Any word from Dennis Searing....
- Thread starter J$Cincy
- Start date
since he talks to you ask him why he jerks so many people around regarding
building them a cue and then disconnecting with them
and get back to us with his answer
the more you look at it the more the trim rings will look alike
I don’t look at the rings.
I look at the balls!
LOL!
I think it looks kind of sexy being all mismatched.
Ain’t too many people playing with a Dennis Tucker cue.
Or a Murray Searing.
Thanks for your reply
i agree speaking to dennis he seems like a great guy/passionate about what he does
then poof……no communication
i dont understand it
middleofnowhere
Registered
Here's an ethics question. Try to be honest.
You manufacture an item that is in demand. There's a finite limit to how much you will ever be able to manufacture in your lifetime.
The item that you manufacture for some reason seems to continually go up in value.
Now here's the question. You take an order for the item quote a price and a deal is made.
Sometime later when the item is ready for delivery it's current market value is much more than your original quote.
Do you ship the item and honor your original quote?
Tell the customer you will have to get a bit more money for the item and break the deal?
Or just pick up the phone and in 5 minutes find another buyer that's more than willing to pay at least two or three times what you were going to get from the original buyer.
Unfortunately this isn't actually a hypothetical.
You manufacture an item that is in demand. There's a finite limit to how much you will ever be able to manufacture in your lifetime.
The item that you manufacture for some reason seems to continually go up in value.
Now here's the question. You take an order for the item quote a price and a deal is made.
Sometime later when the item is ready for delivery it's current market value is much more than your original quote.
Do you ship the item and honor your original quote?
Tell the customer you will have to get a bit more money for the item and break the deal?
Or just pick up the phone and in 5 minutes find another buyer that's more than willing to pay at least two or three times what you were going to get from the original buyer.
Unfortunately this isn't actually a hypothetical.
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This is exactly what happened to me.
Almost 20 years ago he and we had a wonderful conversation and I mentioned I wanted a cue made from camatillo which he said was one of his favorite woods to build with. We spoke about the tonal qualities of camatillo and other things. One of those was his loss of his list which had been on a computer that was lost during a hurricane which caused severe flooding. He told me going forward he was going to keep a handwritten list as well as a computer list so this would never happen again. I had been on the list before this incident and when he asked for specifics on my cue I mentioned using camatillo and he remembered me instantly and told me he would reenter me on his list accordingly.
Fast forward many years and I sent him an email asking where I might be on his list. No reply. So I mailed him an envelope with a stamped return addressed envelope with another request for my place on his list. Once again, no reply.. I never contacted him again after that point which has to be ten years ago or so now... I don't think I did anything wrong or insulting to him, like the member said in post #247, POOF, and that was that. At least I had a nice chat with him!!!
middleofnowhere
Registered
Can I ask, if you remember, what was the cue going to cost you?
if he doesnt like that his cues are going for more than he sold them for he should just raise his price to the market and not give a firm price when you are on the list.
when it gets near your turn he calls you and you give him the specs. and then he quotes you a price. if both dont agree he moves on.
basically he is a piss poor business man and doesnt care about his customers, and is bitter the market doesnt work how he wants it to.
he has the option to change all that in the blink of an eye if he so chooses by not doing a list and make cues as he sees fit and sell them on the open market.
when it gets near your turn he calls you and you give him the specs. and then he quotes you a price. if both dont agree he moves on.
basically he is a piss poor business man and doesnt care about his customers, and is bitter the market doesnt work how he wants it to.
he has the option to change all that in the blink of an eye if he so chooses by not doing a list and make cues as he sees fit and sell them on the open market.
We never discussed price. Dennis also said he would not accept a deposit as it was unnecessary. He told me he could sell any cue he ever makes and they all come with a full money back guarantee that you would be happy with it. He said one gal wanted her money back solely because she did not like the look of her cue. He told me he built her another cue and sold the one she returned. So that was his reasoning for not accepting deposits and the money back guarantee..
It all sounded perfectly honest and straight forward.. Not sure what or why I never heard from him. I truly wanted a cue of his as my player.
Years later I had Dave Kikel build me that camatillo cue with ivory points, inlays, joint, ferrules and butt cap. Been playing with that for 8 or 9 years now..
I want to say I have no bones to pick with Dennis. He does not owe me anything..
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He has no list…. He had me fill out a paper with information and a design in 2002 or 3…. lol you see the people who get his cues….. it’s the same people he repeatedly says “ he won’t sell to”. One of the best playing cues on the planet but He’s full of shit
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
thats why i dont lists of any kind , if i can find what im looking for reasonable quicky i move along . dont even get me on a restaurant rant on lists . lol
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From a cue collector’s perspective, fine. Whatever. Wait 10 years, 30 years, or an indefinite period of time as seems to be the case here, Whatever floats your boat.
