Balabushka

kamdaswani

kamdaswani

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
this is the cue i used today:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=105220&highlight=balaBUshka

as soon as i got on to the table, i thought to myself... ok, i'll set up this, that and the other drill shot and compare and see how it plays vs. x,y and z cues...

so object ball half a diamond past the head string along the long rail, cue ball about a ball below on a nice steep angle, and then i got into position.... and ... a huge smile came over me .. i hadn't even hit the ball yet...

and then it dawned on me.. who the hell was i to "review" a BALABUSHKA !

IT'S A BALABUSHKA !! IN MY HANDS ... HOW COOL IS THAT !!

so no review .. no specs, inches, mm's etc.

BUT, i will share some thoughts...

the best cue i have used to date is at barry's home .. his personal gus.

that is, hands down, no contest, the best cue - period !

this balabushka is the closest i have ever come to that gus...

now this is just my opinion .. there are a million cues i have never tried so that analysis has no objective value whatsoever .. it is just what i feel... and damn, i feel good !

it is old school .. so it is hefty ... with the tasc shaft, it is marginally front heavy and you have to just feather the cueball ... the control is just astounding.. no vibration whatsoever...

with the szam shaft, we are back to that ol' gus magic... it's when you just know you can't miss...

with the original shaft, i was lost.. it is a hair below 12mm and i am just not that good ...

now, i have more expensive cues and way prettier cues ... but with it's history and sheer feel good factor coupled with incredible stability and feedback, i cannot say i have any better cue...

all the best,
kam
 
Thanks for sharing!

Kam, thanks for sharing...I have a similar experience, not with a Bushka, but there are three shafts and one just outshines the rest. I recommend that anyone that buys a players cue to order three shafts, it gives you that much more options to find that right feel and feedback! I hope to pay Barry a visit next year some time, perhaps he will let me try that same cue!
Pauly

kamdaswani said:
this is the cue i used today:
http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=105220&highlight=balaBUshka

as soon as i got on to the table, i thought to myself... ok, i'll set up this, that and the other drill shot and compare and see how it plays vs. x,y and z cues...

so object ball half a diamond past the head string along the long rail, cue ball about a ball below on a nice steep angle, and then i got into position.... and ... a huge smile came over me .. i hadn't even hit the ball yet...

and then it dawned on me.. who the hell was i to "review" a BALABUSHKA !

IT'S A BALABUSHKA !! IN MY HANDS ... HOW COOL IS THAT !!

so no review .. no specs, inches, mm's etc.

BUT, i will share some thoughts...

the best cue i have used to date is at barry's home .. his personal gus.

that is, hands down, no contest, the best cue - period !

this balabushka is the closest i have ever come to that gus...

now this is just my opinion .. there are a million cues i have never tried so that analysis has no objective value whatsoever .. it is just what i feel... and damn, i feel good !

it is old school .. so it is hefty ... with the tasc shaft, it is marginally front heavy and you have to just feather the cueball ... the control is just astounding.. no vibration whatsoever...

with the szam shaft, we are back to that ol' gus magic... it's when you just know you can't miss...

with the original shaft, i was lost.. it is a hair below 12mm and i am just not that good ...

now, i have more expensive cues and way prettier cues ... but with it's history and sheer feel good factor coupled with incredible stability and feedback, i cannot say i have any better cue...

all the best,
kam
Click to expand...
 
Kam,

I am a firm believer that if I had a Balabushka cue in my hands I would do exactly the same as you did!

...just smile and think the very same. It is ridicolous how I felt the same when I held the first Predator in my hands!!! It pretty much shows the differences between my knowledge of cues back then and now... but I remember holding that 4k7 and just smiling...

...but this thread is not about me but you and your experience that you will not forget ever.

It is great that you shared pictures of this same cue so that it is easier to imagine what helped you get this experience.

