yep..they were the choice of many many players. unfortunately because of there popularity the production went up and the quality went down. I never liked the way they played for my personal taste but I always thought they had great looking designs.
My Day With Bob Meucci, One of the World's "Good Guys"
- Thread starter CJ Wiley
- Start date
yep..they were the choice of many many players. unfortunately because of there popularity the production went up and the quality went down. I never liked the way they played for my personal taste but I always thought they had great looking designs.
Can run out. Bob stopped by my booth one year and we shot a few games and then he showed me his way of calculating masse' shots. Which I didn't retain unfortunately since my mind was half on the booth.
Hey CJ--Back about 30 years ago--one of my close freinds--one of my best ever freinds who helped me with my game coming up--had a cue just like that one. It hit with an amazing control , like no other I had ever held. I picked it up once and hit a few balls on a very fast table--I played the following shots 3 times in a row with it.
With the object ball frozen to the rail 1 diamond below the side pocket and the cueball off the rail about a foot above the same rail 1 diamond above the side pocket--Hit with low outside english--I made the ball in the bottom corner and I spun the cueball 3 rails around the table to make a ball in the corner pocket across from the object ball that was made. This was a billaird trick shout I had seen diagramed once. I have never come close to making that shot since--but I had and still have witnesses that saw that shot.
Those cues are hard to find--much less that Bob gave you his personal cue--great post about a great Gent.
With the object ball frozen to the rail 1 diamond below the side pocket and the cueball off the rail about a foot above the same rail 1 diamond above the side pocket--Hit with low outside english--I made the ball in the bottom corner and I spun the cueball 3 rails around the table to make a ball in the corner pocket across from the object ball that was made. This was a billaird trick shout I had seen diagramed once. I have never come close to making that shot since--but I had and still have witnesses that saw that shot.
Those cues are hard to find--much less that Bob gave you his personal cue--great post about a great Gent.
Meucci Originals were some damn good cues, IMHO. I had one out of the first catalog and everyone who played with it loved it. It truly was innovative for the time. A friend of ours had one of the "Piano" cues for a time later on and just loved it. It got stolen and he was never able to get another one. I've owned several Meucci cues over the years, including one with a Black Dot shaft. The BD had it like the 7 ball over the Predator shafts but it wasn't better than the custom cues I owned at the time, so I sold it.
The quality went down, I was told, because Bob stopped taking an active part in the process and was letting a son-in-law do most of it?? That may not be true, I can't remember just what I heard now, it was a long time ago. I'd be interested in seeing anything new that Bob came up with, the man does know his stuff.
Nice post, CJ!
The quality went down, I was told, because Bob stopped taking an active part in the process and was letting a son-in-law do most of it?? That may not be true, I can't remember just what I heard now, it was a long time ago. I'd be interested in seeing anything new that Bob came up with, the man does know his stuff.
Nice post, CJ!
That is incorrect and disingenuous...
slave labor
noun
1.
persons, especially a large group, performing labor under duress or threats, as prisoners in a concentration camp; a labor force of slaves or slavelike prisoners.
2.
labor done by slaves.
3.
any coerced or poorly remunerated work: Typing at that salary is slave labor.
This is the definition for slave labor and it indeed under definition 3 is defined as poorly remunerated work. (underpaid)
Just clarifying... not the thread for this argument BTW...
JV
slave labor
noun
1.
persons, especially a large group, performing labor under duress or threats, as prisoners in a concentration camp; a labor force of slaves or slavelike prisoners.
2.
labor done by slaves.
3.
any coerced or poorly remunerated work: Typing at that salary is slave labor.
This is the definition for slave labor and it indeed under definition 3 is defined as poorly remunerated work. (underpaid)
Just clarifying... not the thread for this argument BTW...
JV
Who are you to decide what poorly remunerated is? Do you LIVE in China? Do you even know what the average salary is in China? Do you know what the average costs are in the cities and in the towns and out in the country? Do you know what they average salaries are? Do you know what the cost of living is here?
Of course you don't know these things. You know EXACTLY that the people in China are NOT SLAVES BY ANY DEFINITION.
Why did cue and case companies move to China?
Which cue company moved to China? Which case company moved to China?
But to answer your broader question of course cheaper labor is one of the reasons a company would make or have good made in China. It's also a reason why a company moves from a state with high labor costs to a state with low labor costs. It's a reason why BMW would put a plant in the USA where labor is cheaper than it is in Germany.
So what?
Are you free to chose where you want to work and free to take the highest paying job you can find? Are you free to quit the job you have and take another one for more pay? Are you free to offer your labor to an employer for less than he is paying someone else? If you advertise you will do a job for half the price of anyone else should a business instead hire the person that costs them double?
If you want to have a job done do you ALWAYS pay the highest price or do you sometimes give the work to someone who will do it for less? Do you ever look for a lower price on things you buy? If so why?
If two stores are selling the same thing and one has the price at double the price of the other one do you buy the more expensive of the two? If not why not? Don't you think that you have an obligation to support the owner of the store with the higher prices, to support his employees and all his business decisions? Obviously if he is charging twice as much as the competition for the same item then he must be doing it because he NEEDS that money.
