Why is Tascarella the Bushka expert?

No not even close. If you break it down to working hours @ 12 hrs per day 5 days a week
It's 130 very hardworking generous work days. If 1200 cues is true. George had the Keebler elves working with him before they got into the cookie business

Keebler Elves?(Dennis searing) inside joke - look at his screen pic/avatar whatever it's called lol

I'm saying I would probably work 340/350 days per year. And yes 12hr days or more.
Jason
 
I believe he wanted them to have discernible differences so his and Georges cues could be told apart.

Regardless, the differences that would matter most would be the internal construction methods, not external, and I think Pete prabably didn't deviate far if at all from those. Thats one of the reasons his cues get all the praise for their playability.

Skins
If I'm a guy who has built zero or very few cues there's no way I'm changing the "secret sauce" . Especially if it's the sauce of the greatest cues ever built. Just thinking out loud.
Jason

Then to the other poster - how many Pros play with Tascarella's? If this is true, Pros today would be playing with them or Bushkas. Right?
 
That's what I've heard as well . I've also spoken to a few people who knew George and ordered cues from him (all three still have them) and it took over a year to get the cue. Which leads me to believe that the current estimate of total cues produced by him is outrageous. Let's do some quick math on it

1200 total cues spanning a 16 year career
His first few years by historical account (blue book) had a small (couple dozen) output so let's say 24 cues a year for first 3 years . That's 72 cues

1200-72 leaves 1,128 cues In 13 years

1,128/ 13 years= 86 cues per year
86/12 months a year = 7.16
7.16/ 4 weeks = 1.86 cues per week

that's working every single day of the year!!!
. Let's say old George took the weekends off like the rest of planet earth .....(and I'm sure also had a few sick and personal days and holidays which aren't going to be accounted for)

That leaves a generous 261 working days in the year
261X 12 = 3393 days
3393/ 1128 cues = 3.00days

THATS 1 CUE FINISHED EVERY 3 DAYS!!! FOR 13 YEARS....... AND THATS CONSERVATIVE !!! I DIDNT EVEN BREAK THAT DOWN INTO WORKING HOURS !!!!! THE NUMBER WOULD BE LAUGHABLE

There is NO WAY that man produced that many cues in his life having been so picky about his clients.

I wonder who's responsible for the gross inflation of those estimates

If he worked for 12 hrs a day for 5 days a week that's 2.5 days a week or 130 work days.

130 work days X 13 years =1690 work days

1690 work days / 1128 cues = 1.49 days

THATS 1 CUE EVERY 1.5 DAYS FOR 13 STRAIGHT YEARS......CANT WAIT TO HEAR THE EXPLAINTIONS THAT JUSTIFY THIS. LMAO!!!!!!!!

Bigb -

You didnt factor in the shafts he was building either, I know that especially in his later years, when everyone would be expecting him to be making MORE cues, he was also building alot of shafts.

One story I heard was George was building shafts like for $25 each, and building lots of them. A guy asked him for some shafts and George told him there would be quite a wait on them.

Being more clever than I would have been, this guy asked George, "That's the wait on the $25 shafts but what is the wait on the $75 shafts?" :cool:

The rest of that story was that there wasnt a wait for the $75 shafts and he got them almost immediately. :thumbup:

He never had to wait on shafts from Balabushka again, he got them immediately.;)

Ken
 
Bigb -

You didnt factor in the shafts he was building either, I know that especially in his later years, when everyone would be expecting him to be making MORE cues, he was also building alot of shafts.

One story I heard was George was building shafts like for $25 each, and building lots of them. A guy asked him for some shafts and George told him there would be quite a wait on them.

Being more clever than I would have been, this guy asked George, "That's the wait on the $25 shafts but what is the wait on the $75 shafts?" :cool:

The rest of that story was that there wasnt a wait for the $75 shafts and he got them almost immediately. :thumbup:

He never had to wait on shafts from Balabushka again, he got them immediately.;)

Ken

Lol. So true of many cuemakers. Guess they learned from the best. Great story
Jason
 
Bigb -

You didnt factor in the shafts he was building either, I know that especially in his later years, when everyone would be expecting him to be making MORE cues, he was also building alot of shafts.

One story I heard was George was building shafts like for $25 each, and building lots of them. A guy asked him for some shafts and George told him there would be quite a wait on them.

