Custom and High End Cues on the Decline?
- By Bavafongoul
- Main Forum
- 458 Replies
I can understand and agree with you about demeanor but that is just poor selection by the person looking to haveHonestly, the worst part about buying a custom cue is dealing with the cue maker. Theyre usually slow to respond at best, sometime unresponsive altogether. If I could order a cue from someone who communicated and had less then a 6 month wait I'd be buying 2 cues a year just for the hobby of it.
a pool cue built. There are very reliable cue makers that are as courteous and reliable as you could ever imagine or
hope to do business with. When I became acquainted with Bob Owen back in 2012, he was working for at Shurtz
Cues and also built custom cues under his own name. Since then, Jack retired after sellling the business to Bob and his custom cue building zoomed to the top of the charts due to his flawless workmanship and demeanor. When I call the shop, Bob still answers the phone and regardless of the passage of time, it’s like talking with an old friend.
Now where I strongly disagree with you is looking for a cue maker with less than a 6 month wait. How long should a cue take to build a cue versus how long does the best cue makers take building a cue? A well crafted cue needs to stand the test of time and the design determines how long it will take. Cues are rated in Levels and the higher the level, the greater the number of inlays and veneers aren’t inlays. But veneers take a lot longer to create because of drying time. The best cue makers let the veneers sit for a long time. The intricacy of the design can be laborious to undertake.
There’s also CNC programming time that can take many hours as Bob found out building my cues that have ornate designs. And how many orders should a cue maker have underway at the same time and remember cue making still requires hands on involvement. Some of the best cue makers are 1 man shops or at most 2-3 people. From start to finish a cue can take anywhere from 10-18 months.
So while your cue is underway, the cue maker still has to juggle all the order orders and stage them. Custom cue makers have slots and groups of cues, not a single order awaiting to be placed. The number of cues in each slot is determined by the cue maker’s equipment capacity, number of machines, etc. so when you call and place an order, don’t be surprised to hear there’s a waiting list and the more popular the cue maker, the longer the wait. It is that simple. It’s that way because of supply and demand.
Unless or until the cue builder decides to increase capacity, presuming it seemed feasible or was even desirable when they seem okay with the status quo, you shut up, place your order and wait. If that doesn’t work, shop the secondary market and see what your can find. Hopefully the cue would have the specs you wanted and of course, the design appeals to you since you’re settling and likely paying more too. Yeah, paying more because the longer the wait period, the higher the asking price becomes for a pre-owned cue. Joel Hercek is like 7-8, maybe 10 years wait to start your order. Call Southwest & see their time. It makes Hercek look like a Grub Hub order in contrasting turnaround time.
I want my cue maker to have a waiting list. My custom cues by different cue makers took 12-16 months to build. You just add that to the cue maker’s wait list time and if I don’t like the number, I don’t order the cue. I’m 80 yrs. old so screw that. I don’t want to have the cue delivered to the funeral home. I ain’t got time to waste. I’ve become an instant gratification buyer in most everything. If I have to wait long, I’m too impatient since I dunno how more sunrises are in store for me. Nope, if I want a cue, I’d want to buy it and get delivery within 48 hrs. for satisfaction sake and also fast moving shipments tend to get tracked better and delivered has been my experience.
Production cue companies have cues underway at various stages all the time so finishing a cue is faster than selecting the wood and starting a cue. So if you want you cue built that fast, contact one of those firms and see if they have a custom order section. The larger firms probably do and the turnaround time will be more to your liking.
