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🔥 Mike Johnson 🔥 Jenson Custom Cue $1900

Santosha
Mike Johnson (Jensen Custom Cues) is a respected American custom pool cue maker based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has built cues for decades (activity noted since around 1969) under the Jensen name.


He runs a one-man shop using traditional methods inspired by Gus Szamboti (including techniques such as a “buzz ring”). His cues are praised for solid, stiff hits with a distinctive “ding,” good balance, forward punch, and strong playability (including low deflection on draw shots). He favors denser woods and heavier shafts, stainless-steel piloted joints (commonly 5/16-14), high-quality woods (Canadian rock maple, Brazilian rosewood, curly maple, bocote, ebony, tulipwood, etc.), detailed ring work, veneers, inlays, and wraps (Irish linen, leather, etc.). Signatures typically read “Jensen” with a year; full “Mike Johnson” signatures are rarer.


Cues range from solid players to elaborate customs. Collectors and players (including past associations with Buddy Hall, Jimmy Reid, David Matlock, and C.J. Wiley) value the consistency and craftsmanship. Recent examples from the 2010s–2020s have sold in the roughly $1,500–$2,300+ range depending on condition and features.


Johnson is described as friendly and collaborative. He is married to June. In March 2016 he suffered a serious motorcycle accident (hit by a vehicle), resulting in the loss of his left lower leg and other injuries; he recovered enough to continue making cues. As of the early 2020s he was still actively taking orders from his Louisiana shop. Contact is typically made through collector networks.


Current offering: A rare example (noted as unusual for him) featuring fleur-de-lis motifs is available for $1900. Specs are in the pictures
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Have you ever known any players who played really good with the heavy (mud) cue ball, that you see on so many Valley coin op tables?

muskyed
JAM said:
Back in the ’70s, all the bars in my neck of the woods had big balls on the coin-operated pool tables. 25 cents a game. Ah, those were the days. I actually learned to play pool with the big cue ball.

Keith McCready mastered the art of mudball, big balls, red dot, blue dot, and polka dot cue balls, and he’s certainly not a one-trick pony. He can play all games and adjust to equipment faster than most. That’s a skill that was mandatory for road warriors during pool's golden years. You learn to play whatever is in front of you, good, bad, or downright ugly.

I remember a Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour tournament at Ultimate Billiards in Berlin, Connecticut, where the brand-new tables had the fastest cloth ever, Gorina Basault. You barely tapped the balls, and they rolled forever, like they were on ice. Everybody struggled with it. Everybody except Ronnie Alcano and Keith.

And they end up, no surprise, in the finals. The side bets were mounting, and most of the money was on Ronnie. I was one very Nervous Nellie when the race to 9 began, but Keith went 9–0 in less than 15 minutes. It was the fastest race-to-9 final I’ve ever seen in my life. And if they’d been playing with mudballs, I think Keith and Ronnie still would have been in that final. Ronnie went on to win the World Pool Championship in Philippines versus Ralf Souquet a few years later.

Ronnie and Keith both had the ability to adjust quickly to unfamiliar equipment, and it is a skill set in pool. When Keith wakes up, I'll ask him for a few tips on how to play with the mudball. Keith likes to use english, and his cue of choice is a wood shaft, so his advice might be outdated, but you never know. Stay tuned!

Here’s Keith and Ronnie with their beautiful trophies, presented by Ultimate Billiards owner Pete Genovese, who was a pretty darn good player himself!

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Jam, still 25 cents a game at my favorite corner bar by our summer house in Door County Wis.
Wife and I played a dozen or so games there Saturday afternoon. Ya the table is dirty, balls terrible, but it is what it is and we have fun there and thats all that matters.
Not just the pool table that's inexpensive there, so is there food.
Wife had chicken tenders and a bloodymary, I had a 1/2 lb cheeseburger with fries and 3 16 oz beers, $24. This is in the biggest tourist area of the state. It's nothing to have 40-50 people in there drinking and eating and it's not a big place. Tap 16 Oz beers $1.50-$2 depending on beer, mixed drinks $3.50
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I am looking to buy Pro Aramith, Premier or Premium Balls, are there any real differences in playability?

336Robin
Sheldon said:
Small shop in Portland, OR. Could have saved $$, and supported a real store instead of amazon.

Aramith Super Pro Pool Ball Set | Biggelbachs

Aramith Super Pro Pool Ball Set This Super Aramith Pro Billiard Ball Set includes 15 superior table balls and an Aramith cue ball. When you make an i ...
www.biggelbachs.com www.biggelbachs.com

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I got several other items and I got free shipping, and it was easy so I went that way.
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Thought patterns ...

G
WobblyStroke said:
No mantras. Don't think in words at all. Think in pictures.
Picture the entire shot. You don't get to see it on the table, unless u see it in ur mind first.

Once down, target target target
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The conscious/ subconscious is a powerful tool to have in the bag. Once you know it'll become second nature and nice to be in the zone and have the CB on a string.
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