Adam Ritz Value???

[krbsailing]

We believe this is an early 1970's model of the Adam Ritz A/H-10.

This looks to be a Ebony (Madagassar?) forearm and buttsleeve and, I believe this is a fullspliced handle.

The buttend of the cue has a definite roll and the shaft has a taper variance as well; but, when screwed together it somehow rolls straight.

I don't believe the wrap is original (green w/tan specs). The buttcap has a hairline crack forming; non-original bumper; frozen weightbolt; also has a crack forming below the ferrule in the shaft -- seems stable.

Does anyone know who may have made the blank for Adam back in the 1970's?

Butt weighs 14.8 oz; joint is .848"; end of buttsleeve is 1.213"
Shaft weighs 3.3 oz; 11.68mm ferrule; layered tip
Aluminum? piloted Joint with a pointed brass 5/16-18 pin
Balance point is approx. 18.75" from the end of the buttcap

My friend has had this cue for over 20 years and it came with this old hand made leather case.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[jayman]

Adam made there own blanks.

 

[manwon]

We believe this is an early 1970's model of the Adam Ritz A/H-10.

This looks to be a Ebony (Madagassar?) forearm and buttsleeve and, I believe this is a fullspliced handle.

The buttend of the cue has a definite roll and the shaft has a taper variance as well; but, when screwed together it somehow rolls straight.

I don't believe the wrap is original (green w/tan specs). The buttcap has a hairline crack forming; non-original bumper; frozen weightbolt; also has a crack forming below the ferrule in the shaft -- seems stable.

Does anyone know who may have made the blank for Adam back in the 1970's?

Butt weighs 14.8 oz; joint is .848"; end of buttsleeve is 1.213"
Shaft weighs 3.3 oz; 11.68mm ferrule; layered tip
Aluminum? piloted Joint with a pointed brass 5/16-18 pin
Balance point is approx. 18.75" from the end of the buttcap

My friend has had this cue for over 20 years and it came with this old hand made leather case.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

The cue is certainly Macasar Ebony, you are also right that the is a Full Spliced Blank, but not in a traditional sense that most people understand, the technique used on these cues has the handle spliced to the forearm. This technique was also used by Burton Spain from the 1960's until his death, and it continues to be used by Mr. Hercek.

The wrap is not original to the cue, most of the older cues (Early to Middle 1970"s) had a White with Green speck wrap, I have never seen any that had Cortland #9, most had another brand that I suspect was made by a company called Ashland.

I suspect this cue to be from the 1980's, the bumper that is currently on the cue would not fit in the butt cap of an older model. The were small in diameter unlike what is in the cue now, if the bumper in the cue is not original it is certainly like the bumpers Adam was using toward the end of their second catalog and throughout the 80's.

The top cue in the photo's below is a Adam Ritz that I refinished for a local customer, the photo's show the Full Splice technique explained above.








The forearms and entire cues were made in Japan Miki Company LTD, under a contract with Adam / Helmstetter cues, you see from the beginning all Adam / Helmstetter cues were made here. I am unsure if they are still making cues for Adam / Helmstetter, but they are making another product that they designed and have marketed none as Mezz Custom Cues.

Here is their website:

http://www.miki-mezz.com/world/company/history.html

Most people think that Adam / Helmstetter had their own factory in Japan, and this Myth continues today, when actually they only contracted Miki Company LTD to build all their cues.

Hope this helps.

 

[jayman]

Quote Craig;

The forearms and entire cues were made in Japan Miki Company LTD, under a contract with Adam / Helmstetter cues, you see from the beginning all Adam / Helmstetter cues were made here. I am unsure if they are still making cues for Adam / Helmstetter, but they are making another product that they designed and have marketed none as Mezz Custom Cues.

Here is their website:

http://www.miki-mezz.com/world/company/history.html

Most people think that Adam / Helmstetter had their own factory in Japan, and this Myth continues today, when actually they only contracted Miki Company LTD to build all their cues.

Hope this helps.[/QUOTE]

That is interesting stuff . I had always been told that only certain lines of Adam/Helmstetter cue were made by Miki, And that Adam made all of their own blanks. That information came strait from Adam Japan.

I guess that's why Richard doesn't / hasn't talked much about his cue making days in Japan.

Thanks Craig,
Jayman

 

[manwon]

The forearms and entire cues were made in Japan Miki Company LTD, under a contract with Adam / Helmstetter cues, you see from the beginning all Adam / Helmstetter cues were made here. I am unsure if they are still making cues for Adam / Helmstetter, but they are making another product that they designed and have marketed none as Mezz Custom Cues.

