Yea, I guess me too! Join the club. Would that we could all be as wise as Deano.
True Cost of a Southwest?
- Thread starter CocoboloCowboy
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Yea, I guess me too! Join the club. Would that we could all be as wise as Deano.
You are misinterpreting that comment. I wasn't making an assessment of the SW cue's utility, I was saying the artistic value, and therefor the dollar value, exceeds the value for its utility. (BTW, I think you can probably hit the utility limit for a cue at about $1,000, considering carbon fiber, LD shafts.)
Do you want to just argue? Is that what you're here for? Stop being such a curmudgeon. I hereby concede all arguments and points to you Deano, I hope you feel better now.
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Couldnt stand my SW either and sold it as soon as possible.
It's not like these cues are being bought for 5k and getting flipped for 10k or more. If a grand is a huge profit for these people(enough to sell "the best cue ever made") they must not play that well, because if I found the "best cue ever" it wouldn't get sold.
I've talked to way more people that dont like the hit vs people who do.
You get butthurt everytime somebody says they dont like how a SW plays
You questioned the validity of a cue being worth that kind of money. Deano sells these incredibly high priced cues, you're dogging his product. I'm in sales, I've gotten miffed someone ran my product down.
That said, I thought you were spot on with your comments. When cues get that expensive and become more art than cue. I'd be stressed to take a multiple thousand dollar cue out of my house. And yes, it costs much more than it's utility.
Thank goodness the quality of the hit and the ability to play the game doesn't require a cue that cost anywhere near that much.
It's a really nice thing about pool. SVB can play lights out pool with a $2000 cue or a $200 cue.
Deano sells everything, he isnt a rep for SW.
He has every right to say he thinks the cues play bad, just like I do, just like many, many more do.
Who knows, I could find one I liked, but I wont be looking because of my experience with the first one I owned.
I don't go back to a restaurant if my first experience with the food was bad.
Spot on, great post.
Cocobolo,
My experience is from 6 years ago. However, when my name came up in Jan 2014 Laurie gave me a price list, and I was not shocked at all. I felt that pricing was more than fair for the cue I was ordering. BTW I got on the wait list in 2003.
Hope this helps. By the way, I love my SW, play with it all the time, and probably will never sell it.
Cheers and happy New Year.
I have never owned a Southwest and based upon what time I've banged balls with quite a few of them that my friends own, I would never buy one. Especially, for the amount of money they cost.
They have a cult following, but they aren't my cup of tea.
None of the ones I tried hit any better than my best cues and my cues don't cost anywhere near as much.
If we are going to talk "good-hitting cues" in a "cost-to-hit" comparison, I have an old C-14 McDermott that will run rings around any Southwest I've tried.
I bought the McDermott new when the D-line came out and the C-line was being phased out. I paid $118, shipped, for it and it was listed for $220.
It hits way better than any Southwest I've ever tried. It hits so good that I've turned down over $1000 for it many, many times, even years ago when $1000 was worth way more than now. As a matter of fact, I was offered $1500 for it this year by a guy who hit about 7 or 8 balls with it.
When my $118 production cue can bring in over 10 times what I paid for it means something. None of the people who offered to buy it were cue collectors hoping for a profit later on. They were pool players who knew a "good hitting" cue when they played with it.
They have a cult following, but they aren't my cup of tea.
None of the ones I tried hit any better than my best cues and my cues don't cost anywhere near as much.
If we are going to talk "good-hitting cues" in a "cost-to-hit" comparison, I have an old C-14 McDermott that will run rings around any Southwest I've tried.
I bought the McDermott new when the D-line came out and the C-line was being phased out. I paid $118, shipped, for it and it was listed for $220.
It hits way better than any Southwest I've ever tried. It hits so good that I've turned down over $1000 for it many, many times, even years ago when $1000 was worth way more than now. As a matter of fact, I was offered $1500 for it this year by a guy who hit about 7 or 8 balls with it.
When my $118 production cue can bring in over 10 times what I paid for it means something. None of the people who offered to buy it were cue collectors hoping for a profit later on. They were pool players who knew a "good hitting" cue when they played with it.
Well my experience is a complete 180.. I've played with many low end McDermott cues over the past 35 years and NONE have even been even in the same vicinity as far as how they played compared to South West cues.... Out of all the cues I've played, the mid to low end McDermotts rank amoung the worst I've played with.
It isn't necessarily the name of the maker or the price of the cue that determines how it plays.
I've played with cues from the very bottom of the spectrum to high-dollar customs and they all play differently. I sold my cue that I had Richard Black custom build for me after I got the McDermott and tried it out. The difference in play, to me, wasn't even close in comparison. I will have to say that an earlier custom cue that I got from Richard may have been one of the best players I've had. Wish I'd never let it go.
The C-14 I have is made as solid as any cue on the market and it was made from good quality ebony and maple. I haven't met a person yet who didn't like the hit of this cue. I have plenty of cues, production and custom, and if this cue didn't play so well I may not have kept it for nearly 40 years.
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Never said price solely determines how a cue plays but it does play a part and the maker MOST definately matters. Their construction techniques and how the treat their matterials are everything. Lower end production cues dont go through the same scrutiny as South West cues do... I'm glad you like your cue. We'll just agree to disagree but if you're ever in the NW Indiana/Chicago area maybe you'll get the chance to add another on that "person I met" list.. maybe not.
Many things are like this. I can certainly understand how a cue just feels right to a person, and another person may not like it at all. It's like that with musical instruments. I have a Takamine "lawsuit" model, a copy of a Martin D-28, that I like better than any Martin I've played. I have a Mexican Strat' that I like better than any American Strat' I've played. Conversely, I have a Rickenbacker 360-12 than no clone I've tried can even come close to. Tools are like this, too - hammers, saws, pliers, etc.
It's also a matter of luck. You have to "luck in to" your favorite cue. I don't have enough experience with cues to know if I've hit the best one for me yet. My current favorite is my Schmelke R040 Cocobolo Sneaky Pete. My Lucasi will arrive tommorrow. We will see.
It's also a matter of luck. You have to "luck in to" your favorite cue. I don't have enough experience with cues to know if I've hit the best one for me yet. My current favorite is my Schmelke R040 Cocobolo Sneaky Pete. My Lucasi will arrive tommorrow. We will see.
What can happen sometimes as well, is that people convince themselves that brand X is the best. And they pay an inflated price to buy brand X, then tell themselves that it really is the best. It is a bias that exists in many ways over many different mediums.
Some people will only buy a particular ketchup, even though the store brand (depending on what store they are shopping in) was made in the same factory and tastes the same.
Asians tend to flock to mystical magical bullshit all the time. Some still believe that dried and ground up bear penis (or whatever the fook) will give them more virility.
Thats why Southwest cues are so popular over there. They are convinced that the price, and the decade (+) long waiting list must mean its the "best".
Actually there is a big demand for Bear Gallbladder, it is believe to be stronger the the "V" Drug, that Bob Dole Bata Tested, and made a killing on.