Inexpensive Custom - You'll Def Want To Consider This Guy !!!

Kickin' Chicken

Kick Shot Aficionado
Gold Member
Silver Member
Recently I was looking for a particular shaft to be made and I remembered a few glowing reviews about David Brainard of Cues Directly, not the least of which came from our dearly departed Michael Andros.

From our very first lengthy phone call (yes, we drifted far from just the shaft topic) it was obvious that Dave is a man who enjoys making cues and is a deep thinker over how the woods and all components go together and what combinations will provide the best hit.

I ended up ordering a cue from him, I wanted something I could use as my bar cue and my requirements were something simple with a crisp, firm hit. I am happy to report that he nailed it bigtime! :thumbup:

Dave made the ordering process so simple and enjoyable with just a few questions along with the initial parameters I provided him, I ended up with the cue you see below. African Blackwood with black juma collars and butt cap, radial pin, orange swirly plastic rings above and below the linen wrap, which btw, is I believe is the first linen wrap he's done and he special ordered it in the color I requested (and it's Hurlbert - great quality), topped off with an ivory alternative ferrule and a Triangle tip. Worth mentioning is that his shaftwood is really nice, a minimum 15 rpi and no runoff. :)

The enthusiasm, communication and overall experience dealing with Dave was second to none. He went much farther than the extra mile for me. I ended up with a great cue from a terrific guy for a *very* inexpensive price. And start to finish it only took about 1 month but I don't expect that will stay that way much longer. ;)

Anyone considering a true custom without wanting to break the bank, I would highly recommend Dave at Cues Directly.

https://www.cuesdirectly.com/

Thanks for the positive experience, Dave. :cool:

best,
brian kc
 

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cue4me

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
David Brainard

I agree completely with Brian's post. I also recently received a cue made by David and it is top notch. He is an absolute pleasure to work with and a perfect gentleman,
I'm the person who steered David into using the radial pins for his cues and he says he just loves working with them.
 

jimmyco

NRA4Life
Silver Member
Looks good. Thought the rings were tulipwood until reading the description.

Would it be indiscreet to ask you to elaborate (just a little bit) on "inexpensive"?
 

Kickin' Chicken

Kick Shot Aficionado
Gold Member
Silver Member
Looks good. Thought the rings were tulipwood until reading the description.

Would it be indiscreet to ask you to elaborate (just a little bit) on "inexpensive"?

If you click the link I provided in the op you'll see his basic cues depending on Woods can be had in the mid $200 range this one was just under 300. how can you beat that? :smile:
 

CuesDirectly

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Brian, Thanks very much for taking the time to write these things. I must say, it was not the first Linen wrap but it was the first one I sent to a customer and didn't feel right about charging for it. It took 8 years before I finally did one and now they have become a favorite. Same with the Uni Loc radial pin, not just the pin but the tap is the finest tap I have ever used. A special shout out to Bill Stroud for his work on the pin and tap designs.

Cue4me, Thanks as well, I appreciate the nice words.
 

Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
I bought a titleist conversion of his
Even had an extra shaft made for it by him

Great guy to talk to
Even better cue maker, impeccable craftsmanship.
LAZER straight, joints matched PERFECT.
Better than fair prices for the quality.
 
Last edited:

EddieBme

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Recently I was looking for a particular shaft to be made and I remembered a few glowing reviews about David Brainard of Cues Directly, not the least of which came from our dearly departed Michael Andros.

From our very first lengthy phone call (yes, we drifted far from just the shaft topic) it was obvious that Dave is a man who enjoys making cues and is a deep thinker over how the woods and all components go together and what combinations will provide the best hit.

I ended up ordering a cue from him, I wanted something I could use as my bar cue and my requirements were something simple with a crisp, firm hit. I am happy to report that he nailed it bigtime! :thumbup:

Dave made the ordering process so simple and enjoyable with just a few questions along with the initial parameters I provided him, I ended up with the cue you see below. African Blackwood with black juma collars and butt cap, radial pin, orange swirly plastic rings above and below the linen wrap, which btw, is I believe is the first linen wrap he's done and he special ordered it in the color I requested (and it's Hurlbert - great quality), topped off with an ivory alternative ferrule and a Triangle tip. Worth mentioning is that his shaftwood is really nice, a minimum 15 rpi and no runoff. :)

The enthusiasm, communication and overall experience dealing with Dave was second to none. He went much farther than the extra mile for me. I ended up with a great cue from a terrific guy for a *very* inexpensive price. And start to finish it only took about 1 month but I don't expect that will stay that way much longer. ;)

Anyone considering a true custom without wanting to break the bank, I would highly recommend Dave at Cues Directly.

https://www.cuesdirectly.com/

Thanks for the positive experience, Dave. :cool:

best,
brian kc

Hi Brian. Definitely a very nice looking cue. Couple questions, what shaft taper did you get, and IYO, what other cue/cues would you compare the hit of Dave's cues to? I didn't see any of cues on Daves site, that has a radial pin, is that a special order?
 

Kickin' Chicken

Kick Shot Aficionado
Gold Member
Silver Member
Hi Brian. Definitely a very nice looking cue. Couple questions, what shaft taper did you get, and IYO, what other cue/cues would you compare the hit of Dave's cues to? I didn't see any of cues on Daves site, that has a radial pin, is that a special order?

Hi Eddie McHugh that comes to mind that I've played with which felt similar was a Jim Pierce

As for the PIN I think Dave was transitioning to this pin which is a radial Unilock. In his post just a couple up from this one he says he really likes this pin. I originally wanted a 3/8 10 but ended up going with this and it seems to be a very good set up
 
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