Being more clever than I would have been, this guy asked George, "That's the wait on the $25 shafts but what is the wait on the $75 shafts?" :cool:

The rest of that story was that there wasnt a wait for the $75 shafts and he got them almost immediately. :thumbup:

He never had to wait on shafts from Balabushka again, he got them immediately.;)

Ken

Your absolutely right Ken. There are many more factors and variables that make this # seem more and more outrageous. Yet it has been a standard estimate in most accredited publications for many years
 
To name a few in the time period:

Tad Kohara
Ernie Gutierrez (Ginacue)
Dan Janes (Joss)
Bill Stroud (Joss and JossWest)
Gene Balner (Palmer)
Frank Paradise
Bert Schrager
Martin and Rambows were still available

A few examples:

Luther Lassiter played with a Martin, Gutierrez, and possibly a Tad, in addition to Bushkas.
Jack Colavita played with a Palmer in that era, Richard Black later on.
Joe Balsis played with at least one Tad in addition to others.
Pete Margo played with Palmers in addition to Bushkas.
Eddie Taylor used at least two Paradise cues.
Mosconi and Cranfield used Rambows in addition to Bushkas.
Jimmy Caras used Rambow and Palmer.
Boston Shorty Johnson used a Rambow.
Richard Riggie used a Joss. Tim Scruggs later on.


Wow! Richard Riggie is a name I probably haven't heard in 20 years ! I knew his son Greg . I guess by you mentioning him all the stories I've heard were true!
 
Thanks. I'm just wondering if he wasn't working on a catalog at some point, and if he ever touches on the subject of ebony Titlists and why he seems to have never used one.

I'm guessing that since he used the full Titlist blank length, that the final ebony cue would too heavy, or else he would have to cut the blank and waste a lot of ebony.

In later years with Spain "shorty" full-splice blanks, he didn't have to worry about that waste or weight.

Freddie <~~~ guessing
 
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Skins
If I'm a guy who has built zero or very few cues there's no way I'm changing the "secret sauce" . Especially if it's the sauce of the greatest cues ever built. Just thinking out loud.
Jason

Then to the other poster - how many Pros play with Tascarella's? If this is true, Pros today would be playing with them or Bushkas. Right?

The Tascarellas added fancier woods and innovated an ivory piloted joint {edit: apparently I have to clarify this: I am not saying they invented the ivory piloted joint; I am saying their ivory piloted joint has an innovation, which you all can read about in the article I wrote in 2007, which the Tascarella's are currently using on their "About" page}, couple of areas that George didn't do. They built their own forearm blanks, so that was a change. And even George experimented with different finishes.

Finish technology has improved by leaps and bounds as has adhesives, so working with these would be absolutely understandable. Adding fancier inlays is a Tascarella signature addition, where as George didn't do much other than drill dots and guitar-style diamonds.

The needs of players change. Traditionally thick butt cues wer prevalent, as were 21oz cues. Times, styles and tastes change. As one of the all time gretatest cue shops, the Tascerellas rightfully rolled with the changes.


Fredddie <~~~ doesn't understand what's happening
 
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The Tascarellas added fancier woods and innovated an ivory piloted joint, couple of areas that George didn't do. They built their own forearm blanks, so that was a change. And even George experimented with different finishes.

Finish technology has improved by leaps and bounds as has adhesives, so working with these would be absolutely understandable. Adding fancier inlays is a Tascarella signature addition, where as George didn't do much other than drill dots and guitar-style diamonds.

The needs of players change. Traditionally thick butt cues wer prevalent, as were 21oz cues. Times, styles and tastes change. As one of the all time gretatest cue shops, the Tascerellas rightfully rolled with the changes.


Fredddie <~~~ doesn't understand what's happening

So why does everybody worship the way Bushkas play? Not trying to argue, just making a point.

A different finish is not gonna change the way a cue plays
 
The Tascarellas added fancier woods and innovated an ivory piloted joint, couple of areas that George didn't do. They built their own forearm blanks, so that was a change. And even George experimented with different finishes.

Finish technology has improved by leaps and bounds as has adhesives, so working with these would be absolutely understandable. Adding fancier inlays is a Tascarella signature addition, where as George didn't do much other than drill dots and guitar-style diamonds.

