balabushka
- Thread starter kaznj
- Start date
Zerksies
Well-known member
pete tascarella carried on the tradition
this from classiccues
"Pete Tascarella, for over 35 years he has been making great cues out of Massapequa Long Island. He has been a staple in the Northeast and especially out of New York.
He purchased George Balabushka's equipment and never looked back. He developed his own stylings as well as continued with the classic styling of the masters.
Known as one of the leading Balabushka authorities, he writes letters of authenticity for Balabushka's, as well as his own very early cues."
rumor has it that George had a kid with his chinese poolhall girlfriend. the kid moved to China and became a big 'art film' star, his name is Hung Wei Lo and he makes the Chinese 'bushka's you can buy today. Mind you this all poolroom scuttlebutt. I heard it on the internet so it has to be true. 
rumor has it that George had a kid with his chinese poolhall girlfriend. the kid moved to China and became a big 'art film' star, his name is Hung Wei Lo and he makes the Chinese 'bushka's you can buy today. Mind you this all poolroom scuttlebutt. I heard it on the internet so it has to be true.
I was fortunate to hit balls with two Buskas, maybe three.
Most all of em hit good, some of em hit perfect, better than the top end carbon fibre, why?
You got more shot feedback /feel when you hit. And the cue seemed to do the work For You in 14.1 follow shots.
Only the best players on the planet seemed to hold these wooden works.
Scott Smith in the 80's had one, he never used that during our league matches, I think he had a Joss West Billy was on our team.
I hit a few balls with smiths cue, phew, that cue hit like shit I know why he only got $4,000 or so for it back that, it needed either another couple shafts or it needed to be inside a glass case on the wall.
bm
Most all of em hit good, some of em hit perfect, better than the top end carbon fibre, why?
You got more shot feedback /feel when you hit. And the cue seemed to do the work For You in 14.1 follow shots.
Only the best players on the planet seemed to hold these wooden works.
Scott Smith in the 80's had one, he never used that during our league matches, I think he had a Joss West Billy was on our team.
I hit a few balls with smiths cue, phew, that cue hit like shit I know why he only got $4,000 or so for it back that, it needed either another couple shafts or it needed to be inside a glass case on the wall.
bm
Surprised to see so much detail on Wikipedia, that's cool
Don't forget- GB was gone by 1975- his cues were still in demand, but pool rooms had closed by the hundreds each year from 68 to 75. The future in cue making would not have looked as bright as it would for Gus Szamboti's son, since Gus passed about 1988 and the resurgence due to the COM movie was well under way- rooms were opening by the hundreds every year at that time--- big big difference in the outlook for the game in 1975 vs. 1988.
Back in the early yrs, the cue makers were able to Find the woods with the best grains.
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Especially when they bought the pieces from somebody else
mine hits better than all my other old cues. and the ones ive had hit were superior as well.
dont know why but they do. might have something to the care he put into picking parts rather than grabbing them off the shelf.
i used to play straight pool with him so have a little insight into his thinking.
my old cues will need to be sold soon as i am getting older. but i expect to sell them to someone not going to flip them or just leave them in the closet. they are the cues ive kept that hit super rather than look super.
dont know why but they do. might have something to the care he put into picking parts rather than grabbing them off the shelf.
i used to play straight pool with him so have a little insight into his thinking.
my old cues will need to be sold soon as i am getting older. but i expect to sell them to someone not going to flip them or just leave them in the closet. they are the cues ive kept that hit super rather than look super.
Maha, I did exactly that yrs ago with my 3 Shaft Zamboti that I ordered in the late 70's.
He told me he was a collector. in the 90's
I no longer liked the leather wrap, helped motivate me.
Saw the man 20 yrs later, he didn't remember me or the cue and I'm 6'6''.
W/Coast buyer, we met in Vegas.
Neither son had an interest in making cues. Both are very nice gentlemen. If you have a Balabushka, there is no reason you cannot play with it today. Or any other vintage cue for that matter. Other than the annoyance of getting asked to let someone hit balls, or want to engage you in some dialog about the cue, the cue is still good for its intended purpose.
JV
JV
That's half the fun of owning interesting cues
I may be interested when you are and I'll swear on a Bible or the book of your choice that it won't be flipped.
The people who don't play their "great" cues shouldn't have them(kinda)
I have always played mine and always will.
Part of the fun is letting other people who aren't idiots hit balls with them
One of the few collectibles that you just look at are paintings - IMO - I played with every cue that I owned to some degree - I just can’t imagine only casing a cue for life.
Interesting tidbit. I believe the younger brother, George, told me that tried he actually tried his hand out on his dad’s lathe after the older passed… once. That’s when he realized he had no aptitude for cuemaking .