I received my Scott Gracio cue yesterday. Will post pics soon. The cue is a homage to the more famous Zamboti ebony and ivory box and propeller cue that some may have seen in past billiard publications. Scott added dice pairs above and below the ivory boxes and propellers as his unique design concept. so the cue is all ebony wood and everything else- ferrules, joint, rings, inlays, buttcap is ivory. Wrap is black leather.
Myself and two other gents with a combined total of over 100 years experience dating back to the mid 1960's playing, collecting and viewing cues and billiards played a bit with the cue last night. One shaft will remain unplayed. Together the three of us have played with 80% of the top 25 cuemakers cues- in our opinion.
In terms of playability, the cue features a slight forward balance, feels a bit lighter than the 19.2 OZ weight, draws and spins easily, and displays a solid yet resonent hit on the cue ball that really rings very true. Shaft work is as good as any that we had seen.
Cue construction was right up there with the best- this may have been one of Gracio's last few cues- we are all amazed at his workmanship and detail expertise given that it appears he had a rather short cue making career.
All ivory inlays are totally flush to the cue body, original ivory dice inlays and the veneer boarders for the ivory boxes are executed with perfection. I cannot follow the leather wrap seam- that is how flawless it had been executed. Our collective overall view is that Scott Gracio was on track to be considered as an all time cuemaker- he obviously had more than the average skill and artistic insight coupled with great execution ability. What a shame that he had a bad break- hopefully he recovers and comes back to claim his rightful place in this profession. I am sorry if I offended anyone in this thread- was not meant to be that way. This cue will be a permanent part of my now small collection. Regards, Mike
