Your first ( good ) cue

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
One thing about this section is that we are seeing how much those early pool cues
meant to us,

when Billy mentioned buying his $17,95 Brunswick Hoppe cue with the brass joint

I was reminded when i went to the same store down on Industrial Avenue in Dallas
and bought mine there.

I didn't know Billy at the time ,but I had seen the movie the Hustler and tasted the thrill
of my first few scores,suddenly I saw an opportunity in my min to escape the mundane world
of mediocrity that was all that I had looking forward t to.

Of course the pool world held hopes for high adventure,glamour (at least the hope).and
an opportunity to get through college without the part time jobs that held forth nothing but
slave s wages and long boring drudgery.

I could go on with the hopes and dreams that swelled in my breast as i purchased my
first pool cue,but i prefer to suggest that every time I get a new one today I feel something of that

feeling ,that moment in time that I bought that first cue
not just getting not just getting a piece of wood with leather here and there and a screw in the middle,I was buying a whole new way of life .

I used to feel precisely those things when I was 13, 14, 15... endless hours practicing by myself ( now full-circle on that aspect ), hoping and dreaming with an impossible goal to shoot for ( pun intended ). The possibilities were endless in those days. One of the hallmarks of being so young, I suppose. There was constantly magic in the air. If not on the table I was on, then in the stories I would hear or the lessons / advice I would get from the older players, ESPECIALLY from the original owner. He really took me under his wing in a lot of ways. I very much respected and appreciated that old man.
 
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trob

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
When I started playing almost 30 years a go (Jesus time went fast) Everyone played Meucci..and while I liked the way they looked I hated the way they played. I just felt a new player was better with a stiffer easier to control shaft so I played McDermott .
 

HNTFSH

Birds, Bass & Bottoms
Silver Member
When I started playing almost 30 years a go (Jesus time went fast) Everyone played Meucci..and while I liked the way they looked I hated the way they played. I just felt a new player was better with a stiffer easier to control shaft so I played McDermott .

True dat. I recall the same. It took me a awhile to upgrade from the Weir Sneaky Pete the now wife bought me in the late 70's/early 80's. But at that time Meucci's were everywhere. It was the Brunswick dealer I bought my table from that worked me into a McDermott.
 

lfigueroa

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Lou - Reading this strongly reminds me of the narrator in "A Christmas Story" with Ralphie and his Red Rider BB rifle.

'You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"

I've missed that National cue practically since the day I sold it. I used to put it together at home ( still do with my other cues, lately it's been the Carmeli ), get semi-hammered with "recreational" substances and shoot imaginary balls on the counter tops for hours. I just didn't want to let go of that cue, literally.


Thanks, Michael.

Any comparison to Jean Shepard is high praise.

Lou Figueroa
 

bstroud

Deceased
One thing about this section is that we are seeing how much those early pool cues
meant to us,

when Billy mentioned buying his $17,95 Brunswick Hoppe cue with the brass joint

I was reminded when i went to the same store down on Industrial Avenue in Dallas
and bought mine there.

I didn't know Billy at the time ,but I had seen the movie the Hustler and tasted the thrill
of my first few scores,suddenly I saw an opportunity in my min to escape the mundane world
of mediocrity that was all that I had looking forward t to.

Of course the pool world held hopes for high adventure,glamour (at least the hope).and
an opportunity to get through college without the part time jobs that held forth nothing but
slave s wages and long boring drudgery.

I could go on with the hopes and dreams that swelled in my breast as i purchased my
first pool cue,but i prefer to suggest that every time I get a new one today I feel something of that

feeling ,that moment in time that I bought that first cue
not just getting not just getting a piece of wood with leather here and there and a screw in the middle,I was buying a whole new way of life .

Dean,

You captured my feelings as well.

With that Hoppe I went to the Palace Billiards to play Slim Burell again. I had never beaten him at the Palace playing 9 ball.

I was really going to see the premier of the Hustler that afternoon. It was playing just down the street.

I left the Palace looser and went to see the Hustler.

Came back to the Palace after the movie and beat Slim's brains out.

He never beat me again!

Bill S.
 

