With all the recent events and some in the past it got me to thinking of cue makers as professional businessman. I have had two cue makers that I ordered custom designed cues from that were on time with delivery and complete professionals to deal with from start to finish. I hope this thread can enlighten folks to the names of cue makers just like them. My first was with Dave Kikel and the second was with Joe Gold. Two cue makers I would highly recommend to anyone, anywhere, anytime!
Cue Makers Reputations!
- Thread starter Quesports
- Start date
This is what I think and it comes from dealing with a lot of cue makers going back to Balabshka. Most of the cue makers are good and honorable guys. None start out wanting so screw anyone. Very few cuemakers produce much over 1 to 2 hundred cues a year. They work mostly by themselves and often have other jobs. What happens is, they have a tendency to tell the customer what they want to hear and may even mean it when they say it. Then the reality of meeting commitments kicks in and they don't know what to do.
They start out making excuses and this escalates to ducking the customer calls because they no longer know what to say. They get into a trap they can't get out of. A lot don't have any real money and could not even refund deposits if they wanted to. While all this is happening they continue to take orders. They are afraid not to and the business becomes like a Ponzy scheme as they live off of new orders trying to complete old orders. At some point this has to fall in in on them. Not to mention the constant pressure they find themselves under. Not much fun.
The smart thing to do is for the cue maker to get up everyday and build cues. They can offer the cues for sale through dealers, on line or person to person sales at tournaments and pool rooms and so on, but never take any actual orders that have commitments. If the cue makers is any good and their original designs are nice they will most likely sell every cue they are capable of making.
Tim Scruggs explained this to me when he began selling through dealers and not taking orders. He was on the verge of quitting and actually getting sick from the pressure of having to deal with customers. He told me he would feel sick every time the phone rang. It was never good news. It was either someone complaining about "Where is my cue", or changing their order for the tenth time. Maybe someone wanting to place an order with ridiculous ideas and spending an hour on the phone with this person who you never hear from again.
Long story short, cue makers are mostly nice guys with good intentions who paint themselves into corners. Next thing they know they are being knocked on the net. What started out a a hobby and supposed to be fun becomes a night mare of their own making.
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I meant to give you red-rep, but I couldn't find a single fault with whay you wrote.
Well said, Sir!
Well said, Sir!
this is way true of many small businesses, particularly those started by people who don't have prior experience in accounting + management. They start doing excellent work or production of whatever sort and suddenly they become overwhelmed with response.
To add to this, one possible solution for that for the custom shops is to NOT take a deposit up front. I have a cue being made now (he just got the specific veneers + woods I wanted in the last day or so) and no deposit. He has $0 of mine, and his standard is that way. If I decide I don't want it at the end, he is not in the least bit worried about finding someone else who will buy it. So can I complain and "Where is my cue!!!" to him over and over? nope, its not my cue till it is made and I pay him for it
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I've had quite a few cues built for me and I have never been completely screwed by a cuemaker. A little bit screwed on some minor things maybe, but not big time, no blatant thefts yet. Knock on wood. Like macguy said, I don't believe they start out with bad intentions but are usually good people trying their best, some better than others. Personally, my biggest gripe about cuemakers, and I generalize, is they sometimes think you're kinda stupid and won't know what you're getting. Oh well, I guess stupidity is kinda on a continuum, isn't it? 
My dealing with Barry Cameron of Cameron Custom Cues was very good. He kept me up to date with pictures, finished in a timely fashion and here is the kicker, I wasn't a high end customer. Just a regular guy wanting a nice average custom cue, nothing too fancy, but he treated me as good as someone ordering a $20,000.00 cue and that meant a lot to me.
I have no reservations whatsoever of recommending him to someone.
I have no reservations whatsoever of recommending him to someone.
I highly recommend Alex Brick as "One of the Good Guys" when it comes to Craftsmanship, Communication, Personality,
Price, and Timely Completion of EVERY Custom he has built for me or my friends over the past 12+ yrs.
Price, and Timely Completion of EVERY Custom he has built for me or my friends over the past 12+ yrs.
I have ordered cues from, or have cues on order from, the following cue makers, and would do business with each of them in an instant...
Al Romero
Alex Brick
Steve Lomax
Eddie Cohen
All are stand up guys, who know their stuff and deliver a fantastic product in a timely fashion.
Al Romero
Alex Brick
Steve Lomax
Eddie Cohen
All are stand up guys, who know their stuff and deliver a fantastic product in a timely fashion.
Are there many cuemakers that simply build what they want without taking personal orders?
How do they structure deals through a dealer? Payment once the cue sells or does the dealer buy at a discount?
