Is Tascarella certification

deanoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
considered the gold standard for Balabushka cues?

Has anyone ever questioned his opinion or does that prettymuch settle it?


This is a serious question for a prospective purchase,please no comments about things you don't really know
 

nine_ball6970

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
considered the gold standard for Balabushka cues?

Has anyone ever questioned his opinion or does that prettymuch settle it?


This is a serious question for a prospective purchase,please no comments about things you don't really know

Whatever Pete says is true regarding identification. I know of a cue authenticated by another known name. When cue was sent to Pete, he said it wasn't a Balabushka. Seller sold cue as an unknown.
 

ideologist

I don't never exaggerate
Silver Member
considered the gold standard for Balabushka cues?

Has anyone ever questioned his opinion or does that prettymuch settle it?


This is a serious question for a prospective purchase,please no comments about things you don't really know


I've had really nitty guys say that cues aren't real Balabushkas even with a Tascarella LOA
 

Duane Remick

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
considered the gold standard for Balabushka cues?

Has anyone ever questioned his opinion or does that prettymuch settle it?


This is a serious question for a prospective purchase,please no comments about things you don't really know

Deano,
I think Pete Tascarella and Also
Billy Schick
Always been very good to id Balabushka cues
 

TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
considered the gold standard for Balabushka cues?

Has anyone ever questioned his opinion or does that prettymuch settle it?


This is a serious question for a prospective purchase,please no comments about things you don't really know

Not only is his LOA the gold standard, it is rightfully so. I have been involved with 5 Balabushka sales/LOA's with Tascarella with the cues typically being in the $9,000 to $15,000 range. I worked with the cue owners and assisted with the sales, directing them to Tascarella for authentication. One cue could not be authenticated and it was a very costly disappointment. A $6,000 to $7,000 cue becomes a $1500 unknown maker. We had an x-ray that looked right. Tascarella inspected the cue and went to great lengths to authenticate. He did not in the end give his blessing and he went to great lengths to try to authenticate it. The joint was wrong, he did not buy it.

In my opinion, the letter will suffice, but the originality and chain of ownership is also an important contributor to the value. I realize the difficulty of establishing the origin of the cue after 60 years but if it can be done it will enhance the sale.

Basically, in my experience, a Balabushka owner could have a letter from Schick or Ernie saying they think it's a Balabushka, and that is a good thing - these guys know what they're doing and recognize the work, but it's just not as widely and readily accepted as an authentication by Tascarella.
 
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measureman

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Not only is his LOA the gold standard, it is rightfully so. I have been involved with 5 Balabushka sales/LOA's with Tascarella with the cues typically being in the $9,000 to $15,000 range. I worked with the cue owners and assisted with the sales, directing them to Tascarella for authentication. One cue could not be authenticated and it was a very costly disappointment. A $6,000 to $7,000 cue becomes a $1500 unknown maker. We had an x-ray that looked right. Tascarella inspected the cue and went to great lengths to authenticate. He did not in the end give his blessing and he went to great lengths to try to authenticate it. The joint was wrong, he did not buy it.

In my opinion, the letter will suffice, but the originality and chain of ownership is also an important contributor to the value. I realize the difficulty of establishing the origin of the cue after 60 years but if it can be done it will enhance the sale.

Basically, in my experience, a Balabushka owner could have a letter from Schick or Ernie saying they think it's a Balabushka, and that is a good thing - these guys know what they're doing and recognize the work, but it's just not as widely and readily accepted as an authentication by Tascarella.


So what happens when the day comes that Tascarella can not do this anymore?
 
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Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
considered the gold standard for Balabushka cues?

Has anyone ever questioned his opinion or does that prettymuch settle it?


This is a serious question for a prospective purchase,please no comments about things you don't really know
With no disrespect to other people both in cuemaking and cue collecting, Pete is absolutely the gold standard. Please read the About section of the Tascarella page, which is the article I wrote on the Petes. Check the Purchasing a Gold Mine section. To me, I can't understand why anyone would think someone else might be in the same stratosphere as Pete Tascarella and Pete Jr. (and people have tried to tell me exactly that over the years).

Pete had partials of cues in every stage of build gifted to him by Josephine Balabushka. He also had all the notes, the dimensions, the suppliers... everything. He also had Szamboti blanks assembled, pre-turned, so he was able to have fixtures built to copy Szamboti's method. Pretty nice head start. If any other cuemaker or cue collector had a clue these all existed, they would have purchased the whole kit for whatever Josephine was trying to sell. All logic points to the fact that no other cuemaker saw these notes. If someone says they saw them, it wouldn't make sense that they don't currently have them.

http://www.tascarellacustomcues.com/about.html


Freddie <~~~ shameless plug, of course
 

PRED

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hey Freddie, I had Bill Schick recount to me the time he spent in NY with the widow Balabushka but couldn't make a deal for George's shop. The rest is history.
 

mikemosconi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
If I were laying out many thousands for a Balabushka cue - Pete's word is the only one that I would trust. Someone asked what happens when Pete is gone- his son is in the business- beyond that I doubt any of us need to worry. I would imagine at this point most of the known Balabushkas have a LOA - those that don't would be advised to get one IMO.
 

trinacria

in efren we trust
Silver Member
pete became a cue maker bc of balabushka as they were friends and shot pool together, he bought balabushkas equipment and that's what he uses to make his cues from what he learned from balabushka himself, as far as I know that's the story I was told. if hes not the one to authenticate a bushka cue, than I don't know who is. anyone else word take it with a grain of salt unless they dealt with bushka for many years while he was strill alive.
 

Cornerman

Cue Author...Sometimes
Gold Member
Silver Member
pete became a cue maker bc of balabushka as they were friends and shot pool together, he bought balabushkas equipment and that's what he uses to make his cues from what he learned from balabushka himself, as far as I know that's the story I was told. if hes not the one to authenticate a bushka cue, than I don't know who is. anyone else word take it with a grain of salt unless they dealt with bushka for many years while he was strill alive.

Read my article on Tascarella. Straight from Pete’s mouth.
 

FranCrimi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I like Paul Rubino as well. He's an expert, he's honest and he can be trusted.
 
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TATE

AzB Gold Mensch
Silver Member
So what happens when the day comes that Tascarella can not do this anymore?


Well presumably Pete Jr. will carry on. There are a lot of LOA's already out there and I recommend anybody who owns a Balabushka, or think they do, obtain one, lock it in the safe and sleep easy.

Sweating an authentication of a big dollar cue is truly one of those nerve pounding exercises. I had my own adventure like that and can tell you it is eye opening. It is amazing what some people know, what they can find out and what they can prove. Like, for example, the bit used to make a part by the marks the tool left. Lots of nerve racking fun. There might literally be 10's of thousands of dollars at stake.
 
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classiccues

Don't hashtag your broke friends
Silver Member
See attached letter for reference....

Having any Bushka sale contingent on Pete issuing a letter is just good business.

JV
 

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