Enlighten me on Joss/Josswest/Josseast
- Thread starter kingwang
- Start date
Jerry Forsyth
Well-known member
Joss
I don't have the whole story but I can give you the bare bones. Dan Janes and Bill Stroud were road buddies who became cuemakers and chose to name their cues Joss (Chinese for "good luck"). They made the Joss cues for years and then had some sort of falling out (I am told, maybe they just had a business disagreement). Dan Janes stayed in Towson, Maryland and continues to make the Joss cues. Bill moved out west, to Denver first I believe, then to Texas, and someone else will have to tell you exactly where now, and makes the Joss West cues.
Both great guys and great cuemakers. If you own a Joss you own a cue you do not wish to sell.
I don't have the whole story but I can give you the bare bones. Dan Janes and Bill Stroud were road buddies who became cuemakers and chose to name their cues Joss (Chinese for "good luck"). They made the Joss cues for years and then had some sort of falling out (I am told, maybe they just had a business disagreement). Dan Janes stayed in Towson, Maryland and continues to make the Joss cues. Bill moved out west, to Denver first I believe, then to Texas, and someone else will have to tell you exactly where now, and makes the Joss West cues.
Both great guys and great cuemakers. If you own a Joss you own a cue you do not wish to sell.
Amen to that
If you own a Joss you own a cue you do not wish to sell.[/QUOTE]
Would not part with mine for any amount of money. When guys ask me "what kind of cue is that" and I say Joss they invariably say "East or West?" so I show them the butt (JOSS) - some of them know what they are looking at and some of them don't. But then I suppose my cue is probably older than they are !!!
If you own a Joss you own a cue you do not wish to sell.[/QUOTE]
Would not part with mine for any amount of money. When guys ask me "what kind of cue is that" and I say Joss they invariably say "East or West?" so I show them the butt (JOSS) - some of them know what they are looking at and some of them don't. But then I suppose my cue is probably older than they are !!!
Meezer Girl said:
"Would not part with mine for any amount of money. When guys ask me "what kind of cue is that" and I say Joss they invariably say "East or West?" so I show them the butt (JOSS) - some of them know what they are looking at and some of them don't. But then I suppose my cue is probably older than they are !!![/QUOTE]"
Do your Siamese play with Joss' too?
Mine play with sneaky petes.
Dan Janes posts here once in a while, and may comment. I think I saw Bill Stroud here recently, also.
I know that Joss of Towson, Maryland, became Joss East to differentiate between the two after Bill left. I'm not sure how "official" that was, though. Dan's company eventually became Joss Cues, LTD. Hope that helps some.
I know that Joss of Towson, Maryland, became Joss East to differentiate between the two after Bill left. I'm not sure how "official" that was, though. Dan's company eventually became Joss Cues, LTD. Hope that helps some.
I wish my boy was still with me
Do your Siamese play with Joss' too?
Mine play with sneaky petes.[/QUOTE]
Hi KoolKat,
My Lilac Point boy had to be put down (cancer) about 3 years ago and I stilll miss him very much. I've had cats all my life and he was my very favorite. We had 16 good years together though. He was great at fetching like a dog, loved to ride in the car with me and never met anyone he didn't like. I had 3 other cats also (mixed all american) and he taught them all how to open every drawer and door in the house. They had plenty of their own toys and were definitely not allowed to play with my cues !!!
I can't quite tell from your photo if yours is a Lilac or not? I am still trying to figue out how to get my photo of him from my computer into my Avatar!!!
Fran
"KoolKat9Lives said:
Do your Siamese play with Joss' too?
Mine play with sneaky petes.[/QUOTE]
Hi KoolKat,
My Lilac Point boy had to be put down (cancer) about 3 years ago and I stilll miss him very much. I've had cats all my life and he was my very favorite. We had 16 good years together though. He was great at fetching like a dog, loved to ride in the car with me and never met anyone he didn't like. I had 3 other cats also (mixed all american) and he taught them all how to open every drawer and door in the house. They had plenty of their own toys and were definitely not allowed to play with my cues !!!
I can't quite tell from your photo if yours is a Lilac or not? I am still trying to figue out how to get my photo of him from my computer into my Avatar!!!
Fran
Exactly....
That's what I read also...
I first read the story in the Blue book of cue's 3rd edition when I was looking for a Joss cue and now that I have one,I wouldn't part with it .
Great cue,I bought it used and Dan Janes emailed me very fast with info on the cue before I bought it,awesome guy.
Here's more info that might help:
http://www.indyq.com/custom/joss_west/Bio JossWest2.html
Jerry Forsyth said:
That's what I read also...
I first read the story in the Blue book of cue's 3rd edition when I was looking for a Joss cue and now that I have one,I wouldn't part with it .
Great cue,I bought it used and Dan Janes emailed me very fast with info on the cue before I bought it,awesome guy.
Here's more info that might help:
http://www.indyq.com/custom/joss_west/Bio JossWest2.html
Joss Cues and Joss West …Who, What, Where, When.
Sometime in 1968 I had (Dan Janes) just returned from a trip with Ed Kelly and I had gathered enough money to start a business. Bill Stroud and I were good friends and I asked him if he would like to partner up and start cue making.
