Chicago area cue "shopping"

S

spoons

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I'm looking for a little help from anyone who's familiar with the Chicago pool scene-specifically, place that sell cues. I want to buy a new cue, but I'm having trouble finding a place, or even a couple of places where I can compare some of the best known production cues on the market. I'm probably not ready to buy a custom cue just yet, at least not in the sense that I'll have a cuemaker build me a cue from scratch.

What I'd really like to do is find a place that has the usual suspects (Viking, Joss, McDermott, Falcon, Schon, Jacoby, the different low deflection shafts...you name it) and sit at a table for an hour or so hitting balls with different cues at different weights so I can figure out what I do and don't like.

I'm willing to travel a pretty good distance to find the place like that, but I need to know which way to point the car.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
Thanks for the reply. I did check them out about a month ago. It's a beautiful pool room, but if I'm being completely honest, I was sort of disappointed with the cue selection. They have a bunch of cues, but I'd say more than half were low end, starter cues when I was there. The rest seemed to be McDermotts, Vikings, and customs. Maybe their selection has changed since then.

I know it's tough to have a lot of cues on hand, because they have to buy their inventory and the lower price cues most likely move quicker than the higher priced ones. But, it makes things tough for someone like me who hasn't had a chance to shoot with a lot of the cues on the market.

Anyone have an extensive personal collection who's willing to let me hit with a few of them? :)
 
Years ago, Dixie Billiards in Oak Forest (Cicero Ave.) used to keep a few nice cues in stock. Not sure if they do anymore but a phone call couldn't hurt.
 
There is a billiard table and supply store in Oak Forest named Dixie Billiard Supplies. The address is 15407 Cicero Ave., Oak Forest, IL, and the phone number is 708-687-0144, according to a quick Google search. It's been a few years since I've been there, so I'm not sure if they are still in business. You might want to give them a call before heading out that way. They used to carry an extensive line of production cues, supplies, tables, gameroom accessories, etc.
 
If ProTyme won't work then your pretty much sol. You won't find anything that has a better selection than ProTyme. Dixie Billiards was okay when I was out there a couple years ago. Kind of dumpy, but not a terrible selection.

If you like McDermotts, there is a pool table and billiard supply place in Palatine on Dundee Rd just west of 53 that has well over a hundred of them. But they only have McDermotts.

You might try the For Sale section here and see if there is someone here that can set up a meeting. Maybe pm WuClan and see what he has available, I know he's local. You could also try to contact Ed Young and maybe meet him at Chris's if he has anything available. He's over there usually about 2-3 days out of the week. I don't have his number but I can probably get it for you if you think you'll need it.

The online purchase of cues has pretty much killed the local retailers. There is no way for them to compete with the online prices.

That's really all there is available that I know of besides a token display case at a pool hall here and there.

Good luck!
 
You do realize

that a lot of places, and especially custom cuemakers, will not let you chalk a 'new' cue to test it, don't you?

A lot of people believe when a cue has been chalked, that it is no longer 'new'. And, yes, even if water is used to take off the chalk, you can still tell it was chalked to begin with.

And playing with them for an hour or so is a 'no no' too because you could ding the shaft or butt, and then it would not be in 'new' condition.
 
They're still there, however the OP wants to PLAY with the cues. Dixie Billiards doesn't have that capability.

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

dogginda9 said:
Years ago, Dixie Billiards in Oak Forest (Cicero Ave.) used to keep a few nice cues in stock. Not sure if they do anymore but a phone call couldn't hurt.
Click to expand...
 
spoons said:
I'm looking for a little help from anyone who's familiar with the Chicago pool scene-specifically, place that sell cues. I want to buy a new cue, but I'm having trouble finding a place, or even a couple of places where I can compare some of the best known production cues on the market. I'm probably not ready to buy a custom cue just yet, at least not in the sense that I'll have a cuemaker build me a cue from scratch.

