If I had cues made to my specs, then would it be fair to say that I made them?

Shawn Armstrong said:
Mine is ebony on ebony. Similar to Big Ko’s SW. Or the version that Ching Yang Shun used in the early 2000s.
Click to expand...

Do you believe it is real Ebony, and not just painted to appear to be Ebony? A cue maker in recent years told me that cue makers are only using Ebony in high end cues these days, because it is so expensive to put in cues.

Awhile back, I seen someone post a pic on here of a plain jane black Predator, that he had refinished, and during the refinish process, the black paint came off the the butt to reveal a straight grain maple wood.
 
animatedvmaker said:
Do you believe it is real Ebony, and not just painted to appear to be Ebony? A cue maker in recent years told me that cue makers are only using Ebony in high end cues these days, because it is so expensive to put in cues.

Awhile back, I seen someone post a pic on here of a plain jane black Predator, that he had refinished, and during the refinish process, the black paint came off the the butt to reveal a straight grain maple wood.
Click to expand...

OMFG. Yes, it’s ebony.
 
HawaiianEye said:
I got family I stay with in Taiwan not too far from all the main cue makers. Same city. I can get any cue over there for less than anybody is ever going to buy it online or from a dealer. I can go straight to the factory and buy what is in stock. I go to Taiwan every once in a while. I was there last April. Maybe I will buy a whole batch next time. I almost did last time. I also have a Taiwanese buddy who is a China Aitlines pilot who will fly them straight to Hawaii and deliver them to my house for free. No shipping charges for me.

Taiwan makes some nice cues now. When I lived there years ago you couldn't have given me one.

Timothy Soong on here can get you any cue you want from Taiwan.
Click to expand...

I can get you a Jackpot from Schmelke for $200. Next time you’re ordering, hit me up.
 
Shawn Armstrong said:
Glad to know you can really stick it to us dealers that have cultivated a relationship, and order these dozens at a time.

Anything else you’d like to screw up for us honest folk, while you’re at it?
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm just a better dealer than you.

What relationship you have going on? Do you have Taiwanese relatives there who speak Chinese and have businesses there? I do. Do you think you can get a better deal from a Taiwanese company than another Taiwanese business man down the road can get.

Maybe you need to fly over there and talk to them. I can get one of my Taiwanese relatives to translate for you. They may charge you for the service, but that is out of my control.
 
HawaiianEye said:
Maybe I'm just a better dealer than you.

What relationship you have going on? Do you have Taiwanese relatives there who speak Chinese and have businesses there? I do. Do you think you can get a better deal from a Taiwanese company than another Taiwanese business man down the road can get.

Maybe you need to fly over there and talk to them. I can get one of my Taiwanese relatives to translate for you. They may charge you for the service, but that is out of my control.
Click to expand...

My business partner is born and raised in Taiwan. Was over meeting Mr Tsai during lunar new year. My relationship is fine, thanks. We were the first guys to bring MIT cues to North America. But thanks for the offer.

So, yeah, I have all the things you’re telling me I need. Thanks.
 
Shawn Armstrong said:
OMFG. Yes, it’s ebony.
Click to expand...

Okay, well, Pechauer told me in an email awhile back that real Ebony is getting rare and much more expensive, so it is only seen in cues that retail for at least a $1,000.

I keep posting things that make me look like an idiot though, so I should stop assuming things that I know nothing about.

Diamond wood may not be as hard to find and expensive as it used to be either, and the same may have changed with Ebony.
 
animatedvmaker said:
Okay, well, Pechauer told me in an email awhile back that real Ebony is getting rare and much more expensive, so it is only seen in cues that retail for at least a $1,000.

I keep posting things that make me look like an idiot though, so I should stop assuming things that I know nothing about.

Diamond wood may not be as hard to find and expensive as it used to be either, and the same may have changed with Ebony.
Click to expand...

The plant that made dymondwood burned down. No more supply.

Ebony is still available.
 
Shawn Armstrong said:
My business partner is born and raised in Taiwan. Was over meeting Mr Tsai during lunar new year. My relationship is fine, thanks. We were the first guys to bring MIT cues to North America. But thanks for the offer.

So, yeah, I have all the things you’re telling me I need. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Nice to hear.

Hope you sell a bunch.

How much is your mark up?

You know we have to look out for the customers.

I hear a Chinese conversation with Taiwan going on at this very moment in the next room. Maybe I should get them to get me a Taiwan wholesale price list.

Just for curiousty sake.

I'm not a cue seller. I just buy cues.
 
Shawn Armstrong said:
The plant that made dymondwood burned down. No more supply.

Ebony is still available.
Click to expand...

Okay, here is an example of what I was talking about.

https://pechauer.com/product/jp-series-q-jp16-q/

Pechauer says that the points and the butt sleeve in that cue are simulated Ebony.

And even that cue is fairly expensive, at close to $500, and has no real Ebony in it.

Not even this close to $800 Pro Series Pechauer has any real Ebony in it.

https://pechauer.com/product/p11-k/

I finally found one, which is a Limited Edition $1800 model, that does have real Ebony in it.

https://pechauer.com/product/pl-22-limited-edition/

So, it does seem that real Ebony is only found in cues that are pretty high end, like Pechauer told me in an email awhile back.
 
Last edited:
Okay, maybe what Pechauer told me is not true, because here is an all Ebony cue (unless OB is lying about using real Ebony in the cue) for around $500.

https://www.obcues.com/product/ob-1824-pool-cue/#shaft-type

I just noticed that that price is just for the butt, so it would actually be around $700 with a shaft added.

