I'll mention the offer of a reverse mortgage on the Domino to my son. :grin-square: Hopefully the market won't be depressed by the time his heirs want to sell it. I told him unless he needs the money do not sell the cue because someday it might make a down payment on a house for one of his grand kids.
Yeah, when I bought that cue from Ernie I was too young to drive, like around summer after 8th grade, I had to transfer to 3 buses to get to Ernie's house in Sherman Oaks. His house was on Greenleaf if I recall.
I would spend the summer at my grand parent's place in W. Hollywood and the closest pool room I was allowed in because of my age was in Santa Monica (19th and Wilshire, still there). I'd take the bus there every morning and stay until dinner. I'm not sure who let me try their Gina but for some reason I seem to recall it was Rusty Hamer (child actor who played the son on the "Make Room For Daddy" TV show). The thing stroked itself! Seriously, it did. All you had to do was stay out of its way and it would run racks for you. I heard Ernie was going to be at the Billiard Den in W. Hollywood one night so I walked down there from my grandparent's and slipped in so I could meet him. He gave me his address and I ordered my cue from him that week. I guess he was pretty new at cue making at the time because when he saw the cue for the first time some 40+ years later he took one look at it and told me he could tell by the SS insert it was one of the first 100 cues he ever made.
So, I've got that going for me, which is nice.
OK, as long as we're all "sharing," previously on General Hospital:
I owned an eight-point Gina when I was a teenager, growing up in SF. ALL the top players on the West Coast, at that time, used a Gina -- a few, played with a TAD. I bought it off a fellow named Dennis, who, in a moment of temporary insanity, sold it to me -- with three shafts and a black alligator Gina case -- for $150. Several years later, I sold it back to him for $250. Ah, youth.
Flash forward 25 years or so and for our tenth anniversary, my wife asked me what I would like for the event (keep in mind that I had a custom made,1 carat emerald cut diamond, with baguettes, in the works for her). I blurted out that I always regretted selling that Gina, so many years ago. She said, "If he's still around making cues, get on the phone and get what you want."
I called Ernie and told him the story and described the cue I had previously owned. He said, yes, he remembered the cue, but didn't make them quite that way any more, and if I wanted one, he'd have to pull out the drawings, spend some time on the computer, and reload the specs. I said great, but with some small changes: I wanted the joint, the inlays, and butt plate in ivory, and a leather wrap. He said no problem and that he would be happy to charge me appropriately. He said eight months.
Six months later he called and said he was sending leather samples for the wrap. He also said that when he looked at the drawings, he saw that he use to make this particular cue with an additional ring below that wrap that I had forgotten to mention. He said he took the liberty of adding it, in ivory, at no additional charge, so that it would look just like the cue I had previously owned.
A week later it was in my hands. It was absolutely flawless -- exactly as I remembered it, but better.
As to it's playing characteristics, I will tell you the following in complete honesty: when I first got it, I wasn't sure I liked the way it hit. It's a firm solid hit, that somehow, sounds soft. Sorry, I can't describe it any other way. In fact, it was only after three or four other players asked to take a few shots with the cue, that I could hear how soft a hit it had (with hard Mooris).
But nonetheless, despite my minor misgivings, I seemed to make a lot of balls with the cue. After just two days, I felt like I was playing a couple of balls better with this cue than I had with any other. I dismissed it as just being "new cue syndrome."
But then, people started telling me (mostly opponents I was relieving of cash) that I had suddenly improved two balls. My practice runs jumped way up. My confidence went way up. After a couple of months I called Ernie and told him how much I loved the cue.
And then I asked, "You know, everyone tells me I'm playing two balls better than before with your cue."
And he said, "I've built special test equipment and my cues are 97% accurate. The cue alone is worth a ball and a half."
Now, you can take that as "a sales story," or hype, or PR or whatever you want. But for my money, you couldn't pull this cue out of my hands with a Mac diesel.
IMO, Ernie is THE greatest living cuemaker. And, IMO, you should get one while you can. It will cost you. But it will be worth every single last penny.
Lou Figueroa