Congratulations for owning this cue - it should last you a lifetime. Or two. :)
 
Most people who say Balabushkas don't play good have never even seen a real one.
 
kamdaswani said:
and then it dawned on me.. who the hell was i to "review" a BALABUSHKA !
kam
Click to expand...

I think that anybody that *owns* a Bushka has the right to review one. After all, it's not like it's *totally* different than some other cues.

If anything, I think that someone that owns a lot of top quality cues like yourself would be MORE qualified to judge the workmanship/playability aspect of this cue due to the vast number of cues you've had in your lifetime. You said it yourself that you can even discern between the shaft tapers used.

Aside from the heavier weigth, is there anything that feels odd about the cue, like is the butt much thicker than most of your other ones???
 
Last edited:
Dakota Cues said:
I think that anybody that owns a Bushka can has the right to review one. After all, it's not like it's *totally* different than some other cues.

If anything, I think that someone that owns a lot of top quality cues like yourself would be MORE qualified to judge the workmanship/playability aspect of this cue due to the vast number of cues you've had in your lifetime. You said it yourself that you can even discern between the shaft tapers used.

Aside from the heavier weigth, is there anything that feels odd about the cue, like is the butt much thicker than most of your other ones???
Click to expand...


that is very kind of you to say..

yes, the cue is a tad bulkier than my others but i have long hands ( just under 8 inches from finger tip to wrist line ) so i actually prefer the way is sits in my hand compared to a lot of slimmer butt cues that are now more common.

one would imagine the client base when they were being produced... big, hefty men ... not trying to stereotype anyone but such was the time..

odd is not a word i would use to describe the cue since it pre-dates current cues... i am sure it set the standard in its day and is probably still a reference to many contemporaries ...

i would note, though, that i got the feeling the cue was designed for "sluggers" ... imagine the day ... no books on pool, stroke, instructional dvd's, televised matches or slow motion..

you took aim and "pow" - you muscle the ball to where you need...

fast forward to today ... analysis of style, long follow through, soft grip and the double fulcrum and you have a cue that is way way way over juiced !

we have rocky vs apollo creed..

so you have to truly dial it down a couple of notches if you want to get the best out of the cue ..

an example ... i scratched 15 times last night !! the cue ball would just keep going and going and going ... i could go a month or more and not scratch 15 times ....

so i tried consciously to be way softer ... result - 9 nine balls in the jaws .. hanging ...

needless to say, i didn't go home in too good a mood :rolleyes:

but i know, given a couple of weeks, i would find it very hard to go back to any other cue.. this is a masterful instruement... now the student has to be worthy...

am looking forward to the experience ... ain't life wonderful !

all the best,
kam
 
Damn, I missed the opportunity to shoot with this Bushka and the Sly. :(
I also heard there was some an that I also missed. :) Better luck next time for me then.
 
I'm lucky enough to have some experience with Bushkas, Gus and Barry cues. I play with a Gus that works great for me and is a awesome playing cue. I have a Barry thats up there too.

I have a Bushka that has been used so much that the wood on the forearm below the joint is worn down to the point is skinner than the joint-the shafts are super tight fitting and you have to hold the cue firmly to take it apart. It is perhaps the best hitting cue I have ever played with, for a while I was 100% positive of that, but the Gus i'm using I like a bit better.

Its a very subjective thing "whats best?" Its a blessing to play with a Gus, Barry or Bushka.

Bushkas are amazing cues, they are 40 years old and lazer straight, feel great, with out a doubt the ones with leather wraps are the best wraps ever. My dream is to have a Bushka made with a Gus forearm and have Barry do something to it too. Those 3 men are my cue hero's and Jerry Frankin(SW) so thats 4.
 
One other thing I do is let anyone who can play hit balls with my Bushka's. Some guys decline but I insist they do-bangers need not apply. It nive to share.


I'm too tired to write a review, right now. I have 7 or 8 of them and they are all different, Just like Gus and Barrys cues are, no 2 the same. Barry of the 3 makes the most consistant hitting cue. There are vast differences in some of Gus's cues(I actually have one that no one likes the hit of, and it was the least expensive one I own). Bushkas are all a bit different like Gus's cues, I have one Bushka that sucks and one other one thats just ok. I need to get them x-rayed to see the differences.
 
