Cuemakers......REAL...or.....PHONY ?

there is a difference between denying the blank was pre-made and saying the blank was pre-made and "acting" or "portraying" the blank to not be pre-made.

it is a fine line that i have seen people skirt around before.i see no reason to hide the fact that i use pre-made sneaky blanks like 99% of of the cuemakers out there.i make my own widow cues from boards or squares.
 
I only read some of the post on the first page. My son helps me build cues. Do I need to explain you someone each step in the cue that I did and each step my son did? What if I have other helpers come in and do some passes on shafts as I did years ago? Do I need to explain that also? If so then I would have to agree with most of the original post. If not, then I would have to disagree with most of it. The reason is a helper is a helper whether in my shop or in his own shop. I have made some very high end cues from square wood and raw tusks of ivory all cut in my shop. But I have also farmed out point blanks and ivory slab cutting and other things. I have made my own tips at times also, but I normally farm those out also. It is the final product you are buying, so a helper is a helper and the final quality speaks for itself. Read some of the posts in the Cue Makers Forum and you will see using a point blank is still a lot more work than you think it is.
 
You should know what you area buying!

tikkler said:
I think that when anyone is buying a so called custom cue, they should be told exactly what they are getting. With the huge influx of cue parts being available to anybody these days, it seems rather easy to make anything from a partial cue to a complete cue out of bought pieces. I myself have nothing against either way as long as I know what I am getting. If I wanted to buy a cue and the maker said he couldnt do a particular thing and he would have to get that somewhere else, I would be fine with it. The peoblem is I dont want to be led to believe that the entire cue was made by someone, and in actuality they bought almost the entire cue somewhere else and put there name on it.
Balabushka I dont believe ever claimed to make his own points, and look where it got him. I think when we are talking custom cues, we have a right to know the truth.....cant wait to hear what you guys think of this
Steve
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As a custom cue builder the only thing that I don't build in my shop is full splice blanks. When a customer orders one I let them know up front that they are ordered in. Other than joint pins and screws bumpers, linen and leather and steel joints I build everything else in my shop. When there is a question of any kind you should ask your builder. I have spent many hours on the phone answering questions that my customers have. Every now and then I get the ones that just ask and never order to find that later they call back and order just because I answered there questoins when they called the first, second and every time they called. I learned how to build forearms over the phone when Dave was with Prather's. A short time later I was fortunate enough to move to Springfield Mo. and work with Andy Gilbert. I will say he taught me a lot. I think that you should really research when you decide to have a cue built. I also think the only dumb question is the one never asked!

DOUG PATRICK
http://www.patrickcustomcues.com
 
Mine has seemed to be as honest as he could be with my build. He built it just like I wanted to as well with no gripes from him or him saying "that wont look good". I'd like to think I was a good customer as I didnt bug him and he kept me updated on everything. He is everything you would want as a customer getting a custom built.
 
Does someone have an axe to grind? This thread was here , also posted in the gallery ,as well as the review section. When you buy a cue from a builder-ASK HOW IT'S MADE and where all the parts came from, that is, if it's a big deal to you. Different things are important to different people. If it's important to you... ASK!!! Now, if you ask the builder and they lied to you, you have every right to be upset and flame them. Is that the case?
 
ribdoner said:
C,
FOREARMS that TASC used were mf'd in ASIA (ADAMS/HELMSTETTLER) for some/many/many, many yrs.


I don't know if they're made on site as I type or if they're subbed (CCC?) out.

Regards, A
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Just to close the loop on this, there are no cues that could be called a Tascarella Cue that was made using Adam or Helmstetter forearms. I'm not sure how that rumor ever started. Possibly from a repair job? So, no "some years." No "year." No nothing like that. They've been building their own blanks since the early years, just after starting with Szamboti blanks and Spain blanks. They in no way sub their forearms out.

And, if the same source suggested a business relationship with Carolina Cues, then they need to be educated as this is a very sour point that could be dangerous with idle internet chatter. I'd gladly set them straight on e-mail or PM.

Adam, I think it's important that you go back to whomever told you this and tell him. Much of my writing on cuemakers is to try to debunk lies and myths that circulate about these guys. This is just two of too many.

Fred
 
Its finally time for me to confess, Fatboy builds tips, yup its true I build tips and sell them to anyone who buys them. I also raise the cows that I use for the leather for my tips, not only that I own the corn field(and I own the land too) that feeds my cows, I have a deal cut with God to water my corn to feed my cows so I can skin them to get the learther to make the tips.*

*nothing like full disclosure and being a vertical** company as opposed to a horizontal*** one.


