Custom Cue Question

[Gideon]

I have been looking around at buying a new cue, don't really need one, just want one. Kind of like my ex girlfriend and shoes...

Now while I would love to be able to drop $1000+ on a cue that is just not in the budget right now, and actually I much prefer plain looking cues that do not draw a whole lot of attention. In my opinion a plain cue with a nice wood is better looking, to me at least. What can I say I'm plain.

The particular cue I am leaning towards right now (Subject to change of course) is an Espiritu, Cue #1 on this page actually (Click). My question is, when looking at these custom cues, what is the factors that influance the pricing? Is it mostly the cosmetic parts of the cues that increase the price? Is a cue that is $300-$400 going to hit the same or close to a cue that is $1000-$1500 by the same cue maker? Does what I am asking make sense?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Zims Rack]

Someone could probably answer this better, but... the type of wood used, how the wood is joined together (handle to forearm, joint), what kind of joint, and where the balance is located...those to me are what make cues hit differently.

As far as this particular goes...I'd go for it! Troy Oldham, On the Hill Q Sales is a great guy to deal with. He's a personal friend of mine for many years. I actually got my Prather, Espiritu and Jacoby cues from him. Tell him Zim sent you!
Good luck and I hope you get the answers you're looking for.

Zim

 

[Purdman]

Gideon, I was an Espiritu dealer a few years ago. I have owned 12 of them. Price range from $330 to $1,175. Thge cheepest one is a 97', 6 of them were 99's, the other 5 were 2000's. The best playing one out of the whole bunch is the 97'. $330, one shaft.
I wouldn't buy a 2003 $300 cue from them for $50. Do yourself a favor and hit with it before you buy. I have 2- 99's and 2- 2000' and can't get rid of them on a bet. Give yo a hell of a deal on em.
WHOLESALE COST Thats 40% off list
Don P.

 

[nbc]

Don P.

What's wrong with the 2003 Espiritu's? How do they differ from the older ones?

Curious...

nbc

 

[Zims Rack]

Don- contact Troy at www.onthehill.net, he might be interested in buying them from you! Shoot me some photos of them, I might be also!!

Thanks,
Zim

 

[bruin70]

in some cases the plainer the cue the better, because the cuemaker didn't cut into the wood to compromise it.

the best meucci i played with were two or three sneaky pete meuccis. however, if you want something fancy for the money,,,a friend bought a $90 fury that he loves. i think their $300-400 cues are their fancy ones.


just make sure the shaft grain is straight. it's the only thing you can expect other than how the cues feels.

 

[Purdman]

There is a huge differance in the cues a guy makes when he is putting out 300 a year and 3000 a year. #1- he isn't making them all, just signing them all. #2- some cuemakers have very reliable and trained employees and check every cue before it leaves the shop.
I have several friends who have purchased Russ's cues only to have the butt warp. I have seen one where the forearm, cocobolo, was two differant pieces spliced together, that one warped also. The 99"s wern't to bad other than the rings all stuck out after one month. I sent them back and he fixed two of them. Of course I had to pay the shipping both ways. Try that with 3 cues, not cheep. The low end 2000's, $430 and $550, were a piece of crap compared to my $330-97. I don't know what is going, but the I have seen the quality steadily go down hill. Like I said, I would definately shoot with the cue before I purchased it. I have one cue that I purchased before playing with it. It was a Dave Kikel. One of the best hitting cues I have ever had in my hand. Oh yea, I purchased a $6,600.00 Blud because he gave me a nice deal on it. I don't regret that purchase either.
I don't really mean to slam Russ's cues, he is a dam good cuemaker. I would only buy one of his one of a kind custom cues today. You could be pretty sure he made it.
Don