Classic Cue Market Dying Off

[TheGrandWazoo]

Im one of the younger guys who play at my local hall, and i’m 29, which is another issue in and of itself. From my perspective and a lot of the other guys around my age, its just easier to buy a predator or a cuetec and call it a day. I bought an older 6 point roadline and 314-2 from a friend, and put a Revo 12.4 on it. It shoots amazing and has next to no deflection. I got a McDermott stinger jump break about a year into playing and then bought a Hanshew jump cue from another friend about 2 years into playing as a fun gift to myself for my birthday, completely unnecessary. These offer all the cue i’ll ever need, and don’t command the custom cue/vintage cue pricing I see on here and other websites. Also, the ecomomy is horrible for everyone, but I specifically see it impacting younger people my age as we aren’t as well established in careers among other things. Its hard to justify frivolous purchases for a hobby.

You make the point perfectly.

 

[Moe Szyslak]

Im one of the younger guys who play at my local hall, and i’m 29, which is another issue in and of itself. From my perspective and a lot of the other guys around my age, its just easier to buy a predator or a cuetec and call it a day. I bought an older 6 point roadline and 314-2 from a friend, and put a Revo 12.4 on it. It shoots amazing and has next to no deflection. I got a McDermott stinger jump break about a year into playing and then bought a Hanshew jump cue from another friend about 2 years into playing as a fun gift to myself for my birthday, completely unnecessary. These offer all the cue i’ll ever need, and don’t command the custom cue/vintage cue pricing I see on here and other websites. Also, the ecomomy is horrible for everyone, but I specifically see it impacting younger people my age as we aren’t as well established in careers among other things. Its hard to justify frivolous purchases for a hobby.

Imagine you go to buy a golf club and they tell you it will take six months and they'll email you when it's ready...maybe. And it costs 10 times what you can get off the rack, but look at the pin striping on the handle! And they assure you that the feel is 10x better than the feel of the one that's 10x cheaper, and if you don't agree you can't play.

 

[maha]

hit cues till you find one that gives you the hit you want and feels comfortable in your hands. and buy and use that one.

forget about inlays and looks.

 

[jasonlaus]

Pretty quick by custom standards means not waiting 2-5 years.

You wanna wait 2-5 years for someone to work with kiln dried lumber? Be my guest. I guess there's the scenic route for everything, but waiting years to make a cue with kiln dried lumber is like aging a box of franzia saying it gets better with age.... But then again, I do enjoy reading all the posts from you old timers complaining "My custom maker hasn't contacted me in years! When is my cue going to be done!", so to each their own.

Also, with some planning, it's not hard to have a stock of wood consistently seasoned ready to work. For every cue I make, I buy enough wood to make 3 more cues. I will never out build my wood supply, and I will never even get close to having to touch wood that's been sitting less than 8-10 months, which is more than kiln dried needs. I started seasoning and stocking wood almost a year before I started building cues. I've got a room in my basement stacked floor to wall, wall to wall with wood that gets rotated and re-placed 3x when a piece is used. It's extremely over-kill for how many or how little cues I produce, but I am in this for the long haul, and you need a river of wood to do it.

Anyways, thanks for your support.

You should probably stay quiet on this one

 

[maha]

?

 

[Benelli]

Yup,,,,turning 80 this summer…….not sure how many more racks are in me but I’ll keep playing as long as my body will let me. Thinking of having a fancy SP cue built with a KW shaft but only a few cue makers seem capable of building a KW shaft to my specs. I am pondering the best wood combo to use for the cue butt and forearm.I don’t want to use ebony and if anyone has photos of a really nice SP design, please send me any photos or post it on this thread as a reply. It actually can coincide with the custom cues theme….a custom made SP cue…how much is too much to pay?

Just get a nice Rounceville blank off Bell Forest and then get a up and coming maker to finish to your specs.

I just bought a ebony into ebony to turn into my new break cue and I'm having Scott Gilmore finish it.

Super excited for this one!

 

[vincett]

Just get a nice Rounceville blank off Bell Forest and then get a up and coming maker to finish to your specs.

I just bought a ebony into ebony to turn into my new break cue and I'm having Scott Gilmore finish it.

Super excited for this one!

I dont even know any of these custom cue makers. But a for sure thing is that Predator or Cue Lee will always be easier to sell used.

I dont even know how a custom cue can make you shoot better when Pool itself is all about "guesstimate aiming system" unlike a gun where you can have a clear aim line, unless sniper where you should take into account of other elements.

Pool balls does have the center ball system as the foundations but it doesnt always work in your favor. So how does a custom cue make you shoot better is beyond me. It is the player that brings fame to the cuestick...not the other way around

 

[Bavafongoul]

Until you play with a variety of cues, it is challenging to understand there is a difference in pool cues.
Think of it this way. It isn’t necessarily the cook making the meal but rather the recipe that is followed.

Can you appreciate that as an example that applies to cue makers as well? If you locate a cue that you
thinks feels the best, lets you achieve you the best cue ball control for the variety of shots you encounter
in a match, then any cue built to those specs will play better than other cues you might have. The specs
are more important than the cue maker making the cue unless the person did questionable workmanship.

Follow the recipe and the meal turns out great. Change it and the results are different, not necessarily better.
Build a cue to the specs you like the best. If you don’t know, take the time to find out. A cue built to those
specs in a SP or fancy design will just overall play better. The price of a cue is unimportant to how it plays.

 

[Benelli]

I dont even know any of these custom cue makers. But a for sure thing is that Predator or Cue Lee will always be easier to sell used.

I dont even know how a custom cue can make you shoot better when Pool itself is all about "guesstimate aiming system" unlike a gun where you can have a clear aim line, unless sniper where you should take into account of other elements.

Pool balls does have the center ball system as the foundations but it doesnt always work in your favor. So how does a custom cue make you shoot better is beyond me. It is the player that brings fame to the cuestick...not the other way around

If there was any validity to this line of logic all baseball players would use the exact same style and weight of bat since it's the Indian not the arrow.

Many of the same factors that go into the selection of a bat also go into the selection of a cue.

I recommend reading up on bats, how their made, and the performance characteristics of even minor design changes.

 

[Frosty]

Pretty quick by custom standards means not waiting 2-5 years.

You wanna wait 2-5 years for someone to work with kiln dried lumber? Be my guest. I guess there's the scenic route for everything, but waiting years to make a cue with kiln dried lumber is like aging a box of franzia saying it gets better with age.... But then again, I do enjoy reading all the posts from you old timers complaining "My custom maker hasn't contacted me in years! When is my cue going to be done!", so to each their own.

Also, with some planning, it's not hard to have a stock of wood consistently seasoned ready to work. For every cue I make, I buy enough wood to make 3 more cues. I will never out build my wood supply, and I will never even get close to having to touch wood that's been sitting less than 8-10 months, which is more than kiln dried needs. I started seasoning and stocking wood almost a year before I started building cues. I've got a room in my basement stacked floor to wall, wall to wall with wood that gets rotated and re-placed 3x when a piece is used. It's extremely over-kill for how many or how little cues I produce, but I am in this for the long haul, and you need a river of wood to do it.

Anyways, thanks for your support.

Wow, you’re so much smarter and and better prepared than other custom makers .

Perhaps they have a wait because they have a history of work, their cues, that attest to their talent. Maybe you don’t have a wait, not because of your wood supply theory, but because no one knows who you are because the work you’ve produced hasn’t garnered any notoriety. Not a judgement, just an observation, but please feel free to continue to pontificate on the subject.