people what they think,
I would guess they are probably original and need replaced, but who knows without seeing them.
Have the rails done by someone that knows what they are doing.
Practice the pockets with a piece of junk cloth until you can do the corners and sides perfect.
My first one of each was a little cobbled , but I figured them out on the next ones. I did not think to practice before I did mine.
Take your time!!!!
I made one mistake on my table , I cut out the screw hole for the bed thinking it was one of the rail bolts {They are pretty close together}
It is almost completely under the rail so it doesn't affect the play, but it's a mistake!
I started rushing because I was tired and wanted to finish it that night!
If you are even a little bit handy , you can get it to play nice, if you do the research.
I can't see spending 1000 dollars to get a table I bought for 200 to just have fun on.
You can get the rails and cloth for about 220 to 250 and pay someone 75 to 100 dollars to do the rails right.now you have a nice playing gold crown for less than 550.00 play on it until you don't want it any more and it will still be worth more than you have in it.
 

jalapus logan

be all. and supports it to
Silver Member
The actual laminate rails appear in good condition, as does the overall table. The rail rubber is what I was referring to about replacing. Rubber can get hard/worn out over time and it will be obvious to you if it is in poor condition. Just feel along the nose of the rubber and check for hard spots, you will know it when you feel it. Also go ahead and roll some balls against the rails in current condition. Does anything appear funny? I would probably go ahead and replace the rubber regardless, just to get some nice new high quality material on there. In fact, if it were me, I would just take the rails to a mechanic and have them install both the rubber and the rail the rail cloth. If you don't want to replace the rubber at this time, then having them just put the rail cloth on is a good investment and will save you a pain in the A$$ figuring it out on your own.

The bed cloth can be installed by you and there are videos out there that can show you how to install it. You will want to get Simonis worsted wool cloth, probably the 860 series. You WILL want to read about how to install it and check out a video about it. Stretching it properly is critical. There are also some new install methods that involve gluing the bedcloth instead of stapling it. Good idea and better method, IMO. I'm gonna go that route when it comes time for my next recover. Given the age of your table, the wood may be torn up with many years of stapling, so glue may be the way you will have to go.

Hopefully RKC or one of the other fine mechanics out there can give you some help.

You can get some videos here.

You tube also has some good how to's as well.


Good luck and have fun!
 

markmdz

Registered
I had never put a cloth on a table or leveled slates and I dug around on here and a couple other places and put mine on almost perfect, and I had the table as level as it was ever going to be after about 200 tries the wrong way.
Take the rails to a couple of poolrooms and ask some people what they think,
I would guess they are probably original and need replaced, but who knows without seeing them.
Have the rails done by someone that knows what they are doing.
Practice the pockets with a piece of junk cloth until you can do the corners and sides perfect.
My first one of each was a little cobbled , but I figured them out on the next ones. I did not think to practice before I did mine.
Take your time!!!!
I made one mistake on my table , I cut out the screw hole for the bed thinking it was one of the rail bolts {They are pretty close together}
It is almost completely under the rail so it doesn't affect the play, but it's a mistake!
I started rushing because I was tired and wanted to finish it that night!
If you are even a little bit handy , you can get it to play nice, if you do the research.
I can't see spending 1000 dollars to get a table I bought for 200 to just have fun on.
You can get the rails and cloth for about 220 to 250 and pay someone 75 to 100 dollars to do the rails right.now you have a nice playing gold crown for less than 550.00 play on it until you don't want it any more and it will still be worth more than you have in it.


So I'm a bit of a veteran weekend-warrior when it comes to doing anything 'handy'. Having done whole home renovations, built some furniture, reupholstered boats & cars, built and restored a couple cars, etc, there's really nothing I'm afraid to roll up my sleeves and jump into. I'm a stickler for details, and given the years and years of experience many table mechanics have under their belt and are still learning stuff everyday, I'm on the fence with trying to tackle the cloth myself or paying a local guy who's been doing this for nearly 40 years. He's looking for under $300 to set and level the slates and refelt the table and bumpers, which includes the cost of the standard green felt.


