PSA: Barry Szamboti Cue

classiccues

Don't hashtag your broke friends
Silver Member
This cue has a history, not a good one, not due to the maker, but due to past owners. At some point this cue was drilled out from the backend. A hole in which Mr. Szamboti had to plug. Point is, it is not original. If you see the cue, and its for sale, turn around and swallow broken glass instead.

There is now a second letter with it, from Barry, outlining the cues history. The first one was mysteriously lost during a point where it went from Ken C. who has direct ties to Barry, which is where the first letter and 2 new shafts were made, to Don Sherman to Bill Grassley. My friend bought this cue from Grassley as "All original" It has been a nightmare for him.

JV
 

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sureman183

Got "Boti's" ??
Silver Member
PSA Barry Szamboti Cue

Joe, my memory is pretty good when it comes to Szamboti's. i don't ever remember owning this cue. Don
 

eihi

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Any ideas why the cue was drilled out? Trying to add more weight/lighten cue?
 

ideologist

I don't never exaggerate
Silver Member
How long ago did Bill sell it? Most dealers would be pretty sorry looking to not offer a refund in 30 days if the cue is returned in the same condition it was received in.
 

sureman183

Got "Boti's" ??
Silver Member
PSA Barry Szamboti Cue

if this is rosewood, i never owned it. i've only had 1 or 2 not the same. if it's ebony, i'm also sure i've never owned it. but believe what you want. i take it you believe him, because he said so. many have bought cues with points inked in w/ magic marker. i've never ever had a cue drilled out. EVER.... but Joe, i'm sure you have a good reason for doubting my word & beleving Bill
 

greyghost

Coast to Coast
Silver Member
Dam.....I’d say I’m surprised but there are plenty of fools out there. Lol I had a guy once wanted me to install a Phillips extender on a decently valuable cue....told him not no but hell no lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Bavafongoul

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Only Don and Bill can iron out, if either takes the time to speak with the other, what actually happened.
I think keeping any cue made by an esteemed cue-maker in original condition does help protect its value.
The cue owner deserves to know what actually happened with this cue to understand his predicament.


Matt B.
 

FAST_N_LOOSE

<--THE AMAZING JESSE JANE
Silver Member
I do not come on AZ much, but this thread has been brought to my attention.

I did A LOT of research into the history of the cue when I was in the process of acquiring in. I chose to not keep the cue after finding out it's full history. Barry was amazingly helpful, and I certainly appreciate him sharing the entire history of the cue.

I can't say who knew what, but I can tell you that the cue had a previous letter, and someone knew the entire history. Somehow the letter and the history vanished.

The cue originally was a plain 4 point with a ring above the wrap.
In 1996 Barry added the inlays, and repaired damage done by the original owner when the owner drilled up through the butt and into the handle.
In 2010 the original owner sold it to Ken Carfagno.
Kenny had the cue refinished and rewrapped. Barry wrote a letter with the history of the cue.
Kenny verified with me, that in 2010 he did a deal with Don Sherman.
That Don was given the cue, the receipt for the work, and the letter with the history including mentioning what work had been done to it.
I was then told that the cue was traded/sold to Bill Grassley.
Grassley then sold it to Dennis.

The shit show that has happened recently is because someone made the letter vanish, and the history was unknown to myself, and to Dennis until I reached out to Barry about the cue and I started doing some digging.

I can't say who did what, but that is the history of the cue to the best of my knowledge. I spent a lot of time and effort on this because a cue of this level should not have secrets.
 

sureman183

Got "Boti's" ??
Silver Member
PSA Barry Szamboti Cue

if i ever owned this cue, & i really doubt it. i only got one Barry from Kenny, was never made aware it had a history, that it had been drilled out. that it was repaired by Barry w/ inlays added etc., etc. this all was in 2010? what am i guilty of? my father told me never lie, cheat, or steal. then you don't have to keep looking over your shoulder. i live w/ that in mind
 

franko

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Don

if i ever owned this cue, & i really doubt it. i only got one Barry from Kenny, was never made aware it had a history, that it had been drilled out. that it was repaired by Barry w/ inlays added etc., etc. this all was in 2010? what am i guilty of? my father told me never lie, cheat, or steal. then you don't have to keep looking over your shoulder. i live w/ that in mind

Don I have known you for 20+ years and you may be the most honest man I have ever met and that includes outside of the Pool world. You need not have to worry about looking over your shoulder .
Frank O.
 

deanoc

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have done quite a few trades and purchases with Don Shermon

I always found him to be a good guy

I would hate to see his reputation harmed based on hearsay evidence

I know that my own memory fails me from time to time,

There is not a person on this thread that I don't trust or respect

this saddens me
 

cornerstone

Psalm 91:15
Silver Member
I bought this cue from don in trade at my house 6 years ago it came with 2 shafts and NO letter.. I just found out about this in march of this year and i told the guy who bought it i had no idea 5 years later.. I still have not seen a letter! to this day! and i ended up giving a loaded gus in place for his trouble ..5 years later!!!! worth double!the piece of work that joe is he feels he has to intervene in things that has nothing to do with it...,. so when joe posted it on his site he did not state any of the work done! this only after i bought it back does he get his panties in a bunch!!! so who is the decpitive one!!!and barry stated somone tried to drill it out for a weight bolt and he rebuilt it! I have not got the cue back to verify! it is supposed to be here today ! but it is still 100% barry cue! !Joe has and always will try to mess with me! so joe why did you not state the facts after knowing?
 
