Open letter to bob meucci

I met Bob in 82 when I lived in Memphis and he had his factory in Miss. I went to the factory to buy a cue and he took me around and spent about an hour just showing me how a cue was made. He was very nice and patient with me and took the time to explain everything. Later that week I played in a weekly tourny and won a Meucci cue which I kept for 10 years and then traded up for a nicer 95-12, which I kept for another 10 years. I can't say enough about Bob and what he has meant to the game we love. I think Bob deserves a lot of credit for what he has done for pool. JMHO Tom
 
pro9dg said:
AN OPEN LETTER TO BOB MEUCCI

Hello Bob
It is almost 25 years ago that we first met in the Hilton Hotel in Dusseldorf and I remember it as if it was yesterday.

Not many people in this world inspire a feeling of awe in me but you did that day. A Man Mountain dressed in Hawaiian Shirt and Bermuda Shorts, you truly were a sight to see.

I refereed World Team Billiards which you sponsored in those days and it set in motion the 9 Ball game in the UK. I started the UK Pro 9 Ball Tour and you were very generous with your support.

You gave me a plethora of cues which I gave to my players. All the top British players of the day - Steve Knight, Daryl Peach, Tommy Donlon, Andy Richardson, Ray Allard - all played with a Meucci.

We became good friends and you came to Brighton to support the first televised pool event that I did and you came to London with a cue for His Royal Highness, Prince Billah Crown Prince of Brunei.

Your knowledge of cue making (and of wood technology) is legend and you were always able to garner attentive audiences whenever you held court.

Over the years this charisma has not diminished and I saw evidence of this at the ill fated Galveston event. You were still the cuemaker that the other cuemakers congregated around.

The charisma may still be there but the product no longer matches up to it. I still have an original Gambler that you gave to me and it is still ramrod straight and it will have to be prised out of my dying clutches.

But I hear so many stories and have seen for myself how the standard and quality of the cues that bear your name has hit rock bottom.

I believe that you have delegated the business decisions to others but do you not care that the reputation as the first designer cue producer now lies in tatters.

What was once the most desirable piece of sports equipment in the world of cuesports is now a dud. Only people who had the pleasure of gazing at the cue you made for Jim Rempe - THE TAJ MAHAL with 27 elephants curling their way trunk-to-tail up the butt to this majestic Indian landmark
could understand what I mean. There were others too almost as beautiful
which few people aspire to emulate but Meucci designs were the NUTS!

How would it be possible to find a way back to those days where quality control was paramount and the Meucci name on your cue gave you status and probably the 5 Ball too.

I hope that you don't take this too personally (if you do read it) but it would be sad if your only legacy was as a manufacturer of these inferior products.

Sort it Big Man

Doug
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My folks told me when i was a child that if i didn't have anything nice to say about someone, then don't say anything. Works for me. Bob knows what he is doing and he is doing fine without other peoples opinions of his work ethics.
 
bobroberts said:
My folks told me when i was a child that if i didn't have anything nice to say about someone, then don't say anything. Works for me. Bob knows what he is doing and he is doing fine without other peoples opinions of his work ethics.
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I think Doug is saying a lot of nice things about his friend. I think a lot of us would like to see Meucci prospering and continuing to come up with great designs.

It actually makes me kind of sad that the Taj Mahal or Crown Jewel hasn't been featured on CueZilla yet. I personally think that those cues launched the "monster" cue era.

It's interesting how people can read the same thing and get different meaning out it. I just see it as one friend encouraging another one.
 
JB Cases said:
I think Doug is saying a lot of nice things about his friend. I think a lot of us would like to see Meucci prospering and continuing to come up with great designs.

It actually makes me kind of sad that the Taj Mahal or Crown Jewel hasn't been featured on CueZilla yet. I personally think that those cues launched the "monster" cue era.

