Does anyone have a B&B cue? In memory of Jim Oswald

poolguppy

poolguppy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
This is against the odds because there wasn't very many of these, but Jim Oswald of billiards and bagels from gresham Oregon had some custom B&B labeled cues made for his shop ( Billiards & Bagels) about a year before closing his doors. I believe most of them were just wrapless pretty wood cues, he sold them around 250-350 bucks new. One in particular i liked was an extra long one he had, think it was 61"??. Jim was my first instructor and a few months back i found out he passed away only a couple years out of retirement. In his memory i would love to find one of his B&B branded cues for my starting collection, and please spread the word if you know any collectors around Oregon, id be very happy to find one!
 
I got my first cue there - a brass-jointed Schmelke. A friend now has it. I've never seen a BNB cue, though.
 
Here you go, but it's just shy of 58". I don't think it has seen a table beside the ones at Billiards N Bagels.

I feel lucky to have known Jim, he was a pretty spectacular person.







 
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Banks said:
I got my first cue there - a brass-jointed Schmelke. A friend now has it. I've never seen a BNB cue, though.
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There's a bunch, though. Jim had cues made for him by just about every cue maker you could name. There's the "elan" bnb Josses, Schons, Rundes and Westons. He had Cogs, Ginas, LOTS of Schicks, Joss Wests, Keiths (got stiffed for a lot of dough, I'm told) and once told me Southwest offered him ALL of their cues in the beginning. Jim was ahead of the game in the cue market, and more than that, a friend of mine. He was a guy that I could call in the middle of the night-more than once I came home and the wife said "I couldn't get you tonight. Jim must have called."-and tell him, "business sucks! What should I do!" For better or worse, he always had an answer. I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I loved Jim like a brother, and many others did, too. I miss being able to call him for help. I just miss being able to call HIM!. I miss him. I do. RIP, my friend, Jim.I wish you were here. Dave.
 

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RackemBilliards said:
There's a bunch, though. Jim had cues made for him by just about every cue maker you could name. There's the "elan" bnb Josses, Schons, Rundes and Westons. He had Cogs, Ginas, LOTS of Schicks, Joss Wests, Keiths (got stiffed for a lot of dough, I'm told) and once told me Southwest offered him ALL of their cues in the beginning. Jim was ahead of the game in the cue market, and more than that, a friend of mine. He was a guy that I could call in the middle of the night-more than once I came home and the wife said "I couldn't get you tonight. Jim must have called."-and tell him, "business sucks! What should I do!" For better or worse, he always had an answer. I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I loved Jim like a brother, and many others did, too. I miss being able to call him for help. I just miss being able to call HIM!. I miss him. I do. RIP, my friend, Jim.I wish you were here. Dave.
Click to expand...

Yup, yup and yup.

Jim may have done more for custom cues during his 28 year stint of owning BilliardsNBagels than any other cue dealer, at least more than anyone else I've ever met. It was truly awesome to walk into his shop and be able to try a 5k Richard Black, maybe a McWorter for good measure, a couple Rundes, his personal Coker, a SW, then an old Joss, ......

He and his shop are something to be missed. I live maybe 2 miles from his old shop and miss him every time is go to the old downtown of Gresham. He had great stories that he could tell for hours.

Patrick
 
B & B cue

I have just listed one of Jim's cues. It is a s/n 07, and is in excellent condition. Probably 99+%. Extra shaft, thread keepers, and case. See it on eBay. Thanks.
 
We are all thinking about Jim, each day and everyday that I am asked a Cue Question

I know that Jim had Joss make some question that he had inscribed, 'Elan BB'. Also he had Schmelke make some basic solid Hardwood Merry Widow Cues that had BB on the Cues.

All the cues were Players, Many werent super fancy but put together for what they were meant to do,

'MAKE BALLS'

and 'FEEL GREAT with PHENOMENAL FEEDBACK and a HIT that provided a type of TONALITY From the CueBall Thru the Cue to your Hand and to the Floor,

HOPE THAT MAKES SENSE TO MANY OF YOU OUT THERE,??!!


