Hello,
I seen these on ebay , never heard of them and now they are making a color of money replica. These cues come from the Philippines and I wonder if they are of any quality or just cheap knock-offs. Has anyone on the forum have any experience with any of these. I posted here because I thought it would get more action . Thanks
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Boriz-Bill...thSearchFilter&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
Boriz cues are ok. Not good, ok. I had a look at a couple a few years ago. Craftmansship was good, but it was in the traditional style of the Phillipines cues. Playabilitiy was meh. Now I see several Phillipines makers making copy of US style custom cues and that maker has gotten on that bandwagon. If you don't mind buying copies, I guess it might be allright, but don't expect top quality. Remember that these makers do not necessarily have million dollar shops. They do an awesome job with the tools they have, but it's probably a lot tougher to be consistent under the conditions they have. All the ones I've seen had real inlays.
I've had several other Phillipines made cues in the traditional style. They're hit and miss. Some are bad, others ok and every once in a while you get one that's great. Mine were on the cheaper end of the spectrum. The cheapest ones had sloppy craftsmanship, but I bought one for 200 that was a real beauty. I mean at such low prices I don't think you can complain about a product that's entirely handmade. It didn't play as good as it looked.
I lost all mine in a break-in. One of them was awesome, ugly as sin, yet I got high$ offers all the time, even from one guy who wanted to take it on the Eurotour. That guy can play, and he offered me 600 dollars for a cue I paid 100 for. I got even higher offers than that. The shaftwood was worth the price alone, the tightest grain I've ever seen in person. It made a sweet high pitch pinging noise that you only find on the very best of cues. I refused to sell, of course. Such a cue you only get once in a lifetime. A burglar took it and probably threw it in a bin.
Usually good shaftwood cannnot be expected, they typically don't even use Nort American maple. Not only that, but the low cost makers don't have air conditioned shops, or even take the time to properly stabilize the wood. When the cue arrives in drier climates it can twist like a pretzel. It doesn't every time, but I've had it happen to me once and seen and heard of many that did.
