I havent been here much lately or playing pool up to 2 weeks ago, I did go to Vegas to the Riv to sweat the 10 ball and see friends etc. I like the events Mark Griffen puts on, a little bit of fun for everyone. I dont play league or tournaments but there are still tables and balls so I woke up very early one day and went to the 14.1 challenge tables, I dont play a lick of 14.1 but it was early and my friend was running the thing there was nobody there so he let me hit balls for 15-20 minutes, half of the balls were in the ball cleaner getting ready for the day.
So I decided to take down a Szam I just got and hit some balls with it, WOW what a cue, It felt like a Szam and I love that. Its different than modern cues, the butt is thicker and the weight is behind the cue. I was very happy. Its a 40 year old cue.
Then Tony pops up with a cue he built and asks me to hit a few balls with it. Tony lives 20 minutes from where I grew up, I know him from AZB for a real long time but had never hit a ball with any of his cues. He was just opening up his booth when he saw me hitting balls into the rails, LOL. Actually by then I was playing ok and I'm very sensitive to equipment, probably because of lack of natural talent, if I dont have a cue i'm used to I'm done. Cant make a ball, I was potting balls pretty good with the Szam because i've played with them for 27 years.
Tony hands me the Guerra Cue he built and I figured I was not going to play very good with it. I'm out of stroke and now a cue I have ZERO experience with. After 3 or 4 shots I was very pleased. I mentioned in this story about the 40 year old Szam and it being thicker and heaver in the butt because back then that was the standard way of building cues. But with faster cloth in the past 20 odd years now things are different. Tables are faster, pockets smaller and cues in general are lighter and thinner.
I kept hitting balls with Tonys cue and it felt very modern to me, very similar to my Black Boar, in fact I played pretty good with it considering how i'm playing now. Point is I could see that his cues are very good and play very nicely. I'm not advertising them here. I'm just pointing out the contrast between cues from 40 years ago and today's cues. They are thinner, lighter in general and more forward weighted nowadays.
Since I'm used to both kinds of cues I can adjust to either quickly. Now if its a cue in the middle then I'm in big trouble. Tony's cue reminds me of a Boar more than a Szam.
It was a pleasure to play with both cues(old and new) and feel the distinct differences of them, I have no idea how much he charges or how long the list is, i'm sure there will be a list soon. We didnt think to take pictures of both cues together, I was driving back from Vegas to LA and got to thinking about my 2 weeks in Vegas and this story popped into my mind, i havent been writing much so sorry if its not well written.
Now I'm off to the pool room, feels good to be back in pool again. Had a good break now i'm back for a while.
Hope everyone is good
Best
Eric:smile:
So I decided to take down a Szam I just got and hit some balls with it, WOW what a cue, It felt like a Szam and I love that. Its different than modern cues, the butt is thicker and the weight is behind the cue. I was very happy. Its a 40 year old cue.
Then Tony pops up with a cue he built and asks me to hit a few balls with it. Tony lives 20 minutes from where I grew up, I know him from AZB for a real long time but had never hit a ball with any of his cues. He was just opening up his booth when he saw me hitting balls into the rails, LOL. Actually by then I was playing ok and I'm very sensitive to equipment, probably because of lack of natural talent, if I dont have a cue i'm used to I'm done. Cant make a ball, I was potting balls pretty good with the Szam because i've played with them for 27 years.
Tony hands me the Guerra Cue he built and I figured I was not going to play very good with it. I'm out of stroke and now a cue I have ZERO experience with. After 3 or 4 shots I was very pleased. I mentioned in this story about the 40 year old Szam and it being thicker and heaver in the butt because back then that was the standard way of building cues. But with faster cloth in the past 20 odd years now things are different. Tables are faster, pockets smaller and cues in general are lighter and thinner.
I kept hitting balls with Tonys cue and it felt very modern to me, very similar to my Black Boar, in fact I played pretty good with it considering how i'm playing now. Point is I could see that his cues are very good and play very nicely. I'm not advertising them here. I'm just pointing out the contrast between cues from 40 years ago and today's cues. They are thinner, lighter in general and more forward weighted nowadays.
Since I'm used to both kinds of cues I can adjust to either quickly. Now if its a cue in the middle then I'm in big trouble. Tony's cue reminds me of a Boar more than a Szam.
It was a pleasure to play with both cues(old and new) and feel the distinct differences of them, I have no idea how much he charges or how long the list is, i'm sure there will be a list soon. We didnt think to take pictures of both cues together, I was driving back from Vegas to LA and got to thinking about my 2 weeks in Vegas and this story popped into my mind, i havent been writing much so sorry if its not well written.
Now I'm off to the pool room, feels good to be back in pool again. Had a good break now i'm back for a while.
Hope everyone is good
Best
Eric:smile:
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. I am glad you liked it. Just a bacote forearm and butt sleeve with a bison wrap from Kenny Koo, his bison wraps are awesome.