Can you elaborate on why I might need to replace the rails? Forgive me if this is a noob question, but I'm still learning. I've played casually since I was a kid and frequented a few pool halls many years ago, but never paid as much attention to the workings of the table.
 

markmdz

Registered
The actual laminate rails appear in good condition, as does the overall table. The rail rubber is what I was referring to about replacing. Rubber can get hard/worn out over time and it will be obvious to you if it is in poor condition. Just feel along the nose of the rubber and check for hard spots, you will know it when you feel it. Also go ahead and roll some balls against the rails in current condition. Does anything appear funny? I would probably go ahead and replace the rubber regardless, just to get some nice new high quality material on there. In fact, if it were me, I would just take the rails to a mechanic and have them install both the rubber and the rail the rail cloth. If you don't want to replace the rubber at this time, then having them just put the rail cloth on is a good investment and will save you a pain in the A$$ figuring it out on your own.

The bed cloth can be installed by you and there are videos out there that can show you how to install it. You will want to get Simonis worsted wool cloth, probably the 860 series. You WILL want to read about how to install it and check out a video about it. Stretching it properly is critical. There are also some new install methods that involve gluing the bedcloth instead of stapling it. Good idea and better method, IMO. I'm gonna go that route when it comes time for my next recover. Given the age of your table, the wood may be torn up with many years of stapling, so glue may be the way you will have to go.

Hopefully RKC or one of the other fine mechanics out there can give you some help.

You can get some videos here.

You tube also has some good how to's as well.


Good luck and have fun!

Thank you for clarifying. That's exactly what I was looking for.

I'll reach out to my local mechanic and get an idea of what I'm looking at there.
 

jalapus logan

be all. and supports it to
Silver Member
I'm on the fence with trying to tackle the cloth myself or paying a local guy who's been doing this for nearly 40 years. He's looking for under $300 to set and level the slates and refelt the table and bumpers, which includes the cost of the standard green felt.

$300 for everything will not get it done these days, unfortunately. I am emphatically recommending Simonis worsted cloth, and enough for a 9' table will cost about $330. I only use Simonis 860 or Simonis 860 HR. You can shop around, but here are two legit sources, both around $330 for the 9':

https://www.pooldawg.com/product/simonis-860-pool-table-cloth
https://www.seyberts.com/simonis-860-cloth/simonis-860-tournament-blue/

What you will get is years worth of enjoyment from this type of cloth (non-directional weave). I've read that some like the Championship cloth, but I'm sold on Simonis, tourney blue to be exact, but classic green is still great.

So $300 for labor + cloth to me means he is going to put junk cloth on it = not worth it. You do not want to skimp out on cloth, IMO.
 

iusedtoberich

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Great find! Good luck, and have fun!

If you don't need new rail rubber, don't change it. The GC's from that vintage used a rubber with a cross sectional profile that does not exist "exactly" today. So if you replace the rail rubber with today's available cross sectional profile, it will not be 100% right. It might be "good enough" for a casual player, but not good for a serious player.

The solution, is to re-bevel the edge of the rail wood that the rubber glues on to. This changes the angle of the wood, and when the new rubber is glued on, the result is a proper geometry of the rubber angles, and also the playing field of the table. There are some great mechanics on this site that you can ship the rails to, and they will do that, if your local guy does not do that. (I'm not a mechanic, but learned this from the great guys on this site).

That's the reason not to replace the rubber unless its shot. Because the new rubber is a different shape.


All the best to you and your new toy:)
 

realkingcobra

Well-known member
Silver Member
I won't even pretend to know why, so I'll ask... Why do you think it'd need new rails?

I do agree that new cloth is all but a guarantee.

I posted up a "help me ID this table" thread for another table I had already committed to buying, so I'm thinking I'll use that other table (and try my hand at disassembly, re-assembly, leveling the slates, new cloth, etc) and take my time with this GC.