Bill moved from Aspen to Baltimore for this venture. The name Joss came from a book I was reading at the time called Tai-Pan.
Between Billy and myself we knew quite a few of the best players and had a great sales force. Because of this we were successful very quickly.
About 1972 Billy had enough of the east coast and had decided that he would like to be back in Aspen.
There was never a problem between us. We worked well together and it was a good partnership.
Billy bought his end of the business and half of the equipment and materials then moved back to Aspen.
We didn’t know how to split up the very successful name we had created (Joss Cues) so he moved west and called his cues Joss West.
The original Joss Cues is still in Maryland. Joss West is out west.
There is no company called “Joss East”. There is only Joss Cues Ltd. and Joss West.
This is the short version but I think it will give everybody an idea of the who,what, etc.
Hope this helps,
Dan
Joss Cues ltd.
Sometime in 1968 I had (Dan Janes) just returned from a trip with Ed Kelly and I had gathered enough money to start a business. Bill Stroud and I were good friends and I asked him if he would like to partner up and start cue making.
Bill moved from Aspen to Baltimore for this venture. The name Joss came from a book I was reading at the time called Tai-Pan.
Between Billy and myself we knew quite a few of the best players and had a great sales force. Because of this we were successful very quickly.
About 1972 Billy had enough of the east coast and had decided that he would like to be back in Aspen.
There was never a problem between us. We worked well together and it was a good partnership.
Billy bought his end of the business and half of the equipment and materials then moved back to Aspen.
We didn’t know how to split up the very successful name we had created (Joss Cues) so he moved west and called his cues Joss West.
The original Joss Cues is still in Maryland. Joss West is out west.
There is no company called “Joss East”. There is only Joss Cues Ltd. and Joss West.
This is the short version but I think it will give everybody an idea of the who,what, etc.
Hope this helps,
Dan
Joss Cues ltd.
Dan Joss said:
Thank you for the info. I had a Joss and was always told it was a "Joss East"; I never really knew what that ment. I did know it was a hell of a player.
Josh
The most ridiculous thing about Joss Cues is watching someone from the East Coast try to pronounce it! Always....."Josh Cues" Anyway, as a total generality (and that only), Danny continued to make a higher volume of cues. Bill continues to run more of a lower volume custom cue shop. Danny's cues normally say "JOSS" on them somewhere. Billy's stuff used to have a JW somewhere. Another difference that I'm pretty certain of. Danny still has hair on top, Billy doesn't. Doesn't affect playability, though!
tim
tim
ashamed
everytime i see or hear someone say how much they love thier joss i feel ashamed and embarrassed. i owned one and had to sell it because i just didn't like the way it played. it was undoubtedly beautiful and well made and got loads of compliments. i just didn't like playing with it. and i don't care - east coast or west west coast made, i've never heard a bad thing about them and everyone i've seen in print or person is a damn fine looking cue.
Meezer Girl said:
everytime i see or hear someone say how much they love thier joss i feel ashamed and embarrassed. i owned one and had to sell it because i just didn't like the way it played. it was undoubtedly beautiful and well made and got loads of compliments. i just didn't like playing with it. and i don't care - east coast or west west coast made, i've never heard a bad thing about them and everyone i've seen in print or person is a damn fine looking cue.
Spartanburg, SC isn't on the East Coast. Normally, "the East Coast" is used to refer to the coastal regions of the US above the Mason-Dixon line, and even then, mostly attributable to New England. Hard to call yourself from the Coast when you have mountains in your backyard. Just for the record, living on the East Coast (Atlantic Ocean about 500 feet away from my house) we would pronounce "Jaaaaaash" (reflecting the Bostonian "Paaaaak yowar Caaaaaa in Haaaaavaaaad Yaaaaad" speech pattern) while Southerners would opt for something like "Joooosss". If you didn't mispronounce it, good for you. You get a cookie.Pushout said:
tim
No one said your weren't well educated or well read. I can assure you my post wasn't directed at you personally and was said in jest. If you took it any other way, I'm sorry you did. If you are still looking for a reason to tell someone to stick it, maybe you and Tony Stewart should have lunch.Pushout said:
Regards,
tim
I have a Gold lettered Joss... It has the Gold letters on the shaft joint and butt joint ... To me it is the prettier cue that came out the year the Color of Money cue came out ... It shoots pretty well... And I will put it up once I get my shaft for my player back from Leon Sly ... Of course I play with the Sly ... but will hold onto the older Joss as they do not make them like that one anymore... I miss miss my Sly since I dropped the shaft at least Leon was good enough to fix it for me ... Sounds crazy I guess but tis true ...
ALSO THERE IS NO JOSS EAST ... THERE NEVER WAS A JOSS EAST ... ONLY JOSS AND JOSS WEST ...
ALSO THERE IS NO JOSS EAST ... THERE NEVER WAS A JOSS EAST ... ONLY JOSS AND JOSS WEST ...
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stikapos said:
Yeah, Im from West Virginia and around here it is "JOOOOSSS". Just like my name is "JOOOOSSSh".
Josh