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

skor said:
Maybe
But if I was a proud cue maker, I would have wanted to have my name on it.
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With respect to Schuler, his joint, and his classic designs, they should be called Schuler SLC, no matter who currently builds them.

Jacoby has made cues for Predator too, for example. And, probably other cue makers, or brands.

So, Schuler SLC is basically a brand, and should be called Schuler, because that was his joint that he invented, and Schuler designs are very unique to Schuler, I believe.
 
Cornerman said:
I wrote the InsidePOOL article on Schuler Cues shortly after Ray passed, and interviewed everyone at the shop during my visit. Prior to Ray passing, Noel was already the lead cuemaker. Ray signed the cues, but Noel started playing around with signing. When Ray passed, Noel continued being the lead cuemaker, and his brother was also on the build team. By that time, Terry Trim was sole owner, and his son Bryan was the shop manager. The decision was for Noel to sign Ray’s name, and they added SLC to mark the era.

Terry decided to outsource the build to contract manufacturing, and Jacoby was the choice. The Jacobys do the signing (I believe with a machine) and they underline the SLC to mark the era.

There’s a about a dozen other things to say, but I think I answered the question. Let me know if that works for you.
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Thanks a lot. So, Noel was the head cue maker at Schuler, after Ray passed away, and up until Jacoby started building Schuler cues. Thanks again.

So, I assume that it was after Jacoby started building Schuler SLC cues, is when Noel began building them, and signing them Noel Mendoza by Schuler, if I have that right? Thanks.
 
Cornerman said:
Please stop doing this. Or delete your post when you get the right information.

The cue build and ownership was the same just prior to and after Ray passed. Terry Trim was owner, and the Mendozas were building the cues.

Probably the biggest changes to Schuler cue happened when Ivan Lee started building cues there for a time. It was that period when Ray agreed to change the butt thickness away from an old school cue thickness to a slight thinner butt.

“Ray had big hands, so making the butt thinner wasnt on his mind,” Ivan told me.

Ivan also was responsible for introducing more intricate inlay designs into the cue. Ray was never an aesthetic or artistic guy, and he was more concerned with the feel and feedback of the cue.
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Okay, I understand now, and I will remember what you said. Thanks.
 
vintagecollectibles831 said:
Thanks a lot. So, Noel was the head cue maker at Schuler, after Ray passed away, and up until Jacoby started building Schuler cues. Thanks again.

So, I assume that it was after Jacoby started building Schuler SLC cues, is when Noel began building them, and signing them Noel Mendoza by Schuler, if I have that right? Thanks.
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For a little more clarity, at least a year before Ray passed, Noel Mendoza took over the cue making responsibilities. Terry Trim had already taken over the business for the most part, and Ray was allowed to relax and smoke a cigar all day. So when Ray passed, that’s when Noel started signing the cues with SLC, no underline. SLC started when Ray passed. So aside from the letters, there really was no difference between original and SLC. Did Terry and his son ask to do some different things? Yes, but they didnt make any changes to the processes and design, but they did start making V-spliced cues, of which Ray wasn’t a big fan.

When Terry decided to close the shop and outsource the build to the Jacobys, that left Noel and his brother out. The Jacobys then started the underlining of the SLC.

Noel says that he received permission to build the same Schuler Cue design from Ray’s widow, Cathy Schuler. So he’s building them and signing how he signed them at the Schuler shop, and now adds “by Noel Mendoza,” I don’t know if all of his cues added this. Mine has it.

I don’t want to comment on legalities or contractual agreements as I have no idea what the exact wording is on Jacoby’s contract.

If you compare my Noel Mendoza Schuler next to my Original Schuler of the same model, they’re the same.

The Jacobys are building the Schuler Cues to a design specification and design drawings I assume. I dont believe they received the equipment or the CNC programs. But they know what they’re doing.
 
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Made me think of my Schuler’s.
Anytime I picked up a cue from Ray I would get a tour of his shop and a few good stories.
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FranCrimi said:
I was going to mention your name because I had a vague memory of your having one of his low deflection shafts. I played with a few of them, I guess at varying stages of development. It started when I told Ray I had a Predator shaft made to fit his cue. That didn't go over well with him at all, as you can imagine! He didn't like the idea of people putting someone else's shaft on his cues, so he started developing his own low deflection shaft. [...]
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lol. I walked into Ray's shop in Palatine probably late 1990s--met him and his wife. He got pretty animated talking about deflection, Bob Meucci, shaft tapers, and then I made the mistake of asking if he'd put his joint on a Predator 314 blank. Holy cow, the cigar really started moving then....
 
mikepage said:
lol. I walked into Ray's shop in Palatine probably late 1990s--met him and his wife. He got pretty animated talking about deflection, Bob Meucci, shaft tapers, and then I made the mistake of asking if he'd put his joint on a Predator 314 blank. Holy cow, the cigar really started moving then....
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Noel put one on for me!
 
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