Cue Order

[14oneman]

I definitely would have walked...no...RAN, away from that one...constructive suggestions from the cue maker is always welcome, but, even if he might be the greatest cue maker on the planet, the bottom line is, it's MY money, and he's gonna build what I want...

 

[maha]

actually its two different perspectives. you may want it your way. and should get what you want..
so find someone who will do what you want but do not expect good results from someone that is building what he thinks isnt best for you. as his heart wont be in his work.

but a real craftsman knows his rep is on the line and wont build something he thinks the customer may not be suited to or happy with later on.
as that demanding customer may be the first to publicly criticize his products with no fault of his own.

in this case i suspect Al also had reason to believe the customer was also looking for a more budget cue, and he tried to push the choice that way.

 

[Hail Mary Shot]

I definitely would have walked...no...RAN, away from that one...constructive suggestions from the cue maker is always welcome, but, even if he might be the greatest cue maker on the planet, the bottom line is, it's MY money, and he's gonna build what I want...

I think you need Imani Izzi.

 

[garczar]

Strong words about a damn good man.

He's going thru 'kidnapped cues' syndrome. Until/unless Joe's ol lady whips his cues he's going to be in a dark place.

 

[JohnnyOzone]

He's going thru 'kidnapped cues' syndrome. Until/unless Joe's ol lady whips his cues he's going to be in a dark place.

It's not Joe's widow that's the problem. It's his son. (and the lack of paper trail for consignments)

 

[ShootingArts]

I definitely would have walked...no...RAN, away from that one...constructive suggestions from the cue maker is always welcome, but, even if he might be the greatest cue maker on the planet, the bottom line is, it's MY money, and he's gonna build what I want...

No ethical builder is going to build a cue that he can't stand behind. No builder of any kind. When a customer and builder have ideas that are too far apart, time for both to walk away.

Hu

 

[hello]

maybe he realized he wasnt making a cue for a top player. and for a player that this cue might be more fitting.
you know average or even good players tend to want to emulate what the better player does or uses. that is a bad strategy.

and buddy who was decent seemed to use lepros for much of his time.

Again, to question the draw ability of a 19 ounce cue is utter nonsense.

And I was asking about top players ''today''. Buddy was using a LePros when layered tips were not available hence your statement does not hold water.

 

[hello]

Some believe in what they do, and won’t forsake that for money. That’s known as integrity, not as you call it, “a dumb ass business approach”.

You say it seems arrogant and use the example that “more heralded cue makers build their cues differently”. More heralded by who? You mention arrogance, and because you have regaled us REPEATEDLY with the story of your cues, most notably, what you put Bob Runde through, it appears to some that you may be arrogant, bordering on pompous. That you’re one of those with money and feel that somehow makes you right, about just about everything. Not a judgement, merely an observation.

There are those in life that will cater to the carriage trade and endure all their crap for money, there are those who will not. That doesn’t make those that will “better businessmen”, it just means they’re willing to do whatever to get that money. The customer isn’t always right, and frankly I admire the idealists that refuse to let the customer think he is.

If one decides to have a custom cue made we can rest assured they have years of playing experience and know what weight and tip they like, why else would they get a ''custom'' cue made..?A maker lecturing the customer about weight and tip choice is ridiculous, to say the least.

 

[hello]

No ethical builder is going to build a cue that he can't stand behind. No builder of any kind. When a customer and builder have ideas that are too far apart, time for both to walk away.

Hu

Wanting a 19 ounce cue is an idea too far apart..?

 

[dendweller]

Al is a respected cue builder. Schmelke is a cue maker. My shop wasn't set up and I was curious how Schmelke could build such cheap cues so I bought one, cost around $200 best I remember. Neither their cheapest or most expensive cue.

One piece butt, not much to go wrong. The shaft warped almost instantly. No big deal since I could turn a shaft I liked better.

Then I barely bumped the side of the tip/ferrule. The cue fell half in two. The hole for the insert had been drilled oversized to the point the insert threads would barely score the wood, no effort made to thread the shaft for the insert, the hole was so big you could screw in the ferrule with very little pressure.

That might have worked with a generous amount of glue but they only put a tiny dab of glue.

The pin didn't appear to be a pin, some very soft threaded stock. I made a shaft for it when I had my lathe up but eventually the butt warped a little too.

All I got out of the $200 stick was the rubber bumper and a sorta straight one piece bubinga butt. The cheap cue ended up being pretty expensive since I paid fifty to a hundred times the price of the rubber bumper.

Schmelke makes some spliced butt blanks that a lot of people are happy with. Even telling people that the butt was built from a blank I couldn't put my name over Schmelke's work after seeing the cue I got from them.

Hu

I have a 3/8 10 Schmelke sneaky butt. Solid build, drilled deep for 1/2 13 weight bolt. I don't think there's much I'd change about it.

 

[ShootingArts]

I have a 3/8 10 Schmelke sneaky butt. Solid build, drilled deep for 1/2 13 weight bolt. I don't think there's much I'd change about it.

There might not be much you would change about it. Then again, you might change everything about it if you ever had it come apart. I had no complaints about my Schmelke the day it was delivered. When the shaft warped I wasn't thrilled. When the shaft wasn't threaded for the insert and it had a tiny dot of glue holding the insert into the barely scored shaft I was a lot less thrilled.

I found myself with a slightly warped but usable piece of bubinga and a rubber bumper for about $200 at my door. At the time I could have bought the bubinga and bumper for fifty dollars or so. The finish was OK too but the finish would have to go if I wanted a straight butt.

