Cues - how much is too much?

[manwon]

I think you can get a nice cue with veneers etc for well under 1000 from a cue maker that has a good rep for playability and craftsmanship.

I have a BBC and a Tru Balance, one slightly over 200 and one under.
I doubt you could find better playing cues than those two anywhere if you were to spend in the 700 dollar range. Those and a Leon Sly sneaky.

I currently use a Varney conversion mainly because I hate to take any of my nicer cues to a bar. Its unbelievable. Its the taper that Kevin uses that suits me. Gotta be because the butt is just a cheapo bar cue, nothing special. OK, it has one of my Super Milk Duds on it too.
I traded a Joss for it that I paid $100 for. The shaft even has a sugar mark on it so its not like it came out of Kevin's private reserve.

So yes, you don't have to spend a ton to get a cue that works great for you.

Not trying to be smart A or anything, but I'd like to put my Varney up against a Black Boar for playability and see if the difference in
the two is worth the thousands difference in money. I know there is a ton of difference in craftsmanship and quality, but I'm talking just from a playability point of view. Am I going to pot balls any better than I can now.

The only way that would be a fair test is if Black Boar made plain Jane cues that are purchased full spliced. Now, there is nothing wrong with buying and building from parts, but there is a major difference when comparing cue makers, especially when one builds the parts for his cues and the other assembles parts that he buys for that purpose.

JIMO

 

[Blue Hog ridr]

True enuff Craig but even if a cue maker were to purchase parts and just assemble them, theres much to be said on how the parts are assembled.

 

[justnum]

What the hell does this have to do with what the OP was asking? He's asking about how much a cue costs, not where it is made.

Im sorry officer forum police, please continue about your business.

Move along.

A rant is rant, you want to get to know me, then interpret the post. Most readers can figure out what a writer's intent is by reading and analyzing.

These are not the droids your looking for.

 

[manwon]

True enuff Craig but even if a cue maker were to purchase parts and just assemble them, theres much to be said on how the parts are assembled.

Yes there are some things that is unquie to every cue maker, such as, taper, and other construction techniques, but in the end a Sneaky Pete full splce is a solid start for any construction. But, building that full splice is another story completely.

Take Care

 

[DaveK]

One thing's for certain. Almost all of them will be made right here in the USA, with good American wood.

Ya, dontcha just love that good Canadian maple and amazing Brazillian rosewood ? Great combo !

Dave

PS Oh ya, back to the OP ... maybe $2,500 or so ... imo

 

[CocoboloCowboy]

Many a GREAT ROAD Player came to town, hit the Bars, and Pool Rooms. Took the guys money who thought they could play good. Armed with only a Willard, and Sandpaper they had in their pocket.

The Cue that was used was off the wall, and it work to make GREEN!

But many Cue are as I like to call them FUNCTIONAL ART, and depending upon the Artist who build the "ART", the price is proportional with DEMAND. Southwest is a good example, if you want one the Wait is 7-10 YEARS! Barry Szamboti is another long wait, and we can add a few more names to the list but IMHO POINT WAS MADE!

Than you have the unknown or little know Cuemakers who make a DAM FINE PLAYING CUE, but have no Armada of CHEERLEADERS on AZB telling the World how great their Cue are, by the ARMADA of those saying how great they are in their expert opinions.

So maybe a Cue is just a stick of wood, with a leather tip on the end in the hand of a skilled player, can turn those component into a Magic POOL WAND.

One might ask how was Willie Mosconi able to set those Pool Record with out the aid of some of the MAGIC PRODUCTS available in 2011 to Pool Player, could it have just been SKILL, and not the Cue, Tip, Chalks, or?

My VOTE IS SKILL. Skill always wins the most IMHO.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

The only way that would be a fair test is if Black Boar made plain Jane cues that are purchased full spliced. Now, there is nothing wrong with buying and building from parts, but there is a major difference when comparing cue makers, especially when one builds the parts for his cues and the other assembles parts that he buys for that purpose.

JIMO

Don't forget, Craig, George Balabushka used pre-made parts.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Ya, dontcha just love that good Canadian maple and amazing Brazillian rosewood ? Great combo !

Dave

PS Oh ya, back to the OP ... maybe $2,500 or so ... imo

FYI, Einstein. Most of it comes from New England, and the Great Lakes states.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Yeah, all that cocobolo, rosewood, purpleheart and ebony that is grown in the US.

Hell, most of the maple comes from canadia.

So, yes, if you order an oak cue with cherry shafts, you have an cue made with american wood.

Read the post a bit more carefully. I said they (the cues) are made in the US.

 

[Bamacues]

It all depends on what you want to do with the cue.

As a player, you can get a great custom sneaky from a well respected, top quality cuemaker for $400-650 or so. You won't need anything more than that to play with.

As an investment, it is all about the artwork and cuemaker, along with any provenance. A pool cue at the collectible level is mostly a canvas that the artist/cuemaker has chosen as his medium. Now, cues from legends are collected for just that, like any truly rare piece of history.

Personally, I have never owned a cue valued at more than $10,000, and that one made me uncomfortable...I never would have played with it.

I played with a $2500 Southwest for several years, and it was the only cue I ever had damaged...a guy knocked it over during a match at SBE and split my favorite shaft. That took me $275 and 6 months to replace, and it just was not the same after that.

Now, I play with a $750 or so cue from Joe Callaluca (for the last 5 years) which I plan to replace with a Cory Barnhart in a couple of weeks (has been in the works for almost 2 years).