It's interesting how people can read the same thing and get different meaning out it. I just see it as one friend encouraging another one.
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You are reading me right Mr B. There is nothing that I would like more than to see Bob Meucci back on top of the pile again.

[QUOTE bobroberts]
Bob knows what he is doing and he is doing fine without other peoples opinions of his work ethics.
[/QUOTE]

I think that I know him well enough to know that his 'art' is more important than his 'trade' to him.

I have been singing the praises of his earlier work. Probably to such an extent that I am still getting frequent enquiries from league standard players who want one.
But I am reluctant to supply them the current product because I don't want to get caught up in any after sales hassle for the low margins that I would make on a sale.

I once went with Bob to see a UK cue maker. During the meeting he convinced a guy who had more than 20 years experience manufacturing snooker cues that his method of cutting timber was wrong. It was a joy to listen to his spiel and they adopted the Meucci method.

The brand profile in the late 80s has never been matched with Jeans commercials and features in lifestyle magazines. His publicity material and point of sale literature was classic. If he had channeled some of that panache into promoting the game itself then we would be a lot further forward than we are.

People should know and understand that. Which is the reason that I posted the thread.
 
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They must be doing something right once in a while because Earl just took down a big tournament with a Meucci.
 
alstl said:
They must be doing something right once in a while because Earl just took down a big tournament with a Meucci.
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Thats like saying the food at a restaurant is good because I ate it, lol. I'll eat anything and Earl could win with a broom handle if he's playing as well as he can.
 
check your facts bola ocha?

"Those players were all paid to play with that cue."
Bob refused to pay anyone to play with his cues and Earl won a LOT of tournaments back in the day with his.
 
First met BOB in the sixties when we were in our late teens. Spent many an hour in deep conversation with regards to cues, religion, ethics, family values, etc. He's endured more than his fair share of family related crisis the impact of which is impossible to calculate.

There is no question that BOB is the meucci "ORIGINAL" with an awesome passion to be an expert in the MANY fields that interested him.

One of a kind to never be replicated.
 
I have a PP1 in my case as a spare. If I start shooting a little off, I switch out to the Meucci. I've had it for several years now and absolutely not had an issue with it. Lucky or not, I don't care. Its one cue that I wouldn't sell.
 
I agree like him or not, Bob was an innovator of pool cues and put a lot back into the game. I have a Meucci sneaky pete from 1982 that has seen a lot of play (kept it longer than any other cue) and it is still dead straight.
 
dirtydog48 said:
"Those players were all paid to play with that cue."
Bob refused to pay anyone to play with his cues and Earl won a LOT of tournaments back in the day with his.
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Really? So Jim Rempe and Lorree John Jones were not paid at all for using Meucci cues?

I don't know. I met Jim Rempe though and I can't imagine him repping for Meucci for so long without some kind of compensation.

I guess we'd have to ask Bob or the pros but I have a hard time believing that no one got compensated?

David Howard?
Mike Sigel?
Larry Hubbard?

These players had lines named after them. Surely there was at least some sort of profit sharing going on with those deals.
 
and Sammy Jones jump cues too...

What about the tournaments where if you won & played with a Meucci you received a bonus from Bob. I recall Dallas switching for a tournament towards the end of his deal with Omega/DPK cues. I remember seeing Efren play with a Meucci Cameo model during that timeframe as well.

I'm sure pro players who did play on a regular basis were compensated.
 
Spent a

little time w/Bob, Lorree John and Jim R. at the BCA show in KC 12 or 13? years ago and had a discussion on this very subject (compensation). Bob was adament and LJ and Jim R. supported the fact that Bob's support was limited to free cues. There were quite a few comments about how ES had gone to a paying sponser and had not won a tournament since the "betrayal ". BM was very offended.
Original poster is right on. Bob travelled with his laser robot for several years and was one hell of a promoter who tried to prove his claims. I still have one of the original "red dots" which is still dead straight and plays great on an old Shoen I have had for 20? years.
My understanding at that time was he had turned the business over to his daughter. It had not gone well, so Bob stepped back in for a few years.
Do not know, but I assumed Bob is now completely out of the business because current poor product and service are not his style at all.
 
