Cue experts question

PhilosopherKing

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I believe the words in the top-left corner of the second catalog image form one of the most absurd statements ever written.
 

luvofpool

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Sorry everyone for not posting pics. Won't let me do it for some reason. Or I can't figure it out. Tried the paperclip icon and won't download. Cue is not for sale but thanks for everyone's input. I'll see if I can figure it out. If anyone would like to private message me and provide phone number I can just send pics that way.
 

jackpot

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Think about it

Boy oh boy,some cue experts you guys are. number one , why in the world would
George Balabushka go around signing cues that he didn't make and the signatures
all look the same .If someone else was signing them the signature would vary a
little, and since he died 1975 the cue obviously is older than 20years just do the
math for crying out loud.
jack
 

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
Boy oh boy,some cue experts you guys are. number one , why in the world would
George Balabushka go around signing cues that he didn't make and the signatures
all look the same .If someone else was signing them the signature would vary a
little, and since he died 1975 the cue obviously is older than 20years just do the
math for crying out loud.
jack
Not sure who you're calling out, Jack. Everyone that responded to the original poster agrees with you.

BTW, all Tascarellas except a few very early ones have exactly the same signature, since Pete was the pioneer of using a stamped signature.
 

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
Learn something new everyday, it would be interesting to know when they let the first GB1 cue out the door.

One of the interesting things is the Adam Balabushka prototypes that have made their way into the open market. No idea when they were made, but they may have been built or stamped/signed before the inked agreement.

The timeline is something like this:

Late 70's (maybe early 80's) - Forman approaches Tascarella for contact information for the the Balabushka family. Pete at the time was doing repair work for Adam USA (tips, ferrules, wraps) a couple days a week at the Adam USA repair facility. No, he didn't use Adam blanks, as the common myth reports. He initially used Szamboti and Spain/Davis blanks, and his brother-in-law built him fixtures to make blanks himself. He had unturned Szamboti blanks as a model.

October 1987 - The official licensing agreement between Adam Cues and the Balabushka family gets inked.

So, there's plenty of years between first contact and the ink deal. And there are these "prototype" with different lettering that aren't in any catalog. If the deal gets inked in Oct 1987, you'd think it would be in 1988 when the first GB1 rolled out. The cues were probably built (maybe) and the lag time between contract and release would be the time it takes to make a signature stamp and finish the cues. Maybe the "prototype" cues were just tests for the mechanical signature, and they came after the inked deal.

I've got my thoughts.


Freddie <~~~ myth buster
 
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luvofpool

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hopefully these pics show up.
 

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Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
Helping out the OP with the forearm of the cue in question.

Freddie <~~~ $380
 

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luvofpool

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Finally got them i think.
 

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luvofpool

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Looks like a gb1? I didn't see any markings on it and some of the points are not very precise.
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Easy way to tell Japanese vs. Chinese 'bushka copys is the joint rings. Japanese built cues had nickel-thick rings. Newer Chinese cues have the thin rings.
 
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