**vertical meaning you own 2 or more steps of production

***Horizontal meaning you only do one thing in the production of a good brought to market.
 
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Fatboy said:
Its finally time for me to confess, Fatboy builds tips, yup its true I build tips and sell them to anyone who buys them. I also raise the cows that I use for the leather for my tips, not only that I own the corn field(and I own the land too) that feeds my cows, I have a deal cut with God to water my corn to feed my cows so I can skin them to get the learther to make the tips.*

*nothing like full disclosure and being a vertical** company as opposed to a horizontal*** one.


**vertical meaning you own all steps of production

***Horizontal meaning you only do one thing in the production of a good brought to market.
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Point is WHO cares??? not everyone can do everything in the course of making a cue or anything for that matter. Read "The Wealth of Nations" written by Adam Smith in 1776 it will clear this thread up and sort out all confusion.
 
Fatboy said:
Point is WHO cares??? not everyone can do everything in the course of making a cue or anything for that matter. Read "The Wealth of Nations" written by Adam Smith in 1776 it will clear this thread up and sort out all confusion.
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Fatboy, you're a pretty well-read dude for somebody that missed class practicing his 9-ball. :) Good point and Happy 4th !!
 
cueaddicts said:
Fatboy, you're a pretty well-read dude for somebody that missed class practicing his 9-ball. :) Good point and Happy 4th !!
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thanks, spelling & grammer are the only two classes i missed, sadly :frown: happy 4th to you too :smile:
 
Cornerman said:
Just to close the loop on this, there are no cues that could be called a Tascarella Cue that was made using Adam or Helmstetter forearms. I'm not sure how that rumor ever started. Possibly from a repair job? So, no "some years." No "year." No nothing like that. They've been building their own blanks since the early years, just after starting with Szamboti blanks and Spain blanks. They in no way sub their forearms out.

My OPINION, based on discussion with other cue dealers and having sold many, many TASCS in the 80's through the mid 90's, and your POSITION are clear. There was also an 8 pt cue which had a forearm identical to an ADAM'S. It might be in some old literature I have...

And, if the same source suggested a business relationship with Carolina Cues, then they need to be educated as this is a very sour point that could be dangerous with idle internet chatter. I'd gladly set them straight on e-mail or PM.

I loathe redundancy but let me reiterate that that (CCC?) was nothing more than idle speculation on my part. The ? after CCC was/is obvious.

Adam, I think it's important that you go back to whomever told you this and tell him. Much of my writing on cuemakers is to try to debunk lies and myths that circulate about these guys. This is just two of too many.

If I have the good fortune of hooking up with JOHN WRIGHT again I'll share your position with him.:)


Feel free to PM if you care to discuss further and, in closing, what is your writing based on??
;)

Take care, Adam
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ribdoner said:
Feel free to PM if you care to discuss further and, in closing, what is your writing based on??
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What is my writing base on? I don't quite understand this question. But, maybe I'm making more of it than I should.

I base it on several hours of in depth interview with Pete and Pete Jr. Tascarella, as well as others who know Tascarella Cues for articles for InsidePOOL Magazine. The two articles in particular were a George Balabushka article (March '05?) when he was inducted into the BCA HOF and an article on Tascarella Cues from October '07. To my knowledge, I am one of the very few people (only person?) to have had the privilege to have an article published on the Tascarellas in a major pool and billiard publication.

There would have been zero reason for him/them to deny any use of Helmstetter blanks, knowing full well that when he bought the Bushka equipment, there was no point blank making equipment with it.

So, with that, there are many items of discussions that I've had with Pete Sr. on and off for the past 3 1/2 years on many of the myths and garbage that's out there that have been viciously spread about him.

That's what I base my writing on.

Fred
 
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Cornerman said:
What is my writing base on? I don't quite understand this question. But, maybe I'm making more of it than I should.

I base it on several hours of in depth interview with Pete and Pete Jr. Tascarella, as well as others who know Tascarella Cues for articles for InsidePOOL Magazine. The two articles in particular were a George Balabushka article (March '05?) when he was inducted into the BCA HOF and an article on Tascarella Cues from October '07. To my knowledge, I am one of the very few people (only person?) to have had the privilege to have an article published on the Tascarellas in a major pool and billiard publication.

There would have been zero reason for him/them to deny any use of Helmstetter blanks, knowing full well that when he bought the Bushka equipment, there was no point blank making equipment with it.

So, with that, there are many items of discussions that I've had with Pete Sr. on and off for the past 3 1/2 years on many of the myths and garbage that's out there that have been viciously spread about him.

That's what I base my writing on.

Fred
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I've been around the cue game for a minute and I've NEVER heard vicious myths, ETC. NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They've always made playable cues that, as time has gone by, have also become TOP SHELF appearance wise.