Well...

I have played with only one Balabushka cue, so I am far from an expert. It was the one featured in Pool and Billiard magazine a few years ago, showing Brian Roberts with the Buska and the Rambow cue. ( I bought and still have the Rambow cue).

The hit was excellent, but the "Handle" area of the wrap was quite a bit larger diameter, and while the shafts were close to 12.75mm, I found the hit was very stiff. I have had several of the old timers tell me that it was made to be a great 14.1 cue and in the 9 ball generation we live in now, are requires a different cue.

Best playing cue I have ever played with is Dick Abbotts of billiardcue.com fame. It is a Gus cue, that he plays league and everything else with and has numerous "battle scars" he calls them. I think he posts here some, I wish he would show the cue.

I guess sports guys like us like to compare baseball players from different generations, and we do the same with cuemakers. I guess what I am saying for a playing cue, I would rather have a Gus, but damn those Balabuskas are nice.

Ken
 
kamdaswani said:
i believe pete spruced it up when he wrote the LOA in May 2001...
Click to expand...

That is a real nice Spain blanked Bushka. It's a great looking cue and I am sure that it plays lights out. Like Fatboy mentioned 40 years, 40 years of play time. To me whats incredibly pompous is when you ask a new cuemaker why they think new cues today are superior, almost all of them say the adhesives. Which to me makes 0 sense. 40 years, how much better can new glue be?

JV
 
I almost pulled the trigger on the one that KAM bought but I have enough of them, I need to take a count and see how many I have.

I have one I have my doubts about, the Delrin is a different color and the cue hits terrible, just terrible. The others all hit differently but still feel great.

To own a Bushka, Gus is a honor and privlage and barry too and he is still making cues, in 40 years when I'm gone and Barry is too then his cues will be in the same league(they are now but because he still makes cues they arnt as rare) I know Gus made more cues than Barry but Barry might take an order Gus and George cant...(I wish I could have met both of them, I could have met Gus, I just didnt have the $$ to fly to Pa. There are a few other cue makers that are right up there, but Gus, Barry, George are in my mind the top 3 guys because they just arnt many cues around from their shops.

Honerable mention goes to Ernie, Eric Crisp(new guy, but just wait and see), Pete Tasc, Tad, Art Cantando, Showman, and a few more are right up there, oh yeah Jerry franklin. Rambow. Manzino for new school looking cues.

This is my list, the top 3 for sure, the other guys are so close. Its great to have so many great cue makers these days, but Bushkas and Gus were there first, I know there are other cue makers before them but their cues dont compair to Bushka or Gus.
 
Last edited:
Fatboy said:
I have one I have my doubts about, the Delrin is a different color and the cue hits terrible, just terrible. The others all hit differently but still feel great.
Click to expand...


Well......you can always send that piece of shit to me. :thumbup:
MULLY
 
Very nice ...

KAM,
Very nice cue. You are now a member of an elite club - Bushka owners.
Enjoy
 
Keen eyes

kamdaswani said:
as are you with that patek perpetual :thumbup:

sweet set of gears....
Click to expand...

Mr. Kam,
You have keen eyes for detail and expensive tastes. The next time we are in Barry's neighborhood I will ask him to introduce us.
Enjoy your very special Balabushka cue.

Best Regards,
Hal in Ohio
 
Hal2 said:
Mr. Kam,
You have keen eyes for detail and expensive tastes. The next time we are in Barry's neighborhood I will ask him to introduce us.
Enjoy your very special Balabushka cue.

Best Regards,
Hal in Ohio
Click to expand...


thanks .. i look forward to our meeting ... or your visit to hong kong :)

when you do next go to barry's, ask him to show you a book i sent him on hong kong ... think you would enjoy it....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top