Joe

 

[Tramp Steamer]

Write the post more carefully, you said 'with good American wood'.

dld

My cue is made of good American wood. I haven't a clue as to what your cue is made of.

 

[poke&hope]

How much is too much

There are imop two camps. One is artistry which the value is in the publics perception of the painter(maker) and the beauty which is in the eyes of the beholder. The worth of these cues are determined by the people who make up this market.

The second is playability which after thousands of dollars and hours spent playing you learn what you really,really,really like in a cue. Its kinda like your favotite pet.Its always there when you need it most, feels like an extension of yourself and if anything goes wrong its almost always your fault.

After the learning experience you can have a pedigree made to your liking I would say for under $300. Some get lucky and find a stray or one that somebody just wants to give away that feels right at home.

 

[Pushout]

Seeing as how some plain, four point cues with veneers from some of the more well known cue makers are over a thousand now, it's kind of hard to say. You can very well say less than five hundred and you'd probably be right.
IIRC, Tascarella's basic cue is over $2000 now. I don't get to handle the amount of cues I did years ago and have paid up to $600 for a cue that today would be around $2500. I'm not talking about production cues because I don't play with them.

 

[jason]

Specifically, at what point does the cost of a cue exceed performance, engineering, and playability, and just become cost for ornamentation, styling, and design?

What do you think?

The question posed by the OP is at what point does the cost of a cue exceed performance?

I have never attributed a veneer or an inlay to my ability to pocket a ball. I don't care if I have a million dollars of gold, diamonds and jewels in the butt of my stick. It will not help me pocket a ball.

The answer basically comes down to physics, player ability and production costs. My answer was a nice low round number of $100, but I'm positive I could find a cheaper cue that would play as well as any high end cue.

The bottom line is physics. The most important of that being the contact and friction between the tip and the cue. Most everything else within reason is insignificant.

 

[fast&loose designs]

The question posed by the OP is at what point does the cost of a cue exceed performance?

I have never attributed a veneer or an inlay to my ability to pocket a ball. I don't care if I have a million dollars of gold, diamonds and jewels in the butt of my stick. It will not help me pocket a ball.

The answer basically comes down to physics, player ability and production costs. My answer was a nice low round number of $100, but I'm positive I could find a cheaper cue that would play as well as any high end cue.

The bottom line is physics. The most important of that being the contact and friction between the tip and the cue. Most everything else within reason is insignificant.

Probably the best answer I've gotten. I think if you are convinced that points, ivory, and nice finishes are going to help your stroke, you are wrong. However, it may help your confidence, ego, and ultimately your attitude about the game. But, I have seen FIRST HAND, someone in my area in SoCal (no names), who buys THOUSANDS worth of cues, and his game, stroke, and ability has not exceeded my own, and I've only spent about $600 in the past 4 years on cues.

 

[manwon]

Don't forget, Craig, George Balabushka used pre-made parts.

There is no comparison between that time and this time frame concerning equipment and supplies. But, to each his own and we will just have to agree to disagree on this subject.

But thanks for the information, I am always open to learning something new.

 

[jason]

Probably the best answer I've gotten. I think if you are convinced that points, ivory, and nice finishes are going to help your stroke, you are wrong. However, it may help your confidence, ego, and ultimately your attitude about the game. But, I have seen FIRST HAND, someone in my area in SoCal (no names), who buys THOUSANDS worth of cues, and his game, stroke, and ability has not exceeded my own, and I've only spent about $600 in the past 4 years on cues.

Skyscraper, I once saw a high end cue maker (top 10 probably) make a bet in a pool hall with another lesser skilled player. Within this bet, he had to take a house cue, cut off the tip, shaped the wood and chalked it up. He proceeded to beat the other player with that stick. I picked it out of the rack after he was finished. I was able to draw the ball 3 rails on a GC. This confirms a lot about what I have stated before.

As far as using a stick that increases your confidence, I don't think they are really related. In fact, do you think the guy who uses the broomstick needs confidence? If you need an extra point to give you a false sense of confidence, I consider it exactly that, a false sense of confidence. This type of person thinks they can buy themselves a better game. This is like the government trying to solve issues by throwing money at the problem. It never works.

Now I do agree that using the same equipment can increase your confidence. It increases you confidence by familiarity only. Confidence is an internal emotion and controlled by the mind. Can someone gain confidence from buying a high end cue? Maybe, but in time their game will ultimately show through and then the need to buy newer more expensive equipment.

 

[onepocketron]

I have several cues by the same cue maker. The one that cost 300 bucks hits just as good as the one that cost 1800 bucks.....but I like the looks of the more expensive one. I would venture go guess most cue makers inexpensive cues play as good as the expensive ones.

 

[Tramp Steamer]

The only way that would be a fair test is if Black Boar made plain Jane cues that are purchased full spliced. Now, there is nothing wrong with buying and building from parts, but there is a major difference when comparing cue makers, especially when one builds the parts for his cues and the other assembles parts that he buys for that purpose.

JIMO

I thought maybe I had missunderstood what you said, but I'm not so sure. When you say there is a major difference between cue makers, especially when one builds his own parts and the other doesn't, I assume you mean the former is a much better cuemaker than the latter.
My refference to Balabushka was that he is arguably one of the most highly regarded cuemakers of all time, but he himself used parts made by other people. Specifically his prongs, which came from Szamboti, Spain, and others.

 

[DaveK]

My cue is made of good American wood. I haven't a clue as to what your cue is made of.

So now your cue, a sample of one, is enough for you to say "Almost all" ???? I guess you are more patriotic than realistic ... no suprise.

Dave <--- Einstein