My Josey Cue Story

L

lstevedus

One of the 47%
Silver Member
I have had quite a few different cues since I started playing back in the late 60's. My first 2 piece was an old Brunswick Willie Hoppe that I gave $20. for including the case. It was used.

Since then I have played with everything from a McDermott D-26 that I bought new to my B.Szambotti that I bought from Bill at Cornerstone who, by the way, is a heck of a nice guy.

Anyway..some of the places I play aren't so great, so I wanted an inexpensive cue that plays good. I've had a few of Keith's cues and asked him to make me one to my specs. Keith and Sherri were very helpful, and when the cue was ready Keith called and said it didn't turn out as well as he would like and would I be interested in a nicer cue at the same price?

I bought them both. Kept the nicer one for myself and sold the other to a guy I work with. Well..I wasn't doing as well as I thought I should in the tournaments I was playing and decided I wanted to try another of Keith's cues, but first I asked the guy I sold the other cue to if I could by it back. He had put it away and never played with it, so I gave him all his money back and was glad to be lucky enough to get it back.

The punch line here is this cue is the best I have ever played with. I still can't believe how good it plays, and that I was lucky enough to get it back. I have heard about how good Josey cues play from reading a few posts on here and hearing some players I know talk about them, but this is my first experience with a cue that plays that good for me. I don't know how to explain it but this cue just does what I need it to do without all that extra effort that I always seem to be doing, if that makes any sense?

Anyway, I thought I would share this with you all and see if anyone else has had a similar experience.
 
lstevedus said:
I have had quite a few different cues since I started playing back in the late 60's. My first 2 piece was an old Brunswick Willie Hoppe that I gave $20. for including the case. It was used.

Since then I have played with everything from a McDermott D-26 that I bought new to my B.Szambotti that I bought from Bill at Cornerstone who, by the way, is a heck of a nice guy.

Anyway..some of the places I play aren't so great, so I wanted an inexpensive cue that plays good. I've had a few of Keith's cues and asked him to make me one to my specs. Keith and Sherri were very helpful, and when the cue was ready Keith called and said it didn't turn out as well as he would like and would I be interested in a nicer cue at the same price?

I bought them both. Kept the nicer one for myself and sold the other to a guy I work with. Well..I wasn't doing as well as I thought I should in the tournaments I was playing and decided I wanted to try another of Keith's cues, but first I asked the guy I sold the other cue to if I could by it back. He had put it away and never played with it, so I gave him all his money back and was glad to be lucky enough to get it back.

The punch line here is this cue is the best I have ever played with. I still can't believe how good it plays, and that I was lucky enough to get it back. I have heard about how good Josey cues play from reading a few posts on here and hearing some players I know talk about them, but this is my first experience with a cue that plays that good for me. I don't know how to explain it but this cue just does what I need it to do without all that extra effort that I always seem to be doing, if that makes any sense?

Anyway, I thought I would share this with you all and see if anyone else has had a similar experience.
Click to expand...

It is the best hitting cue I have ever owned. What was wrong with the first one?
 
You had many and finally found one that plays good? Sounds like a hit or miss to me. Not saying much for the consistancy.
 
Good Question

The first 2 Josey cues that I bought from Bill at Cornerstone were both really nice players. I think it was just me worrying about getting them dinged. For some reason I just don't feel comfortable playing with a $1000. cue in a bar.

I've owned 6 Southwests and to me they all played somewhat different. The Southwest that played the best for me was the one that seemed to have the best shaft wood.

I'm not an expert like a lot of the people on this forum so all I have to go on is how a cue plays for me, so yes for me its hit or miss. I just keep buyin' them and tryin' them till I find the ones I like the best.

I also pay close attention to what people write on this forum, and that has helped me a lot as far as pointing me in the right direction when it comes to buying cues and other pool related items.
 
One other guy in the hall I go to plays with a Josey, his model different than mine. When we swapped, we were both amazed at how similar they were, even though built a couple of years apart.

So, this one experience led me to believe that Josey cues were amazingly consistant in playing characteristics.

You said: "I've had a few of Keith's cues and asked him to make me one to my specs."

Did these specs differ from his usual cues? If so, how?
 
Another Good Question

The main thing I had Keith do for me with this cue is take the shaft down to a 12.75. I have small hands, so I wanted a thinner butt and shaft.

I had a cheap sneaky that I liked the diameter of the butt and shaft. It was like a Meucci with the long cheap ferule. I sent it to Keith and had him install a new ferule and a triangle tip to see if it would play any better. It did play better but had a lot of deflection. I actually managed to win a tournament playing with it. Anyway, I had Keith take the specs off this cue to make the new one including the weight which was 18.99. Its rosewood into maple with his taper and ferule on the shaft and a triangle tip. The cue has less deflection than anything I've ever played with.

The main thing I'm looking for when I buy a cue is how they play for me. My Szam is pretty basic. It only has a Bushka ring above the wrap, but it plays real good. I just don't feel comfortable playing with it in some of the bars I play in.

Hope this answered your question.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top