Resurrecting the old thread with some additonal info...
I just received a 1941-45 ebony Hoppe Pro in the mail today, and it's extremely obvious that it's ebony, especially sitting next to the rosewood - both beautiful in their own way, but there shouldn't be any confusion. The ebony butt looks exactly like the one Sore-Aintya posted.
Also, since I commented that Pathman's was the first I'd seen with the 1941-45 label and the newer signature, I have acquired two Titlist 1-piece cues that have the old label and the new signature.
Regarding id'ing the ones made by Rambow, here's what I've found, and it just muddies the waters more. The only thing I'm sure of is that, because of the newer signature, Pathman's was made toward the end of the "1st-label" period.
- I have found two drastically (IMO) different butt designs in the 1941-45 ivory-ringed Hoppe Professionals. One has a shorter, flatter black buttcap, similar to Sore-Aintya's and also to the one Joel Hercek restored (that was authenticated as a Rambow by Deno Andrews). It is also similar to the Hoppe Pro's from the '50s on. I have one of these, and it also has the 'shield' weight number in the forearm, which some think was used on the first Titlists - I've seen no evidence to support this, and the Ernie Presto 'prototype' Titlist that Deno has, does NOT have the shield weight stamp. This cue is NOT rosewood or ebony. Also, the forearm width, butt length, and other characteristics are different from the other style. Would love to go over all this with other who own these!
- The other design has a distinctly longer, more rounded buttcap, with a more recessed hole for the screw. I have two of these - one is ebony, one rosewood. The recessed area for the screw is distinctly different on each, but I don't think it's valid to assume Brunswick had that great of quality control - actually, plenty of evidence to the contrary. The only other one like this I've seen was also ebony.
- Since the two ebony Hoppe Pros I have pics of represent both of the butt designs, I think that blows the theory that Rambow made all the early ebony Hoppe Pros - I don't know that he made either of the ones I've seen, but if some of you who own early Hoppe Pros would send me pics of buttcaps, butts, forearms, joints, etc., I'll keep looking at them for consistencies in characteristics and maybe we can figure this out. Thanks.
(Edited to add: more confusion - most Rambows created after he left Brunswick, have a butt design that looks a lot more like the rounded early Hoppe Pro butts, which goes against the idea that the Hercek-restored one is the Rambo-designed style. Obviously, I would love to read Deno's authentication report on that cue, because I'm sure he's correct and that there are other cue characteristics involved that I don't understand.)
BTW, which is actually rarer than the ebony, if I am not mistaken...I am sure one of the Titlist gurus here will correct me, if I'm wrong.
