Custom and High End Cues on the Decline?

I guess it really started with LD shafts.

Many of the old time great cue makers resented anybody using any shaft that they didn't make.

I think the aftermarket shafts chiseled away at the mythology of the custom cue hit.

Then CF came along and it's a distinct departure from the white hard rock maple shaft.

Folks were putting the CF shafts on customs without matching the rings........

I bought a 30th anniversary Gincue when I was around 30.

I thought that cue was great at the time.

Back then there were so many players and a lot more action in the pool hall than now, out here in Cali.............

The pool halls were large pool palaces then.

They are gone now.........
 
overlord said:
The shift seemed to come with CF shafts...........
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I felt this coming when the CF products came in to being. At that point I decided to sell my favorite “high end” cue. My design Dave Kikel the builder. After 12 years of fun and enjoyment I sold it. It’s in a large collection in Florida now.

Seeing the pricing now I am very happy with my decision. Times change, technology has changed and another new era is here.

Time waits

for no man, or pool cues either.. Wealthy collectors will be unaffected, to them it is a pastime and a hobby.

I am happy that I owned a beautiful cue that played like a magic wand in my hands!
 
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A quality custom cue by a top tier builder will never lose value. One just needs to have the discretionary income to afford it. I certainly didn’t have that ability in my teens, 20’s and 30’s. Which is where most of the production market resides. The good stuff is still in demand.
 
Tarheel said:
A quality custom cue by a top tier builder will never lose value. One just needs to have the discretionary income to afford it. I certainly didn’t have that ability in my teens, 20’s and 30’s. Which is where most of the production market resides. The good stuff is still in demand.
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Styles come and go. The only value in fine art is the collectors who know magic.

...and fish...
 
People have been saying this for years. All I can say is that plenty of people still seem to be buying a lot of high end custom cues, and that those markets were always small but strong. I like very high quality and often high dollar cues, and personally speaking I pretty rarely have any trouble selling them. I often even make a buck or two on them. I do think that the super cheap cues and the higher end stuff both have more robust markets than mid-range cues at the moment. The super high end stuff will always have rich buyers, and the low end stuff will always have league players. The mid-range customs are probably who's suffering right now.

And in case it wasn't obvious, I know custom cues won't make me play better. I just love the artistry of them, I love how they look and feel, and I love having a build come together - especially when I sourced the wood and other materials myself.
 
MitchAlsup said:
Most young adults do not have the kind of income (or wealth) that would allow them to buy a high end cue.

And you don't fix that problem by making high end cues lower priced--
You fix the problem by making low end jobs pay more--
{{OR make lesser gamblers win big more often}}
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Don’t discount brand recognition. There are plenty of kids on the internet paying or claiming to pay thousands for Jordan’s that were released 25-30 years ago, but have been re-released in new colorways or in limited quantities/special materials. Why would they throw cash at a cue maker who might be in the hall of fame, but that they have never heard of. Even if many were to see names of famous cue makers, they would still likely opt for the most bang for the buck per the collective voice of people on their preferred social media sites.
 
Tarheel said:
A quality custom cue by a top tier builder will never lose value. One just needs to have the discretionary income to afford it. I certainly didn’t have that ability in my teens, 20’s and 30’s. Which is where most of the production market resides. The good stuff is still in demand.
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Do you have evidence of people under 30 wanting and waiting for an opportunity to scoop up even a 3-5k cue?
 
hang-the-9 said:
The cues people aspire to own now are Predator and Cuetec. Those are by far the most common cues and shafts I see people use, and there is really not much research past those two done for what else is out there. Probably due to how easy it is to do web searches and see ads online now. Years ago, you went by word of mouth, friends, TV or AccuStats videos, so you ended up hearing of many more makers. Custom cue makers don't have ads on YouTube or TikTok.
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Brand recognition and how they are advertised to has change dramatically.
 
I had 10 or so nice customs in my pool life over the years, starting with a nice cocobolo Scruggs in 1998. Now all I shoot is production butts.

A buddy bought a cheap decal cue for $150 and showed it to me a few weeks ago. It looked nicer than high end custom stuff, no lie, the decals were so well done. I said to him, "you'd have to be nuts to spend 2k on a custom cue today".
 
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One doesn't have to be able to afford something to appreciate what it is. In many cases the opposite is true. If everyone could go out and buy a Ferrari, it wouldn't be any more special than a Ford or Chevy.
 
Logandgriff said:
Is it my imagination or do the younger (say under 40) pool players in general not care about custom or high end cues? My experience in Atlanta is that most anyone under 40 has no idea of Szamboti, Balabushka, Joss West etc. etc. or handmade custom cues in general. Most seem delighted to have any cue that comes in two parts. Decal points? No problem. Valhalla or Lucky etc. etc. cues no problem. The high end of their aspirations may be a painted Predator with a rubber grip.

If custom and high end cues were stocks on the NYSE, I'd short them.
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I sold the one I had.
I used a solid piece of wood with a 3/8 x 10 pin in it and it hit great,
so now I play with House Cue butt and my Southeast shafts. Feel is King for me.

I saw a Cue Guy set up at an event yesterday. Pot leaves, zig zags of all kinds and weird
colorful designs and at decent prices.

Pool Leaguers tastes matter.
 
I think that we should all back up and understand that there are probably four distinct reasons why the custom cue market existed in the first place; 1. One market was for players seeking the best playing cue or a better playing cue.
2. One market was for cue collectors only who collect cues for a variety of reasons
3. One market was for collector/ players who appreciate the hand work and like to explore cue playability characteristics- ( My interests)
4. I would say the fourth market was for profiteers/ resellers of custom cues.

Perhaps reason number one has been eclipsed by the advent of CF/LD shafts
Reason number two still exists, but, I believe, in more limited numbers of people
Reason number three certainly still exists, but again, less people involved in this dual hobby for many reasons
Reason number four still exists, but also more limited in numbers, for obvious reasons- supply and demand.

The pool playing boom of post COM movie brought on many new custom cue makers to the pool scene from late 80s into about 2000 or so. Many of these makers are not in this business any longer- for , again, a variety of reasons that are obvious- both market and non- market related.

I believe that some of the existing more well know makers still have long wait lists of customers- proof that - on any given day- somebody for any of the four reasons stated above, may commission a cue.

I think that Richard Hsu, Hsunami shafts; from a business perspective, has come up with a product that has produced continued long wait times, just for a Hsunami shaft, and this provides him with a very nice income ( his profit on each shaft must be huge compared to his cost), and provides customers with a great shaft ( I bought one) , and excellent resale value for the end user.
 
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Rackaday said:
Do you have evidence of people under 30 wanting and waiting for an opportunity to scoop up even a 3-5k cue?
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No, and that was my point. Most people in their teens, through 30’s are busy with school, starting careers and families, etc. Discretionary income is tight. It sure was for me.
 
they cost more than production cues
they resell for much less
they take forever to get made, and lots of issues with that itself as we know
they are not consistent as production cues in fit finish and playability

that said i see more and more customs being made all the time
everyones got a backlog of work
 
lakeman77 said:
Predator, Cuetec, Mezz and others make cues consistantly as good or better than 95% of the customs. They are available now, without drama, stalls, delays and fraud. And CF came along. I wouldn't do the custom thing again for all the tea in China :)
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its about what works, whats a better tool for me
no custom ive ever used played close to how a predator or cuetec does
a custom isnt built with playing in mind
you get a bunch of funky specs from some random that thinks they need exactly this and that, plus the decorations.
itll be pretty but probably wont play very well like a top production cue
 
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