What I'd really like to do is find a place that has the usual suspects (Viking, Joss, McDermott, Falcon, Schon, Jacoby, the different low deflection shafts...you name it) and sit at a table for an hour or so hitting balls with different cues at different weights so I can figure out what I do and don't like.

I'm willing to travel a pretty good distance to find the place like that, but I need to know which way to point the car.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I know you want Chicagoland....but if you want to see an impressive selection of cues firsthand - come downstate. Nielsen's Billiards in Springfield has a TON of cues in stock, and the owner Joe is a GREAT guy.

http://stores.ebay.com/Nielsens-Billiards

You can see just about everything you see listed on his eBay store linked above.

Now, I realize that that is a major haul to go check out cues (it's an hour and a half for me...), but if you must see the cue firsthand his selection is tough to beat. Give him a call or email him what you are looking for, and he's always quick to respond, and VERY helpful. :D
 
Snapshot9 said:
that a lot of places, and especially custom cuemakers, will not let you chalk a 'new' cue to test it, don't you?

A lot of people believe when a cue has been chalked, that it is no longer 'new'. And, yes, even if water is used to take off the chalk, you can still tell it was chalked to begin with.

And playing with them for an hour or so is a 'no no' too because you could ding the shaft or butt, and then it would not be in 'new' condition.
Click to expand...


Exactly.



Scott, that doesn't surprise me. I was out at Dixie a couple years ago and after 20 minutes or so of looking around, the woman there asked if I wanted to try one out, but it wasn't exactly in a warm and fuzzy way. lol She wasn't rude, but it sounded insincere for sure.

Hope you're doing well Scott!
 
Thanks everyone for the replies!

Yeah, I don't need to chalk it to feel the difference in hit. Obviously you'll never get the exact feel of a cue until you play with it for a while, but you also can't tell much by just looking at it either. I might have been unclear in my first post when I said "an hour" or so. I meant an hour or so to compare cues, not with each individual one.

Nielsens-Billiards looks like it's a good bet for what I'm talking about, and like I said, I don't mind traveling a bit. I've actually got an old college pool buddy who lives in Springfield, so I could probably make a weekend of it.

Thanks again, everyone, and if anyone else has ideas, keep posting. I'm always looking for new places to check out, anyway :)
 
spoons said:
Thanks for the reply. I did check them out about a month ago. It's a beautiful pool room, but if I'm being completely honest, I was sort of disappointed with the cue selection. They have a bunch of cues, but I'd say more than half were low end, starter cues when I was there. The rest seemed to be McDermotts, Vikings, and customs. Maybe their selection has changed since then.

I know it's tough to have a lot of cues on hand, because they have to buy their inventory and the lower price cues most likely move quicker than the higher priced ones. But, it makes things tough for someone like me who hasn't had a chance to shoot with a lot of the cues on the market.

Anyone have an extensive personal collection who's willing to let me hit with a few of them? :)
Click to expand...

I knocked a few around at Dixie several years ago. Then I bought a Viking from Erik Lee. Dixie is ok. Meet me at Red Shoes and I'll let you hit with a few. Got Kersenbrock, Ed Young, Scruggs, Southwest, Black, Davis, and others.
 
This place, www.starjukeboxes.com, in Gary Indiana has a nice selection and there's no problem hitting their cues as long as you want. Just don't chalk them. Plus, you can tell your freinds you've been to Gary and lived (hopefully) to tell about it.
 
Cue and cushion billiards in Woodridge has a nice selection of cues. They sell tables and cues, so I don't know if they will let you hit them or not. They have at least as many cues as Pro-Tyme does.
 
chgo area cue shopping

You can check out Schuler cues. They're now in Crystal Lake.
They just have there cues, but they have numerous models and a 5x10 table to try them on. There web site is : schulercues.com
Bryan is the mgr.
 
I can't really offer much advice, but is Marie's (the pool hall) still open?
I believe it was on w45th w47th.
That's where I bought my second McDermott in 1996 when I was on vacation in the States.

gr. Dave
 
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