Perhaps the quality of my cue is typical, perhaps Schmelke quality is all over the place. I wondered how they built a cue as cheaply as they did. I found out about how they built my cue when it fell to pieces.

I built a shaft for it including a threaded in insert and reworked the butt then threaded in a quality pin. For the same labor time and figuring it high, $75 in materials, I could have had a substantially better cue.

As I have already said, I bought the cue partially to see how they could make cues at that price point. In the case of the cue I bought, it was by cutting corners. I am not curious enough to buy dozens of them over a few years time just to cut up to see if that was a typical build.

Hu

 

[ShootingArts]

that doesn't sound good at all. never had a Schmelke but I heard some good things about them like offering exotic materials at a budget price. I almost bought one out of curiosity before deciding to go to a custom cue builder. dropped the previous one I had since turn out difficult to talk to. delays and materials weren't delivered as specified and more problems. I guess some cue builders are only there for a one and done rather than having repeat customers and build a good reputation. but anyway, went for another cue builder and so far is meeting my expectations as cue specs go. so far, I'm happy with what I'm seeing with the process, communication, specs, materials and input for what would make the cue better. just to share. cue has just been finished and should be here hopefully before thursday next week for my match. 12mm ultraskin ivory soft tip with juma ferrule, carbon cored maple shaft. butt is a combo of bocote forearm and cocobolo handle/buttend. I'm excited to play with it already.

A lot of people are happy with Schmelkes. Warped shaft and butt hits pretty hard since I transport and store my cues carefully.

When it fell apart and I found the insert hadn't been threaded in, that was a deliberate build choice. The tiny bit of glue was another build choice. Had they threaded the insert in the glue would have probably been adequate. Had they fully glued the insert in the barely scored hole might have been adequate. When they combined both cut corners in the same place my cue literally fell apart.

Five minutes more time building my cue would have made a better cue although the wood warping was an issue. Years ago I bought a forty dollar Dunlap which was functionally a much better cue. It never fell apart so I don't know how it was constructed. I would have to say adequately for the Dunlap, not adequately for the Schmelke just based on my experience. Had the Dunlap came apart I might be talking about it's build quality but of course the same is true of my customs.

If we pay more than toy price for a cue we expect it to be adequate to play pool with. My particular Schmelke wasn't.

Hu

 

[dendweller]

There might not be much you would change about it. Then again, you might change everything about it if you ever had it come apart. I had no complaints about my Schmelke the day it was delivered. When the shaft warped I wasn't thrilled. When the shaft wasn't threaded for the insert and it had a tiny dot of glue holding the insert into the barely scored shaft I was a lot less thrilled.

I found myself with a slightly warped but usable piece of bubinga and a rubber bumper for about $200 at my door. At the time I could have bought the bubinga and bumper for fifty dollars or so. The finish was OK too but the finish would have to go if I wanted a straight butt.

Perhaps the quality of my cue is typical, perhaps Schmelke quality is all over the place. I wondered how they built a cue as cheaply as they did. I found out about how they built my cue when it fell to pieces.

I built a shaft for it including a threaded in insert and reworked the butt then threaded in a quality pin. For the same labor time and figuring it high, $75 in materials, I could have had a substantially better cue.

As I have already said, I bought the cue partially to see how they could make cues at that price point. In the case of the cue I bought, it was by cutting corners. I am not curious enough to buy dozens of them over a few years time just to cut up to see if that was a typical build.

Hu

I get that you got a bad build. You've posted that quite a few times and personally, I think you've given them enough bad pr over that build. Lots of people have had good experiences for reasonable prices with them.

 

[ShootingArts]

I get that you got a bad build. You've posted that quite a few times and personally, I think you've given them enough bad pr over that build. Lots of people have had good experiences for reasonable prices with them.

The catch is that a lot of people were praising them highly in threads. Encouraged other people to spend their money on Schmelkes. When people only hear or read one side of the story it leads to them making bad decisions about purchases.

Believe it or not I would prefer not making negative posts. It's been quite awhile since I have posted anything negative about Schmelke. When people talk about how wonderful they are though I do feel obliged to point out that may be only a surface thing.

I don't bash them at every opportunity but I have and will continue to occasionally point out there are two sides to the coin and I am much more likely to post in threads by people I know. I far overpaid for what I got. I genuinely don't want others to blindly do the same. If they do it with their eyes open, bless them!

Hu

 

[Hail Mary Shot]

If one decides to have a custom cue made we can rest assured they have years of playing experience and know what weight and tip they like, why else would they get a ''custom'' cue made..?A maker lecturing the customer about weight and tip choice is ridiculous, to say the least.

not really. it is just presumptive. some ask for a custom based on a cue they saw and ask what it is and the specs basing from it. some can be stubborn as well. I have met some beginners or new to the game that don't know or have least knowledge about cues get interested on the cues that I use because they think they can get or become better by using the same cue that I have been using. while I do admit that partially a particular cue can make or break your game, proper mechanics is still key to becoming a good player. just saying, not everyone who asks for a custom are experienced enough on what they want or need.

 

[maha]

generally, buy cheap get cheap.

 

[maha]

and for a bar cue. which is what a sneaky is for. a lighter cue does help you draw the cue ball easier and farther.

the bar cue balls are heavier and or larger. the cloth is much slower usually with dirty balls. and to draw them you may need to add some more wrist in the stroke for speed. lighter weight is easier to control doing that to some extent.