Joe Baker cue review

[islandtime]

Before I give my take on this Joe Baker cue that I purchased from AZ'er J2pac, I'd like to point out that the transaction with J2pac was absolutely flawless. From his original description of the cue itself, right on thru his follow up on the shipping! Thanks, Joe.

Here's Joe's accurate description of the cue, followed by my thoughts:

Cue is a 4 point, 3 veneer, (Black, White, Black) Cocobolo Joe Baker Elforyn Hoppe cue w/ sharkskin wrap!
The shafts are 13mm. One shaft has a Kamui medium tip, and the other shaft has a triangle tip. The cue weighs 19.2 oz with one shaft, and 19.3 oz. with the other! The shafts are in the 3.7 to 4.0 oz range, and have Aegis II ferrules. The Joint rings consist of a .030 elforyn ring, sided by .015 nickel silver rings. The ringwork in the shaft, matches the ringwork in the butt of the cue. The Hoppe ring is Elforyn (Ivory Alternative). It looks to be sized perfectly in relation to the rest of the cue. The wrap is a genuine black skarkskin wrap, and is wonderfully done, with little evidence of the seam. The cue is laserbeam straight, together and apart, and as all of Joe's cues seem to, hits extremely solid.

I've now had the cue for close to a month and had more than ample opportunity to test drive. It didn't take long for the cue to feel like it was built for me. The hit is very solid with both the triangle and the kamui tipped shafts. The triangle tip has been my tip of choice for quite some time but I'm quickly becoming a fan of the kamui. The cue has enough forward balance to make it feel even lighter than the 19+ oz weight. The playability of cues is very subjective so I won't belabor that aspect beyond noting that it's definitely taken the place of my main player.
I would like to give kudos to Joe Baker for his attention to detail and quality of workmanship. This cue clearly makes the point that Mr. Baker takes great pride in his work. Based on what I see in his effort here, Mr. Baker will be hearing from me should I decide to have another cue built.

Thanks again to both Joe's
Bob Hyde

 

[j2pac]

Back at you Bob.........

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View attachment 136913Before I give my take on this Joe Baker cue that I purchased from AZ'er J2pac, I'd like to point out that the transaction with J2pac was absolutely flawless. From his original description of the cue itself, right on thru his follow up on the shipping! Thanks, Joe.

Here's Joe's accurate description of the cue, followed by my thoughts:

Cue is a 4 point, 3 veneer, (Black, White, Black) Cocobolo Joe Baker Elforyn Hoppe cue w/ sharkskin wrap!
The shafts are 13mm. One shaft has a Kamui medium tip, and the other shaft has a triangle tip. The cue weighs 19.2 oz with one shaft, and 19.3 oz. with the other! The shafts are in the 3.7 to 4.0 oz range, and have Aegis II ferrules. The Joint rings consist of a .030 elforyn ring, sided by .015 nickel silver rings. The ringwork in the shaft, matches the ringwork in the butt of the cue. The Hoppe ring is Elforyn (Ivory Alternative). It looks to be sized perfectly in relation to the rest of the cue. The wrap is a genuine black skarkskin wrap, and is wonderfully done, with little evidence of the seam. The cue is laserbeam straight, together and apart, and as all of Joe's cues seem to, hits extremely solid.

I've now had the cue for close to a month and had more than ample opportunity to test drive. It didn't take long for the cue to feel like it was built for me. The hit is very solid with both the triangle and the kamui tipped shafts. The triangle tip has been my tip of choice for quite some time but I'm quickly becoming a fan of the kamui. The cue has enough forward balance to make it feel even lighter than the 19+ oz weight. The playability of cues is very subjective so I won't belabor that aspect beyond noting that it's definitely taken the place of my main player.
I would like to give kudos to Joe Baker for his attention to detail and quality of workmanship. This cue clearly makes the point that Mr. Baker takes great pride in his work. Based on what I see in his effort here, Mr. Baker will be hearing from me should I decide to have another cue built.

Thanks again to both Joe's
Bob Hyde

Thank you for the kind words Bob! The feelings were mutual in regards to our deal! Bob is a true man of honor, and a class gentleman all the way!! I would not hesitate to do business with him again. I am glad you are enjoying your cue, and I'm sure if it ever strikes your fancy, Joe B. would be more than happy to build you another one!
Take care my friend.
All the best.
Joe P.

 

[rherb]

First here are the specs of my Joe Baker J/B cue;

Cocobolo/BEM Jump/Break cue, with Elforyn Hoppe ring. Two shafts with White Diamond tips. One shaft has a 1" black phenolic ferrule, with black trim ring, and the other shaft has a 3/4" brown phenolic ferrule, with mahogany trim ring. It has a 3/8-10 joint pin as well as a phenolic insert in both shafts. The weight is 19.4/19.5 with the lighter of the two shafts. The 3/4" ferruled shaft came in at 4.3 oz. @13mm and the other shafts is around 3.7 oz @13mm.

I started looking for a new break jump cue as I hated my phenolic tip J/B cue as the pin was a QR and it came loose very easily and I couldn't stand the phenolic tip. I was looking at the Samsara cue, but didn't want to spend 500 on a J/B cue.

While I was looking for a new J/B cue I put a Samsara J/B Tip on a 20 oz Adams I had laying around and it was definitely a step up over the phenolic tip J/B cue, but I still needed a dedicated J/B cue.

To give you an idea I the cues I use, I have a Schon R1, Schon SL3, Sideways Josswest, and Mike Durbin is currently making one for me.

Ran across this cue and it is outstanding. Everything is tight, the fit and finish is perfect and it hits a ton. Extremely smooth and well balanced cue. I break well and on approximately 80% of my breaks I will sink at least one ball, so I was mainly just looking for a higher quality cue. My son is a terrible breaker and when he started using the JB Custom J/B cue, his breaks improved dramatically even over the Samsara tipped Adams. He still doesn't sink anything consistently but he is getting much better ball separation. On a side note, I think I will put a Samsara J/B tip on one of the shafts to compare with the White Diamond.

I would highly recommend Joe Baker www.jbakercustomcues.com for a great hitting, well finished cue. Also, like Bob, I bought my cue from Joe/screen name j2pac. Joe was great to deal with and damn can he pack a cue. I have never seen a cue so well protected during shipping.