Brunswick's Bradford

[habit333]

hey guy,

I posted earlier about getting a table for my parents, and I was wondering if anyone has played on a Brunskwick Bradford?? solid hardwood, brunswick, I don't see how it can go wrong. I can read that most of you cats are true to the sport and would probably only touch competition tables but if any of you know anything about this table, please let me know what you think. Thanks!

 

[pooltablemech]

Nothing wrong with that table.......We have set them up before.
I personally don't like the style of the pedastal leg tables, but that just my preference. As far a being a good table that one is fine..........how much did you find that one for?

 

[habit333]

Nothing wrong with that table.......We have set them up before.
I personally don't like the style of the pedastal leg tables, but that just my preference. As far a being a good table that one is fine..........how much did you find that one for?

haven't found a price yet, but I think I could probably get it for a good price from the dealer around here. Any idea on how much I should pay for it if I decide to go with it?

 

[pooltablemech]

haven't found a price yet, but I think I could probably get it for a good price from the dealer around here. Any idea on how much I should pay for it if I decide to go with it?

I think that table will run around 3,000......alittle more or less. The main thing about those pedastal type tables is setting them up right when you first set them up. Make sure you predrill all the holes and even use an extra screw or two for the legs!

 

[gwvavases]

I think that table will run around 3,000......alittle more or less. The main thing about those pedastal type tables is setting them up right when you first set them up. Make sure you predrill all the holes and even use an extra screw or two for the legs!

I have an 8' Brunswick Bradford that I bought about 16 months ago. I think it's a great table for one's home. I love how it looks. If I have any complaint about it, it would be about having had to shim up one of the legs to re-level it after it settled into the thick carpet that it's on. I also had the pockets double-shimmed down to 4.5 inches (from 5 inches), but that had nothing to do with the quality of the table.

I'm actually about to upgrade to a 9' table, simply because the tournaments I play in are on 9' GC IV's, and I'd like to be able to practice on the same size table. Gonna depend on whether the wall I want to knock down to make room for it is a load-bearing wall. Have had a couple of contractors come in who just aren't sure. Wouldn't that be a bitch: knock down a wall to fit in a bigger table, then have my roof cave in!

I'd prefer that my new table have adjustable legs so that they can be turned with a screwdriver or wrench to re-level it if needed. (I think GC IV's and Diamond Pro's do that, don't they?) I paid about $2800 for my Brunswick Bradford, new, from the local Brunswick dealer. Can't remember if that included upgraded balls, cues, rack, etc. I think it did. Not sure whether I'm gonna buy a new table or a used one. Might depend on what options I find for my existing table. I'm willing to let it go cheap, but I don't want to get robbed. Whatever's fair. I've seen ads in the newspaper that advertise "Buy, Sell, Trade", etc.; might try that if the local Brunswick dealer doesn't do trade-ins. Anybody wanna buy it? (I'm in Sacramento, CA.)

 

[pooltablemech]

Yeah the Diamonds and GC's have feet that help with leveling rather than having to shim under the legs.

What I dislike about the pedastal leg tablesis how good or bad they connect the legs on. Some have better connection than others. I forget what kind of table it was but this table had the claw feet.......Some people called and wanted to get their table releveled, but something sounded funny about the whole deal. We check the level and check out the table before we took anything apart or did anything! And it was WAY OFF! Upon futher inspection we realized than someone had slid the table a few feet and the 2 end legs folded up underneath!
It was obvious what happened........It was a tile floor, and the legs caught when they were pushin and just crumbled under.....you could see the bottom of the frame was cracked from hitting the ground and both legs were skint up like the had fell over. And the people just picked up the table and pushed the legs back where they went. And they acted like they didn't know what happened......but while we were there...what would it cost to fix it! lol!
As long as the legs are secured good and you don't go pushin your table around....they are great! lol

 

[gwvavases]

Yeah the Diamonds and GC's have feet that help with leveling rather than having to shim under the legs.

What I dislike about the pedastal leg tablesis how good or bad they connect the legs on. Some have better connection than others. I forget what kind of table it was but this table had the claw feet.......Some people called and wanted to get their table releveled, but something sounded funny about the whole deal. We check the level and check out the table before we took anything apart or did anything! And it was WAY OFF! Upon futher inspection we realized than someone had slid the table a few feet and the 2 end legs folded up underneath!
It was obvious what happened........It was a tile floor, and the legs caught when they were pushin and just crumbled under.....you could see the bottom of the frame was cracked from hitting the ground and both legs were skint up like the had fell over. And the people just picked up the table and pushed the legs back where they went. And they acted like they didn't know what happened......but while we were there...what would it cost to fix it! lol!
As long as the legs are secured good and you don't go pushin your table around....they are great! lol

PTM -- Would you say that GC's and Diamonds' legs would be better able to withstand being pushed around a little? (...and then releveling using the built-in mechanism?)

 

[pooltablemech]

PTM -- Would you say that GC's and Diamonds' legs would be better able to withstand being pushed around a little? (...and then releveling using the built-in mechanism?)

No..........lol!
Don't need to be pushing any of them around..lol! But it would be hard to push over a GC or Diamond, where as it wouldn't be so easy to push over a pedastal leg table.
Obviously the GC and Diamonds will take more abuse and are more sturdy than usual....because they are Commercial tables......where as the pedastal tables are for decoration and home use.

