Ok some might think this is a repeat of my thread for J&D Customs (Jim Lee) but I'm going to post everything I've thought about before I picked him, whats going on when we were designing the cue, and what goes on during updates to me etc. Here goes and I'll edit in this post as time goes along. Take in mind I've never had a custom built for me, much less design my own and have someone build it for me (all handmade, no CNC). I was leary at first because I dont know all the terminology of the parts of a cue, etc. and he never made me feel dumb and he even drew a cue up and pointed to what was what to help me out. He made me go from being too nervous to build one (I almost pulled the trigger on a Judd JT-1, but I wasnt sure of what I wanted) to feeling confident this will be one badass cue.
1/16/2008 at 12:07 AM: I reply to a post that J&D Customs posted about selling one of his Kingwood Cues. He didnt post any specs or a price so I replied to his thread saying I was in the looking for a custom cue and that he should post his prices and specs, etc. He replies in a pm very shortly thereafter and asks what I'm looking for. I dont know everything I need but I know I want something with a 3/8x10 pin (I've shot with a few and loved the stiffness) but other than that I really didnt know what I wanted. I told him I was waiting on a price from two other cuemakers before I decided who I would go with. He said that was cool and to let him know if I needed any help from him no matter if I bought from him or not. After getting emails from the other two cuemakers I decided they were out of my pricerange for what I wanted so I pm'd Jim back and said lets talk. We talked basics and he even drew up some ideas, and I told him I'd let him know when I found something I really wanted and we'd start the build.
1/17/2008 11:28 PM: I found a cue on the internet that I based my design on and drew it up with the colors I wanted in the cue and sent it to Jim. He said he could do it and actually wanted to build it because he thought it looked very traditional but had colors in it that are not seen in an everday cue on here. After I got the word that he could build what I wanted in the colors I wanted I told him I was going with him and that I would be sending my $200 deposit that night to get started. He said there are about 5 cues ahead of me (including the ones for TATE to review on the site) and it could be anywhere from 3-5 months depending on the repair work that comes in, etc. and I said I'm more than happy about that. I give him my phone number and he calls me right away and we talk for about 3 hours (take in mind its about midnight when he first called, I asked him to) and we talk about 10 minutes about the cue and another 2 hours and 50 minutes about life and family. I thought that was pretty cool. I felt like I knew him my whole life right after that. We finalized the plans and sent the payment while we talked. Game is on now.
1/18/2008 Around Midnightish: Me and Jim trade a few pm's just shooting the bull. He says he gets in the veneers and has 3 different shades of the color I asked for. He laid them out by my forearm and sent me pics asking which exact color I wanted so there was no confusion or if they were all wrong. I picked the one I wanted (which was dead on) and he then puts it against the color of the point to show me what it would look like. I approve so we now know the colors for the veneers, rings, etc. So now I ALREADY have pics of my beautiful forearm laid down behind some colors for the veneers and points.
2/3/2008 11:00 PM: We trade many pm's from the 18th to now just shooting the bull as usual. After asking him to post pics of the test cue for TATE he tells me my cue might be done ahead of time. Of course I'm giddy but I know its still awhile away. Things are still good and Jim says everything should turn out ok.
2/9/2008 1:00 AM: We trade pm's again shooting the bull and Jim imformed me that he already has everything in house and ready to go and I'm about 5th in line (of course not counting any repair work, etc. that comes in). All the veneers are glued, and the shafts are turning. Things are starting to look up!
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More to come as things come along. Hopefully this will help someone that was nervous like me in contacting a cuemaker and wanting their own cue instead of just what the cuemaker puts out and thats all you get. You get a TRUE custom that way.
1/16/2008 at 12:07 AM: I reply to a post that J&D Customs posted about selling one of his Kingwood Cues. He didnt post any specs or a price so I replied to his thread saying I was in the looking for a custom cue and that he should post his prices and specs, etc. He replies in a pm very shortly thereafter and asks what I'm looking for. I dont know everything I need but I know I want something with a 3/8x10 pin (I've shot with a few and loved the stiffness) but other than that I really didnt know what I wanted. I told him I was waiting on a price from two other cuemakers before I decided who I would go with. He said that was cool and to let him know if I needed any help from him no matter if I bought from him or not. After getting emails from the other two cuemakers I decided they were out of my pricerange for what I wanted so I pm'd Jim back and said lets talk. We talked basics and he even drew up some ideas, and I told him I'd let him know when I found something I really wanted and we'd start the build.
1/17/2008 11:28 PM: I found a cue on the internet that I based my design on and drew it up with the colors I wanted in the cue and sent it to Jim. He said he could do it and actually wanted to build it because he thought it looked very traditional but had colors in it that are not seen in an everday cue on here. After I got the word that he could build what I wanted in the colors I wanted I told him I was going with him and that I would be sending my $200 deposit that night to get started. He said there are about 5 cues ahead of me (including the ones for TATE to review on the site) and it could be anywhere from 3-5 months depending on the repair work that comes in, etc. and I said I'm more than happy about that. I give him my phone number and he calls me right away and we talk for about 3 hours (take in mind its about midnight when he first called, I asked him to) and we talk about 10 minutes about the cue and another 2 hours and 50 minutes about life and family. I thought that was pretty cool. I felt like I knew him my whole life right after that. We finalized the plans and sent the payment while we talked. Game is on now.
1/18/2008 Around Midnightish: Me and Jim trade a few pm's just shooting the bull. He says he gets in the veneers and has 3 different shades of the color I asked for. He laid them out by my forearm and sent me pics asking which exact color I wanted so there was no confusion or if they were all wrong. I picked the one I wanted (which was dead on) and he then puts it against the color of the point to show me what it would look like. I approve so we now know the colors for the veneers, rings, etc. So now I ALREADY have pics of my beautiful forearm laid down behind some colors for the veneers and points.
2/3/2008 11:00 PM: We trade many pm's from the 18th to now just shooting the bull as usual. After asking him to post pics of the test cue for TATE he tells me my cue might be done ahead of time. Of course I'm giddy but I know its still awhile away. Things are still good and Jim says everything should turn out ok.
2/9/2008 1:00 AM: We trade pm's again shooting the bull and Jim imformed me that he already has everything in house and ready to go and I'm about 5th in line (of course not counting any repair work, etc. that comes in). All the veneers are glued, and the shafts are turning. Things are starting to look up!
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More to come as things come along. Hopefully this will help someone that was nervous like me in contacting a cuemaker and wanting their own cue instead of just what the cuemaker puts out and thats all you get. You get a TRUE custom that way.
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, but wanted to show a picture of one of the cues that Jim/J&D custom is making for me. It is getting a wrap this week, and should hopefully be in my hands very soon. It is a beautiful 6 point bacote in pink ivory forearm, with a bacote butt sleeve.
. My first custom is a Scruggs and I thought I'd never want another cue. I have shot with about a dozen other cues and at present settled with another Scruggs. I think I'll be sticking with this one and have never felt as secure with a cue. But whatever you do don't sell your very first custom made cue. Mine feels very distinct and I get a pleasure from taking her out from time to time.