Definition of Long Splice - Full Splice - Sneaky Pete

Arnot Wadsworth

Arnot Wadsworth

Senior Cuemaker
Silver Member
My definition of a Sneaky Pete is a 4 Point house cue cut in half with a joint pin added.

Long Splice Cues and Full Splice Cues are the same. They are both created like this one:

Long Splice Cues made from seasoned wood are much better then
Sneaky Pete Cues made from a house cue because of the hand-on
attention to detail that is not found in house cues. This is evidenced
by the evenness of the points and selection of woods used.
lsplice4armblank3.jpg


Additional images: http://www.arnotq.com/pages/21/21.html

Other opinions please,
 

Attachments

  • lsplicebuttblank1.jpg
    lsplicebuttblank1.jpg
    16.2 KB · Views: 576
Last edited:
I agree with Arnot on this one. Full splice blanks whether made in your shop or bought elsewhere are normally a lot better than the typical house cue. I would add that the Sneaky Pete or Hustler name being attached to any cue is negative to me. I even find myself using those names from habit, but really do not like them. The name came from people who were intentionally trying to lay low to hustle people out of their money. People use to be leary of gambling with the person with a nice cue. Now the opposite is true more often than not. If I were running a handicapped tournament and I saw a guy who looked like he could really play but did not have his own cue I would handicap him high. I guess I just assume any honest pool player that has played enough to get even B speed ought to have his own cue. I wish the term sneaky pete and hustler cues would just go away. I don't like hearing my full splice cues with sterling silver stitch joint and butt rings with inlays called sneaky petes. Those are full-splice cues. For what Arnot called a Sneaky Pete I would like to see them just called House Cue Conversion.
Chris
www.hightowercues.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
 
All fine and dandy, but doesn't change the fact that some of the best hitting cues myself and many others I know have ever used, were made from house cues. :)
 
Sheldon said:
All fine and dandy, but doesn't change the fact that some of the best hitting cues myself and many others I know have ever used, were made from house cues. :)
Click to expand...

Years ago you could find those big oversize house cues that you could re-taper and correct the error (warpage). Those are long gone. The new house cues I see are warped and too small to re-taper.

Good cuemaking,
 
Last edited:
Arnot Wadsworth said:
Years ago you could find those big oversize house cues that you could re-taper and correct the error (warpage). Those are long gone. The new house cues I see are warped and too small to re-taper.

Good cuemaking,
Click to expand...

That's sure changing Arnot. Since Dufferon got bought out and moved to China the H/Cs they're putting out are about the same size as old Hoppi's. There is a fellow here in town who is selling purple heart Dufferons on e-bay and if someone wants it cut and a pin put in he brings them to me. Last week I cut two in half and the guy wanted stainless joints installed. Without miking the butt or shaft I put a black phenolic ring on the shafts and then put a ring and stainless joint on one. Started to turn down and when the deco-ring was same size as butt it became quite apparent that the steel joint was to small. I miked the butt then and at the midway cut at 28.5" the diameter was .955. Steel joints are only .875 before truing up so I had to remove the steel joint and install phenolic.

Dick
 
rhncue said:
That's sure changing Arnot. Since Dufferon got bought out and moved to China the H/Cs they're putting out are about the same size as old Hoppi's. There is a fellow here in town who is selling purple heart Dufferons on e-bay and if someone wants it cut and a pin put in he brings them to me. Last week I cut two in half and the guy wanted stainless joints installed. Without miking the butt or shaft I put a black phenolic ring on the shafts and then put a ring and stainless joint on one. Started to turn down and when the deco-ring was same size as butt it became quite apparent that the steel joint was to small. I miked the butt then and at the midway cut at 28.5" the diameter was .955. Steel joints are only .875 before truing up so I had to remove the steel joint and install phenolic.

Dick
Click to expand...

When Dufferin went out of business I was at the auction and bought a bunch of unfinished full spiced butts and one piece cues. They are major oversize. Most of the butts already have a joint at about .840 (Dufferin was never too concerned about sizes) but the rest of the butt will be about 1.5" One thing about Dufferin is they never scrimped on their woods. I have some great looking ebony (both Gabon and Macassar), purpleheart and bacote. Their is still a good business in snooker cues so that's what a bunch of them are becoming. Snooker players seemed to always prefer the full spice.
 
I kind of like the terms "bar cue" or "converted bar cue" to describe the old Brunswick, Valley's and Dufferin spliced cues with no veneers. House cue is good too, but even that is not exactly accurate, because in the old rooms a lot of the wall cues had veneers.

I use these terms on conversions rather than the word "sneaky pete" because a sneaky pete, in my mind, is just like Arnot says - a production bar cue with a screw (no rings or wrap) hidden in it to look like a one piece, so it's a pretty narrow term. When you use the word bar cue, it doesn't leave much to the imagination.

The first few years of Palmers were made from old converted house cues. They cleaned out a lot of the old cues in New Jersey and New York - bought them for $1 each, and made them into new Palmers. Besides the bar cues, they used old Titlists (so did Balabushka) and they even used the old 26 1/2 Brunswicks, ebony pointed cues with veneers - whatever they could get their hands on. The difference betweeen Palmer and Balabushka is Palmer would buy a truck load at a time and George would spend hours in the room and buy one.

That's why I get such a kick out of the old cues - the variety is enormous.

Here are some converted bar cues: http://www.palmercollector.com/Model-AB-page.html

Chris
 
Last edited:
House Cue Diameter

rhncue said:
That's sure changing Arnot. Since Dufferon got bought out and moved to China the H/Cs they're putting out are about the same size as old Hoppi's. There is a fellow here in town who is selling purple heart Dufferons on e-bay and if someone wants it cut and a pin put in he brings them to me. Last week I cut two in half and the guy wanted stainless joints installed. Without miking the butt or shaft I put a black phenolic ring on the shafts and then put a ring and stainless joint on one. Started to turn down and when the deco-ring was same size as butt it became quite apparent that the steel joint was to small. I miked the butt then and at the midway cut at 28.5" the diameter was .955. Steel joints are only .875 before truing up so I had to remove the steel joint and install phenolic.

Dick
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads-up Dick. Now I just wonder how much of that .955 diameter is finish? It looked to me like the old Dufferins had about 1/16 inch of finish on each side of the butt but I never measured one before and after the finish was removed.

Good cuemaking,
 
There seems to be plenty of room in most of those old dufferins to me. In fact I usually have to take more cuts then I would like. They do vary in diameter though. I have recently noticed that, but some are way oversized. I have some that are as thick as brand new blanks even after the finish is removed, and the finish is usually pretty thick, altough that varies as well. A house I do work for still has many, so anytime they have one break above the joint area, they will save them, and give them to Me. Some are nice and very usuable, and others are loaded with tan wood filler that does'nt match the wood they filled, like some of the valleys did, so I would'nt waste My time with the ones like that. If they were filled It's usually because the hole was very deep, and It would'nt leave you enough room to cut It out. The new imports are way too thin to use, in fact I had to make new collets when they started replacing with those. You also need to move Your steady back when working on them, because they are so skinny the have alot of whip if you don't. Greg C
 
Arnot Wadsworth said:
My definition of a Sneaky Pete is a 4 Point house cue cut in half with a joint pin added.
Click to expand...

And not a damned thing else added, or it's no longer "sneaky." An SP with rings or a butt cap is the silliest misnomer around.

There are two reasons why people buy a SP: 1) they have something to hide, or 2) they don't to waste money on decorations.

The cue for people of type 1 is a true sneaky pete. For type 2 people, cuemakers needs a new, more dignified term than "plain jane".
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top