I was saddened to hear that John Davis passed away early last evening 11/23/2018. He was the last direct link to Spain and Balabushka and remained contemporary by producing quality blanks almost up to the time he died. He was so prolific that many found it easy to take him for granted.
I never had the privilege to meet Mr Davis but am proud to own several cues based on his blanks.
Rest in peace.
John was a great guy. His was one of my favorite articles. He was so innocent in cue building, in both his first and second go around. He also deserves stronger recognition in the history of cue building: the creator of all fixtures that made the Spain-era Balabushka blanks as well as builder of a significant number (half or more) of those blanks.
He wanted to build cues when he returned to the billiard world. I wasn’t alone, but I will say without any shame or humility that I had a small hand in his eventually concentrating on building blanks. Too many orders came his way after the article, according to John.
I had a cue of his from the first year of his return. Eventually, he asked for it back as he didn’t want that cue out there to falsely represent his work, which had much improved. He built a replacement. Truth be told, his first-year work was solid in play. Really, really solid! But, it had fit and finish challenges that needed work.
Freddie <~~~ R.I.P. John Davis