My plan is to see just how bad the aprons are and repair/replace/refinish everything needed to get this thing looking as close to new as possible, then punt the other table and setup the GC.

Its a Gold Crown 1
 

book collector

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
So I'm a bit of a veteran weekend-warrior when it comes to doing anything 'handy'. Having done whole home renovations, built some furniture, reupholstered boats & cars, built and restored a couple cars, etc, there's really nothing I'm afraid to roll up my sleeves and jump into. I'm a stickler for details, and given the years and years of experience many table mechanics have under their belt and are still learning stuff everyday, I'm on the fence with trying to tackle the cloth myself or paying a local guy who's been doing this for nearly 40 years. He's looking for under $300 to set and level the slates and refelt the table and bumpers, which includes the cost of the standard green felt.


Can you elaborate on why I might need to replace the rails? Forgive me if this is a noob question, but I'm still learning. I've played casually since I was a kid and frequented a few pool halls many years ago, but never paid as much attention to the workings of the table.
You may not need to do anything with the rails except cloth , but they get hard or the glue can come off and they can sag . That' s why I said ask some guys in pool rooms who know if they are ok or not.
If you can get it leveled and a new cloth on it for 300 the guy doing the work will probably know if they are ok , If you are young and plan to recloth it many times before you quit, theres no time like the present to start, otherwise 300 is cheap if he does it right.
 
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Ken_4fun

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
IMO, if you can get it pretty cheap, and you are pretty handy, I think it wouldn't be a bad thing.

Here is my journey.

I paid $500 to get new Simonis cloth, covered and assembled. During the install there was a mis-mash of parts and bolts. ALL new bolts installed. One thing to notice is the powder coated parts. He put a clear with a metal flake in it to really set it off. It is subtle, but with a little flash!

This was my old man cave.

Any other questions?

Ken
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ArizonaPete

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Before making any decisions to replace the cushions, I would first play on the table and see how much rebound you get. Feel along the rail carefully to see if there are any hard spots that feel like cement. But based on age, I'd guess you may have to replace the cushions. Then you have to decide what you want in a table. Spend big bucks and have it done properly by a well qualified table technician and enjoy playing for years or go the cheap route and regret it every time you play on the table.
 

realkingcobra

Well-known member
Silver Member
Sorry in advance for the poor pictures, but I've been looking for a table for my new (to me) house, and as luck should have it, I stumbled across this sad looking unit on eBay. Much to my surprise, it is only a couple towns over from me in CT.

To my very amateur and untrained eye, this looked like it could be a GC. So, sight unseen, I pulled the trigger on it. Worst case, I'm out a few $$ but have some accessories (ball set, house cues, etc) that I can get from it.

Best case, I just scored a hell of a deal on a GC.

Can anyone confirm?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/272348077950

OK, first of all, don't assume anything about this table, know first. That means if you ask most pool table mechanics "do you think I need to replace the cushions?" They're going to take that as you don't know to much about the pool table so YES' they're probably bad anyway....because they're old! All that means is that you just told the mechanic how he can. OWUPP make some extra money off you, so KNOW before you ask. This table looks to be between 61'-63' in production because it don't appear to have the adjustable legs levelers. Second, although it has the ball return, unless they're laying around somewhere, the rail blinds are missing the plastic shields mounted to the bottom of the skirts. Take the rail cloth off and let's take a look at those cushions and the rest of the condition of the rails before we jump to any other conclusions.
 

nine o nine

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
RKC...aren't those leg leveling feet on that table or did the early one's have that type of feet but fixed in place? Mitch
 

realkingcobra

Well-known member
Silver Member
RKC...aren't those leg leveling feet on that table or did the early one's have that type of feet but fixed in place? Mitch

Looking at how much of the neck of the foot that is visible they look to me to be the non-adjustable feet, which were produced between 61'-63'
 
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