I've been meaning to try out Al Bautista's cue and was waiting for the right one to come along, a few weeks after i enquired prices from him a ready one surfaced and it was something i like so a few PMs later the deal was sealed.
Al's an incredibly humble and nice guy to deal with, you cannot be blamed if you assume he's not the cue maker but someone employed to reply to client's needs politely...i still have my suspicion...
When he shipped the cue to me it was stuck in customs for a while (think i got "lucky"..) anyway it was a random check and you'd think everything/everyone works fast in china...it was in customs for nearly a week before they finally released it to me. Al PMed me to check on the status of the cue periodically and was anxious to know if it got to me.
The original cue was a wrapless cue but i had requested for it to be wrapped in leather and he went with it, infact he went ahead in doing the wrap and resizing the shaft to my dimension before i even paid him! If i'm a high iTrader or high post count user i would understand his trust, but he just took my word for it and went ahead with the changes before i paid him. Some might say silly but i'd say it's service and trust, and that makes the buying experience enjoyable.
Cue comes with 2 shafts 13mm and 12.75mm(as requested by me), Kamui Black SS (at no additional cost unlike many cue makers..) and a simple case for shipping which i've included in the pictures below.
This is my 2nd Pinoy Cue, well 2nd in terms of different cue maker. I've have 5 JDs past my hands in the past 2 months and i still own one of them. JDs play great, pretty good workmanship for the money but it lacks alot of finer details like finishing, rough around certain edges still it was excellent value for money. With that i had my reservations when i had to pay so much more for another Pinoy cue, however when i received the cue it justifies the price difference and more. It's clear the cues are from different league, that i shan't elaborate on since i'm more interested in talking about this cue from Al Bautista.
The finishing to the cue is great, all details are closely attended to which you will see in following pictures.
Most importantly how does it play? It plays very well. It's a firm hitter but not stiff, shaft provides a certain level of finesse in play where there is really good feedback. The KAMUI SS tip definitely compliments the cue's setup and amplify my point of finesse play. I don't think this cue is for the hard hitting wack-play crew, it defeats the purpose of the cue. It's hard to explain...i can't put my finger to how this cue hits since i can't relate to any other cues that i have tried before..then again i haven't tried that many cues before..
Enjoy the pictures...and if you agree with them, PM blackpearlmaker or log on to http://www.blackpearlcues.com/ but be warned...loads of crazy pictures in there...incredible temptations..
P.S Al, i'll be contacting you soon about some inlays for this cue :thumbup:
Al's an incredibly humble and nice guy to deal with, you cannot be blamed if you assume he's not the cue maker but someone employed to reply to client's needs politely...i still have my suspicion...
When he shipped the cue to me it was stuck in customs for a while (think i got "lucky"..) anyway it was a random check and you'd think everything/everyone works fast in china...it was in customs for nearly a week before they finally released it to me. Al PMed me to check on the status of the cue periodically and was anxious to know if it got to me.
The original cue was a wrapless cue but i had requested for it to be wrapped in leather and he went with it, infact he went ahead in doing the wrap and resizing the shaft to my dimension before i even paid him! If i'm a high iTrader or high post count user i would understand his trust, but he just took my word for it and went ahead with the changes before i paid him. Some might say silly but i'd say it's service and trust, and that makes the buying experience enjoyable.
Cue comes with 2 shafts 13mm and 12.75mm(as requested by me), Kamui Black SS (at no additional cost unlike many cue makers..) and a simple case for shipping which i've included in the pictures below.
This is my 2nd Pinoy Cue, well 2nd in terms of different cue maker. I've have 5 JDs past my hands in the past 2 months and i still own one of them. JDs play great, pretty good workmanship for the money but it lacks alot of finer details like finishing, rough around certain edges still it was excellent value for money. With that i had my reservations when i had to pay so much more for another Pinoy cue, however when i received the cue it justifies the price difference and more. It's clear the cues are from different league, that i shan't elaborate on since i'm more interested in talking about this cue from Al Bautista.
The finishing to the cue is great, all details are closely attended to which you will see in following pictures.
Most importantly how does it play? It plays very well. It's a firm hitter but not stiff, shaft provides a certain level of finesse in play where there is really good feedback. The KAMUI SS tip definitely compliments the cue's setup and amplify my point of finesse play. I don't think this cue is for the hard hitting wack-play crew, it defeats the purpose of the cue. It's hard to explain...i can't put my finger to how this cue hits since i can't relate to any other cues that i have tried before..then again i haven't tried that many cues before..
Enjoy the pictures...and if you agree with them, PM blackpearlmaker or log on to http://www.blackpearlcues.com/ but be warned...loads of crazy pictures in there...incredible temptations..
P.S Al, i'll be contacting you soon about some inlays for this cue :thumbup:
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