Here is their website:

http://www.miki-mezz.com/world/company/history.html

Most people think that Adam / Helmstetter had their own factory in Japan, and this Myth continues today, when actually they only contracted Miki Company LTD to build all their cues.

Hope this helps.

That is interesting stuff . I had always been told that only certain lines of Adam/Helmstetter cue were made by Miki, And that Adam made all of their own blanks. That information came strait from Adam Japan.

I guess that's why Richard doesn't / hasn't talked much about his cue making days in Japan.

Thanks Craig,
Jayman[/QUOTE]


I suspect that Adam Japan may be an alias for Miki Company LTD, and if I am right they were made by Adam Japan!!:grin:

Take care
Jayman

 

[krbsailing]

Thanks for the insight Jay & Craig.....

Here is a pic of an older Ritz I had the pleasure of owing for a short time several years ago -- it was the real deal = fullsplice handle :wink:

 

[manwon]

Here is a pic of an older Ritz I had the pleasure of owing for a short time several years ago -- it was the real deal = fullsplice handle :wink:

Nice cue but they made the early ones both ways, Burton Spain and Richard Helmstetter were very good friends, in fact Burton sold Adam cues along with his own.

The cue I added photo's of above in this thread was a early second catalog Ritz, it had the Sharp Pointed Pin and the small diameter bumper, and the Ritz was not introduced until the Second Catalog came out in the Early 1970's. The splice technique I posted photo's of was also used by Palmer, and it is found on some Paradise blanks, that were purchased from Burton Spain.

Here is a photo of some of the above cues without wraps:



The other Adam cue in the first photo I provided is also a second Catalog Adam cue, and as you can see it was full spliced like the photo you provided. I don't know why they did things this way, but either method has worked well through time and both are still being used today.

Take care

 

[dickxan]

Adam alive and well

this is Richard Helmstetter replying to the question regarding the Adam Ritz cue.
this model began about 1970 and continues today---but only special order. it is mage by Adam Japan in their factory in Saitama, Japan. they currently make the butt splice there, also, but at different times the splice was made by sub-contractors, like Miki.
Miki's speciality was one piece house cues made out of ramin wood and Adam was their exclusive world-wide distributor. later Miki made various low-end cues for Adam.
at this time there is no connection between Miki and Adam.
adam has a very nice, modern factory just outside of Tokyo and makes pool cues, including all of the Balabushka and Helmstetter lines, snooker cues, and three cushion and balk-line billiard cues.
they have a joint venture in China where they make cues for the asian market and some parts for other cues.
i am alive and well in SoCal thinking about making a few cues again.

 

[TATE]

this is Richard Helmstetter replying to the question regarding the Adam Ritz cue.
this model began about 1970 and continues today---but only special order. it is mage by Adam Japan in their factory in Saitama, Japan. they currently make the butt splice there, also, but at different times the splice was made by sub-contractors, like Miki.
Miki's speciality was one piece house cues made out of ramin wood and Adam was their exclusive world-wide distributor. later Miki made various low-end cues for Adam.
at this time there is no connection between Miki and Adam.
adam has a very nice, modern factory just outside of Tokyo and makes pool cues, including all of the Balabushka and Helmstetter lines, snooker cues, and three cushion and balk-line billiard cues.
they have a joint venture in China where they make cues for the asian market and some parts for other cues.
i am alive and well in SoCal thinking about making a few cues again.

Richard,

Welcome aboard! Your knowledge will be most welcome here. I called Callaway a few years ago to ask you some questions about your cue making history, but you had already retired.

Chris

 

[TATE]

We believe this is an early 1970's model of the Adam Ritz A/H-10.

The joint screw on this one is from the early catalog - it's an early 1970's cue.

It's probably a full splice shortie, with some maple under the wrap. As Craig mentioned, some were joined by a spliced "V" - the maple was to deal with weight issues created by "too much ebony". This was before cues were cored with maple to eliminate weight. the other giveaway that there is a splice under there (besides the butt rings) is the buttsleeve is considerably lighter color than the prongs.

Often these forearms are mis-identified with Burton Spain's because they are so similar. Adam made all their own spliced cues in Japan, under the direction of Richard Helmstetter (who was friends with Burton Spain) and the technique was almost identical.