 

[gwvavases]

No..........lol!
Don't need to be pushing any of them around..lol! But it would be hard to push over a GC or Diamond, where as it wouldn't be so easy to push over a pedastal leg table.
Obviously the GC and Diamonds will take more abuse and are more sturdy than usual....because they are Commercial tables......where as the pedastal tables are for decoration and home use.

OK, PTM (and whomever else might want to chime in)...it looks like it won't be a problem tearing out my wall to make room for a 9' table. Looking for opinions:

I went to my local Brunswick dealer yesterday to look at tables. Same establishment (but with new name and owner) that I bought my 8' Bradford from 17 months ago. I paid about $2800 for my 8' Bradford in Nov 2002. They're offering me $1400 as a trade-in. That seems like a fair deal to me, since I won't have to bear the expense one way or another for tearing it down and moving it. Thoughts?

Here are the tables I'm considering (prices are BEFORE applying the trade-in):

GC IV - $8999
Gibson - $6999
Centurion - $3999
Medalist - $5700
Bradford - $3900

I like the GC IV, of course. Who wouldn't? It is, however, a very commercial-looking table (as are the Centurion and the Medalist), and I'm not sure that the extra leveling mechanisms make it worth that much more. I'm leaning toward the Gibson or the Centurion. Gibson is a beautiful table (it happens to be the table on which Jeanette Lee and Karen Corr are playing on TV as I type this), but it doesn't have the adjustable legs that I've been wanting. The dealer will upgrade to Simonis cloth for an extra $100.

I hope this hotlink works (for anybody willing to lend me their expertise and/or experience with an opinion):
http://www.brunswickbilliards.com

Anybody ever play on a Gibson or know anything about it?

Thanks,
George

 

[pooltablemech]

Wow some of those prices can be beat if you shop around alittle.
But I would obviously chose the GC4, because I believe it will hold it's value better than the others..............followed by my second choice The Gibson!

 

[gwvavases]

Wow some of those prices can be beat if you shop around alittle.
But I would obviously chose the GC4, because I believe it will hold it's value better than the others..............followed by my second choice The Gibson!

If I want to buy a new Brunswick table, I think my only option is to deal with the local Brunswick dealer, and he's the only one Brunswick lists. I think I could probably find a used one somewhere, but I'd obviously not get the lifetime guarantee that Brunswick gives, plus I'd hafta pay additional tear-down and set-up costs.

The GC IV they had on display in the store had the bronze corners. Really beautiful -- but also very commercial looking. My table will be in a place in my home that is very visible from the main living area (on a loft on the second floor that's clearly visible from the first floor) and in a room with some nice built-in cabinetry. A commercial table would look a bit out of place, which is why I'm leaning toward the Gibson.

Aside from the additional flexibility with leveling features of the GC IV, do you think the Gibson would have the same solid feel of a GC IV? It would seem that it would feel more solid than a Bradford because it only has two thick legs rather than four spindly legs. Are you familiar with how to level a Gibson? Can you explain it?

I appreciate your insight.

 

[pooltablemech]

The Gibson is a copy of the Annivesary Table they made years ago, As far as playing like the GC4, I don't think so. Not saying the Gibson would play bad, but hard to match the GC4. The GC4 I guess looks a little commercial, but it is the top of the line commercial table. I don't see it as a commercial table, I see it as one of the best playing tables out there.......but everyone is different. The Gibson looks great! And will play as good as any table. As for not having the legs that spin to help level.....the Gibson as far as I know, would get some shims under the legs to help level. Which with carpet and the right shims ( we use a veneer like shim ) you will never see them. The GC's with the feet that spin are nice and make it alot easier for us, but the Gibson is not less of a table because they don't have the feet.

 

[gwvavases]

The Gibson is a copy of the Annivesary Table they made years ago, As far as playing like the GC4, I don't think so. Not saying the Gibson would play bad, but hard to match the GC4. The GC4 I guess looks a little commercial, but it is the top of the line commercial table. I don't see it as a commercial table, I see it as one of the best playing tables out there.......but everyone is different. The Gibson looks great! And will play as good as any table. As for not having the legs that spin to help level.....the Gibson as far as I know, would get some shims under the legs to help level. Which with carpet and the right shims ( we use a veneer like shim ) you will never see them. The GC's with the feet that spin are nice and make it alot easier for us, but the Gibson is not less of a table because they don't have the feet.

PTM - Thanks for your advice. One of the things I like about the GC IV's I play on at the pool room is how quiet and solid they feel. When I shoot a hard bank shot on my Bradford at home, it sounds like the rail bottoms out and you hear a bit of a hollow-sounding "thunk". And balls rolling down the table tend to "rumble" a bit. Not so with the GC IV's. It seems like this might be due to the greater thickness/mass/weight of the table's handrail and frame. Of course, it could also be due to the louder ambient noise of the pool room, compared to the quietness in my home. The Gibson looks like it has even more mass than the GC IV, so I would expect it to feel/sound similar to a GC IV. Unfortunately, the Gibson is about the only Brunswick table my local dealer doesn't have on display.

I'm still a little uncertain about how I feel about giving up the leveling mechanisms of Brunswick's "competition" tables. The GC IV has both the adjustable feet and the precision screw adjustments for the slates. The other Brunswick's that have the adjustable feet don't have the screw adjustments for the slates. Can you describe how you go about leveling a Brunswick table's slates?

Thanks.