At What Price do You Consider a Cue Expensive

T

TheBook

Ret Professional Goof Off
Silver Member
20 years ago when I purchased my first cue. I paid $125 for a R2 Schon. Most players in the league were using the lower end McD or Meucci because there was always some player that sold them at discount in the $75 to $100 range. At the time I thought a cue over $200 was expensive and a 4 point with veneers Mottey sold for $300 and Joss West were about in the same price area. Too bad I didn't stock up on them. Since I have bought cues ranging from $400 to $2500.

Now you see posts of someone wanting to buy a cue for $100 to $150 and I am sure they feel that they are putting out a lot of money.

I think anything over $1500 is expensive.

I paid $850 for my playing cue and bought it 8 months ago. I will usually lie about the cost of what I paid (unless it is someone that knows cues) telling them a lesser amount but with this cue I told the actual cost and most everyone that asked thought I was crazy to pay that much but they all agree that the cue plays better than theirs. It is not that I paid too much it is just that they cannot afford or would not pay that much for a cue.

What do you think is a expensive cue? Anything over $200, $500. $1000, $1500, $2000....?

How much did you pay for your playing cue and how long have you had it?
 
It is all relative

as to what point you are in life, in your Pool game, and
the amount of disposable income you have available.
I have a $1,100 custom made cue as my playing cue.
I bought it mostly because I loved the balance and feel
of it (tested unchalked), and because it had a southwestern
look to it, which I like, and the woods used which are
Bacote and Paduak, and coco in the veneers too with
wood and malachite inlays. To me, it was like finding the right 'girlfriend',
everything just felt good. It doesn't suit everyone's taste
as far as style, but it suits me just perfect.

Offhand, I would consider anything over $2,000 as expensive.
 
well....

I would have to say that for the most part anything over $500 and you're spending the money on one of two things, aesthetics or a name, or both. Once you've hit the $500 dollar mark, you're not gonna get too much better of a play out of it. There are some exceptions and a lot of the reason that cuemakers get a name that you have to pay for is because of the quality of the hit; however, that same cuemakers owest end cue will usually play just as well as their high end cue.

That's where aesthetics comes into play. What do I mean by Aesthetics. Aexthetics are anything pleasing to the eye. Points, veneers, dots, diamonds, windows, etc. Those are all aesthetics, things that don't add to the functionality of the cue only to the beauty of it.

So basically what I'm saying is to not expect a $5000 cue to play better than a 700 or 800 dollar cue and as far as production cues go, I would say that it doesn't get much better than Schon.

Again, don't take offense I know that there are some older custom cues that play better and have a better feel than most modern cues, so there are exceptions.
 
I saw a Josswest just the other day on e-bay go for $4,500+. It was a nice looking cue but 4500?

I'll bet you a dollar to a dime it doesn't play any better than the Schon I had. If you painted them both black and let 20 people play them them, I bet they couldn't tell which was which.

So why is a Josswest worth $4,500 and a nice Schon worth $800? Workmanship? Maybe a little, but to me it's not a $4,000 difference.

But it all comes down to who's doing the buying and what monetary level they are looking down from. :)
 
I have 3 cues...2 of them cost $29.95 a piece...and the other one cost $130. I don't play good enough to have a schon or some nice cue.
 
Cue Expensive?

Jaden said:
I would have to say that for the most part anything over $500 and you're spending the money on one of two things, aesthetics or a name, or both. Once you've hit the $500 dollar mark, you're not gonna get too much better of a play out of it. There are some exceptions and a lot of the reason that cuemakers get a name that you have to pay for is because of the quality of the hit; however, that same cuemakers owest end cue will usually play just as well as their high end cue.

That's where aesthetics comes into play. What do I mean by Aesthetics. Aexthetics are anything pleasing to the eye. Points, veneers, dots, diamonds, windows, etc. Those are all aesthetics, things that don't add to the functionality of the cue only to the beauty of it.

So basically what I'm saying is to not expect a $5000 cue to play better than a 700 or 800 dollar cue and as far as production cues go, I would say that it doesn't get much better than Schon.