Chris

 

[ridewiththewind]

this is Richard Helmstetter replying to the question regarding the Adam Ritz cue.
this model began about 1970 and continues today---but only special order. it is mage by Adam Japan in their factory in Saitama, Japan. they currently make the butt splice there, also, but at different times the splice was made by sub-contractors, like Miki.
Miki's speciality was one piece house cues made out of ramin wood and Adam was their exclusive world-wide distributor. later Miki made various low-end cues for Adam.
at this time there is no connection between Miki and Adam.
adam has a very nice, modern factory just outside of Tokyo and makes pool cues, including all of the Balabushka and Helmstetter lines, snooker cues, and three cushion and balk-line billiard cues.
they have a joint venture in China where they make cues for the asian market and some parts for other cues.
i am alive and well in SoCal thinking about making a few cues again.

Wow! Welcome to AZB!!! I have an old Helmstetter 86-06 that everyone and their brother wants to relieve me of...just a great playing cue.

I think it would be very very cool indeed if you were to start making cues again...and I believe you would be kept busy. :grin:

Lisa

 

[jayman]

this is Richard Helmstetter replying to the question regarding the Adam Ritz cue.
this model began about 1970 and continues today---but only special order. it is mage by Adam Japan in their factory in Saitama, Japan. they currently make the butt splice there, also, but at different times the splice was made by sub-contractors, like Miki.
Miki's speciality was one piece house cues made out of ramin wood and Adam was their exclusive world-wide distributor. later Miki made various low-end cues for Adam.
at this time there is no connection between Miki and Adam.
adam has a very nice, modern factory just outside of Tokyo and makes pool cues, including all of the Balabushka and Helmstetter lines, snooker cues, and three cushion and balk-line billiard cues.
they have a joint venture in China where they make cues for the asian market and some parts for other cues.
i am alive and well in SoCal thinking about making a few cues again.

Richard,

Welcome to The forum!

I am very very happy to hear from you, you are (as most here know) my favorite cue maker.
I am known here to most as the foremost collector of vintage Adam cues. I was very disheartened to think that it was all a lie. I was actually considering selling off the collection as it just did not have the same appeal.

It is good to have the head of knowledge present on this fine forum. I have often asked if anyone knew how to contact you, as you must know so much more about cue makers and cue making from the sixties and seventies than most of us do collectively.

I truly hope you will be able to find the time to share a bit of your knowledge and maybe a few fun stories.

Thank you,
Jayman

 

[jayman]

I noticed that the "contact us" link on the Mezz Cues sight doesn't work. does anyone know how i can reach them?

 

[Fast Lenny]

I would take it that this Adam Rambow is not a full splice, what technique would this be called.

 

[hangemhigh]

I would take it that this Adam Rambow is not a full splice, what technique would this be called.

Lenny, that would be an "A" joint.



Interesting how this splice 40 years ago was always under the wrap, only now do we see the same splice used for a decorative effect on cues.

 

[manwon]

Lenny, that would be an "A" joint.



Interesting how this splice 40 years ago was always under the wrap, only now do we see the same splice used for a decorative effect on cues.

Tommy, that is certainly interesting, I suspect that it was just a difference in what was preceived as a good looking as far as design is concerned.

I have Burton Spains book that covers his thoughts on Cue Making and how he felt that splices for point blanks should be made. Burton says in his book that in his opinion the veneer's and the splice should completely join at the bottom of the splice to achieve the maximum strength from the splice.

Burton stated that he was building his blanks this way whether they were short (14 inches) or long ( 18 inches ) that George Balabushka prefered. Burton also spliced his handles to the forearms, just like Hercek still does today.

Take care

 

[krbsailing]

One of my favorites......

I would take it that this Adam Rambow is not a full splice, what technique would this be called.

I feel fortunate to have picked up this one here from Jayman :grin:

I'm hoping this maybe a real fullsplice model. It's in such exceptional condition I can't see taking the wrap off to find out for sure

I believe this (Model R/A-7B) Rambow leather was one of their first production cues!?

Plays excellent -- love it! :grin-square:

 

[manwon]

I feel fortunate to have picked up this one here from Jayman :grin:

I'm hoping this maybe a real fullsplice model. It's in such exceptional condition I can't see taking the wrap off to find out for sure

I believe this (Model R/A-7B) Rambow leather was one of their first production cues!?

Plays excellent -- love it! :grin-square:

Very nice early Adam cue, sharp pin and the original bumper that was used in the first Catalog and early second. These cues were not made for a great deal time, and according to catalogs I have they were not made after the early days unless they were special ordered.

I don't know what the splice on this model looks like, but I would suspect that it is, but the one that was posted in this thread had an A-Joint, this could be because the handle was replaced because the cue was warped, at least thats what I think I could be wrong.

Again nice cue!!