Love Ya, JIM

and I miss our 30 second question that turned into 4 hour phone calls, these really did happen and more often than you could imagine. In fact, I remember some of the, $500+ Long distance Phone Bills after I had moved from Oregon to Colorado and then to Florida,

Thank GOD that I finally had long-distance phone plans with unlimited long distance, LOL.

There are still a few times that I would have a customer ask a question that I couldn't answer and I knew that Jim Oswald could and I would have gladly paid the $500 to get the knowledge that Jim had packed away in his mind.

One thing that I thank Jim for is all the knowledge that he shared to me and I now can continue his legacy of passing along knowledge, sometimes unbiased opinions but one thing that was passed down to me from Jim is that if someone takes the time to ask you a question that they dont know the answer to, TAKE THE TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY TO SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE ACQUIRED TO MAKE THE PERSON JOURNEY ON THAT QUESTION A LITTLE EASIER

and maybe you hook another HUMAN-BEING into becoming a POOL CUE 'fanatic'.

HEY Jim, say high to Grady, Danny Medina, The Beard and Ronnie Allen and Perry Weston and all the other Pool 'SOULS' that are---

Playing
Talking
and
HUSTLING


UP IN HEAVEN, where every ball rolls straight, no sticking, clinging, skidding and every table plays like the Pockets were 3 and 7/8 but every cueball you line up to the object balls and make contact with,

FINDS ITS WAY TO THE BOTTOM OF THE POCKET


BLESS ALL POOL AND BILLIARD---LOVERS




Mike 'acedonkeyace' Kennedy:thumbup:
 
We are all thinking about Jim, each day and everyday that I am asked a Cue Question

I know that Jim had Joss make some question that he had inscribed, 'Elan BB'. Also he had Schmelke make some basic solid Hardwood Merry Widow Cues that had BB on the Cues.

All the cues were Players, Many werent super fancy but put together for what they were meant to do,

'MAKE BALLS'

and 'FEEL GREAT with PHENOMENAL FEEDBACK and a HIT that provided a type of TONALITY From the CueBall Thru the Cue to your Hand and to the Floor,

HOPE THAT MAKES SENSE TO MANY OF YOU OUT THERE,??!!


Love Ya, JIM

and I miss our 30 second question that turned into 4 hour phone calls, these really did happen and more often than you could imagine. In fact, I remember some of the, $500+ Long distance Phone Bills after I had moved from Oregon to Colorado and then to Florida,

Thank GOD that I finally had long-distance phone plans with unlimited long distance, LOL.

There are still a few times that I would have a customer ask a question that I couldn't answer and I knew that Jim Oswald could and I would have gladly paid the $500 to get the knowledge that Jim had packed away in his mind.

One thing that I thank Jim for is all the knowledge that he shared to me and I now can continue his legacy of passing along knowledge, sometimes unbiased opinions but one thing that was passed down to me from Jim is that if someone takes the time to ask you a question that they dont know the answer to, TAKE THE TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY TO SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE YOU HAVE ACQUIRED TO MAKE THE PERSON JOURNEY ON THAT QUESTION A LITTLE EASIER

and maybe you hook another HUMAN-BEING into becoming a POOL CUE 'fanatic'.

HEY Jim, say high to Grady, Danny Medina, The Beard and Ronnie Allen and Perry Weston and all the other Pool 'SOULS' that are---

Playing
Talking
and
HUSTLING


UP IN HEAVEN, where every ball rolls straight, no sticking, clinging, skidding and every table plays like the Pockets were 3 and 7/8 but every cueball you line up to the object balls and make contact with,

FINDS ITS WAY TO THE BOTTOM OF THE POCKET


BLESS ALL POOL AND BILLIARD---LOVERS




Mike 'acedonkeyace' Kennedy:thumbup:
 
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