Never really put much thought into a cuemaker saying the heck with it I'm going to build what I want...and the demand actually being met. Even with as fickle as cue buyers are they still want...specifically what they want.
Seems like unless you've already built the reputation that would be a tough path to make a living on.
Good write up and agree with most of it. We all understand cue maker have their own lives outside of their shop, it can be family, wife, kids or whatever it is. everyone can missed their delivery date or dead line just as long you are being honest about it and not keep piling up with your own lies and eventually you start to imagine your own lies are real.
some cue maker take little deposit or non depends on your creditbility. but when you take full payment of someone money, you need to follow through with your work, I have orders with many cue maker across from east coast to west coast, some wants little deposit to make sure you are on board with the orders and some don't because they trust you as a buyer.
In the cue maker world regardless if you are a buyer or dealer, it all come down to honestly, trust and word of mouth gets around. actually many cue maker are honest and nice human being, some will go extra mile to put a smile on their customer face vs some maker is just out to cheat their customers.
Richard Black is the best I ever dealt with. I had him make me a custom cue in 1978 and another one in 1981 and never had any problems. I haven't spoken to him or his wife recently, but I used to call him from time to time and he would tell me that I talked to him from more places in the world than anybody else...LOL.
I called him with my first order from California, with my second order from the Philippines, and then from Japan, North Dakota, Turkey, and finally Hawaii. The last time I spoke to his wife, she was able to look up my order and specifications for both of my cues from a little wooden box that Richard kept with everyones information.
That is customer service.
I called him with my first order from California, with my second order from the Philippines, and then from Japan, North Dakota, Turkey, and finally Hawaii. The last time I spoke to his wife, she was able to look up my order and specifications for both of my cues from a little wooden box that Richard kept with everyones information.
That is customer service.
I've had quite a few cues built for me and I have never been completely screwed by a cuemaker. A little bit screwed on some minor things maybe, but not big time, no blatant thefts yet. Knock on wood. Like macguy said, I don't believe they start out with bad intentions but are usually good people trying their best, some better than others. Personally, my biggest gripe about cuemakers, and I generalize, is they sometimes think you're kinda stupid and won't know what you're getting. Oh well, I guess stupidity is kinda on a continuum, isn't it?
resolved.....
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Add Jim Ingram to the list of good guys. He is a very nice man, pretty dam good pool player, and does good work.
Its a Beauty
Ive seen that Kikel in person and shot a few ball with it and its a beauty. When I grow up I want one of those. Dan, see you at Chris's soon. Trying my best to get fired but no luck yet.
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John Robinson
Way back in 1984, my sister had John build me a custom as my Christmas present.
This has been my tournament cue ever since. (I have too much respect for it for it to be my "daily" cue, because my "daily" spends too much time in the truck with the Florida heat).
I've sent it back for repair twice, once for a cracked shaft in 1994(my fault), and once for a rewrap/refinish in 2006.
The cue is the second-best hitting cue I've ever used, the veneers and inlays are AMAZING, and service has always been prompt and courteous- John (and his son Greg) is a great Guy to deal with.
(Because you're ALREADY asking yourself ~ the BEST hitting cue I've ever owned was a production Stratford sneaky Pete with a collarless wood-to-wood joint. It had no right to play so well, and I've used others of that same model cue from the same manufacturer that don't have HALF the hit. . . . Just an anomaly, the stars were in perfect alignment the day that one was made)
Way back in 1984, my sister had John build me a custom as my Christmas present.
This has been my tournament cue ever since. (I have too much respect for it for it to be my "daily" cue, because my "daily" spends too much time in the truck with the Florida heat).
I've sent it back for repair twice, once for a cracked shaft in 1994(my fault), and once for a rewrap/refinish in 2006.
The cue is the second-best hitting cue I've ever used, the veneers and inlays are AMAZING, and service has always been prompt and courteous- John (and his son Greg) is a great Guy to deal with.
(Because you're ALREADY asking yourself ~ the BEST hitting cue I've ever owned was a production Stratford sneaky Pete with a collarless wood-to-wood joint. It had no right to play so well, and I've used others of that same model cue from the same manufacturer that don't have HALF the hit. . . . Just an anomaly, the stars were in perfect alignment the day that one was made)
Hey John, While I still have that old Kikel, I now have a VERY special Cog that Joe made me. Honestly I tried to get out of buying the Cog but Joe was adamant and built something real special for me!! Wait till you see this one!!
Thanks to everyone that has replied for keeping this a positive thread and putting out the good word on true professional cue makers!!!! They deserve to be recognized for what they do and how they conduct their businesses..