From a player’s perspective, anyone who says waiting 20 years for one of his cues is worth it because they are the “best playing cues” available is kidding themselves.
1. What makes the biggest difference to how a cue feels when you hit the cue ball? The tip. Of course, every butt and shaft combination from every maker has a different base set of characteristics, but changing brand of tip and then hardness within a particular series of tip will change the feel of the hit more than any difference in shaft/butt combination.
2. What changes how a cue feels when it rests in your hand? The weight and balance point. This is not a super secret magical formula, and the most popular mass production cues have systems in-built to customize this yourself; weight bolts, butt extensions, joint inserts, in the case of Mezz, joint rings.
3. Low deflection vs traditional: This is purely personal preference, and some people can adjust quickly between the two, others not so much. For me, 20 minutes with a cue is basically enough for me to adjust, not perfectly, but well enough. For others, people who have only ever played with LD for example, switching to a traditional shaft that throws might be impossible. I don’t even know if Searing makes his shafts LD or not (I suspect not, as is the case with any SW cue I’ve used), but it doesn’t even matter.
4. Power transfer: The two biggest factors here are tip and shaft material. The harder the tip, the more power transfer, and in terms of material, carbon is the biggest game changer here. Is it needed? Maybe not. Not saying having more power transfer is better, just that there are the two biggest factors with regards to power to effort ratio in a cue.
I could probably go on, but that covers the most important elements for most people. Does Searing have something in his cues that makes them play better than the above factors determine? Obviously I’m not comparing it to a $100 Player’s cue, though they do play alright. I’m talking about Predator, Mezz, Meucci, whatever widely available brand a large majority of players use, have a good solid joint system, and a decent quality shaft.
I’ve used a couple of SW cues, and from a player’s perspective, there’s no way in hell I’d even consider waiting 10 years for one. It was fine, and if a South West was the cue I’d developed my pool skills with, then maybe I’d throw my name down so I could have a new one that plays in a similar fashion to the cue I’m used to. But in terms of quality of hit, or how it plays? It’s fine. So is my Exceed. So was my Mezz. So is the custom butt I had made in the Philippines.
Searing cues are the “best playing cues available”? Bring your Searing cue over my way and we’ll see how well it plays against my Exceed or even my $100 Players cue, or join the next US Open and see how well it plays against Filler’s Predator or Shaw’s Perri. And how well did John Parris cues “play” against Stephen Hendry’s $50 Riley cue he bought when he was barely a teenager?
From a player’s perspective, anyone who says waiting 20 years for one of his cues is worth it because they are the “best playing cues” available is kidding themselves.
1. What makes the biggest difference to how a cue feels when you hit the cue ball? The tip. Of course, every butt and shaft combination from every maker has a different base set of characteristics, but changing brand of tip and then hardness within a particular series of tip will change the feel of the hit more than any difference in shaft/butt combination.
2. What changes how a cue feels when it rests in your hand? The weight and balance point. This is not a super secret magical formula, and the most popular mass production cues have systems in-built to customize this yourself; weight bolts, butt extensions, joint inserts, in the case of Mezz, joint rings.
3. Low deflection vs traditional: This is purely personal preference, and some people can adjust quickly between the two, others not so much. For me, 20 minutes with a cue is basically enough for me to adjust, not perfectly, but well enough. For others, people who have only ever played with LD for example, switching to a traditional shaft that throws might be impossible. I don’t even know if Searing makes his shafts LD or not (I suspect not, as is the case with any SW cue I’ve used), but it doesn’t even matter.
4. Power transfer: The two biggest factors here are tip and shaft material. The harder the tip, the more power transfer, and in terms of material, carbon is the biggest game changer here. Is it needed? Maybe not. Not saying having more power transfer is better, just that there are the two biggest factors with regards to power to effort ratio in a cue.
I could probably go on, but that covers the most important elements for most people. Does Searing have something in his cues that makes them play better than the above factors determine? Obviously I’m not comparing it to a $100 Player’s cue, though they do play alright. I’m talking about Predator, Mezz, Meucci, whatever widely available brand a large majority of players use, have a good solid joint system, and a decent quality shaft.
I’ve used a couple of SW cues, and from a player’s perspective, there’s no way in hell I’d even consider waiting 10 years for one. It was fine, and if a South West was the cue I’d developed my pool skills with, then maybe I’d throw my name down so I could have a new one that plays in a similar fashion to the cue I’m used to. But in terms of quality of hit, or how it plays? It’s fine. So is my Exceed. So was my Mezz. So is the custom butt I had made in the Philippines.
