Custom and High End Cues on the Decline?

Benelli said:
I get it now, you have no clue what you're talking about, let's break it down.

You make some stunning leaps in logic because you don't know what you're talking about. The first massive one is when you compare Eddie's business model to Mezz, which could not be further apart. You made this assumption based not on dealing directly with Eddie or with any custom cue maker that I can tell.

You did this... by... wait for it.

Looking at his fucking website...

Wow, just wow.. So, because Eddie shows lots of cues that are currently sold out, your lizard brain said BAM just like Mezz. But what you don't realize is that those pictures represent about five years' worth of cues and are all one-offs's not production models. Several of the cues on his site, I would say well over half of those photos are custom commissions that he has posted the pics just for people to see his range of design and build quality. But you can't buy one, and there NEVER GOING TO BE IN STOCK again...

So nothing like Mezz at all. Mezz are NOT CUSTOM CUE's anymore than Joss, Schon, or McDermott are custom cues.

Eddie's true custom cue's will cost you between 4K and 6K, the ones he post on the website for sale, roughly five to six a YEAR cost between 2k and 4K. So yes, there is an audience for Eddie's cues, he has generated it himself via his content, but that audience numbers under 100 people that would actually buy one of his cues, not the TENS OF THOUSANDS that are trying to purchase a Mezz production cue that numbers in the high hundreds to low thousands made...

Your entire wish-washy supposition that custom cues will always attract some has nothing to do with the original point of this post, which was that the custom cue market is not doing well and custom cues as a whole do not really hold their value, much less appreciating. This is happening because the number of buyers that are looking for, much less choosing a custom cue over a production cue, is rapidly diminishing.

Yes some custom cues, Gina's, BB, Szam's are doing well but are still well off their highs of a few years ago. But unless there is a large injection of moneyed, young, collectors actively acquiring these and other makers' cues at a high enough clip to drive buying pressure and increase price via buying competition. The prices of used cues will continue to fall, while the number of new cues being created will decrease, as the number of people commissioning them also declines due to... death.

All of this is underpinned by the fact that many of the high-tech production cues like Mezz and Predator are of high enough quality in both hit and feel that there is no reason to chase a custom cue any longer.

I don't know I agree with this statement, but as a C-level marketer, I can tell you that these companies spend millions of dollars a year to convince entry-level players of this and are very, very successful at it.

Which is why I can take a 15K Balabushka to APA league night and NO ONE GIVES A SHIT, but if it were the latest Shane Van Gorst, Mosconi Cup Choke on the Nine Limited Edition, everyone would be falling over themselves to fondle it, hit a ball with it and then line up on eBay to pay $300 TO $600 over MSRP to have one...

Yes, custom-made cues are in trouble...
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Benelli, that was a brilliant break down of what it takes to create a true custom cue. As been discussed, the market is limited to a few people willing to spend that kind of money, he likes to give the impression from his videos that they are made in a flash. Anyone who knows that kind of work, takes time.

Your right, the amount that goes into marketing these production cues must be an absolute ton of money.
Aimed at the club players, thinking they will play like the pro sponsoring that company.
I don't think its coincidence that the rise in carbon fibre and fancy production cues has had a huge impact on the custom market. Hopefully one day, those days will come back! And we will see pros using them again!
That is one thing, snooker still has at the top level. Simpler designs i know, but just much a custom.

And i can't believe that about your balabushka, how the hell, no one noticed is insane. Its about production cues now.
 
skogstokig said:
is that afr. blackwood?
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It's Gaboon Ebony. Here is a picture I took on a sunny day where (to my surprise) the logo on the joint protectors was projected onto the shadow of the cue.
1000007414.jpg
 
I think a lot of hit has to do with availability. The first real pool hall I went to as a teenager had quite a selection of Viking, Joss, McDermott and some customers cues. My first cue in 1991 was a Viking PJ that was $140 give or take. Cousins Custom Cues were the nicer ones I recall from that hall, Buffalo Billiards in Cotati, and the owner Lee liked them. I think the PJ was $300 from CCC. I tried a few and bought the one that I played best with, the Viking.

It wasn’t until I was maybe 26/7 that I found a shop in the Portland area, Billiards N Bagels, that had a huge selection of custom cues. Jim was cool, you could try whatever you wanted, and I was able to play with vintage Joss, Coker, SW, Sailor, Runde, Schon, Jacoby, Black ….. That was 20 years ago.

I have never been to another shop that had a selection to try before you buy. When I see league, it’s a sea of carbon fiber. I was talking with a buddy a week or so ago about how good shaft wood, I mean the good old stuff that was common from 60-90’s cues, is hard to find and people like the idea that they can play well with carbon and they don’t need to worry about a cue warping.

Another thing, I remember Jim complaining about new cue makers, mind you this was 20 years ago, complaining about new cue makers asking high dollar for cues and the maker had no real pedigree.

There are many layers to why people spend what they do on cues, and these are just a couple of ideas.
 
Bavafongoul said:
I finally decided these are my favorite 3 cues to play with using 3rd party Kielwood shafts I bought.
And one of these cues just plays a notch above the other two, both of which are really nice to use.

However, if I only play using the orig. maple shafts, only the Scruggs remains in both top 3 groups.
What amazed me is how KW shafts really do play better than the same weight original maple shafts.

The other 3 cues in my case (6x12) have the same threads as the cues in the photo so I can pull one
any time and play with a Kielwood shaft. Screw CF….I’ve always played wood shafts & KW is great.

p.s. I think custom cues will endure over time and at least retain orig. value rather drop like other cues.
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left to right
prewitt/?/cruggs
who made the cue in the middle?
all great looking
 
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