So if you in your own life will leave one job to get more pay at another job, if you will pay someone less than another qualified person to do the same job for you, if you shop around for the lowest price then you are being hypocritical if you tell a business where it should manufacture the goods it makes.
Why should you care one bit where or why any business makes their goods? Are you checking on the practices of every business that you give money in exchange for products? Of course you aren't.
But oh so easy to throw out terms like "slave labor" when you honestly have zero clue what life is like on the ground in China. Go pick tomatoes in Florida if you want to know what sort of labor practices are happening in the USA that are deplorable. Why do people hire illegal immigrants instead of fully licensed, bonded and legal labor? Ask Joe he has a reason.
My first cue was a Meucci Original I was about 15 back in mid 80s. Played really good.
This Cue!
cajunfats
This is exactly the cue I have been looking for for years!!! This, along with the JR-7(Olympic Columns,I think) is one of the best examples of High Performance/Artistic Cues by Meucci. If I can find one exactly like this with two original shafts, I'm going to be salivating like Pavlov's Dog!!!! Mid 80's Meucci's Rock!
cajunfats
Whatever Meucci's doing I'm impressed, it's always nice to see progress
Yes, we met all the employees there and Mary played pool with many of them. They were good natured and the "Mississippi hospitality" was every bit as good as the "Texas hospitality" where I come from.
Whatever Bob's doing it's refreshing, and I don't know anything about his history (nor do I care), the only thing that matters is what's going on now and it appears top notch.
I used the new Meucci last night at a friends house and he said I appeared to be playing different than I was before......I ran 4 racks of 10 Ball in a row, so he was right, I am certainly playing "different". This cue reminds me of some of the greatest hitting cues I had in my 20s, except this one can actually do more because of "space age" material Bob's using in his pin/joint.
Whatever Meucci's doing I'm impressed, it's always nice to see progress.
Yes, we met all the employees there and Mary played pool with many of them. They were good natured and the "Mississippi hospitality" was every bit as good as the "Texas hospitality" where I come from.
Whatever Bob's doing it's refreshing, and I don't know anything about his history (nor do I care), the only thing that matters is what's going on now and it appears top notch.
I used the new Meucci last night at a friends house and he said I appeared to be playing different than I was before......I ran 4 racks of 10 Ball in a row, so he was right, I am certainly playing "different". This cue reminds me of some of the greatest hitting cues I had in my 20s, except this one can actually do more because of "space age" material Bob's using in his pin/joint.
Whatever Meucci's doing I'm impressed, it's always nice to see progress.
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All this Meucci hate, and I'm just setting here looking for an M-8/88-2.
Josh
Josh
You have to admit that there is a sliding scale in judging cheap labour and sweatshop like conditions.
Yes i know China is a big country, yes i know about living costs in China - does that validate companies to practically "own" their workers, wich is the case many places.
Do the big corporations lift these individuals out of powerty? yes to some degree they do. But you are equating peasants who have lived a certain lifestyle for generations to young aspiring Chinese youth who has the western consumer lifestyle as a dream.
The companies running the megafactories speculate in this desire.
I`m in no way religious, but apply the golden rule to Chinese factory workers and I`m pretty sure both you and I would not liked to be treated like that.
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to me a pool cue was the "ultimate toy".....and I certainly could play with it.
My first cue was a Viking when I was 11, I think it was around $28. then at age 15 I still remember looking through all the Meucci cues and picking out the black "Royal Flush", ordering it, and I especially remember getting it in the mail. There's nothing like being a kid and getting a new toy, and to me a pool cue was the "ultimate toy".....and I certainly could play with it.
I could make spin shots with that cue that seemed impossible, still to this day I have trouble making some of the spin shots I could make when I was 16 using that Royal Flush model.
Everything runs in cycles, I have a feeling Meucci is getting ready to cycle back up to the top judging by everything I saw at his factory.
Only Time Will Tell
My first cue was a Viking when I was 11, I think it was around $28. then at age 15 I still remember looking through all the Meucci cues and picking out the black "Royal Flush", ordering it, and I especially remember getting it in the mail. There's nothing like being a kid and getting a new toy, and to me a pool cue was the "ultimate toy".....and I certainly could play with it.
I could make spin shots with that cue that seemed impossible, still to this day I have trouble making some of the spin shots I could make when I was 16 using that Royal Flush model.
Everything runs in cycles, I have a feeling Meucci is getting ready to cycle back up to the top judging by everything I saw at his factory.
Only Time Will Tell
Space age materials? Does Bob also sell aluminum siding? :rotflmao1:
You want misinformation?
http://www.meuccicues.com/lectures.html
You want misinformation?
http://www.meuccicues.com/lectures.html
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Seems like this should be 2 threads and I'm only going to respond to the Bob thread... I'll happily jump on a China bashing thread but not over labor.
