Great stuff, thank you for the info!!!! Ironic that you mention the sub-rail thing starting about 17 years ago, I had my rails modified 13 years ago, in early 2013. It seems shortly after that those guys went from recommending Artemis to Superspeeds becoming the desired cushion.
Sometimes, even the experts learn new tricks.
When the Brunswick sub-rail modification craze hit, Glen was shouting the loudest (I'm not knocking him, btw. I love the guy). He's a Diamond guy. Diamonds use Artemis, as they are supposed to be "the best" cushion available.... Well, they are a high-quality full gum rubber cushion, but they were designed for carom, not pool. Regardless, Diamond still felt that that's what they should be using on their tables. And, who could blame them? They were trying to use the best product available... As a result, they changed the game entirely. Because their tables are so easy to install at tournaments, they were able to build some of the largest tournaments around (Derby City Classic, Super Billiards Expo, etc). Now that a significant number of people are playing on them at these big events, the number of people who want them in their homes has continually increased. That's how the Diamond craze began. With that, those who couldn't afford the real thing, wanted to have their table modified "to play like a Diamond".
And so, this is where sub-rail modification for Brunswick tables came into the mix. If you are going to modify your Brunswick table to play like a Diamond, it had better have Artemis cushions on it. When this all came about, that's why Artemis cushions were the cushion of choice.
However, Mark ultimately decided that a Brunswick should play like a Brunswick. Back in the late 80's-early 90's, Brunswick had a bad batch of Superspeeds. They would harden up prematurely, and require replacement. Because of that, most people were afraid to use them, from fear that they were forever going to be a junk cushion. Though, at some point, the recipe was corrected, and Superspeed once again became a quality cushion. Once Mark regained confidence in the cushions, he decided that there really isn't a much better playing cushion available, for use on a Brunswick table. In fact, they even play wonderfully on a Diamond table. Once Mark made his claim regarding Superspeed cushions, Glen followed suit. In my opinion, it's the correct call. I try to always use Superspeed on Brunswick tables, unless the customer insists on something different.
Nowadays, it seems like the cult of people wanting their Gold Crowns to play like Diamonds has largely died down. The price of Artemis cushions is through the roof, and their longevity really isn't all that great... The usable service life is only about 15-20 years.
I used to work on 8-10 Gold Crowns per year. The last 2 years, we've worked on maybe 2/year. I think we're down to maybe 1 Brunswick sub-rail modification per year, for the last few years. Though, we are doing more Diamond Blue Label conversions.... I view it as a sign of the times. I think that the desire for owning an older Gold Crown is fading. In fact, I have 6 of them in storage. It's been about 3 years since anyone has asked me about purchasing one.... Any real player in our area wants a Diamond, because that's what all of the local rooms have.
I'm curious to see what the future holds for 9' table sales. Everyone is currently chasing Diamond. Even the new Gold Crown VII has drawn significant inspiration from Diamond (particularly in the use of Artemis Intercontinental 66 cushions). It will be interesting to see if any of the new table models will create much of a disruption in Diamond sales.