Shuddy

Diamond Dave’s babysitter
Silver Member
First good cue was after I’d been playing for about 2 years (snooker). It was a custom 3/4 ash with a plain ebony 4 splice butt. Cost about $800AUD ($600USD?) Made my first century with it in snooker and English billiards. Played with it for about 10 years until the shaft developed a half inch split just under the ferrule. The original maker chopped off the fracture, shortening the cue by about 2cm, and it never felt right after that.

I sold it and bought a John Parris but never played the same with it. Took me about a year with that cue before I even started enjoying playing again.

Then I moved to a country that doesn’t play snooker and started playing 9 ball. First cue was a Mezz then an Exceed, which I still use today.

Interestingly, I had nowhere near as much trouble changing pool cues as compared to my snooker cue. Nor do I have any problems playing decent pool with other people’s cues. No way I could do that when I was playing snooker.
 

Texas Carom Club

9ball did to billiards what hiphop did to america
Silver Member
I think the first well made cue o had was a treadway amazing fiddleback half dyed blue ahh loved it

Now its just titliest for players sneaky pete for me
 

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
Seth,

That is really a nice cue in excellent condition.
Make me feel good.

Bill S.

You SHOULD feel good, Bill. Your cues are ( widely ) considered to be among the best cues ever made. The monetary value in the marketplace certainly supports that. I feel EXTREMELY fortunate I finally have one and it's in *perfect* condition. Like brand new, actually.

Thanks for all those years doing what you did, Bill.
 

garczar

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
You SHOULD feel good, Bill. Your cues are ( widely ) considered to be among the best cues ever made. The monetary value in the marketplace certainly supports that. I feel EXTREMELY fortunate I finally have one and it's in *perfect* condition. Like brand new, actually.

Thanks for all those years doing what you did, Bill.
Roger that. I just wish i'd started playin' while he was still here in Tulsa. Lot of his cues in this neck of the woods.
 

boyraks

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Nice cue, PT... but I've been dying to ask you this and now I'm drunk enough to get up the nerve.



What **IS** "snooker"??? Is that a game you'll play up there in maple-leaf land?



Just curious...





And, you any good at it?





<---- inquiring mind.


You mean pt ? Snooker? He can’t hit a moose with a slingshot 10 feet away. 🤣🤣
 

Maniac

2manyQ's
Silver Member
From reading through the thread it is starting to appear that by the reference of "good cue" it means to a lot of people what is your first "good, collectable cue?".

Except for my Larry Vigus cues, I suppose by the definition, I don't really have or have ever owned a "good" cue.

But...that's not MY definition of "good".

Not any kind of expert on cues, but in my opinion ( like Hawaiian Eye's), a "good" cue is nothing more than a cue that play acceptably in the hands of he/she who owns it....regardless of the price, value or collectability of it.

That opined, I have had many good cues in my ownership that would certainly fit the bill of "good" in the hands of someone more capable than I. :sorry:

Maniac
 

boyraks

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
What's a moose?



Pt is a legend of his own here on the northside. A journeyman prior to Thornburn time. First time I saw him he was firing those balls on a snooker table like they are 7 footer valleys. Well respected full of humor gent.
A moose is as big as a carabao.
 

DaveM

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
The only cue I'll ever need, lol. I still have it, a Pechauer from 2014. Mine looks better than this pic from their site, but you get the idea.
 

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Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
From reading through the thread it is starting to appear that by the reference of "good cue" it means to a lot of people what is your first "good, collectable cue?".

Except for my Larry Vigus cues, I suppose by the definition, I don't really have or have ever owned a "good" cue.

But...that's not MY definition of "good".

Not any kind of expert on cues, but in my opinion ( like Hawaiian Eye's), a "good" cue is nothing more than a cue that play acceptably in the hands of he/she who owns it....regardless of the price, value or collectability of it.

That opined, I have had many good cues in my ownership that would certainly fit the bill of "good" in the hands of someone more capable than I. :sorry:

Maniac


My intent was to get people to list their first *good* cue. By that, I meant the first one that wasn't gonna be used for firewood. The first one you would'nt mind someone asking you, "Hey, what's in your case?". Not collectables. Simply the first *non*-sh*tty cue.
 
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