I fall in with the guys who posted here that are not cuemakers, but as from my standpoint, if the cuemaker (named) sanctioned/puts his name behind and on it, it is good as long has he does not profess to have completed all of the work himself. Apprentice/helper/paid employee.....doesn't really matter to me. Scruggs/Frey/Cochran, Schick/Wheeler, Mottey/White, the Szambotis, Tascarellas, Tads, all in the same boat. What we call production, in most cases started out as custom makers who generated a following and demand grew to the point where they simply needed more apprentices/helpers, whatever you want to call them. Then there are the ones that started out the gate as production companies (Predator, Mezz, OB, etc.).