Southwest wood combo

M

maxeypad2007

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Since southwest has instituted the new policy of no more ebony cues I am at a loss for a design since I am basically starting from scratch.

This is a slap in the face to a customer that has been on the list since 2003.....Needless to say I now have to settle for less than stellar wood options.

I have no interest in anything other than an ebony cue for my personal player. What would be the best wood options to simply move on the secondary market since I can't have what I waited all this time for.
 
Has southwest made a statement as to why they are not using ebony?
The only reason I can see is that some collectors want to drive the domestic and overseas market up
....and southwest has sold out to them......def puts things in perspective about the direction of their company....a far cry from a "cue for the player"
I'm sorry to hear that you won't get what you wanted.....I wouldn't even want a cue at all from them after waiting 11 years. I'd sell my spot to a sell out who would settle for anything.
 
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Bigb'scues said:
Has southwest made a statement as to why they are not using ebony?
The only reason I can see is that some collectors want to drive the domestic and overseas market up
....and southwest has sold out to them......def puts things in perspective about the direction of their company....a far cry from a "cue for the player"
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Before jumping to conclusions it would be best to do a little research. The topic was discussed here just a month ago- Why doesn't southwest use ebony anymore?
 
I get that it is an availability issue. I even offered to wait until decent ebony was available but this is not an option either. I have to order or lose my spots....
 
maxeypad2007 said:
I get that it is an availability issue. I even offered to wait until decent ebony was available but this is not an option either. I have to order or lose my spots....
Click to expand...

Ebay has all the ebony wood available today... go & see
 
ELBeau said:
Before jumping to conclusions it would be best to do a little research. The topic was discussed here just a month ago- Why doesn't southwest use ebony anymore?
Click to expand...

Not much of a conversation in that thread.....your research comment really wasn't
Backed by that. I Would like to hear others opinions on this. It's just funny how the
Price of ebony SW cues has gone INSANE. And for no reason. No other top tier cue-maker has stop using ebony and at there production output....there is NO reason why they Can't.
 
ceebee said:
Ebay has all the ebony wood available today... go & see
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I see a lot of "Wet" Ebony wood. I do not see anyone selling a few hundred kiln dried pieces. Can't speak for SW, but I'm sure no cuemaker or company would want to put out something they knew might check or move significantly because it wasn't seasoned properly. Imagine buying from a source and find out it's not as "Dry" as they claimed and now you have to repair your reputation. Might make you stop using that species until you find some good pieces. Again, that's only my opinion.
 
See if they have rosewood

While ebony is a great wood, I have come to the conclusion that rosewood is top notch. Now out of all the rosewoods available a nice piece of figured Brazilian Rosewood would be an amazing and desirable SW cue.
 
It sucks when you've waited so long for a particular cue style and then can't get it, but I have to say I respect SW for saying they can't do it. They obviously can't find ebony wood of a quality to meet their needs so rather than continue building with subpar wood, they just say its not available. Makes sense to me. Not all wood is created equally and I'm sure it takes a premium wood for a company like SW to trust their brand with it.

I'd go rosewood, or goncalvo alves. I've heard good tos about the playing characteristics of the latter.
 
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See if they will use african blackwood. Its close to ebony in looks but plays way better.
 
I'd go with Macassar Ebony into Goncalo Alves. 3 veneers, black, blue, natural. A/B rings and the extra ring at the buttsleeve. If you have 2 coming, make one Pau Ferro into Alves but with a wrapless Pau Ferro handle. Alves is a great cue wood and was said to be Jerry Frankin's favorite. I've seen nothing but great Goncalo Alves in their cues.

SW follows procedures and priniciples that have stood them well over time. One such procedure is they season their woods for a minimum of a few years before they will use it for cuemaking. Las Vegas is a brutally dry climate with low to no humidity (it is HELL for stringed instruments and cues). I've heard that SW purchased ebony a few years ago that is not yet sufficiently seasoned and stable so they have suspended using it for now. Even if SW were to buy kiln dried ebony today they would follow their standard seasoning procedures. It is inconvenient but SW is still making great cues and they will resume using Gaboon Ebony down the road. Best of luck. Martin
 
Could you get your own ebony and give it to SW to use by chance? If you could find some good ebony wood maybe they would make your cue for you if you supplied the wood. I know its unfortunate that they don't have any but you could give this a try. You could even see if other cue makers have any ebony wood that is already been dried and cured. I hope everything works out for you. I can't imagine waiting 11 years for the cue of you dreams only to find out they can't make it :'(.
 
maxeypad2007 said:
Since southwest has instituted the new policy of no more ebony cues I am at a loss for a design since I am basically starting from scratch.

This is a slap in the face to a customer that has been on the list since 2003.....Needless to say I now have to settle for less than stellar wood options.

I have no interest in anything other than an ebony cue for my personal player. What would be the best wood options to simply move on the secondary market since I can't have what I waited all this time for.
Click to expand...

That is the problem with such a long lead time in their cues. They would need to be able to predict the future as they took orders. Now they have to face the realities of today and so do you.
 
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Free recommendation

You can ***** and moan, and while I agree, it wont help you get closer to what you want, an ebony SW.

My recommendation is the following, actually 2 things.

Sell you spot in line. That is always worth a few hundred. Take that plus the money you would have spent on your dream cue and buy one on secondary market.

Just this week, I had a buddy call me for recommendation on 2 cues he had offered to him.

1.) A JF era Southwest, only test hit in perfect condition.
2.) An ebony on ebony Southwest (2004 model) never hit a ball.

Both of these cues were available for less than a new SW cue.

I wouldn't worry too much, there are PLENTY of cues out there. Southwest cues are far from rare, and are pretty close to a production cue.

I wish you the best of rolls.

Ken :smile:
 
Ken_4fun said:
You can ***** and moan, and while I agree, it wont help you get closer to what you want, an ebony SW.

My recommendation is the following, actually 2 things.

Sell you spot in line. That is always worth a few hundred. Take that plus the money you would have spent on your dream cue and buy one on secondary market.

Just this week, I had a buddy call me for recommendation on 2 cues he had offered to him.

1.) A JF era Southwest, only test hit in perfect condition.
2.) An ebony on ebony Southwest (2004 model) never hit a ball.

Both of these cues were available for less than a new SW cue.

I wouldn't worry too much, there are PLENTY of cues out there. Southwest cues are far from rare, and are pretty close to a production cue.

I wish you the best of rolls.

Ken :smile:
Click to expand...


pretty close to a production cue? If you could elaborate this i would appreciate it.
 
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