I bought my EC-9 in April last year. Great cue. Sold out is not the same as discontinued. These models or others may be discontinued but if you go by the sold out label than the entire lineup of Mezz cues are discontinued,
Best All-Around Production Cue for ~$1000 (Value, Playability, Durability, Support)?
- Thread starter july9x
- Start date
I don’t understand For the amount of money you are able to allocate to a cue, why don’t you want to buy a custom build?
Why do you think that a custom will be better?
May not be better but you have far more choices when having a cue custom made. That being said all $1000bux these days might get you is a fancy sneaky or a simple merry-widow. Cuemaker prices have gone waaaaaay up in last 10yrs or so.
If you want a player with a performance shaft, a custom will go way more than $1000 even for a plain Jane.
Production cues are very over priced and they lose most of their value as soon as they are purchased. The quality of materials and construction of production cues, can't compare to what is offered for the same price in a custom cue. With a custom cue, if you take care of it and decide to sell it, you can get 70% + of your invest returned to invest in another cue.
Hope this helps, take care.
Sorry, but this is BS.
Everything is overpriced nowadays; the same goes for cues, custom or production.
There are production cues that are way better in all aspects than some custom cues. definitely around the $1000 price range and vice versa.
For $1000 with an LD shaft, a good solid production will beat any custom.
I have high-end production cues and custom cues; most of them are over 20 years old. Some of the customs did not age well...
Just to make things clear, Joss, Pechauer, Jacoby, Schon and other brands as such are production cues in my book. They might offer custom options or even make new ones to personal specs (custom), but if they have models that you can just grab from the site, it's production.
You're certainly welcome to your opinion, however that is all your offering here. My experience is based upon the fact that I have built approximately 300 + custom cues, and repaired thousands of cues, 99% were production cues. So, apparently unlike you my comments are from coming hands on experience that's what my opinion is based upon. I also owned a pool room and I sold thousands of dollars worth of retail (production) cues and Custom cue stock.
Where does your experience on this subject come from??
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From actually using cues…
A nice custom cue will last a lifetime if it’s just a collectible. Treat a production the same way and it’ll last just as well.
Your statistics don’t show who own the cues and how were they treated.
Obviously most custom cues are own by players that know better how to take care of the cues.
The finish on most custom cues doesn’t match the quality of finish that some production cues companies offer.
There are a handful of custom cue makers that offer UV finish that protect the cue for a longer time.
I can list here the brands of cues that stood the test of time and those that didn’t from my collection. All treated the same by me.
It’s a mix bag but from this experience I can tell you that I would probably never buy a custom cue again.
And for a $1000, a good production cue with a performance shaft will give a better value and playability than any custom cue in that price range.
cueball2010
Active member
IDK. You're experience explains a lot. You're more like a used car sales lot owner. The values for individual buyers and seller is different. Its actually the opposite.
Why do people bitch about prices? They say 'this and that is overpriced'. Just how the fk do people get this knowledge of what things should sell for?? Look if an item or items are selling then the price must not be out of line. If you don't have the $$ it goes for tough shit. Don't knock it just you can't afford it. As for customs some folks want a one-off made for them. Why the fk should anyone else care?? Buy/use whatever the fk you like but don't complain about shit just 'cause you think it 'costs too much'.
Again, thanks for your opinion but frankly I forget more than you know about this subject!
I will ask you again, where does your experience on this subject come from??
Your welcome to your opinion!
Your welcome to your opinion.
I disagree with you, the fit, materials and finish of most custom cues is far superior to ANY production cue made today. What production cue companies are you talking about?
Please provide that list, I am waiting with baited breath for your reply.
Respectfully Crai
Tho one cue i'd say about that is Mezz. Their execution and qc are impossible to beat imo. Their hi-end Exceed especially, as nice or nicer that a lot of customs.
I agree the quality is very good, they had a lot of experience making cues. Miki / Mezz made many Helmstetter and some Adam cues over years. You can tell the difference between a cue made at the Adam Factory and those models that were made by Mezz.
cueball2010
Active member
My opinion comes from my experience. Obviously my experience is not that of a pool room owner with a shop... So, might be hard for you to understand. But I don't think the OP owns a shop either. No, doubt the beauty of forums is everyone gets to share opinions and experience. I feel like you're taking offense, when there is no offense to be taken. I guess my comment did sound like ridicule. I wasn't thinking about how people perceive used car salesman. Sorry about that.Again, thanks for your opinion but frankly I forget more than you know about this subject!
In any case, I'm pretty sure the OP was looking for production cue opinions based on the title he chose for his thread. But I'm sure he is happy to entertain custom cue recommendations from a real custom cue builder such as yourself, and I am happy to hear about the experience in your world as well.
It just felt like an upsell when you pointed out ROI being better. ROI capitalization is much easier for business with foot traffic.
Maybe you could share your experience about those repair percentages and what they mean? Do you think it is because production cues have 99% less quality, or maybe 99% of people just happen to play with Production cues? What is the other 1%? I don't think 1 out of every 100 pool players owns a custom cue. Anyway, I think customs vs production cues is not a new topic: https://forums.azbilliards.com/threads/custom-cues-vs-production-cues.486649/
Dude, you called me a used car salesman, so yea I certainly took offense to that comment. But, it’s water under the bridge, I accept your apology we all make mistakes my friend.
The OP is a new player looking for advice, which I provided. If you would like to see my background and cues I have made look go through my history here on the forum or go to a sticky thread I started in the main forum many of ny cues are posted there.
I am not familiar with that acronym what is ROI.
I don’t know what you background in pool is, but I started playing in 1971 and I was taught by a Professional St. Louis Louie Robert’s. Not all production cues are low quality, but one thing they have in common is that are all mass produced. In addition, the materials used in most production cues, the fit of the individual components and the finished product do not meet the standard or specifications of Custom Cues.
Now, I am not saying all Custom Cues are above reproach, because they are not. It’s very important to gain as much information as possible before buying any cue. A site like this is a great place to start looking for information. Personally written testimonials by player is a great source of information on individual playing cues. That’s the only way to weed out the junk that’s imported from Asia.
Hope this clears things up, and thanks again for the apology it goes a long way
Biloxi Boy
Man With A Golden Arm
There is no accounting for the depth of certain ignorance revealed on the internet. My belief it is related to anonymity. I also try to not engage with such folks because they are beyond help. GB Shaw said it all, "Never wrestle with a pig because you'll both get dirty and the pig likes it."