Custom and High End Cues on the Decline?

[muskyed]

you have to blame it on the changing times as well. old gens are lucky that they are able to afford when everything was within their grasp. don't have to save a lot to set them for life. and buying custom cues wasn't just a luxury, it was spent on mad money. nowadays, people can't even afford to pay the rent, bills, or even save for a holiday without working themselves to death.

I wouldn't be so sure about that assumption.
I do a lot of fishing and have had one boat or another for the last 50 yrs. When talking to the manager friend of mine at this place I buy my boats at a few years ago, he told me most of the walleye boats purchased, buyers wrote a check for, most of the bass boats were all financed. Bass boat prices at the time were 60k-100k, Walleye boats were 110k-140k. Older people like me bought most of the walleye boats, while younger bought most bass boats. My last one was close to 130k and thinking about a new one now.

 

[JasonATX]

Tickle Cues has colored carbon graphite butts and shafts at https://www.facebook.com/david.tickle.585118/

View attachment 874749_View attachment 874751

Those also look like they are wrapped/coated. I'd love to be wrong though.

 

[Bavafongoul]

Yep, I have found mine as well. Thanks Dean Campbell, aka Deano!

Dean Campbell is a friend and he turned me into 2 cue makers 15 years ago.
Both are people I became friends with. One has since retired and the other
has gone on to become one of the most heralded names in cue making today.

Deanoc is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to cue making & personally
knew the top named cue makers. I think he has done a lot to promote pool. I
know there will be naysayers that like to bring shit up. Screw ‘em……Dean was
always straight and true in all my dealings and I was involved helping him on the
Bushka I and Bushka II special projects that was lots of fun and some great cue
designs emerged from those projects. I know since I got to view every cue made.

 

[HawaiianEye]

Dean Campbell is a friend and he turned me into 2 cue makers 15 years ago.
Both are people I became friends with. One has since retired and the other
has gone on to become one of the most heralded names in cue making today.

Deanoc is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to cue making & personally
knew the top named cue makers. I think he has done a lot to promote pool. I
know there will be naysayers that like to bring shit up. Screw ‘em……Dean was
always straight and true in all my dealings and I was involved helping him on the
Bushka I and Bushka II special projects that was lots of fun and some great cue
designs emerged from those projects. I know since I got to view every cue made.

I have never had a bad deal with Dean.

 

[july9x]

Is it my imagination or do the younger (say under 40) pool players in general not care about custom or high end cues? My experience in Atlanta is that most anyone under 40 has no idea of Szamboti, Balabushka, Joss West etc. etc. or handmade custom cues in general. Most seem delighted to have any cue that comes in two parts. Decal points? No problem. Valhalla or Lucky etc. etc. cues no problem. The high end of their aspirations may be a painted Predator with a rubber grip.

If custom and high end cues were stocks on the NYSE, I'd short them.

Speaking as someone under 40, I’m actually interested enough to know of many of those cues, especially Southwest, and plenty of other one-man-shop, handmade custom cues. That said, there’s no way I’m spending $5,000 - $8,000 on a custom cue, Southwest or not, hell not even $3,000.

Southwest was popular largely because a lot of pros used them back in the day, so fans saw them on TV and associated them with top-level play, they look nothing special. That exposure mattered. Today, most people simply don’t know these makers. Among my under-40 peers, there’s very little interest, no stories attached, no shared history, and nothing that really sparks conversation.

Ironically, I would absolutely buy a limited or special-edition Predator for $3,000 . At least I know the brand, the tech, and that it’ll likely hold value. Also, half of the pool room are under 40 so I'm holding a head turning cue then

However, there is an exception: Asian market (China and Southeast Asian) - they would spend $10,000+ and wait 2+ years for a high-end custom cues. The re-sell market is huge other there too.

 

[Flakeandrun]

However, there is an exception: Asian market (China and Southeast Asian) - they would spend $10,000+ and wait 2+ years for a high-end custom cues. The re-sell market is huge other there too.

You're right, but even this market is shrinking, as people would rather buy something from their own backyard than across the ocean. I still know a few people who like to spend big on American hand made cues, and know the market well. Even then, lots tend to go REALLY big, with south west, black boar, TAD, Scruggs and others, before they go for many of the other great makers. What I see predominately, are what I would call 'factory custom' cues rising in price (like Zen, Exceed etc), where people choose from a variety of parts ready to be pieced together in a large warehouse, and a fabricated wait time of 2 years or more to simulate the rarity/specialness and drive the value up.

 

[Lowell]

You're right, but even this market is shrinking, as people would rather buy something from their own backyard than across the ocean. I still know a few people who like to spend big on American hand made cues, and know the market well. Even then, lots tend to go REALLY big, with south west, black boar, TAD, Scruggs and others, before they go for many of the other great makers. What I see predominately, are what I would call 'factory custom' cues rising in price (like Zen, Exceed etc), where people choose from a variety of parts ready to be pieced together in a large warehouse, and a fabricated wait time of 2 years or more to simulate the rarity/specialness and drive the value up.

