Did I forget what "Sneaky Pete" meant

[greyghost]

You gotta age the Pete before you can make it sneaky. One of the best cues I ever had was a meucci original sneaky pete, I had the shaft cut down an inch and a shorter ferrule...and you could barely see the joint...had it faced off to line up the grain...PERFECT, next to closest was a 56" schick sneaky pete w/ivory ferrule it looked dead on except for that pretty ferrule.


The sneaky pete ain't dead, just cuz you can't steal with it anymore don't mean a thing...just like I wanna bring back the plain jane...a good sneaky pete is like thors hammer...quiet but will shoot holes through the lord himself if its a sweet one.

Grey Ghost

 

[Da Bank]

you are right, a true sneaky has an invisible joint and should look like a house cue. The best option for this is to get a good cue maker to but a decent shaft on a dufferin with no joint.

I have a Phillippi Sneaky pete that is wood to wood, the only thing not sneaky about it is that it has a delrin butt cap, so anyone who has any clue can tell that it is not a house cue. You really have to be preying on a clueless person to fool someone nowadays.

If you really want to fool people and hustle with a cue that will give you an advantage then you should be finding the best house cue in the house and doing what you can with it with a tip tool and something to sand/slick the shaft. Of course, you have to be a pretty big low life to take advantage of people that clueless.

If you want to get a B player with a cocky attitude to play you for dough, you should be getting a budweiser cue or something obviously very redneck and putting a decent shaft and tip on it.

but to your point, a sneaky pete should really be something without fancy joint work, etc... it should be a players cue with a wood to wood invisible joint. It shouldn't matter if someone can tell if it's not a house cue, but a true sneaky should really be what it originally was intended to be. I would say that my Phillippi is a borderline sneaky, and if it's borderline... there aren't any out there that really qualify anymore other than a dufferin 2 piece.

a pic of what my sneaky looks like:

 

[vasilios]

when you are at your local room and the waitress puts your stick in the wall rack while you are in the bathroom, you got a true sneaky pete.

bill

 

[skor]

Don't forget that a "True Sneaky Pete" should have a blue stained ferrule and some dings and chips all over....

Sorry, but even my Dufferin SP always looks new...

 

[Ball Banger]

You gotta age the Pete before you can make it sneaky. One of the best cues I ever had was a meucci original sneaky pete, I had the shaft cut down an inch and a shorter ferrule...and you could barely see the joint...had it faced off to line up the grain...PERFECT, next to closest was a 56" schick sneaky pete w/ivory ferrule it looked dead on except for that pretty ferrule.


The sneaky pete ain't dead, just cuz you can't steal with it anymore don't mean a thing...just like I wanna bring back the plain jane...a good sneaky pete is like thors hammer...quiet but will shoot holes through the lord himself if its a sweet one.

Grey Ghost

Ghost

I also have a, I believe late 1970's early 1980's Meucci Sneaky Pete and must agree it is one of the Best Hitting sticks I ever owned. A friend was so impressed with the Hit he bought a used one off E bay for over $ 400 with shipping. It also has that great Hit. I don't want to bad mouth the new Meucci shafts, But I feel they are not for me. Could it be that as the wood ages it gets better like a fine wine??

BTW I might add that I prefer a Traditional cue compared to the newer more fancy cues. I am more concerned with how a Cue plays than how it looks.

 

[tucson9ball]

Good day all....this is probably more a rant than anything else...

I've literally, without question, been out of the game for 19 years....I'm REALLY glad to be back though.

When I last revolved my life around this game a "Sneaky Pete" was a cue that replicated the look of a bar cue, but was of a quality well beyond those of house cues. "Sneaky" to me was a way of playing with a high quality cue that resembled one off the wall of your local room and not being noticed as a "player".

Now that I'm back I see TONS of cue's being represented as Sneaky Pete's that have joint work done....some with intricate veneers around the points....where has the "sneaky" gone?

Don't ge me wrong...the folks making these cues are GREAT at what they do and their cues look great....BUT, there's nothing sneaky about them.

Thanks for allowing me to vent a bit...

I have to agree with you on this topic. Back in the late 80's I had a Adams/replica Balabushka that was one sweet looking cue. When I pulled it out of my case I had many $20 games turn into $5 games. LOL
Anyway, I sold it and bought a TS sneaky for $120 and got all the play I wanted with that cue. I would have to say I made more money with that TS sneaky than any other cue I had. I still have it and it gets used on my home table by visitors.
Times have changed and everybody and their brother buy and sell very nice and expensive cues. Players don't get scared any more when they see your cue. It seems that cues like anything else is kind of a status symbol of sorts. Anyhoo, the sneaky era has come and gone, they are still made but I beleive most players know what they are now. So........they started adding rings and butt caps to dress em up a lil.
Only problem I have is with the money on pool. In the 80's it was easy to get a $5 9ball game anywhere. Nowadays it's tough to get anybody to play for $10 races to 5 lol. I think more people had expendible income then than they do now. The beer and soda cost more, the table time has gone up and the gambling seems to stay the same.
Of course I didn't play as good back then, maybe that's why I could get action so easy. Maybe I was the easy action.......