Searing cues are the “best playing cues available”? Bring your Searing cue over my way and we’ll see how well it plays against my Exceed or even my $100 Players cue, or join the next US Open and see how well it plays against Filler’s Predator or Shaw’s Perri. And how well did John Parris cues “play” against Stephen Hendry’s $50 Riley cue he bought when he was barely a teenager?
i know a guy i used to play with 30 years ago , he still plays qith that same cue except for a few new shafts over the years ,
what is it ? mcdermott d9 i was with him when he bought it and bought my meucci . man he would make you cry with that cue lol
what is it ? mcdermott d9 i was with him when he bought it and bought my meucci . man he would make you cry with that cue lol
middleofnowhere
Registered
The simple explanation regarding Dennis's cues are, they are no longer cues to play pool with, they are investments like art. I don't hardly see how he can price his cues to the individual. Their value is what the market will bear. This has never happened before in pool cues. Not Balabushka, Szamboti, Black etc. In the case of Balabushka it was not till years after his death his cues began to gain value.
In Dennis's case it is almost crazy how this has happened, but it has. I think he can't even take orders anymore. Finished cues have to be sold through dealers like art. The buyers will determine the value and Dennis will be compensated accordingly. I can't see how he can do it any other way now.
Cues on back order will just have to be forgotten about. People who were lucky enough to have gotten cues directly are just that, the lucky ones. I would not expect any cues on a 10 year old list to ever be delivered.
Another thing that should be in Dennis's future is to market his name as the Balabushka family did. There will be a point where there will be no more cues from Dennis.
He is not a kid, it could be over tomorrow. If he is to leave a legacy it will have to be his name. If it was me, I would be working on it now.
I had a friend who was welder. He also was a pool player by the way, Dennis knew him. In the boating community he was regarded as one of the best. His work was legendary.
He quit where he was working and started his own small company making custom Tuna Towers.
In no time he was overwhelmed with orders by customers with blank checks. After a few years he got an offer from the a large boat manufacture to sell them the company and come to work for them.
He made a deal for three million and he was hired as their designer and consultant.
Designer and consultant, I like that. It could also apply to cues.
In Dennis's case it is almost crazy how this has happened, but it has. I think he can't even take orders anymore. Finished cues have to be sold through dealers like art. The buyers will determine the value and Dennis will be compensated accordingly. I can't see how he can do it any other way now.
Cues on back order will just have to be forgotten about. People who were lucky enough to have gotten cues directly are just that, the lucky ones. I would not expect any cues on a 10 year old list to ever be delivered.
Another thing that should be in Dennis's future is to market his name as the Balabushka family did. There will be a point where there will be no more cues from Dennis.
He is not a kid, it could be over tomorrow. If he is to leave a legacy it will have to be his name. If it was me, I would be working on it now.
I had a friend who was welder. He also was a pool player by the way, Dennis knew him. In the boating community he was regarded as one of the best. His work was legendary.
He quit where he was working and started his own small company making custom Tuna Towers.
In no time he was overwhelmed with orders by customers with blank checks. After a few years he got an offer from the a large boat manufacture to sell them the company and come to work for them.
He made a deal for three million and he was hired as their designer and consultant.
Designer and consultant, I like that. It could also apply to cues.
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Potential ?
His book is closed forever .
He is not even going to come close to delivering half the book now .
Maybe a quarter .
Way way too many people bugged him for cues and he had no heart to turn them away.
And, I am going to speculate, most of the people on the books are cue flippers who can't resist making a buck in selling their new cues .
That's your opinion or opinions .
Why would anyone want to convince you they are the best playing cue ???
You're still not going to buy one .
Never done it, but nothing wrong with cue flippers.
Anybody can be a cue flipper.
Plenty on here.
Once you buy an item, it is yours.
What you do with it after that is nobody’s business.
Once an item becomes that desirable, it is want based upon name recognition only.
The people then buying the item want to parade it around like a lady and her Louis Vuitton purse.
Products of equal quality, with less name recognition, are readily abundant.
I didn't condemn them . It is what it is .
And it gives the makers the feel when to raise the price .
I know you didn’t.
If I were a cue maker, I would not quote a price for a cue that I knew I couldn’t make within a year.
I would adjust my price annually based upon what I thought people may pay for one.
If they don’t buy, lower the price.
If they still buy, increase the price.
Supply vs demand.
A one-man shop can only produce a finite number of cues in a year, based upon the complexity of the different cue orders.
I would determine how much profit I wanted to make for the year and base my prices accordingly.
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