Fatboy's Bushkas

I was just wondering out of the 1500-1600 he made how many survivors can be accounted for today?

It would be nice if someone started a cue registry for these older collectible cues.

Kinda like a Muscle car registry that some of the car clubs keep.

What do you folks think?
 
lenoxmjs said:
I was just wondering out of the 1500-1600 he made how many survivors can be accounted for today?

It would be nice if someone started a cue registry for these older collectible cues.

Kinda like a Muscle car registry that some of the car clubs keep.

What do you folks think?
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blue book claims on 1100 to 1200 total.

i bet pete tasc has some type of record of bushka cues hes encountered
 
One thousand maybe a S..T..R..E..T..C..H.. There are a bunch of fakes out there - many of them got pumped overseas not long after Scorsese's flick.
 
wyld78 said:
One thousand maybe a S..T..R..E..T..C..H.. There are a bunch of fakes out there - many of them got pumped overseas not long after Scorsese's flick.
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i guess thats why gus' do well. there is a history and a way to check it for 100% certin. i have all 12 of my cues documented just in case, 20 yrs from now, u know :D

almost 15. 3 are in finish stage
 
cuemaking sucks!!

dave sutton said:
George Balabushka: Inducted 2004
George started in 1959 and made about 30 cues per year. He used the Brunswick Titlist as the foundation for his earlier cues. In the mid 1960s he started using some blanks made by Burton Spain. Around 1971 he started using blanks made by Gus Szamboti. He was up to about 75 cues per year when he passed away in 1975. A cue that he built for under $100 new might bring several thousand dollars today.

yes the blue book says 12 month 500 to 600 total spain blanks.

also says me made 1100 to 1200 total cues over 16 years.

1200 divided by 16 is 75 per year ( best case) ......mmmmmmmmmmm.?

again ur missing my point. since were regurgitating information. blue book says cues without rings went for $70 to 140$. if he knew how to cut points. would it be more profitable to make his own. i mean what was he payin for blanks.
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If those numbers are anywhere near acurate, he sure didnt make any money doing his trade, even for the time period he was living in. how on earth did he feed himself?
 
jayman said:
If those numbers are anywhere near acurate, he sure didnt make any money doing his trade, even for the time period he was living in. how on earth did he feed himself?
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thats why i was wondering why he purchased blanks instead of making his own. his profit margin would be way bigger making his own. alteast he could have made less cues for the same profit. im sure ppl were beating down his door though :D
 
jayman said:
If those numbers are anywhere near acurate, he sure didnt make any money doing his trade, even for the time period he was living in. how on earth did he feed himself?
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Probably the way many cuemakers do/did....repair work. Or maybe his wife had a good job. :D
 
thepavlos said:
I don't know if someone asked this already but regarding the 3rd cue: is it ebony prongs with a rosewood butt or is it dark rosewood in the points?
Thank you
Paul
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they look like they are ebony, i just put the cue under super bright light to check, they almost look like dark rose wood in normal light, its a strange color prong thats for sure.
 
Janurary 31, 2008 Bump,

I was looking at my cues today......like everyday. Since my back is bad and i'm stuck in bed, i usually take out a cue or 2 and look at them closely while I'm on the phone working-it relaxes me, good news today is the best my back has felt in over 3 months, but its tempoary-i'm not being negitative its just a fact, once I had 20 days in a row I felt great, no pills etc, today is like that, i have taken only 2 pills, but what sucks is I have to work,

anyways I left my Szam in LA because i wont check it If I dont have to, so last night I busted out my Bushka to play with the cue in the far left of the pic, WOW, so I have been hanging out here looking at it and in a couple more hours i'm gonna play!!!!

then I remembered this thread and though a bump would be cool for old time sake, 2 of the 5 hit awesome and the other 3 are good,

Again no disrespect to any other cue maker but the one on the far left with the blue is the all time best hitting cue, I had someone I let hit balls with it months ago, i forgot and he came up to me and ask me about it last week in Hollywood, I wish the hell I had it that night I was playing 8ball for folding $$$, i would have won for sure. I know the cue dosent win the game but I was using a 57" Bushka not pictured and it was just to short for me and i was missing balls,


I 10000000% believe that straight grain maple makes for better hitting cues, since I have been using alot of different cues the past year and testing everything and anything thats my conclusion, it dosent look like much but it is just better, Someday like in 10 years maybe Barry will build me a straight grain cue, hint hint.;) :)
 
July 19 2008 bump,


Well I proud to say that I have added 3 more Bushkas to the family, sadly I dont have pictures. It might be 4 my memorie isnt what it was. But I think it's 3. 2 5 veneer Spain forearms and a 4 veneer with leather wrap.

