Since a central database doesn't exist documenting the prices of cues sold, emotions play a large part in assigning asking prices, or list prices, and the amount of any offer that's less than full price. Recently I posted a question about what makes a certain cue-maker so special that the price of that cue-maker's cues are unusually expensive or at least some posted on the Forum have been. At the outset, I want to acknowledge that posting the question on someone else's thread that has a cue for sale is inappropriate and so I deleted my question after the selller expressed annoyance which in hindsight makes sense.
However, there were some posts on the original thread that aroused my curiosity. At a certain point in cue-making ability, greatness tends to get clumped together, sort of like a group of esteemed cue-makers and the way cue-makers distinguish themselves is with their individual cues released. That's how I see things......the difference between the top ten cue-makers on my list .is only slight and no one cue-maker stands heads above his peers and some are just a wee bit taller. Anyway, I have a question about one particular cue-maker, Dennis Searing, who's probably a cue-maker virtually any Azer would love to own. Why are Searing cues so seemingly expensive? I get that there aren't many being sold......I also get that there's a long wait period but that applies to other cue-makers as well. Heck, I've been told Mr. Hercek's wait for a new cue order is around 11 years......I mean how much further out can you go to distinguish any cue-maker from another....15 yrs. wait? Is it purely supply and demand and if that's what the answer is, then what makes Searing cues so high in demand. It cannot just be scarcity.
I am trying t learn more about what makes Searing pool cues so different. Another Azer recently posted on a thread "80-90% of the cue buying world do not realize the level of intensity Dennis puts into making a single cue. He is on another planet in comparison to "most" others". Well, I don't know what that means. Does it mean he tries harder? Does he reject more than he accepts in his cue-making efforts because he sets his standards so high? Is it because he makes so few cues? I offer Danny Tibbits as an example of another cue-maker that makes very few cues....way less than Searing, I'm just supposing that ........but is that a criterion for greatness?
When Dennis goes into his shop and spends 3-4 -5 -6 hrs working on a cue or cues, is his concentration so dialed up that he's trying harder than say another esteemed named cue-maker that for lack of a better description, isn't concentrating or trying as hard as Dennis? What is this thing about intensity of his work or any cue-maker's work for that matter? Is this about the design and look? There are lots of other cue-makers that make cues as handsome, and I submit also more handsome, than the Searing cues I've seen.
Remember, I'm not knocking Dennis's workmanship but I'm not praising it as being better than other cue-makers and IMO his designs also tend to be less ornate versions. So it's not the appearance or looks of the cue that set Searing cues apart from the rest of the pack, I'm imagining it has to do with some type of special difference. And like most Azers, the immediate thought that comes to my mind is the hit & feel.
Now if hit and feel is what distinguishes Searing cues, how does that relate to that intensity thing or anything like that....perhaps like a cue-maker having a more discerning eye or taking a lot more time than everyone else to complete his inlay work, or something like that? That's what I'm driving at because I do not understand the notion that an hour, afternoon, or a day, etc. of Dennis Searing's concentration at cue-making is any more intense or valuable than that same amount of time if it was given by Ernie G/, Joel Hercek, Barry Szamboti, or Ed Prewitt. The only thing that would seem to matter is whether Dennis works entirely alone and that these other cue-makers wouldn't have spent the same amount of hands on involvement making the cue because they rely upon assistants.
I've never heard that about the aforementioned cue-makers and so I presume their time would be every bit as focused and hands-on the same as if Mr. Searing was the cue-maker? I'm just trying to understand what makes his pool cues so different, aside from being expensive. I trust I haven't annoyed anyone with my query and we can chat via PM or via the Forum.......just trying to learn more from those more in the know about Searing pool cues.
Thanks,
Matt B
However, there were some posts on the original thread that aroused my curiosity. At a certain point in cue-making ability, greatness tends to get clumped together, sort of like a group of esteemed cue-makers and the way cue-makers distinguish themselves is with their individual cues released. That's how I see things......the difference between the top ten cue-makers on my list .is only slight and no one cue-maker stands heads above his peers and some are just a wee bit taller. Anyway, I have a question about one particular cue-maker, Dennis Searing, who's probably a cue-maker virtually any Azer would love to own. Why are Searing cues so seemingly expensive? I get that there aren't many being sold......I also get that there's a long wait period but that applies to other cue-makers as well. Heck, I've been told Mr. Hercek's wait for a new cue order is around 11 years......I mean how much further out can you go to distinguish any cue-maker from another....15 yrs. wait? Is it purely supply and demand and if that's what the answer is, then what makes Searing cues so high in demand. It cannot just be scarcity.
I am trying t learn more about what makes Searing pool cues so different. Another Azer recently posted on a thread "80-90% of the cue buying world do not realize the level of intensity Dennis puts into making a single cue. He is on another planet in comparison to "most" others". Well, I don't know what that means. Does it mean he tries harder? Does he reject more than he accepts in his cue-making efforts because he sets his standards so high? Is it because he makes so few cues? I offer Danny Tibbits as an example of another cue-maker that makes very few cues....way less than Searing, I'm just supposing that ........but is that a criterion for greatness?
When Dennis goes into his shop and spends 3-4 -5 -6 hrs working on a cue or cues, is his concentration so dialed up that he's trying harder than say another esteemed named cue-maker that for lack of a better description, isn't concentrating or trying as hard as Dennis? What is this thing about intensity of his work or any cue-maker's work for that matter? Is this about the design and look? There are lots of other cue-makers that make cues as handsome, and I submit also more handsome, than the Searing cues I've seen.
Remember, I'm not knocking Dennis's workmanship but I'm not praising it as being better than other cue-makers and IMO his designs also tend to be less ornate versions. So it's not the appearance or looks of the cue that set Searing cues apart from the rest of the pack, I'm imagining it has to do with some type of special difference. And like most Azers, the immediate thought that comes to my mind is the hit & feel.
Now if hit and feel is what distinguishes Searing cues, how does that relate to that intensity thing or anything like that....perhaps like a cue-maker having a more discerning eye or taking a lot more time than everyone else to complete his inlay work, or something like that? That's what I'm driving at because I do not understand the notion that an hour, afternoon, or a day, etc. of Dennis Searing's concentration at cue-making is any more intense or valuable than that same amount of time if it was given by Ernie G/, Joel Hercek, Barry Szamboti, or Ed Prewitt. The only thing that would seem to matter is whether Dennis works entirely alone and that these other cue-makers wouldn't have spent the same amount of hands on involvement making the cue because they rely upon assistants.
I've never heard that about the aforementioned cue-makers and so I presume their time would be every bit as focused and hands-on the same as if Mr. Searing was the cue-maker? I'm just trying to understand what makes his pool cues so different, aside from being expensive. I trust I haven't annoyed anyone with my query and we can chat via PM or via the Forum.......just trying to learn more from those more in the know about Searing pool cues.
Thanks,
Matt B
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It was my daily player till I got the all ebony ivory jointed Pierce cue next to it.The Pierce plays as good (actually better) than any cue that I have ever owned,and it is now my daily player.