The needs of players change. Traditionally thick butt cues wer prevalent, as were 21oz cues. Times, styles and tastes change. As one of the all time gretatest cue shops, the Tascerellas rightfully rolled with the changes.


Fredddie <~~~ doesn't understand what's happening

Do you know when Pete "innovated" the ivory pooled joint. Because u have seen a fee Gus cues that have them in the modern sense ......not to mention Brunswick cues from the 1900s that also have them
 
I believe he wanted them to have discernible differences so his and Georges cues could be told apart.

Regardless, the differences that would matter most would be the internal construction methods, not external, and I think Pete prabably didn't deviate far if at all from those. Thats one of the reasons his cues get all the praise for their playability.

This question does come up from time to time. Obviously there's no need to change anything about Showman, Southwest, and Searing, as they're currently producing what the customers are happy with.

I think there was good reason for Pete to make minor changes to George's standards. For one thing, George's standard was a 57 1/2 inch cue, and pretty thick in the butt. I've measured a few at 1.32, and have measured a couple Tasc's at about 1.29. That doesn't mean too much to those other than you and me, but it's pretty substantial in the hand. A little closer to modern dimension is where I think Pete went.

If you want to get into construction method, I generally agree with you, though I assume Pete has updated the machine screw in the A joint to a more modern bolt, and threads the buttplate, though not sure. As far as finish goes, I don't think anyone uses George's lacquer anymore, and the ones who still use lacquer use a more modern version.

Those are all fairly minor though. We could go into methods of indexing inlays, and the use and difficulty with black acrylic in the buttsleeve, but that would be a bit much for this thread. I think with a few "updates," Pete continues the theme and construct of George's cues.

All the best,
H
 
I believe he wanted them to have discernible differences so his and Georges cues could be told apart.

Regardless, the differences that would matter most would be the internal construction methods, not external, and I think Pete prabably didn't deviate far if at all from those. Thats one of the reasons his cues get all the praise for their playability.

Does he use lag screws too?
 
His cues were already being collected by the time The Color of Money came out.

Among cuemakers at the time, he was the one who really put machining quality into the build of cues.

He didn't like to do leather wraps, yet to this day, I've never seen a leather wrap put on better than Balabushka.

He was the innovator. I know people get on him because he didn't make his forearm blanks. I'm sure he could have, but it wasn't something he did or (as far as I've been told) never even wrote in his notes about wanting to make forearm blanks. Times were different.

Freddie

He did have excellent taste in who he got his blanks from.
 
Do you know when Pete "innovated" the ivory pooled joint. Because u have seen a fee Gus cues that have them in the modern sense ......not to mention Brunswick cues from the 1900s that also have them

I didn't say he innovated "the ivory pooled (sic) joint." I said he innovated an ivory piloted joint. Namely the Tascarella piloted ivory joint. Sorry if I didn't communicate that effectively.

Freddie
 
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I didn't say he innovated "the ivory pooled (sic) joint." I said he innovated an ivory piloted joint. Namely the Tascarella piloted ivory joint. Sorry if I didn't communicate that effectively.

Freddie

Can you tell us the reason for this joint?
 
I didn't say he innovated "the ivory pooled (sic) joint." I said he innovated an ivory piloted joint. Namely the Tascarella piloted ivory joint. Sorry if I didn't communicate that effectively.

Freddie

No excuse my typo. The ivory "piloted" joint is what I meant to say....he was not the innovator of that joint

Perhaps you ment the ivory over stainless piloted joint. Which is a completely different thing then your first absurd statement

Which makes me question did he even innovate the ivory over stainless piloted joint?
 
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No excuse my typo. The ivory "piloted" joint is what I meant to say....he was not the innovator of that joint

Perhaps you ment the ivory over stainless piloted joint. Which is a completely different thing then your first absurd statement

Which makes me question did he even innovate the ivory over stainless piloted joint?
Let me say it again, he was the innovator of AN ivory piloted joint, which is what I wrote. Whether someone else invented the piloted ivory joint is not in question. He came up with an innovative piloted ivory joint.


Is there a reason for the aggressiveness? This seems to be a good thread. To call my statement absurd after all this discussion doesn't fit with how the rest of this thread has been going.

Freddie <~~~ why am I doing this???
 
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