 

[Alcoatari]

To the OP

Well that's true and it isn't. If you're lucky, you can still find a good old sneaky-pete for sale. I worked as a pool table installer/restorer/mechanic for a few years, and the guy I worked for had a few Dufferin sneakies (Dufferin then, not dufferin now) in his armament. Needless to say I acquired one post haste. I believe the deal we worked out was $75, and I bought the last 21oz he had.

It plays as good as anything I've ever used, I prefer it to a lot of this high-tech crap guys have nowadays. Any player will know it from the 1.5 inch ferrule and the pro-taper, but that isn't the point. I love how a one-piece wood cue hits, and this is the closest thing you can get to a portable version of that. (IMO)

I break with a simple cuetec 19oz black on white with the glass over wood shaft, not the SST, whatever they were pushing right before that. I don't care for the glass, and I've scuffed most of it off with a scouring pad. A lot of guys will turn their noses up at my cue-case, which holds less than $200 worth of stick. I've even had guys tell me I should break with the pete and play with the cuetec, idiots.

With these two cues you should be able to do just about anything for under two bills. Simple, easy, reliable. And in that sense, the sneaky-pete does still exist. People are too busy noticing what you don't pull out of your case.

And if you are lucky enough to find a Dufferin like mine, keep an eye on it. I had to go table to table one night looking for that long ferrule, and finally found it in the hands of some unwitting player on table 22.

As for playing with Budweiser or coca-cola cues, I wouldn't recommend it. I bought one off of eBay once and it was warped out of the box. The shaft wasn't even rock-hard maple, the grain was loose and it was probably teak, like the Asian knock-offs often are.

 

[BassMasterK]

I played a lot from the late '80's to early '90's and in my area there were a lot of open and A players who were buying custom sp's from our local cuemaker and they all had work done on the joints (ivory, rings, etc) so it is nothing new.

I must admit I thought the same thing at the time....why? But as others have pointed out, you aren't fooling anyone with a sp. This was as true today as it was back then.

 

[Ball Banger]

Well that's true and it isn't. If you're lucky, you can still find a good old sneaky-pete for sale. I worked as a pool table installer/restorer/mechanic for a few years, and the guy I worked for had a few Dufferin sneakies (Dufferin then, not dufferin now) in his armament. Needless to say I acquired one post haste. I believe the deal we worked out was $75, and I bought the last 21oz he had.

It plays as good as anything I've ever used, I prefer it to a lot of this high-tech crap guys have nowadays. Any player will know it from the 1.5 inch ferrule and the pro-taper, but that isn't the point. I love how a one-piece wood cue hits, and this is the closest thing you can get to a portable version of that. (IMO)

I break with a simple cuetec 19oz black on white with the glass over wood shaft, not the SST, whatever they were pushing right before that. I don't care for the glass, and I've scuffed most of it off with a scouring pad. A lot of guys will turn their noses up at my cue-case, which holds less than $200 worth of stick. I've even had guys tell me I should break with the pete and play with the cuetec, idiots.

With these two cues you should be able to do just about anything for under two bills. Simple, easy, reliable. And in that sense, the sneaky-pete does still exist. People are too busy noticing what you don't pull out of your case.

And if you are lucky enough to find a Dufferin like mine, keep an eye on it. I had to go table to table one night looking for that long ferrule, and finally found it in the hands of some unwitting player on table 22.

As for playing with Budweiser or coca-cola cues, I wouldn't recommend it. I bought one off of eBay once and it was warped out of the box. The shaft wasn't even rock-hard maple, the grain was loose and it was probably teak, like the Asian knock-offs often are.

Alcoatari

In think the question here is what image you want to project. Not how good a cue plays. IMHO Francy cues are purely Show and Tell. I perfer traditional looking cues with out too much flash. A sneak pete or a plain jane with a great hit works well for me.

BTW The same Cue and Case carried by two different people project two different images. The Cue does not make the Man.

 

[Big Perm]

Yeah, sneaky's are too easy to spot.....and a player can easily be spotted by their shot decisions, patterns, stroke, and so forth....it's pretty easy to hide your stroke on a barbox with buckets where you can just poke at a ball with the old fist bridge :grin:

The true sneaky is an art these days:

Cheapie cue on clearance from local billiard shop
Cheapie case on clearance form same shop
Pink glove
APA patches sewn on case
Powder your hands up like a baby before you play
Fist or open bridge
Jump up when you break
If you make a good shot, do TCOM twirl
Tell story about the Bushka your uncle has at home
Before you play on any table, ask if it's regulation
Twirl the rack
Use the head ball to bang the others still when racking
Call all shots, including whether or not you are going "off" another ball
Insist all scratches are played in the kitchen
If someone plays a safety, let them know you don't play pu$$y pool
Tell story about how you were good in college
Keep both knees very bent in your stance
Bank shots are to be shot at light speed

To be on topic, I love a nice clean sneaky.....the best sneaky these days is just the best house cue in the joint....