I have personally had a great experience with Bob that I can attest to and, based on only on that limited knowledge, I found him to be a great guy. His whole family is highly intelligent and interesting. I started a web site to independently test and post on cue performance. Bob found it and invited me to his shop, at his expense, to see how his robot worked and talk to him about it. I spent several hours using his robot, touring the factory and talking with them. Unfortunately my own robot had too much wood in it and I balked at continuing to dump money into it in order to get the reliability necessary (and anything less was not acceptable).
Bob has many inventions and is worth getting to know. He is a very entrepreneurial person and even ran several ideas for pool by me during the visit. If he made the cue then I would have no doubt it is a great cue. My first league cue was a Meucci and it played very well - bought it around 1994. At the time you couldn't get a low deflection cue as cheap anywhere else and only Predator was even in the game at that point.
Craig
I have personally had a great experience with Bob that I can attest to and, based on only on that limited knowledge, I found him to be a great guy. His whole family is highly intelligent and interesting. I started a web site to independently test and post on cue performance. Bob found it and invited me to his shop, at his expense, to see how his robot worked and talk to him about it. I spent several hours using his robot, touring the factory and talking with them. Unfortunately my own robot had too much wood in it and I balked at continuing to dump money into it in order to get the reliability necessary (and anything less was not acceptable).
Bob has many inventions and is worth getting to know. He is a very entrepreneurial person and even ran several ideas for pool by me during the visit. If he made the cue then I would have no doubt it is a great cue. My first league cue was a Meucci and it played very well - bought it around 1994. At the time you couldn't get a low deflection cue as cheap anywhere else and only Predator was even in the game at that point.
Craig
What company practically owns their workers? I have not been in one single factory out of dozens where people were not free to leave. Foxconn? I guarantee you that every Foxconn worker since the inception of the company in China has been free to walk out of the factory gate at any time.
Golden Rule?
Ok, the typical Chinese factory worker is provided with housing, breakfast, lunch and dinner, gets all holidays off or paid overtime plus extra if they work on the holiday, has their health insurance paid for. The company has to pay for social security and several other taxes on behalf of the employee. I can tell you for a fact that many companies in the USA do NOT treat their employees nearly as well as the average Chinese factory does theirs. Especially now when Chinese factories must compete for labor.
Again you are generalizing without understanding the average. Of course there are crappy employers here. And there are fantastic ones and a whole bunch in between on all points on the spectrum.
And I don't know if you have looked at China lately but their middle class is larger than the population of the United States. The children of factory workers are graduating college and taking jobs in professions that pay better than their parents ever earned.
Before I came to China I also had a lot of misconceptions about what life was like here. I had the same stereotypes in my mind and thought I would see just flat out horrible conditions. That's not what I found. Is everything up to OSHA standards? Of course not. But guess what China has stricter laws than the USA does but they can't enforce those laws due to the sheer numbers of factories and the guangxie corruption. You know like bribing an inspector for a favorable report. Never heard of that happening in the USA have you? ;-)
You know what polices factories more than the government? Western buyers who are responsible to their consumers. Any serious factory here has to comply with strict international standards and is inspected yearly by the bodies that issue those certifications. Some folks on this forum can tell you about them.
Shining a spotlight has helped to make things better. That plus the demands of the workers themselves.
There is a lot of bad things happening in China. In a country with 1.4 billion people I would be very surprised if that wasn't the case. But you know full well that people are oppressed and suppressed in the USA every day. Every day someone is fired for being sick, sexually harassed at work, berated and insulted, treated like crap, forced to work in unsafe conditions, asked to lie on behalf of the company. discriminated against for being a certain color or race or gender, cheated out their pay, works with no health insurance, etc...
I am positive that I can take you to 100 random factories and your opinion will change 180 degrees when you not only see the working conditions but also meet the people doing the work. Then I will take you into the city and show you all the people working in offices and professions.
Once you see and experience life on the ground here you will never use the word slave to describe a Chinese person again. My wife is a university graduate with a bachelors in education. Is she now or has she ever been anyone's slave?
One of the richest women in China, who was just interviewed on 60 minutes, worked in a Hong Kong factory, probably a real sweatshop. Then she saved her money and went to London and got into Cambridge and worked in finance before returning to China. In China she married a struggling developer and together they have built a sizable portion of Shanghai and Beijing.
If it were not for foreign investment into China it's unlikely that she would have ever had those avenues open to her. She might very well still be working in a factory.
Don't forget that America is partially built on cheap immigrant labor who worked in the sweatshops providing cheap goods to Europe. Before we condemn anyone else or try to take their ladders away let's remember our own history,
She runs fast for a "stuffed animal".
Yes, I had to chase her through 3 farms, over 5 fences, around 7 John Deere Tractors, and finally found her playing in someone's garden.
She runs fast for a "stuffed animal".
Yes, I had to chase her through 3 farms, over 5 fences, around 7 John Deere Tractors, and finally found her playing in someone's garden.
She runs fast for a "stuffed animal".
In addition Bob was the first one to make the foam core injection molded cases. He made his version and then Porper started making them after Bob.