Original G B

Hi Rod,
I really like this cue! We should talk, but right now just got power, on and off, the Hurricane is 75 mies away.
All the best,
Phil
 
Rod that is a great find...congrats. I too was fortunate enough to obtain a GB with leather and Spain blanks. Cue was restore by Barry (wrap intact); two GB shafts reasonably full and two shafts made by Gus that were made for a GB and hung around in Barry's shop for decades.
 
What year did Pete make this?

Pretty serious accusation that Pete would have been faking Balabushka cues.

The bumper alone shows more age than a Tasc cue would have. The LOA also speaks for itself.

It seems you should be providing a bit more proof for these accusations.
 
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Super nice GB you have there Rod. The leather wrap and originality takes it to that UBER level of rare.
 
It might be a Mali.

It's a Tascarella, that is not a Spain blank, and the maple is all wrong for a 60s Balabushka.

Pete authenticates plenty of his cues as George's, plenty of guys know I'm right but everyone likes to protect Pete for some reason.
 
It's a Tascarella, that is not a Spain blank, and the maple is all wrong for a 60s Balabushka.

Pete authenticates plenty of his cues as George's, plenty of guys know I'm right but everyone likes to protect Pete for some reason.

Wow, I have never heard that.

I have heard that another TOP cue maker was used to authenticate cues. It was all well and good until he said a titlist conversion was authentic and it was later determined that it was not the real deal. :eek:

The cue maker in question still authenticates cues just not titlist cues.

IMO - if true this story is just a mistake made, but that is mile away from "passing one off ".

Ken
 
It's a Tascarella, that is not a Spain blank, and the maple is all wrong for a 60s Balabushka.

Pete authenticates plenty of his cues as George's, plenty of guys know I'm right but everyone likes to protect Pete for some reason.

Yup, not even close to a Spain blank.
 

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Good looking cue

A lot of speculation on real or not...Buska cues have always scared me after hearing the nightmare stories of people being duped.

That forearm looks very clean with little if any patina showing in the picture. Do you have any more history on the cue?
 
It's spooky how rusty this bolt is.
 

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I have heard many "stories" from people very close to Pete and in the billiards world
That he did in fact build and or finish cues of George's and pass them off as original.
He does have all of the equipment and stock of parts to do so.....I don't doubt it.
 
A lot of speculation on real or not...Buska cues have always scared me after hearing the nightmare stories of people being duped.

That forearm looks very clean with little if any patina showing in the picture. Do you have any more history on the cue?

Sanj,
The first thing to consider is the person slinging the mud.. being anonymous affords you the ability to be an a$$hat without repercussions. There are rumors, about many many things Bushka, with a lot of different cuemakers and dealers being mentioned about. But guys like this, that don't put their names on it, have no credibility what-so-ever. I have seen titlist Bushka's that were very bright, I have seen Gus' Szam's that looked like new. Patina, can be just as easily faked, so why would someone make a Bushka, and NOT fake the patina? It would go unquestioned. That is the question you need to ask..

A lot of it depends on its usage and storage, as well as the condition and thickness and the type of finish. My Gus, has tremendous patina, but why? When I see Gus' older than mine, with very little. There is a very good reason, my uncle played with the cue for many, many years with NO finish basically on the cue. When Barry refinished it, there was literally no way to take that coloring out. So I have a Gus that is patina'ed to a golden honey color. People think it is stained, it is not.

I have included two 1975-77 Gus' that are all original, one with very little play. There is no doubt what they are.

Ignorant, anonymous people, need to STFU, or sign your name.

JV
 

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Here is another photo showing different patina's on older refinished cues...

JV
 

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Sanj,

Ignorant, anonymous people, need to STFU, or sign your name.

JV

I, Patrick O'Brien, am not ignorant or an asshat. I have consistently stood for vintage cues and clearing up misinformation.

This cue was not made by George Balabushka, and if it is a Spain blank, was made after George's passing.

Go to NY and ask around, Pete pulled every move I have stated.

JV, kiss my ass.
 
Everyone is allowed to have an opinion...even wrong ones. You want to make accusations without seeing the cue in hand, like you have seen more cues (Balabushkas) than Pete, knock yourself out.

You want to say Pete made it, prove it. Not well I think, or this is too white, or this isn't the right color, or its of my opinion... PROVE he made it.

As far as what Pete has done, or not. How many of these "moves" have you witnessed? Or did you hear? How many did he tell you he did? Or is this just passing unproven information?

I have no beef outing someone.. but you better have the goods, irrefutable proof... for accusations like this. Not "your" opinion, or this is what I heard.

I hear a lot of things, but if I can't put who and where I heard it, I am not stupid enough to use it to try and sound like I know something I don't.

Lastly...Pete O'Brien.. wow.. I can't believe I am talking to THE Pete O'Brien.. you're a legend when discussing vintage cues, people always say.. Pete O'Brien saw this and verified it.....

JV

I, Patrick O'Brien, am not ignorant or an asshat. I have consistently stood for vintage cues and clearing up misinformation.

This cue was not made by George Balabushka, and if it is a Spain blank, was made after George's passing.

Go to NY and ask around, Pete pulled every move I have stated.

JV, kiss my ass.
 
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Everyone is allowed to have an opinion...even wrong ones. You want to make accusations without seeing the cue in hand, like you have seen more cues (Balabushkas) than Pete, knock yourself out.

You want to say Pete made it, prove it. Not well I think, or this is too white, or this isn't the right color, or its of my opinion... PROVE he made it.

As far as what Pete has done, or not. How many of these "moves" have you witnessed? Or did you hear? How many did he tell you he did? Or is this just passing unproven information?

I have no beef outing someone.. but you better have the goods, irrefutable proof... for accusations like this. Not "your" opinion, or this is what I heard.

I hear a lot of things, but if I can't put who and where I heard it, I am not stupid enough to use it to try and sound like I know something I don't.

Lastly...Pete O'Brien.. wow.. I can't believe I am talking to THE Pete O'Brien.. you're a legend when discussing vintage cues, people always say.. Pete O'Brien saw this and verified it.....

JV


Interesting that you criticize me for both who I am and for being anonymous. You're a real class act.

Do you have stake in Pete's scams? If you're the JV I've heard about, then hmmmm...

Regardless of anything you said, this cue is not a Balabushka. Verl Horn, Palmer, whoever made it, it was not made by George.

Did you sell it to Rod and now he's going to realize he had a lemon? Oops

Pete Tascarella LOA'd this cue, missed the Spain measurements on this blank, but called it legit. I can see from here it's, at best, EXTREMELY QUESTIONABLE.

The title of this thread, "Original GB" is misleading. The poster will be selling this cue in 4 minutes if he follows his usual pattern, and someone else will be catching a grenade. For you to discredit that is extremely shady.
 
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