 

[sfleinen]

The classic Sneaky Pete's still exist - for many years, Tim Scruggs made a classic one that was very popular.

"Sneaky Pete" today widely refers to a style of converted cue or a 4 prong blank, but as far as I know it's still based on a full splice bar cue blank (4 points, no veneers). While you were gone the word "conversion" became popular - meaning converting a one piece house cue into a two piece custom cue.

A joint that is just bare wood and a screw has little protection from splitting or other damage, so cue makers wanted to improve upon this and added joint collars. Once the joints were added, other embellishments followed. Some have wraps and all have buttcaps or Hoppe style butts, ring work and so forth, but the basis is still a basic full splice bar cue conversion or blank.

Here's some of the best ones around - Bob Frey - and not a classic style in the group:

http://www.cuesnthings.com/cues/sneakypete/

Chris

Chris:

I gotta agree with you that Bob makes some really nice SPs! My particular favorite(s) are ones using Bacote. Love those swirly/knotty highly-contrasted grain patterns!

-Sean

 

[DaveK]

Well that's true and it isn't. If you're lucky, you can still find a good old sneaky-pete for sale. I worked as a pool table installer/restorer/mechanic for a few years, and the guy I worked for had a few Dufferin sneakies (Dufferin then, not dufferin now) in his armament. Needless to say I acquired one post haste. I believe the deal we worked out was $75, and I bought the last 21oz he had.

It plays as good as anything I've ever used, I prefer it to a lot of this high-tech crap guys have nowadays. Any player will know it from the 1.5 inch ferrule and the pro-taper ....

Hmmmm, my Canadian-made Dufferin Phantom sneaky pete has a fairly typical 1" ferrule and a straight taper. Perhaps yours was modified.

As for playing with Budweiser or coca-cola cues, I wouldn't recommend it. I bought one off of eBay once and it was warped out of the box. The shaft wasn't even rock-hard maple, the grain was loose and it was probably teak, like the Asian knock-offs often are.

I'm thinking you mean ramin wood .... never heard of a teak shaft, it would be expensive and oily.

Dave

 

[Aaron_S]

Well, since no body falls for that sneaky pete hustling trick anymore I don't see any problems with dressing it up a bit...
I still love the classic simple real Sneaky Pete but I also like the fancy ones as well.
For me, it just a cue but with a full splice construction, nothing sneaky about it anymore and if you like the feel and hit of that type of construction than a well made SP, fancy or not, will be a great cue.

skor <--- loves his "not so sneaky pete"

That's a nice looking cue, skor. I have a cue from Judd Fuller that looks very, very similar. Slightly different ring work and more brownish butt, but otherwise the same. I call mine a "semi-sneaky".

Aaron

 

[cuesmith]

Good day all....this is probably more a rant than anything else...

I've literally, without question, been out of the game for 19 years....I'm REALLY glad to be back though.

When I last revolved my life around this game a "Sneaky Pete" was a cue that replicated the look of a bar cue, but was of a quality well beyond those of house cues. "Sneaky" to me was a way of playing with a high quality cue that resembled one off the wall of your local room and not being noticed as a "player".

Now that I'm back I see TONS of cue's being represented as Sneaky Pete's that have joint work done....some with intricate veneers around the points....where has the "sneaky" gone?

Don't ge me wrong...the folks making these cues are GREAT at what they do and their cues look great....BUT, there's nothing sneaky about them.

Thanks for allowing me to vent a bit...

Most of the "Sneaky Pete's" of the type you're refering to have already bitten the dust. The joints do not hold up to being flexed whatsoever. Most cuemakers refuse to make a product with such an obvious weakness especially since _MOST_ people purchasing a sneaky pete are not really looking for or expecting anything sneaky, just something cheap! And when it fails they are the first to knock the quality of workmanship. I've made exactly 2 sneaky petes without joint rings over the 30 years I've been messing with cues and even though I pointed out the weakness to the people who insisted on my making them without reinforcment at the joint, they both split. That's one of the few things I'll no longer do at the customers request! It's pretty silly anyway. Every kid who walks into the pool room has some sort of cheap custom cue. Owning your own cue doesn't have the same stigma attached as in early years. In fact the best "trapper" cue I've made was from a cheap "Budweiser" cue that I re-worked and made a new shaft for. The guy I made it for told me he had action whenever he broke it out!


just more hot air!


Sherm

 

[WalkerInTN]

First off, I've got to agree with the first post, I see lots of cues being called sneaky petes that shouldn't be. I'd have to say that at least to me, the Sugartree & the Bob Frey pictured here are not what I'd call a sneaky pete. I'd say they're conversions. Nice looking conversions at that.

I've got an old Tim Scruggs that I consider a proper sneaky pete. Wood to wood joint & no fancy buttcap. Looks just like an old chalkstained house cue. The only giveaway is a small, faded TS logo between the points & you'd have to look for it to find it.

When I was 20 & working at a pool hall I had a real sneaky pete. I took one of our house cues to a local cuemaker & had him do a little work on it. Kept it behind the bar when I wasn't using it so nobody else would get it. Unfortunately it stayed with the place after I left.