Again, don't take offense I know that there are some older custom cues that play better and have a better feel than most modern cues, so there are exceptions.
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I agree with $500 being the limit before being assumed expensive. Several of the custom cues I own cost over $2000 and none of the ones costing $1000 or less from the same cue makers play inferior. Presently I own 40+ cues (not a sign of intelligence) and my advice to anyone who only wants to become a better player is to get a used cue made by a reputable cuemaker and spend the left over money on the best instruction you can get. Now, if you are no smarter than me buy 40+ cues and keep looking for magic to improve your game.
 
Expensive is relative!

:D If the Cue is for daily shooting IMO anything ove $1,200 is expensive I own cues that are very valuable but most of them with the exception of 1 are classics 18 -40 years old and see very little action !
 
What's to much?...

I have to agree that the cost of our toys and gadgets is directly related to our obsession/commitment to a particular hobby,the amount of disposable income we have and whether or not we have a significant other thats tough or lenient with our spending...:)

That said, I now have cues valued from $100-$1100, sometimes I think I have severely overspent on my love of this game, but then I think, barring any catastrophe I'll have these cues and cases etc...forever, one day they'll be my Sons...etc. So I reconcile the cost with what I see as Value...

But when I purchased my first 'Real Cue', a Meucci Original Gambler in pristine condition for $$$, I thought I was nuts!:eek: Now I have two others valued at over $500-, go figure?
 
bruin70 said:
$3500 +........
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I'd have to say that I think anything over $2000 is expensive, that being said, my main playing cue is the most expensive cue I have (with or without the joint protectors...lol).
 
$500

I also agree with $500 for the amount that starts to become expensive for a cue. I came to this reasoning when I found that you can buy a very good hitting cue for under $500 that still looks good.

I've been buying at least one new cue every year (along with watches, but that's another story...). My most expensive cue is a Pechauer (retailed for $650, but got it for $450).

My focus is to find a new brand of cue each year that hits great and that looks better than my current cue for around the $300-$400 range.

The last couple of years I've been stuck on Lucasi. Nice hitting cue for the price IMO. I just bought a Sierra-Cherokee last week for $300. I love the looks, it hits like the Lucasi, and it turns out that I like the balance better than my three Lucasi's (had to edit...forgot that I have three Lucasi's...LOL).
 
I have several hobbies and pool is just one of them. I paid $200 for my cue, case and tools. I have spent many thousands on my musical instruments. I would never spend more then a few hundred on pool stuff (pool table is the exception and is on my want list) but would for other interests. Value is in the eye of the beholder.
 
most cuemakers have a standard line of cues that run from your basic plain jane for a few hundred to the cues with points and windows, maybe even some minor inlays,,,,about 1500 to 2000. but i think if you asked a cuemaker to build something "expensive", he will add more costly materials and fancier inlays,,,,and that'll start running over $3000, imo
 
Egg McDogit said:
I have 3 cues...2 of them cost $29.95 a piece...and the other one cost $130. I don't play good enough to have a schon or some nice cue.
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I agree that $500+ won't buy you a better shooting cue...

I disagree that you have to be a good shooter to collect pools cues, or even to gamble on pool games for that matter.
 
Well for me anything over $500 for everyday playing but i play with a Bottom line Joss which wholesale about $105 lol and a sledgehammer wholesale i paid $180 for its kinda funny my break cue costs me more than my playing cue.
 
jbell said:
Well for me anything over $500 for everyday playing but i play with a Bottom line Joss which wholesale about $105 lol and a sledgehammer wholesale i paid $180 for its kinda funny my break cue costs me more than my playing cue.
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With all these breaking cue coming out now I am sure a lot of players break cues will cost more than thier playing one!:o
 
I think cues get too expensive when the hit does'nt = the price you paid!...I got lucky with my new Lucasi ($200)....it hits like any of the Black Boars I had..

I also have $1000 surfboards, hand made, wood veneered, beautiful!....

It's all what your into.....I'd buy a szamboti today if the price was right....Gerry
 
Expensive is in the eyes of the beholder. My regular playing cue cost $450.00 - in 1984, which was a lot of dough in those days for a cue. But it has become my regular playing cue not because of cost. I just like the playing characteristics of that particular cue. I agree with many of the people here who say you can get a great playing cue today for about $500.00. For that matter you can get a great playing cue for less that that. You've got to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince.
 
Gregg said:
I agree that $500+ won't buy you a better shooting cue...

I disagree that you have to be a good shooter to collect pools cues, or even to gamble on pool games for that matter.
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I think you're just supposed to say "$10.00".
 
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