cuemaker = good pool player

S

sengkun108

sengkun108
Silver Member
What do you think?

That a good cuemaker must have a knowledge and have an ability to stroke well. Or in the simple word. Does the good cuemaker must be a good pool player too.

Are a knowledge of wood and the process is already enough to build a cue.

How many cuemaker in USA that really can play a good pool game and who they are?, can someone share this information to me..

Why i ask this question??

Because, in my country. There is a cuemaker that can not play a good pool game. I know, because his stroke is awfull and he don't know that smooth stroke we often see on a good pool player. He is a good carpenter for sure. And many of pool player here trust him to build their cue. It's just kind a weird thing to me, because how come someone that don't know how to stroke well can make some cue that can deliver a good stroke.

Well, i hope some one can give me an enlighhment.. me..


Dedy:)
Indonesia
 
I hope, many cuemaker can jump to this thread and give me a nice advice:thumbup:

especially Mr Eric Crisp, because he must have something good to share with. I always admire his thought:)
 
Royce Bunnell of OB cues use to be able to play some. Back when he was making custom cues ( of which I own one). In Lewisville,Tx back in the nineties I played him in a weekly 9-ball tourney; I flipped the quarter he called heads and then proceeded to break and run 5 on me in a 5 race to 5.

My opinion about the cue maker being able to play, not necessary but helpful.
 
sengkun108 said:
What do you think?

That a good cuemaker must have a knowledge and have an ability to stroke well. Or in the simple word. Does the good cuemaker must be a good pool player too.

Are a knowledge of wood and the process is already enough to build a cue.

How many cuemaker in USA that really can play a good pool game and who they are?, can someone share this information to me..

Why i ask this question??

Because, in my country. There is a cuemaker that can not play a good pool game. I know, because his stroke is awfull and he don't know that smooth stroke we often see on a good pool player. He is a good carpenter for sure. And many of pool player here trust him to build their cue. It's just kind a weird thing to me, because how come someone that don't know how to stroke well can make some cue that can deliver a good stroke.

Well, i hope some one can give me an enlighhment.. me..


Dedy:)
Indonesia
Click to expand...
Bill Stroud was a very good player took a champion to beat him. By contrast Tim Scruggs could hardly make a ball. The rest probably fall somewhere in between.
 
Rick Howard makes excellent cues and is a very good player also.

I don't think a cuemaker has to be a good player, but anyone interested enough in pool to start building cues probably has spent a lot of time on a pool table.
 
I don't know the relevance but one thing I have noticed is that the best cuemakers I know are all very good players. Showman can play. Searing is a great player. Stroud is a player. Dan Janes is reportedly a very good player. Scruggs, Bender, etc. If a cue is known for playability, I have related that with the builders being able to play. I'm not saying that there's any factual proof to it at all, just that I have seen a correlation between the two. Actually, I haven't met a builder yet who isn't accomplished to some level as a player.
 
Searing could play (back in the day), and had strong finishes in tourneys, then he put on his lab coat and went into cue science and is only heard from about 7 times a year.

I think Tasc told me he had run 100 in straight pool (also back in the day).

Stroud could send you home broke (again back in the day).

Ernie Gutierrez is a B player at 69 years old.

Tad reputedly never played at all.

Dieckman plays sporty 3-C.

That might be all I know. Does a guy have to play well to make great hitting cue? Tad (who's cues hit great) would seem to make that a NO.

Thanks

Kevin
 
I played with Gus Szamboti back in Jersey at the "Ballroom" in Toms River and he could play pretty good.
 
The ones I know are good players. The time they spend working their craft usually precludes them from becoming great players. :)
 
I'm not going to win the us open but I play a pretty good game. Cue making takes some time from playing but my job is the worst culprit. Trying to change jobs in the worst wsy, free up time and keep my sanity.
 
Paul Huebler came from a family of woodworkers, and I heard he had an accident that prevented him from playing any kind of pool.
 
One correlation not ever mentioned is you have to strive to excel to be an efficient and successful cuemaker. It is a pretty tough gig. Anyone with the stuborness and tenacity to stick with cuemaking to get to the point of being named in this thread probably works hard to be good at anything and everything they do, including playing pool.

Kelly
 
I would agree that most of the top makers can or did play well at one time. I don't think it is a necessity if they have enough knowledge about woods and wood construction and they are able to apply feedback from people that do play to adjust their cues. I don't know if DPK was a player but you see his craftsmanship and wood working skills in several other top cue makers (Bender, Southwest etc.) Being a player would likely help in most cases but not a necessity in my opinion.
 
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I had various conversations with many a person who would know on this topic. It is one of my favorite topics.

I was asking around about Ron Haley who happens to be one of my favorite cue makers. He used to play around here at the Tulsa Billiard Palace and the old timers around here say he absolutely loved pool which to me translated into this: "He knows how a cue should hit"

As Eric pointed out, Dennis, John, and even a guy named Mike G can really swing it.

There is a local gentleman who is interested in making cues. He appears to be very passionate but has no game. I explained to him why I think this way, and now, I see him all the time practicing in the pool hall. I think he will be very good at whatever he does. He certainly has the dedication.