Why put an open letter like this out there, no one in the pool industry needs this. Why didn't you just send him a message or pick up the phone. Bob is a pioneer and his cue lines / prices are what they are. Sure he could build more superior cues but who would fork up the cash. He still has a great cue for the money and thus why Meucci still today is one of the most purchased production cues across the board.
 
Hey Doug,
I am Bob Meucci's oldest daughter Debbie. I can tell you have met my big loveable Dad. He always steals a crowd no matter wear he goes. There is actually a reason for the Hawain shirts and shorts. He is very warm natured growing up poor outside of Chicago and sleeping in the unheated garage. He wears shorts in the winter.LOL Not many people really know about the rough beginnings in the basement at Bensinger's in Chacago where the son of a machinist who loved to do a little hustleing started trying his hand at custom pool cues. The big man also has a very big heart. I remember Mom & Dad bringing home homeless people even when we didn't have much ourselves. Dad went from the shop in the basement of Bensinger's (late 60's) to work for a cuemaker that said he would make him a partner. The man got him to set up machines and design cues then left him high and dry and backed out of his original deal. Eventually a man asked Dad to move to Memphis, TN and start a cue company with him. We got moved and the man didn't go forward with the deal. It was around Christmas and we were pennyless but the Lord provided. Dad was a guardian for a man who had just won big and he even found a $100. bill in a mud puddle. Shortly after Christmas 1975 2 investors @ only $5,000 each and Meucci Originals was born. Dad also use to do Elvis impersonations at the tournaments (including Lake Tahoe) and staked a few players back then. I can't really go threw the whole life story here but I suggested Dad put it on his website. I think, as one of the people on this website said, Dad still has some fight in him and I wouldn't be surprised to see some exciting new things happening. Dad still doesn't like computers but I read your letter to Dad over the phone and e-mailed a link to all the comments to the office. Warm wishes, Debbie
 
Debbie Meucci said:
Hey Doug,
I am Bob Meucci's oldest daughter Debbie. I can tell you have met my big loveable Dad. He always steals a crowd no matter wear he goes. There is actually a reason for the Hawain shirts and shorts. He is very warm natured growing up poor outside of Chicago and sleeping in the unheated garage. He wears shorts in the winter.LOL Not many people really know about the rough beginnings in the basement at Bensinger's in Chacago where the son of a machinist who loved to do a little hustleing started trying his hand at custom pool cues. The big man also has a very big heart. I remember Mom & Dad bringing home homeless people even when we didn't have much ourselves. Dad went from the shop in the basement of Bensinger's (late 60's) to work for a cuemaker that said he would make him a partner. The man got him to set up machines and design cues then left him high and dry and backed out of his original deal. Eventually a man asked Dad to move to Memphis, TN and start a cue company with him. We got moved and the man didn't go forward with the deal. It was around Christmas and we were pennyless but the Lord provided. Dad was a guardian for a man who had just won big and he even found a $100. bill in a mud puddle. Shortly after Christmas 1975 2 investors @ only $5,000 each and Meucci Originals was born. Dad also use to do Elvis impersonations at the tournaments (including Lake Tahoe) and staked a few players back then. I can't really go threw the whole life story here but I suggested Dad put it on his website. I think, as one of the people on this website said, Dad still has some fight in him and I wouldn't be surprised to see some exciting new things happening. Dad still doesn't like computers but I read your letter to Dad over the phone and e-mailed a link to all the comments to the office. Warm wishes, Debbie
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P r i c e l e s s
 
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Hi Debbie, thank you for posting. Unfortunatly I never met your Dad but
i play his Cues for more than 20 Years . Here is a pic for you from my
favorite Meucci Originals Cue.


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I love it and my other 5 Meuccis.

Hans
Germany
 
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