Who built Schuler cues after Ray Schuler passed away, and were they good quality cues?

V

vintagecollectibles831

Active member
I am curious about the Schuler cues that were made after Ray Schuler passed away, but before Jacoby started building them.

Did Noel Mendoza taker over the Ray Schuler cue shop, or did he build cues on his own, using the Schuler joint? I guess that is an off topic question.

Mainly just curious who took over the shop after Ray Schuler passed away, and if you feel that those cues, with the SLC under the Ray Schuler signature, were good quality cues?

I also understand that the SLC cues with an underlined mark under the SLC are / were made by Jacoby, and that those cues are very high quality, from what I have been told.

So, for example, would you buy a Jacoby made Schuler, or a Schuler that was made after Schuler passed away, if you had the choice?

Any collector market for Schuler cues that were not made by Schuler or Jacoby? Are they worth much? Hard to sell? Easy to sell?

And, back to my original question. Who made them?

Just curious.

Thanks a lot for any thoughts.
 
I don't know all the particulars but what I believe is that Jacoby got licensed to sell Schueler cues under that name.
A Very Long time employee of Ray Schuler's shop was given permission to carry on the joint design.

That would be Noel Mendoza.

He signs his cues "Schuler by Mendoza"

His product is exactly true to Schuler design, as far as I can tell.
 
3kushn said:
I don't know all the particulars but what I believe is that Jacoby got licensed to sell Schueler cues under that name.
A Very Long time employee of Ray Schuler's shop was given permission to carry on the joint design.

That would be Noel Mendoza.

He signs his cues "Schuler by Mendoza"

His product is exactly true to Schuler design, as far as I can tell.
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Thanks.

I read that Ray Schuler passed away around 2002, iirc, and that Jacoby started building Schuler cues in around 2015. So, I am just curious who built Schuler cues between those two time frames. I see that Noel Mendoza signed his own name on cues that he made, so I understand now that he did not build Schuler SLC cues, before Jacoby started making them.
 
I wonder why would Jacoby wanted to build cues under the Schuler brand? As far as I remember, Jacoby was a bigger name than Schuler, back when Ray was still alive.
 
skor said:
I wonder why would Jacoby wanted to build cues under the Schuler brand? As far as I remember, Jacoby was a bigger name than Schuler, back when Ray was still alive.
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I recall there was a period of a couple years that Jacoby had acquired/licensed/was given the rights to a few cuemaker's brands. I guess they were trying to expand their line? IDK the reason.

The brands I recall were Schuler, Sledgehammer (although maybe McDermott got that one, now that I think about it), and Stingray.

This is all from memory of reading AZB front page a decade or two ago, and I might be completely off. ha ha.
 
AtLarge said:
This thread has some good information, particularly post #15: https://forums.azbilliards.com/thre...-the-ones-that-are-signed-in-the-butt.367088/
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Ray actually sold the shop to Terry Trim before he passed away. Ivan and Noel offered to buy the business, but for some reason, Ray refused. I don't know why --- maybe Trim made him a better offer --- but we all felt it was a mistake to sell it to Trim, who's main reason was for his son to have a business. Unfortunately, I don't' think either of them knew anything about cue-making. To show you how much they knew about the pool world, they were considering making Fast Larry a Schuler cue rep.

As for Ray's supposed lack of aging wood, I think at some point Ray must have addressed that problem, because Ray was my cue sponsor back in the 90s and I recall a temperature controlled room filled with wood that was being aged. I've had several of his cues over the years, still do, and have sold several to my students. Only one had a warping issue, but I don't know how that person stored his cue. But that was just one out of dozens that I know about.

I was very happy to hear when Noel started making Schuler cues again, since he was one of the primary cue makers working for Ray.
 
Ascue said:
Ive got an slc and it is straight and has a very nice feel. What else can be said?
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Is it an underlined SLC, or not Underlined? Because the underlined SLC cues were made by Jacoby. I understand now that the SLC cues that were not underlined were made by Terry Trim. Question is, were the Terry Trim SLC cues high quality cues? I do not know. I know that Jacoby are high quality though.
 
The reason Jacoby liked Schuler cues may have been thebpropriety joint. It was well liked especially around Chicago. Schuler didn't make elaborate or stunning cues but the hit is very nice. You seldom see an actual Schuler for sale.
 
vintagecollectibles831 said:
Is it an underlined SLC, or not Underlined? Because the underlined SLC cues were made by Jacoby. I understand now that the SLC cues that were not underlined were made by Terry Trim. Question is, were the Terry Trim SLC cues high quality cues? I do not know. I know that Jacoby are high quality though.
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I don't know all the particulars but what I believe is that Jacoby got licensed to sell Schueler cues under that name.
A Very Long time employee of Ray Schuler's shop was given Permission by the Schuler family to carry on the joint design.

That would be Noel Mendoza.

He signs his cues "Schuler by Mendoza"

His product is exactly true to Schuler design, as far as I can tell.
 
Ascue said:
The reason Jacoby liked Schuler cues may have been thebpropriety joint. It was well liked especially around Chicago. Schuler didn't make elaborate or stunning cues but the hit is very nice. You seldom see an actual Schuler for sale.
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Would have made sense if Jacoby used that joint. But they moved from 5/16x14 to radial
 
Ascue said:
I dont think schulers is a5/16 14 if that's what you are saying
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Jacoby used to be 5/16x14 and moved to Radial. So buying the Schuler brand for the joint makes no sense as Jacoby didn't use it (or maybe they did for a while)
 
billiards_watch said:
Good question.

A guy wants to sell me his and I have no idea who that maker is. Plain Jane merry widow with a bunch of original shafts.
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Here is what I learned.

Original Schuler was signed Ray Schuler, without an SLC shown.

Schuler cues made after he passed away in 2002 were signed Ray Schuler with an SLC under them, and made by Terry Trim.

Schuler cues made by Jacoby are / were signed Ray Schuler with an underlined SLC.

Noel Mendoza made Schuler cues were signed Noel Mendoza by Schuler, or something like that. And, that Mendoza made them with Schuler's wife's permission, after he passed away.
 
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