I think the cue makers who don't really have a game or an understanding of the game can be great cue makers, but that is not the norm. You have to 'get lucky' or have some sort of innate understanding to translate cue ball action off the instrument.

What it ultimately comes down to, is what you're trying to achieve. Take the combination thee two basic things which can be in essence infinite in number to put together; Taper and ferrule. You can have an ivory ferrule and a long skinny taper and get one result to maybe make the ball spin more. You can also have an ivory ferrule with a more conical billiard type taper to get a stiffer hit. Messing around with these ideas can be far less complicated when you know the hit you are trying to accomplish and that only comes from knowing how to really stroke the cue ball. Those who really know how to stroke through the cue ball with sensitivity understand things on a totally different level. When you know what you're trying to accomplish and why, it just makes things easier. Now, if you're just trying to make something pretty, that's a totally different subject.

Now, take what I said about taper and ferrule and include the tip. That's just one more addition to the equation. Think about how hard it would be to figure out these formulas without knowing how to draw the ball properly. Now, add pin type, joint configuration, and go down the rest of the cue. It is a real challenge.

When I was in high school, I wanted to try out for the soccer team. The coach told me that if I wanted to make the team, I would have to take cross country to supplement the soccer skills. In soccer, running is a certain pre-requisite and if you can't run well, you simply can't play good soccer. I view cue making in a very similar way.

Ultimately, if you are going to make cues, you have to love both the game and cues. If you do it for any reason other than that, you are doing it for the wrong reason.
 
Mike Lambros shoots a damn good stick! No pun intended haha :D

When I paid him a visit we spent many hours on his GC. He claims he doesn't have much time to play due to his craft, but s#!t he still got game. I hold my own quite confidently.

xJ
 
SK Custom Cues said:
I had various conversations with many a person who would know on this topic. It is one of my favorite topics.

I was asking around about Ron Haley who happens to be one of my favorite cue makers. He used to play around here at the Tulsa Billiard Palace and the old timers around here say he absolutely loved pool which to me translated into this: "He knows how a cue should hit"

As Eric pointed out, Dennis, John, and even a guy named Mike G can really swing it.

There is a local gentleman who is interested in making cues. He appears to be very passionate but has no game. I explained to him why I think this way, and now, I see him all the time practicing in the pool hall. I think he will be very good at whatever he does. He certainly has the dedication.

I think the cue makers who don't really have a game or an understanding of the game can be great cue makers, but that is not the norm. You have to 'get lucky' or have some sort of innate understanding to translate cue ball action off the instrument.

What it ultimately comes down to, is what you're trying to achieve. Take the combination thee two basic things which can be in essence infinite in number to put together; Taper and ferrule. You can have an ivory ferrule and a long skinny taper and get one result to maybe make the ball spin more. You can also have an ivory ferrule with a more conical billiard type taper to get a stiffer hit. Messing around with these ideas can be far less complicated when you know the hit you are trying to accomplish and that only comes from knowing how to really stroke the cue ball. Those who really know how to stroke through the cue ball with sensitivity understand things on a totally different level. When you know what you're trying to accomplish and why, it just makes things easier. Now, if you're just trying to make something pretty, that's a totally different subject.

Now, take what I said about taper and ferrule and include the tip. That's just one more addition to the equation. Think about how hard it would be to figure out these formulas without knowing how to draw the ball properly. Now, add pin type, joint configuration, and go down the rest of the cue. It is a real challenge.

When I was in high school, I wanted to try out for the soccer team. The coach told me that if I wanted to make the team, I would have to take cross country to supplement the soccer skills. In soccer, running is a certain pre-requisite and if you can't run well, you simply can't play good soccer. I view cue making in a very similar way.

Ultimately, if you are going to make cues, you have to love both the game and cues. If you do it for any reason other than that, you are doing it for the wrong reason.
Click to expand...

Great answer.
 
causation vs. correlation....

The age old question of causation vs. correlation.

I think what it boils down to is this. You will find that a lot of good cuemakers are also good pool players. Why is this? It's probably rooted in several causes.

One, there are other endeavors for an aspiring or qualified woodworker that pay better than cuemaking, so there has to be a love for pool. It takes a LOT of dedication to become a good cuemaker, it takes a lot of dedication to become a good pool player. A person that has dedication to something is more likely to be better at it.

Good players are more likely to know how a cue should hit, so the cuemakers that people report make a cue with a good hit are probably more likely to be good players.

Why aren't there more champions that are cuemakers???

Well that one is simple, any time your attention is diverted from one course of action, you're less likely to truly excel at either one. The best cuemakers spend most of their time making cues, so it is difficult to dedicate enough time to playing to become a champion, although there are some who come REALLY close and it's not impossible.

My love for cues was derived from my love for pool, my love for cuemaking was derived from how beautiful a well designed and made cue is, but if not for my love of playing pool, I would've never discovered cue making nor would I have ever considered becoming a cue maker.

Jaden
 
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