Terrible analogy and a gross generalization. A company like Pechauer bought its own timberland, selects and then harvests its own trees, processes them in its own lumberyard, cures the wood in its own kilns. Built a machine shop and makes all screws, joints, etc. in house. There are bad custom cuemakers, and great large companies with terrific QC and attention to detail. Sure there are differences, but playability is subjective.
What makes a custom cue expensive?
- Thread starter ehangeto4
- Start date
This is not an argument this is just clche horsebleep. Of course any good player can play decently with almost any cue, but it has nothing whatsoever to do with whether there is value in getting a custom cue for a person. It is exactly the same as saying that no one should ever buy anything that is not utilitarian. So people should only buy a plastic table because it works as well as a bubinga one, or a luxury car, or a nice knife, or a zillion other things.
Hey, my plastic table melted in the CA heat.......maybe the wildfires may have had sumthin to do with it.
Huh? Have you ever visited, or even talked to a top customer maker?
Without understanding it, you actually make my point. Pechauer as a production manufacturer, is able to scale it’s operations so as to minimize costs. The materials they use, while very consistent and quite good, aren’t exceptional nor unique.
Compare that to a high-end custom builder, who uses select materials and exotic woods and builds to unique requirements requested by the customer.
That costs money.
There are very good production cue makers out there. Some may even provide cues that can be argued to “play” better in those you find from some custom makers. I can show you all sorts of cues that play extremely well for under $300 - $400. As good as cues costing more than 10 times that amount
But again, that’s not the question...
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Yes, I have spoken to custom cue makers and played with custom cues. I understand that labor time, exotic materials, etc. make a custom cue expensive and I don't have an argument with the costs to buy a good one from a well known maker. I also have no problem with whoever wants to own one and the pride of ownership in having a one-of-a-kind cue. I can comfortably afford to pay those prices. However, to say customs cues are Mercedes and production cues are Kias? Ridiculous.
Both get you from point A to point B. They both do that job pretty much equally well.
But if you don’t think that there’s a difference in the materials, craftsmanship, and features in the Mercedes compared to those in a Kia, sorry, but that’s ridiculous. And that’s most of what drives the difference in price.
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I was at the gun range this past Saturday. A patron was there firing a fancy custom S&W brand new
he ordered right from the factory’s custom gun shop. It had a trigger job, custom grips, ported barrel,
and customized iron sights. What he really should have added is laser grips because he struggled.
A cursory glance over his silhouette targets revealed a lot of complete misses and limb wounds but
the cavity area was missed quite a bit and head shots, forget about it because the attacker would have
been successful or escaped unharmed. Now he was firing hot loads in a big caliber weapon and I’m sure
he will gradually improve.......I hope fast too and I dunno if he has a CCW permit but if he did, this was
not a gun I’d prefer to see him carry based on my observation of his shooting skills with the gun, not at
least until he becomes a lot more proficient using that particular gun.....It looked gorgeous but he sucked.
Well, custom pool cues are no different. Go order the best version you can think of from any cue maker
and it doesn’t matter whom it might be, what it cost or how long you had to wait. The cue could be made
exactly down to finest detail and built to exacting specs you thoughtfully came up so the cue could be the
cue you dreamed of owning......the perfect cue, at least for you.
The fellow who ordered the custom S&W gun likely felt the same way at one point or another. And then he
found out the gun doesn’t improve his eyesight, arm steadiness, ability to absorb recoil & reacquire target
acquisition for the next shot. In other words, his new custom S&W gun did not make him automatically
improve his shooting skills. What it will do is make him try harder to get better and he should improve
or I sure hope so. IMO, custom cues are akin to custom guns. They only perform as well as the owner’s
skills and abilities allow because a new custom cue does not just empower you with new, expanded pool skills.
Matt B.
he ordered right from the factory’s custom gun shop. It had a trigger job, custom grips, ported barrel,
and customized iron sights. What he really should have added is laser grips because he struggled.
A cursory glance over his silhouette targets revealed a lot of complete misses and limb wounds but
the cavity area was missed quite a bit and head shots, forget about it because the attacker would have
been successful or escaped unharmed. Now he was firing hot loads in a big caliber weapon and I’m sure
he will gradually improve.......I hope fast too and I dunno if he has a CCW permit but if he did, this was
not a gun I’d prefer to see him carry based on my observation of his shooting skills with the gun, not at
least until he becomes a lot more proficient using that particular gun.....It looked gorgeous but he sucked.
Well, custom pool cues are no different. Go order the best version you can think of from any cue maker
and it doesn’t matter whom it might be, what it cost or how long you had to wait. The cue could be made
exactly down to finest detail and built to exacting specs you thoughtfully came up so the cue could be the
cue you dreamed of owning......the perfect cue, at least for you.
The fellow who ordered the custom S&W gun likely felt the same way at one point or another. And then he
found out the gun doesn’t improve his eyesight, arm steadiness, ability to absorb recoil & reacquire target
acquisition for the next shot. In other words, his new custom S&W gun did not make him automatically
improve his shooting skills. What it will do is make him try harder to get better and he should improve
or I sure hope so. IMO, custom cues are akin to custom guns. They only perform as well as the owner’s
skills and abilities allow because a new custom cue does not just empower you with new, expanded pool skills.
Matt B.
As bad as I play I'm ashamed for anyone to find out my cue is custom.
I have been trying to figure out why prices are so high for years. In 1978 I wanted to get my 68 Camaro painted. I thought $350 was outrages. So I bought a used compressor and paint gun for for $150 and $150 in material later I saved $50. Only took me about 90 hours to save that $50. 15 years later I charged $4,000 a paint job. Still didn't make what I did at my factory job.
Ten years ago I wanted a 61" cue. Didn't want to pay the high prices cuemakers wanted to make one. I had a lathe so I decided to make my own. $50,000 and ten years later, I still don't have my own cue to play with. Some of my cues sell for more than $5,000 and I still don't make as much money as I do at my construction job.
Some day I hope to be able to answer the question!
Larry
Ten years ago I wanted a 61" cue. Didn't want to pay the high prices cuemakers wanted to make one. I had a lathe so I decided to make my own. $50,000 and ten years later, I still don't have my own cue to play with. Some of my cues sell for more than $5,000 and I still don't make as much money as I do at my construction job.
Some day I hope to be able to answer the question!
Larry
I like your post! PS, I still play with your cue daily! I love it.
I sold one of your cues to a friend who called you about building an 8" rear extension.
When the pandemic hit I bought the cue back and basically got a free extension.
You treated him nicely and did a good job on that extension system.
Thanks