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cornerstone

Psalm 91:15
Silver Member
because of my bus. i paid double to make my customer whole plus some .. the real victim is me and dennis clark! dennis was made whole and some! and i sold this 5 years ago and bought it 6 i have a copy of every letter that has accompanied a cue no matter how minuscule!!and i never recieved one! or 2 new shafts! .. i would have let somone know what was done because if barry did it i know it was done right!!
"if i have a 1962 ginacue with a roll and ernie takes it apart and rebuilds it is not a Gina?"
No matter what i should have been told! and who ever buys here after! once i get the cue i will evaulate it .. but it was a sound straight cue or it would not have made it to the site!!
 

FAST_N_LOOSE

<--THE AMAZING JESSE JANE
Silver Member
if i ever owned this cue, & i really doubt it. i only got one Barry from Kenny, was never made aware it had a history, that it had been drilled out. that it was repaired by Barry w/ inlays added etc., etc. this all was in 2010? what am i guilty of? my father told me never lie, cheat, or steal. then you don't have to keep looking over your shoulder. i live w/ that in mind

Don,
I need you to/hope you understand that I am not blaming you. To be honest, I'm not blaming anyone. I shared the information that I uncovered while researching the cue.
 

FAST_N_LOOSE

<--THE AMAZING JESSE JANE
Silver Member
I have done quite a few trades and purchases with Don Shermon

I always found him to be a good guy

I would hate to see his reputation harmed based on hearsay evidence

I know that my own memory fails me from time to time,

There is not a person on this thread that I don't trust or respect

this saddens me

I agree. It truly sucks when stuff like this comes out. But what is really sad, is that no one will ever know who really did what, because no one will ever agree on who should take blame and no one will ever admit to it.
 

FAST_N_LOOSE

<--THE AMAZING JESSE JANE
Silver Member
I bought this cue from don in trade at my house 5 years ago it came with 2 shafts and NO letter.. I just found out about this in march of this year and i told the guy who bought it i had no idea 5 years later.. I still have not seen a letter! to this day! and i ended up giving a loaded gus in place for his trouble ..5 years later!!!! worth double!the piece of work that joe is he feels he has to intervene in things that has nothing to do with it...,. so when joe posted it on his site he did not state any of the work done! this only after i bought it back does he get his panties in a bunch!!! so who is the decpitive one!!!and barry stated somone tried to drill it out for a weight bolt and he rebuilt it! I have not got the cue back to verify! it is supposed to be here today ! but it is still 100% barry cue! !Joe has and always will try to mess with me! so joe why did you not state the facts after knowing?

OK, here we go.....

THE LETTER IS IN THE BOX, and has been posted several places on Fb for the guys that wanted to see it.

Joe intervened, because I was taking the cue from his customer. I started doing research, and went back to Joe AFTER I found out that the cue had been modified. Joe and Dennis had no knowledge of the handle modification, until I brought it to there attention.
Once I knew it was modified, I told Joe I wouldn't take it at the original price, and that his guy needed to either take it back, or sell it to me discounted. That was evidently when Dennis contacted you.
To be honest, I didn't know where the cue came from until I needed to undo the deal. I just knew I was getting a cue through Joe, from another collector.
 
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cornerstone

Psalm 91:15
Silver Member
I recieved the cue and letter in beautiful shape and looked the cue over.. there is NO evedent sign of repair! -what ever was done it was done perfect! this will be my player! and the attacks from joe unwarranted on my business and my person . this time has penaltys LOL since you know the law so well be prepared! you will know its me when it happens
 

classiccues

Don't hashtag your broke friends
Silver Member
Bill,
As usual you distort the facts and the truth. When Marcus found out, he told Dennis, he wanted a refund and as usual, and your MO.. you said you were broke, needed surgery, etc.. etc.. and you FORCED him into a trade. The only reason he accepted this trade because he knew you would NEVER pay him.
The cue you surrendered was purchased at auction, for pennies on the dollar. In fact in talking to Marcus you gave him 3 different purchase prices for the Gus in the span of 10 minutes and gave Dennis a completely different price. Now you traded him a Gus that Pete Tasc did work on and had to do inlays, did you tell him that? No you didn't because as usual you have no clue.
You knew I was involved, per Dennis, because there was something on our site he was upgrading for. There was never a moment where I was not involved and you know that.
This cue was on your site for Dennis, before we listed it for Dennis, and YOU didn't say anything about the work. Its more likely that YOU knew about the work than I. In fact we now know the letter disappeared between one of two people, and I ain't one of them.
We always state the facts, since you never told Dennis, he couldn't tell us.

JV

I bought this cue from don in trade at my house 6 years ago it came with 2 shafts and NO letter.. I just found out about this in march of this year and i told the guy who bought it i had no idea 5 years later.. I still have not seen a letter! to this day! and i ended up giving a loaded gus in place for his trouble ..5 years later!!!! worth double!the piece of work that joe is he feels he has to intervene in things that has nothing to do with it...,. so when joe posted it on his site he did not state any of the work done! this only after i bought it back does he get his panties in a bunch!!! so who is the decpitive one!!!and barry stated somone tried to drill it out for a weight bolt and he rebuilt it! I have not got the cue back to verify! it is supposed to be here today ! but it is still 100% barry cue! !Joe has and always will try to mess with me! so joe why did you not state the facts after knowing?
 
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