Still does not make sense why Pechauer would not use any real Ebony in one of his higher end $800 cues though, unless Ebony were really that expensive.
 
Last edited:
animatedvmaker said:
Do you believe it is real Ebony, and not just painted to appear to be Ebony? A cue maker in recent years told me that cue makers are only using Ebony in high end cues these days, because it is so expensive to put in cues.

Awhile back, I seen someone post a pic on here of a plain jane black Predator, that he had refinished, and during the refinish process, the black paint came off the the butt to reveal a straight grain maple wood.
Click to expand...

You were told incorrectly by the cue maker. Ebony is neither rare nor particularly expensive.
 
Anyone have a pic of a cue made with koa? Really like that wood, always wondered what it would look like in a cue.
 
HNTFSH said:
Tell me about, I own a Robert Weir cue. :lmao:

If you're not familiar with the story you can google it back to this site for background. Now wife, then girlfriend, bought it for me in the early 80's and we both heard the story about the up and coming Texas cue maker Bob Weir. :slap:

But as it turns out it is a great playing cue, hits great for me. Stayed straight together and apart for 40 years now. I sent it to Proficient for a refinish, ferrule, and tip along with a fix to the weigh bolt I screwed up a couple months ago.

Couldn't have cost more the $125.00 back then. Wouldn't trade it for the world
now. I wonder what it would be worth now if Bob Weir was a famous cue maker?? :rotflmao1:
Click to expand...

There’s a “Wings-n-Things” restaurant here with an identical logo. Maybe Mr. Weir could sue and become famous.
 
JC said:
You were told incorrectly by the cue maker. Ebony is neither rare nor particularly expensive.
Click to expand...

I don't know where he gets his information from. He starts stories and fables, over and over, only to be constantly corrected by someone else.
 
Cornerman said:
I think this is a fair question. I'm going to answer from a manufacturing viewpoint, since that's a fair analogy. I and my cohorts have 3rd party builder make things for us all the time. But it's totally fair to say, "I built a tool for that project," even though the physical machining and assembling of that tool was done by a contracted 3rd party. Totally normal conversation in the manufacturing world.

I also added to the other thread that if you buy a Schuler Cue today, it's built by Jacoby. You'd be buying a Schuler Cue, not a Jacoby. You can say it's a Jacoby-built Schuler Cue or whatever, but it's still a Schuler Cue.
Click to expand...

But, assuming Ray was still alive, you could NOT say the cue was being built by Ray.
 
HawaiianEye said:
Nice to hear.

Hope you sell a bunch.

How much is your mark up?

You know we have to look out for the customers.

I hear a Chinese conversation with Taiwan going on at this very moment in the next room. Maybe I should get them to get me a Taiwan wholesale price list.

Just for curiousty sake.

I'm not a cue seller. I just buy cues.
Click to expand...

Buy cues? I thought you traded cues......
 
Cornerman said:
It happens like that in consumer goods today (that a US company has their stuff built in a Chinese factory). I can't speak to any US cue companies that have done the same without spreading an unfounded rumor.

But, I know that there are a number of cue builders out there that contract out builds to other cue builders. It happens. Nobody is batting an eye to it, and maybe the people who do bat an eye don't realize this type of thing happens from shaft building to finish coating.
Click to expand...


Fair enough. Most folks are aware that the Black Forest region in Germany makes authentic cuckoo clocks. Several companies make them, and they are hand crafted works of arts with German movements as well. It's stamped Made in German for a reason.

So, sure, I could hire them to make RJ's cuckoo clocks and sell them. But, if I had them made in Taiwan but "hinted" they were from the Black Forest, or that Hans Gruber was returning to assist in the production of my clocks, because he was a well known clock maker that retired a few years back, than it would be unethical. Not a question of ethics, but flat our unethical.
 
ChicagoRJ said:
Fair enough. Most folks are aware that the Black Forest region in Germany makes authentic cuckoo clocks. Several companies make them, and they are hand crafted works of arts with German movements as well. It's stamped Made in German for a reason.

So, sure, I could hire them to make RJ's cuckoo clocks and sell them. But, if I had them made in Taiwan but "hinted" they were from the Black Forest, or that Hans Gruber was returning to assist in the production of my clocks, because he was a well known clock maker that retired a few years back, than it would be unethical. Not a question of ethics, but flat our unethical.
Click to expand...

I personally agree with you on this, and I think this situation highlights that legality and morality are not always on the same page.

Why not just say its a collaboration between himself, Jack Potter and Dave Schmekle.

White labeling is legal, but I agree about it being unethical or at least unbecoming, at least once you start saying "Hans Gruber is making these clocks personally".

AZ is sorta like a second family, so why the need for the hustle and misleading words.

Just an opinion, I'd like to say RIP to Bill Stroud, I was reading a thread from many years back where he and Fred were discussing CNC work and 4 axis machining.

Part of what I took from their conversation is that different industries may recognize terminology a little differently, what Fred and Bill call 4 axis machining may slightly vary.

Well with cue making once you start saying "this cue was made by John Doe", there is a certain expectation of what you are going to get and who would be doing at least some if not most of the work.

I would believe this kinda thing would be looked down upon in the cue world, It's not like Weir is greatly regarded and will go down as a great builder, just someone who deceived folks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top