This will be my last reponce here, PM if you desire.
 
ribdoner said:
I've been around the cue game for a minute and I've NEVER heard vicious myths, ETC. NONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They've always made playable cues that, as time has gone by, have also become TOP SHELF appearance wise.
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Because Pete got the Balabushka equipment and notes as a non-cuemaker when other established cuemaker swanted them, etc., there were and continue to be several rumors that get spread about Pete. If you've been in the cue game, you've heard them. Many of them are simply out there to try to discredit the man.

Remember, there was an onslaught of 'bushka copies that without people like Pete and the notes that he had that nobody else had access to, to authenticate and verify, even more people would have been cheated than there were.


Fred
 
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Just to close the loop on this, there are no cues that could be called a Tascarella Cue that was made using Adam or Helmstetter forearms. I'm not sure how that rumor ever started. Possibly from a repair job? So, no "some years." No "year." No nothing like that. They've been building their own blanks since the early years, just after starting with Szamboti blanks and Spain blanks. They in no way sub their forearms out.

And, if the same source suggested a business relationship with Carolina Cues, then they need to be educated as this is a very sour point that could be dangerous with idle internet chatter. I'd gladly set them straight on e-mail or PM.

Adam, I think it's important that you go back to whomever told you this and tell him. Much of my writing on cuemakers is to try to debunk lies and myths that circulate about these guys. This is just two of too many.

Fred
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does this post say that he never used a blank that wasn't made by him?
 
masonh said:
does this post say that he never used a blank that wasn't made by him?
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No, it doesn't suggest that.

He said he used Szamboti and Spain blanks, as the original 'Balabushka equipment didn't have any equipment for points. This is why it wouldn't make any sense to deny using other blanks. He already says he used other people's blanks. He also has made conversions, like any other cuemaker has.

Fred
 
Only in America would someone find fault in the fact that the builder didn't build every freakin molecule of the item they bought. They'll spend days whining, and complaining about it, but how much time did they spend asking questions, and doing research before hand?? There's families in this world that would eat for a year on what some spend on one cue, and I don't think they would think twice about who sent the food, grown it, harvested it, etc. they would just eat it and be thankful. Why can't Americans be somewhat similar....
Dave
 
Cornerman said:
Because Pete got the Balabushka equipment and notes as a non-cuemaker when other established cuemaker swanted them, etc., there were and continue to be several rumors that get spread about Pete. If you've been in the cue game, you've heard them. Many of them are simply out there to try to discredit the man.

Remember, there was an onslaught of 'bushka copies that without people like Pete and the notes that he had that nobody else had access to, to authenticate and verify, even more people would have been cheated than there were.


Fred
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Hello Fred, I have a few questions I would like answered if possible:

1) Did Pete Tascarella run the cue repair operation state side for Adam / Helmstter cues during the late 1970's through the Early 1980's. Then after Pete stopped working doing this Job did his son not take over the position for a number of years, even after the company Competition Sports took over as the wholesaler for these cues?

2) When Adam / Helmstetter started making the Balabushka series reproduction cues in the 1980's, was Pete Tascarella not the go between for the right to use the Balabushka name? In addition was Pete also not consulted on the designs of these cues for Adam / Helmstetter?

3) During the 1980's Adam / Helmstetter in cooperation with Competition Sports did Pete Tascarrela not design a line a cues for them called the Karella series which are still being made today?

Fred, I would appreciate any information you have on this subject, and if this is true it appears that Pete Tascarrela certainly had a working relationship with the Adam / Helmstetter cue company from the late 1970's through the 1990's at a minimum. So how far of a stretch would it be to suspect they did use some Forearms in at least the early days, before they made their own.

I guess my point would be, that even if he did use some of their forearms who cares. Their forearms / short spliced blanks were some of the best around for a consistent product. Burton Spain's splice were no better, in fact the only difference was they were made here the Adams / Helmstetter Blanks were made in Japan.

Thanks Fred, I will wait for your reply.
 
Dave38 said:
Only in America would someone find fault in the fact that the builder didn't build every freakin molecule of the item they bought. They'll spend days whining, and complaining about it, but how much time did they spend asking questions, and doing research before hand?? There's families in this world that would eat for a year on what some spend on one cue, and I don't think they would think twice about who sent the food, grown it, harvested it, etc. they would just eat it and be thankful. Why can't Americans be somewhat similar....
Dave
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I think the point is if you spent 55,000 for a BMW 2 years ago and found out that they used Kia engines in your model it would be ok...it still starts,runs ok,looks the same as other BMW's but has a Kia motor:eek: .......Not to say thats the case here but these rumors are only digging at the truth what ever that may be.
 
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