What exactly does "I've hit two 'bushkas in my life" mean? I'm not disagreeing with anything, just trying to clarify.
Top Ten Fanciest Balabushkas?
- Thread starter Hunter
- Start date
What exactly does "I've hit two 'bushkas in my life" mean? I'm not disagreeing with anything, just trying to clarify.
Hit with two bubba-ba-loo-skers, I'd say
I had a 1958 Corvette with a removable hardtop
I got it second hand for about $1500
I thought it was beautiful but I didn't really enjoy driving it, it
was uncomfortable when you hit bumps
I had a few Gorge Balabushka Cues when he was alive
I and about 40 or so since then,i like them,I even played with
an Ivory jointed one , piloted ivory joint
As far as I can tell,the Tascarella cues of these days play
the same. Like Whites and Motteys,Scruggs and Cochran,
Balabushkas and Tascarellas
I am expecting two cues from Bob Owen that have
acrylic and mother of pearl inlays to look almost like a Balabushka.
I suspect that I have gone as far from these designs as anyone, at times.I
am playing with a Drexler with Mighty Mouse on it, My buddy Jack is playing
with the Drexler "Wylie Coyote and Road Runner " There is no doubt in my mind
that Drexler is making better cues in several ways,there have been improvements
in the glues,designs and techniques but Balabushkas are still great playing
cues, Look at the recent trend back to full splice cues
But sometime this week when my Balabushka look alike gets here
I will be thrilled by the Bob Owen too.
I
I got it second hand for about $1500
I thought it was beautiful but I didn't really enjoy driving it, it
was uncomfortable when you hit bumps
I had a few Gorge Balabushka Cues when he was alive
I and about 40 or so since then,i like them,I even played with
an Ivory jointed one , piloted ivory joint
As far as I can tell,the Tascarella cues of these days play
the same. Like Whites and Motteys,Scruggs and Cochran,
Balabushkas and Tascarellas
I am expecting two cues from Bob Owen that have
acrylic and mother of pearl inlays to look almost like a Balabushka.
I suspect that I have gone as far from these designs as anyone, at times.I
am playing with a Drexler with Mighty Mouse on it, My buddy Jack is playing
with the Drexler "Wylie Coyote and Road Runner " There is no doubt in my mind
that Drexler is making better cues in several ways,there have been improvements
in the glues,designs and techniques but Balabushkas are still great playing
cues, Look at the recent trend back to full splice cues
But sometime this week when my Balabushka look alike gets here
I will be thrilled by the Bob Owen too.
I
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Never owned a 'buska but do have some table-time with two of them. They played fine but i will never get the 'buska-mania about them. To be fair, most steel-joint 4pt. cues made by quality builders don't differ much. At least that's been my experience and i've owned a bunch. The R.Black i got in '82(really wish i'd kept this one) cost 375bux with two shafts and a Fellini. It probably played the best, for me anyway, of any steel joint cue. Same cue now, i just check'd, is 1800bux with one shaft. Oh well.
Are you high? Some of your posts make absolutely no sense. I usually like your skewed sense of humor but you don't have be on point 24/7.
I’d like to see more responses that reflect the OP’s questions. With pictures preferably.
While I’ve never hit with a Balabushka one thing that people should realize is the quality of the wood was likely to be of much better than what is available today. Finding old growth wood is very difficult these days.
Glues are better today, sure but then again the older cues have stood the test of time. Cues with these newer superior glues haven’t been around long enough to prove that longevity.
Elvis didn’t write his own songs. Does that make him any less of an artist?
While I’ve never hit with a Balabushka one thing that people should realize is the quality of the wood was likely to be of much better than what is available today. Finding old growth wood is very difficult these days.
Glues are better today, sure but then again the older cues have stood the test of time. Cues with these newer superior glues haven’t been around long enough to prove that longevity.
Elvis didn’t write his own songs. Does that make him any less of an artist?
You'd be surprised just how much OLD wood some of the current makers have on hand. They make the hoarders on cable look normal.
I wasn't aware there was a picture of Irving Crane's Balabushka. I'd like to see that.
To say you can't use a Bushka for todays game is a moronic statement of epic proportions. Its balls, and a table, that hasn't changed. There are people today that use Bushkas, Blacks, Szams, etc.. they are all not much different. If you believe that someone blindfolded cannot tell the difference between brands of cues, then you must also believe that those same cues would be adequate to play with today.
As far as fancy for George. It did not take much. Remove the golden Balabushka from the equation and then you have rings, and inlays. Fancy to George in 1965-1974 is cookie cutter today. But if you look around there are 1000s of cues made each year, based on Georges inlay patterns, and techniques by REPUTABLE cuemakers.
As far as this glues and adhesives nonsense. Please show me a Balabushka that exploded on impact.. Titlists.. still used today with no "glue" modifications, Burton Spains still used today, points aren't falling out, Gus Szamboti.. same.. The glue argument is so stale, if that is what you have to stoop to, to try and prove todays cues are better, you need a new argument.
JV
As far as fancy for George. It did not take much. Remove the golden Balabushka from the equation and then you have rings, and inlays. Fancy to George in 1965-1974 is cookie cutter today. But if you look around there are 1000s of cues made each year, based on Georges inlay patterns, and techniques by REPUTABLE cuemakers.
As far as this glues and adhesives nonsense. Please show me a Balabushka that exploded on impact.. Titlists.. still used today with no "glue" modifications, Burton Spains still used today, points aren't falling out, Gus Szamboti.. same.. The glue argument is so stale, if that is what you have to stoop to, to try and prove todays cues are better, you need a new argument.
JV
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Thanks for being the voice of reason on a thread that quickly went sideways. One thing that has never changed in the pool world is that it's full of "knockers!" These are usually people that have never accomplished anything more than trying to tear someone else down.
P.S. I owned and PLAYED with two Bushkas in my life. George made cues for pool players not collectors, and he made good playing cues, and that's what we were all looking for. When I was playing with them they were not valued that highly, maybe a couple of hundred bucks. Their value was in the quality of the hit and how it transferred to it's user. They were highly coveted cues by the best players of that era.
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Thanks to everyone that posted pics! This is what I was asking about, not some troll's grudge against a legend of cue making. Even though George made a lot of plainer cues, it's nice to see some of his best work. Congrats to the owners, too!
Anymore big ones out there?
Anymore big ones out there?
And now some may understand why Szambotis are often taken for Balabushkas.