Cuemakers... who plays the best?

nineballsafety8

nineballsafety8

6ft 5" 285, hits 'em hard
Silver Member
I was just curious as to, out of the cuemakers out there... who plays/played the best

and anyone who says Siegel should just go ahead and slap themselves (plays great, but I don't consider him a cuemaker...)

the two that come to mind for me are

Bobby Hunter and Joe Gold

what other cuemakers out there play at top speed?
 
Who has the best preference and opinion? IMO, this is a very broad and general question. You are going to get answers you don't like. Though, to answer your question;

David Schmelke
I've had three of his cues (listed below)

Purple Heart into Maple Full Splice
- phenolic collars
- 5/16x18 SS joint pin
- 58" long
- 15" pro tapered shaft

Cocobolo into Maple Full Splice
- phenolic collars
- 3/8x16 SS quick release joint pin
- 58" long
- 12" pro tapered purple heart break shaft
- 12" pro tapered maple break shaft

Ebony into Curly Maple Full Splice
- phenolic collars
- 3/8x10 G10 joint pin
- 12" pro tapered maple shaft

His price point is extremely fair. All of his full splice cues I have had are on par with most $500 full splice cues I have handled. They all hit great. He will build you exactly what you want, no questions asked, and he will do it in a timely fashion.

I've only had one issue with one his cues and it was my purple heart shaft. The insert backed out on me after a good bit of breaks. I emailed him with quality pictures and he said that's not right, send it back. I asked if he could build an identical maple shaft, while he had my cue. He agreed and started the build and repairs. Because of the snow storm and holidays, it took a little longer than expected. When I inquired about it, he said it was already shipped out and don't worry about paying for the new shaft. Needless to say, that kind of customer service is few and far between. He is an AAA cuemaker in my book!

Edit - Fail...

I just realized you were asking which cuemaker played the best, not which cuemakers cues play the best.

To answer that question, I'm not sure, but I've seen Kelly Peterson play (or a Kelly Peterson play) and he played pretty sporty. Kelly Peterson aka MVP Cues.
 
Last edited:
Worminator said:
The Search function is your friend! :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Worm... first of all, I want to preface my response with this: You are a senior member here, and always have great finds and excellent items to share with us all, and I want to thank you for that.

However...

this is now the third time that you have replied to one of my threads with a "use the search button"... I am fully aware how the search button work... I use it DAILY.

To be honest, I didn't use the search button for a reason!!!

The last week has been full of LOU AND JOHN threads, and while I myself find it rather interesting and have been trying to keep up with what has been said, many others may be having a hard time finding "good material" on AZB to keep them engaged and wanting to come back on a daily basis to ready further.

SO... while I appreciated your self imposed policing effort, please understand that I often post things that I don't even care about hearing the answer to, I post simply for intersting topics that other AZer's can read through and enjoy.


(now stepping off soapbox)
 
DAVE_M said:
Who has the best preference and opinion? IMO, this is a very broad and general question. You are going to get answers you don't like. Though, to answer your question;

David Schmelke
I've had three of his cues (listed below)

Purple Heart into Maple Full Splice
- phenolic collars
- 5/16x18 SS joint pin
- 58" long
- 15" pro tapered shaft

Cocobolo into Maple Full Splice
- phenolic collars
- 3/8x16 SS quick release joint pin
- 58" long
- 12" pro tapered purple heart break shaft
- 12" pro tapered maple break shaft

Ebony into Curly Maple Full Splice
- phenolic collars
- 3/8x10 G10 joint pin
- 12" pro tapered maple shaft

His price point is extremely fair. All of his full splice cues I have had are on par with most $500 full splice cues I have handled. They all hit great. He will build you exactly what you want, no questions asked, and he will do it in a timely fashion.

I've only had one issue with one his cues and it was my purple heart shaft. The insert backed out on me after a good bit of breaks. I emailed him with quality pictures and he said that's not right, send it back. I asked if he could build an identical maple shaft, while he had my cue. He agreed and started the build and repairs. Because of the snow storm and holidays, it took a little longer than expected. When I inquired about it, he said it was already shipped out and don't worry about paying for the new shaft. Needless to say, that kind of customer service is few and far between. He is an AAA cuemaker in my book!
Click to expand...