they are all perfectly straight and play great, they are amazing cues, just amazing how they feel. My main player for the last 4 months ha been a mid 70's Gus, I havent been able to play much because og my bck but I have had a couple nights where I did played ok, even though I'm not playing good I sure can feel the quality of the cue's because of my experience. Gus and George sure did know how to build a cue, my dream is to own a Bushka with a Gus forearm. Just one would be cool with nice fat orgional shafts. One thing I have noticed is that all the Bushkas have been well used, none of mine except one have been played with ALOT, I play with most of them, there is one I dont like the hit of and one other thats so-so, the others are all great.

I am just scared to trave with them unless I drive, If I had my own jet it would be ok, but blowing $10,000 in jet fuel to go to a tournment to go 2 and out just dosent make sence, buying a jet dosent either becaue the check for it would bounce. but its fun to dream about, being like Tiger flying into the tournment in your Jet snapping off the tournment for 1.5M and flying home, wow that must be great!!! Til th4n I'll count my blessings and be happy with the Bushkas and Szam's I own-i'm super lucky. What I really need is a spine transplant.
 
Sounds you got 3 more dreams come true.

@ the beginning I started with the Predator cues and their shafts. @ this time i was not able to imagine why other cues should be better.

In the last two month I changed my player to a Blud and finally to a Scruggs and now i know what it means to play a cue with a nice hit.

Im a little bit jealous about your possibilities to play and feel all this parts of history. But Im also happy that a guy owns this treasures, who loves the game and the sticks the same way I do.

Get well soon Eric !!!

Markus
 
old cues vs new cues

Dear Fatboy
I have been around wood working all my life my father owns a cabinet shop and has been a carpenter for 35 years. He just recently bought a saw mill and has been working on drying wood. The largest difference between the wood in cues from 15-20 years ago on back is that it was dried using a traditional heat dry kiln that takes 3-6 weeks to dry a bundle of wood or was air dried for about 12-18 months to get to about 8-12%. IMO it has little to do with the grain lines per inch but the way they where dried now all maple for cue is dried using a vacuum kiln dry method with is very fast about 5-10 days to get to 8-12%. The problem with the vacuum drying is that it crushes the wood fibers on a microscopic level but it does lead to shaft wood that is much whiter with less degrade during the process it also cost less for the kiln operator as they don't have to heat the kiln for as long. They also used wood glue or hide glue instead of the epoxy that we use today. Wood glue probably has a better resonance to it but is not as durable as the epoxy that is why on most older cues you can feel the points and inlays through the finish. They also did not use the range of material that we have now.
Thanks
Travis Niklich
Blackcreek Custom Cues
 
Travis Niklich said:
Dear Fatboy
I have been around wood working all my life my father owns a cabinet shop and has been a carpenter for 35 years. He just recently bought a saw mill and has been working on drying wood. The largest difference between the wood in cues from 15-20 years ago on back is that it was dried using a traditional heat dry kiln that takes 3-6 weeks to dry a bundle of wood or was air dried for about 12-18 months to get to about 8-12%. IMO it has little to do with the grain lines per inch but the way they where dried now all maple for cue is dried using a vacuum kiln dry method with is very fast about 5-10 days to get to 8-12%. The problem with the vacuum drying is that it crushes the wood fibers on a microscopic level but it does lead to shaft wood that is much whiter with less degrade during the process it also cost less for the kiln operator as they don't have to heat the kiln for as long. They also used wood glue or hide glue instead of the epoxy that we use today. Wood glue probably has a better resonance to it but is not as durable as the epoxy that is why on most older cues you can feel the points and inlays through the finish. They also did not use the range of material that we have now.
Thanks
Travis Niklich
Blackcreek Custom Cues
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Fatboy, congrats on your new purchases. Please post pics whenever you get some. BTW, I hope your back feels better. Travis, thanks for the FYI on the drying of wood. I've always wondered why the new wood was much lighter than the old wood. I thought it was bleach.:smile: Really.
 
Fatboy,
I very much enjoyed looking at all your Balabushka cues, however I would love to hit a few balls with your butt-shakin sky-blue Bushka.

Someday ... somewhere ... somehow.

Best Regards,
Hal
 
Since you asked for ideas about what we would like to see in your collection, I would really like to see the GINACUES. After listening to the TAR interview with Ernie it would be great to see somemore of his cues, and if anyone knows who Ernie was talking about having the ultimate collection a few miles from his shop I'm curious so please pm me.

Leonard
 
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