If there were a reasonably priced online "build a cue" from a quality company with an actual high level of customization (especially for a reasonable price), I would totally be into it.

 

[SSP]

Same here. I like the fact that I can pick up any of the 12.9 Revos I have for different joints and it will play the same as the others do. I do shoot with wood once in a while, but that's usually for a joint I don't yet have a CF shaft for (3/8x11 for example).

I do wish other production companies besides Meucci would do custom joint collars though. One of the makers local to me has started doing double rings at the joint to give it the appearance of rings on a CF shaft and I guess that works out pretty well as an alternative.

A guy on my team stopped by the other night without his cue, He has a Lucasi he's played with for at least 20 years that he put a cheaper CF shaft on, he has been really happy with it, I let him use a Becue Natural Born Naked cue that I have, one of the first things he said to me was this cue has a lot more power than mine, I told him the cue doesn't have more power it only transmits the power you use more efficiently, he was really surprised by what a difference a full CF cue makes, slapping a CF shaft on your cue will help but it's nothing like a full CF cue, especially Becue.

 

[HawaiianEye]

A guy on my team stopped by the other night without his cue, He has a Lucasi he's played with for at least 20 years that he put a cheaper CF shaft on, he has been really happy with it, I let him use a Becue Natural Born Naked cue that I have, one of the first things he said to me was this cue has a lot more power than mine, I told him the cue doesn't have more power it only transmits the power you use more efficiently, he was really surprised by what a difference a full CF cue makes, slapping a CF shaft on your cue will help but it's nothing like a full CF cue, especially Becue.

That is what I have said, too.

The combination of carbon fiber shaft and butt together is what makes the Becue play so well.

 

[Ascue]

Is it my imagination or do the younger (say under 40) pool players in general not care about custom or high end cues? My experience in Atlanta is that most anyone under 40 has no idea of Szamboti, Balabushka, Joss West etc. etc. or handmade custom cues in general. Most seem delighted to have any cue that comes in two parts. Decal points? No problem. Valhalla or Lucky etc. etc. cues no problem. The high end of their aspirations may be a painted Predator with a rubber grip.

If custom and high end cues were stocks on the NYSE, I'd short them.

Yea the younger generation , in ways, are smarter than they get credit for. You can ask who makes the best cue. Everyone has a different answer. Which has the best hit? Every cuemaker will get at least 1 mention. Revo shaft doesn't even get respect any more. Younger players just want it black. Three short years ago, a merry widow from a pretty good cuemaker was 750. Some as high as 1000. Now its 2000. Ive got several custom cues but finding it hard to pull the trigger on another. I can feel the difference from cuemaker to cuemaker and my revo collects dust because it has no feel. But I also know my wood to wood sneaky by pechauer plays just as well with great feel at 300 bucks.

 

[ibuycues]

Dean Campbell is a friend and he turned me into 2 cue makers 15 years ago.
Both are people I became friends with. One has since retired and the other
has gone on to become one of the most heralded names in cue making today.

Deanoc is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to cue making & personally
knew the top named cue makers. I think he has done a lot to promote pool. I
know there will be naysayers that like to bring shit up. Screw ‘em……Dean was
always straight and true in all my dealings and I was involved helping him on the
Bushka I and Bushka II special projects that was lots of fun and some great cue
designs emerged from those projects. I know since I got to view every cue made.

Dean is one of my very good friends. He and his wife June have come to Kansas
City and stayed at our home. Over the years we’ve done over a dozen big
deals, always delighted and perfectly happy. Both ways.
Done with a handshake.

I appreciate your nice comments about Dean, they come no better.

Will Prout

 

[Hail Mary Shot]

I wouldn't be so sure about that assumption.
I do a lot of fishing and have had one boat or another for the last 50 yrs. When talking to the manager friend of mine at this place I buy my boats at a few years ago, he told me most of the walleye boats purchased, buyers wrote a check for, most of the bass boats were all financed. Bass boat prices at the time were 60k-100k, Walleye boats were 110k-140k. Older people like me bought most of the walleye boats, while younger bought most bass boats. My last one was close to 130k and thinking about a new one now.

it's not an assumption but facts. nothing is free nowadays. even some fricking garbage are sold at a cost. as far as boats go, I have no idea at all but I do know my employer (bless him) before was able to afford a yacht easily and several prime properties which were then valued for nothing. his family owned company was established by him and started small. I wouldn't say they are a big contracting firm but they were getting good contracts nonetheless. skills are pretty much basic and I could do most of the work like he did. doing the same thing nowadays of starting small is a lot more challenging now due to competition and need some really great connections and luck. if I could turn back time, I would have done a lot of investment on other things that I love which now cost a fortune. lost a lot on bad investments which I never had a liking for. otherwise, I would be retired by now and enjoy more pool time.