A.E Schmidt tables

DrCue'sProtege said:
At the prices they have listed not sure why anyone would want an A.E. Schmidt table when for about the same price you could have a new Diamond. Am I missing something here?

I remember years ago I had a table that was called a E.A. Burgin table. A guy from Murfreesboro, TN named Skip Burgin made the tables. Haven't heard a word about Burgin tables for nearly 25 years now.

r/DCP
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AE Schmidt was founded 1859?
I think they're success back then made Brunswick to St Louis. Why else?

The company today is just a small fraction of where they were, but all the knowledge and all their blueprints are still in their posession. I'm sure if someone wanted a Collosus, they would build one..

I've gone into their nearly original factory on Sidney St. several times. Today's operation is a small fraction of yesteryear, but still family and still a lot of manual hand work.

Table legs are imported for sure.

Rails & Frame are done in house.

Brunswick is made in China with similar prices to you and me.
 
I browsed their site for the first time after watching the video. Prices seem very reasonable for a 500 table per year volume. I'm surprised they can stay in business charging what seems to be a $7000 avg table price. That's less than what Diamond charges and Diamond makes a hell of a lot more tables.

I might consider them if I was in the market for a new table. I'd need to play on one to see how the cushions and pockets play.
 
ShootingArts said:
I think some of the first tables I played on were AESchmidts. They were very old, ten feet I believe, and built like a Mack truck. Those solid old tables, thick cowhide pockets, and thick slate influenced how I thought tables should play and feel. Around an inch of slate is the standard now but I ran into two and even three inch slate way back when. As soon as you rolled a ball you knew you were on heavy slate. I don't know if it was vibration or what, as far as I know all tables made today have inferior beds.

One of the things I think needs improvement in the pool world is table beds. Might be time to get away from slate. I don't know if it is a step in the right direction or not but there were some beds made from granite, maybe marble. I'm sure weight was an issue but two to three inches of those stones would probably play awesome. Today we should be able to build something light and stiff out of some synthetic though.

You are somebody that might remember: Wasn't there a Schmidt and somebody or somebody and Schmidt table? Seemed like they used to be some in one of my old hangouts. These are all memories in the neighborhood of fifty years old, minor details have faded a bit.

Hu
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Maybe you're thinking rifle scopes. Schmidt&Bender in Germany makes some of THE finest optics on the planet. I know a guy that has a side gig 'removing' pest animals. He uses a simple Mossberg bolt gun in .223 topped by a big ass $3000 S&B scope. With the suppressor its sounds like my pcp air rifle goin off. He can take coyotes in pretty built-up areas and no one even knows he's there.
 
iusedtoberich said:
I browsed their site for the first time after watching the video. Prices seem very reasonable for a 500 table per year volume. I'm surprised they can stay in business charging what seems to be a $7000 avg table price. That's less than what Diamond charges and Diamond makes a hell of a lot more tables.

I might consider them if I was in the market for a new table. I'd need to play on one to see how the cushions and pockets play.
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When you walk in the showroom wearin your Predator fanboy t-shirt talking all kinds of 'it better play like a GC' shit they're gonna toss you on your ass. ;)
 
TrxR said:
What can every tell me about A.E Schmidt tables? Are these more furniture tables?
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Grand-Olive Billiards in St Louis had 24 of them -- 15 pocket billiards, 7 three-cushion and 2 snooker. There's a post card showing them kicking around this site. What a place it was!
 
Peter Vitalie is another company that I believe has a similar small production, hand made, business model? Cool to see those companies still going. I don't think I've ever played on either though.
 
iusedtoberich said:
Peter Vitalie is another company that I believe has a similar small production, hand made, business model? Cool to see those companies still going. I don't think I've ever played on either though.
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Vitalie is no more. They did make pretty decent tables at one time. They closed in '10 and the owners of American Heritage tables bought all the equip. In '14 AH was bought by EscaladeSports, parent co. of Cue-n-Case, Brunswick.
 
garczar said:
Maybe you're thinking rifle scopes. Schmidt&Bender in Germany makes some of THE finest optics on the planet. I know a guy that has a side gig 'removing' pest animals. He uses a simple Mossberg bolt gun in .223 topped by a big ass $3000 S&B scope. With the suppressor its sounds like my pcp air rifle goin off. He can take coyotes in pretty built-up areas and no one even knows he's there.
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I remember this from a plate on the tables. I did think of the Schmidt and Bender scopes which are a red herring for my mental paths. I can almost see the old cast plate but can't quite put it together. Might have been three names like the old Brunswick Baulk Collander tables. Perhaps the first name was spelled out?

I don't know. Memory won't quite get me there right now. Might pop in my head in a few weeks or months.

Hu
 
DrCue'sProtege said:
At the prices they have listed not sure why anyone would want an A.E. Schmidt table when for about the same price you could have a new Diamond. Am I missing something here?

I remember years ago I had a table that was called a E.A. Burgin table. A guy from Murfreesboro, TN named Skip Burgin made the tables. Haven't heard a word about Burgin tables for nearly 25 years now.

r/DCP
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Maybe it’s because I grew up in STL and loved the way Schmidt tables played but if I were in the market for a new table I might well buy an AESchmidt St Louisan because:

1. I don’t like Diamonds — they bank differently, they hang up more balls than other tables and to me they have no real style.

2. I like to support 160 year old family businesses that may not be doing so well.

3. I like owning something that not that many people have.

4. I don’t care much about resale value and wouldn’t plan on selling it. I’ll let my executor or my wife’s next husband deal with that.
 
In the pool hall that I grew up in and worked as a kid, we had a mixture of Schmidts and Brunswicks and all of them were kept in excellent condition.

Anybody who played well or gambled always preferred the Schmidts.
 
very large German community in St. Louis and the metro east side of Illinois. My mother's side of the family were German immigrants from the 1800s, pre-Civil War. Lots of pride in their work. Schmidt fits that model, just like Anheuser-Busch. this is home area for Red Schoendienst and Whitey Herzog, still many, many German heritage families in the area today
 
The Old Jaybird said:
very large German community in St. Louis and the metro east side of Illinois. My mother's side of the family were German immigrants from the 1800s, pre-Civil War. Lots of pride in their work. Schmidt fits that model, just like Anheuser-Busch. this is home area for Red Schoendienst and Whitey Herzog, still many, many German heritage families in the area today
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The Old Jaybird,

I named my dog after Whitey Herzog. She's a Dachshund. Her full registered name is Whitey HerDog.

r/DCP
 
Logandgriff said:
Maybe it’s because I grew up in STL and loved the way Schmidt tables played but if I were in the market for a new table I might well buy an AESchmidt St Louisan because:

1. I don’t like Diamonds — they bank differently, they hang up more balls than other tables and to me they have no real style.

2. I like to support 160 year old family businesses that may not be doing so well.

3. I like owning something that not that many people have.

4. I don’t care much about resale value and wouldn’t plan on selling it. I’ll let my executor or my wife’s next husband deal with that.
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diamonds are fine ..... you just have to take the slop out of your game
 
Cr
The Old Jaybird said:
very large German community in St. Louis and the metro east side of Illinois. My mother's side of the family were German immigrants from the 1800s, pre-Civil War. Lots of pride in their work. Schmidt fits that model, just like Anheuser-Busch. this is home area for Red Schoendienst and Whitey Herzog, still many, many German heritage families in the area today
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Creatures of habit, once we find something that works and works well, we stick with it, even when something better comes along. We stubborn that way.😉
 
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