There are clearly two distinct types of custom builders. I am one type, who has strict guidlines I follow in terms of dimensions & materials. Then there's the "true custom" type who let customers dictate everything. I'd like to hear from the "true custom" builders & hear their reasoning, justification behind their choices. Was it business or ethic motivated? I see this conversation come up a few times per year & it never gets past the petty label name calling game. I'd like to hear some honest, non-advertising comments & discussion from both sides. As of now it's "my dad can beat your dad up" kind of endings in these discussions.
I'll go first. I am strict about material choices because some materials are better suited for cues than others. There are some beautiful materials that simply are useless in a cue unless inlayed, which I don't do because of personal preference. Some day i'll inlay, but for now there are numerous other structurally important aspects of cues that I need to master before I begin dressing them up. Otherwise i'd feel like I was polishing a turd. So my material choices are made for structural integrity & playability purposes. So in essence, if somebody wants inlays, i'll either sub-contract with their permission or they won't get inlays. I have done inlays using a friend's machine, but was not ready for the attention to detail it takes to make the inlays perfect by my standards. I could do it no problem, but feel there are other more important areas of the cue to master first. Basically, I want to build a good cue before I begin building ornamented cues. This brings me to the reason I am strict on dimensions.
I can play. I know the game & have used many, many cues, as well as built many cues. I experiment constantly with dimensions. It took me roughly three years to lock down the shaft taper I currently use. I factored in comfort, stiffness, deflection, spin, etc. when formulating & reformulating the dimensions. This all includes ferrule material & ferrule installation technique, including the adhesive used. What I locked down on works very well for playing. It spins easily, feels comfortable to stroke, has a solid feel, low deflection & is simply easy to pockert balls with. It's great, but is only half of the cue. The shafts didn't play the same on every butt. So I had to work a few more years on perfecting the butt. Wood combos used, dimensions, taper shape, collar materials, construction techniques, adhesives, etc. all factor in. I ended up making my own joint pins & found an ass backwards way of putting my cues together in order to achive consistency in quality. I'm still to this day experimenting & trying new ways & materials, and little by little evolving my cues. But the point is, I knbow what works & I know what i'll put my name on. If somebody wants one of my cues, it'll fit within my guidlines & they can customize the details I allow them to. I won't build anything else, because if I did i'd be afraid to claim it without adequate testing & proof over a period of time I felt worthy.
For me & the way I view things, I cannot allow myself to bend the rules I have made for my cues. To do so would be to strip the personality & identity I have created for my cues. They would no longer be Sugartrees, but instead the material mass of somebody else's imagination. That's just my thoughts & the way I do my thing. The only stone it's set into is the pebble tumbling around in my skull that I like to refer to as my brain.
So there's my reasoning for my choice of path. Let's hear some others'. No advertising pitch, just personal thoughts & reasoning behind choices made concerning the word "custom".