Dave,
The irony in your post is exemplary lol. Dave actually has my current shooter on his bench as we speak. My joint collar had a run it with the metal trim on the corner of a contender, and it is in for a refinish and new shaft.

I am super happy with my Schemlke, and its good to know that David is a shooter as well.
 
nineballsafety8 said:
I was just curious as to, out of the cuemakers out there... who plays/played the best

and anyone who says Siegel should just go ahead and slap themselves (plays great, but I don't consider him a cuemaker...)

the two that come to mind for me are

Bobby Hunter and Joe Gold

what other cuemakers out there play at top speed?
Click to expand...

Bill Stroud for sure
 
Sigel. And I won't slap myself, thank you.

Some have been professional title winners:

Hunter, Gulyassy,...

Many of the cue makers already play at some high competitive level. Maybe not pro, but pretty good amateur speed:

Dennis, Jerry,

And some of them might be passed their prime, but certainly are known as great players:

Bill S., e.g.


But, Sigel gets my vote. Why you wouldn't consider him a cuemaker is more of the out-there thought. He built cues. People bought them. People played with them. That's separate from his Sigel production cues.

Freddie
 
Cornerman said:
Sigel. And I won't slap myself, thank you.

Some have been professional title winners:

Hunter, Gulyassy,...

Many of the cue makers already play at some high competitive level. Maybe not pro, but pretty good amateur speed:

Dennis, Jerry,

And some of them might be passed their prime, but certainly are known as great players:

Bill S., e.g.


But, Sigel gets my vote. Why you wouldn't consider him a cuemaker is more of the out-there thought. He built cues. People bought them. People played with them. That's separate from his Sigel production cues.

Freddie
Click to expand...

I can't argue that Mr. Siegel did technically build cues, and people bought them, and played with them. However, the fact that he built simple A joint cues, with machine cut inlays, and charged a seriously high premium for them... and then treated people like crap when they inquired about his cues... takes him out of the RESPECTABLE cuemaker realm as far as I am concerned.

Of course this is just personal opinion, and that is worth... well nothing.
But there is no argument for the fact that in his prime, he was rather unstoppable at the table!
 
I prefer Joe Gold COG cues. How ever I do have several of the high end Mike Sigel Cues and they play very good. And he made some beautiful cues, so to say you should slap yourself is a bit overboard, jmo.
 
Don't forget...

Don't forget Shawn Putnam. Makes a hell of a cue and probably top five or ten US players...

Jaden
 
Ive heard about searing shootibg pretty well....another i want to mention from down south fla is ted harris. Very solid player, and makes solid players too
 
nineballsafety8 said:
I can't argue that Mr. Siegel did technically build cues, and people bought them, and played with them. However, the fact that he built simple A joint cues, with machine cut inlays, and charged a seriously high premium for them... and then treated people like crap when they inquired about his cues... takes him out of the RESPECTABLE cuemaker realm as far as I am concerned.

Of course this is just personal opinion, and that is worth... well nothing.
But there is no argument for the fact that in his prime, he was rather unstoppable at the table!
Click to expand...

He hardly built any cues and certainly not many cues that were actually sellable. He was at the show trying to sell his screwed up cues as collectables. It was no time though before I ran into him at the BCA show and he was showing me the cues he was having made overseas. He didn't care anything about making cues.
 
Mottey

I saw Paul Mottey play several times and he played very well, and against strong competition.
 
nineballsafety8 said:
Worm... first of all, I want to preface my response with this: You are a senior member here, and always have great finds and excellent items to share with us all, and I want to thank you for that.

However...

this is now the third time that you have replied to one of my threads with a "use the search button"... I am fully aware how the search button work... I use it DAILY.

To be honest, I didn't use the search button for a reason!!!

The last week has been full of LOU AND JOHN threads, and while I myself find it rather interesting and have been trying to keep up with what has been said, many others may be having a hard time finding "good material" on AZB to keep them engaged and wanting to come back on a daily basis to ready further.

SO... while I appreciated your self imposed policing effort, please understand that I often post things that I don't even care about hearing the answer to, I post simply for intersting topics that other AZer's can read through and enjoy.


(now stepping off soapbox)
Click to expand...

Great response!!! I think as much as the forum can be an informational tool it is also a social tool which the search button really does not apply to. Also some topics that were covered 3 years ago may no longer relevant.
 
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