7-9 mths. and up to a year for a large number of top quality cue-makers........some designs even faster.
Higher end Production Cues have No Value
- Thread starter Agent 99
- Start date
While that's true, it's also a bit off base.. His cue is not just a standard Cuetec. It does prove he doesn't need a ton of inlay work.
Schon makes an excellent cue but it is true that a custom cue builder will do what is asked of them.
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I agree with a lot of what you said but there are things a lot of cue makers won't do that doesn't necessary mean they are not custom.
I do agree though..there are some predator cues made by jacoby with the insignia inlaid into the wrap but if I spend 2 grand on a cue I wan't to know I can get it out and I noticed they don't sell on the secondary market. I always thought $500 was a good limit for a production cue.
I do agree though..there are some predator cues made by jacoby with the insignia inlaid into the wrap but if I spend 2 grand on a cue I wan't to know I can get it out and I noticed they don't sell on the secondary market. I always thought $500 was a good limit for a production cue.
My first two custom cues were from Herman Rambow and they played great. Idiot that I was, I sold them when times were tough. (Should have sold some little used bodily organ.) I just resumed played pool after a long absence and bought an $800 Mezz AXi 607. I really, really like this cue. It plays great and looks good.. though a little fancier than I needed.
I looked at custom cues and would have loved to purchase one. However, the prices were too high, for what I wanted, and the waits too long. At my age, I don't buy green bananas and would hate to be pushing up daisies when my custom cue was ready.
I looked at custom cues and would have loved to purchase one. However, the prices were too high, for what I wanted, and the waits too long. At my age, I don't buy green bananas and would hate to be pushing up daisies when my custom cue was ready.
If I was buying a production cue for myself, say because I wanted to play predator, I would buy the model I wanted in the colour I wanted with zero inlays. Absolute waste of money to get a "fancy" production cue. The more you pay for a new production cue, the more you lose when you take it out the shop.
I disagree and some of the things presented as facts in this thread are simply wrong.
In the end, get the cue you want, let others get what they want. If everyone is happy with their purchase, all is good.
In the end, get the cue you want, let others get what they want. If everyone is happy with their purchase, all is good.
Cues Vrs Cues..
I believe that both Production & Custom have their places. (Pick your Poison)
Comes down to this:
If you care about Original /Unique or Collectible Cues that will have a better long term resale value & potentially "Look & Feel" better to you individually then Buy or Build a Custom.
If you don't care about resale or being "1 of 1", just want a good playing cue instead of a wall-a-bushka & or this sport is more of a "time killer" vrs a Hobby or passion. Then perhaps the Production has more immediate value, and will usually play as good as the majority of other cues out there.
I'm glad I started out with Players, Lucasi & Hueblers, they taught me appreciation for the Customs I have eventually added to my small personal collection.
I believe that both Production & Custom have their places. (Pick your Poison)
Comes down to this:
If you care about Original /Unique or Collectible Cues that will have a better long term resale value & potentially "Look & Feel" better to you individually then Buy or Build a Custom.
If you don't care about resale or being "1 of 1", just want a good playing cue instead of a wall-a-bushka & or this sport is more of a "time killer" vrs a Hobby or passion. Then perhaps the Production has more immediate value, and will usually play as good as the majority of other cues out there.
I'm glad I started out with Players, Lucasi & Hueblers, they taught me appreciation for the Customs I have eventually added to my small personal collection.
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Glad to hear you are still just as flexible and sensible as ever.
A well done wrap is one of the great improvements for a cue.
Dale
I like wraps. There are some cues that have unique woods or designs and look beautiful wrapless, but I have sweaty hands and prefer wrapped cues.
This Is How I See Things.......You May Not Agree.
Ordering a custom cue is exciting.....the wait only makes it seems more like Christmas.......but when it is measured in multiple years, it morphs into a test of one's patience.
Joel Hercek doesn't even accept any new cue orders. Joel told me he stopped taking new orders a couple years ago.....his wait list is well over 10 years.......if I were in my 40's or 50's I'd still do it....at 70, the calendar doesn't work for me. There are cue-makers that have waits of a couple of years and let's face it, unless you adore the cue-maker, why would one indulge that delay when you can have a custom cue made by a different cue-maker a lot faster. People select cue-makers for a variety of reasons and sometimes if you ask someone why they picked such & such, they spew out a lot of hyperbolic remarks but in truth, often don't know a whole lot aside from the cue-maker's name.
Custom cues take a little longer than production cues once the actual build starts. Rather than elaborate about the merits of either approach to cue-making, I'll just write about the thrill factor....the excitement.......the subliminal arousal of emotions many of us experience when we see a stunning looking pool cue. And if the cue is being built using a design that you requested, and with the colors and inlays you enjoy the most, the overall experience just gets enormously elevated.
Along the way, you'll sit and wonder when will my cue get started? Then you get word the build has started and your internal clock starts ticking.....unexpectedly you start getting progress photos of your cue coming together......you see it coming it to life........and then the cue starts to really resemble the design you have in mind.........more photos;......added excitement........and when the finish line starts to come into sight, you really become anxious to receive your cue........and if you forge a friendship with your cue-maker as most of us try to do, when he remarks about how how your cue is turning out, when he expressed pleasure over the design in its various phases.......it only increases your overall satisfaction and excitement.
I have two cues underway right now.......both should be completed within the next 100 days........now it is really getting exciting since these are the last ivory joint cues I can order since I reside in California. So these two cues are my last hurrah.....my last shot at having a custom cue built the way I want the cue made......rest assured, it only makes both of these cues all the more special, at least for me. If you can afford to have a custom cue built, do yourself a favor and indulge yourself.......if you don;t have the cash right now, start a fund and a few years from now, or hopefully sooner, you'll own that custom you've always wanted. And if you've never lusted for such a cue, count your blessings because once you start.....it's hard to stop as so many other Azers will attest.
Matt B.
Ordering a custom cue is exciting.....the wait only makes it seems more like Christmas.......but when it is measured in multiple years, it morphs into a test of one's patience.
Joel Hercek doesn't even accept any new cue orders. Joel told me he stopped taking new orders a couple years ago.....his wait list is well over 10 years.......if I were in my 40's or 50's I'd still do it....at 70, the calendar doesn't work for me. There are cue-makers that have waits of a couple of years and let's face it, unless you adore the cue-maker, why would one indulge that delay when you can have a custom cue made by a different cue-maker a lot faster. People select cue-makers for a variety of reasons and sometimes if you ask someone why they picked such & such, they spew out a lot of hyperbolic remarks but in truth, often don't know a whole lot aside from the cue-maker's name.
Custom cues take a little longer than production cues once the actual build starts. Rather than elaborate about the merits of either approach to cue-making, I'll just write about the thrill factor....the excitement.......the subliminal arousal of emotions many of us experience when we see a stunning looking pool cue. And if the cue is being built using a design that you requested, and with the colors and inlays you enjoy the most, the overall experience just gets enormously elevated.
Along the way, you'll sit and wonder when will my cue get started? Then you get word the build has started and your internal clock starts ticking.....unexpectedly you start getting progress photos of your cue coming together......you see it coming it to life........and then the cue starts to really resemble the design you have in mind.........more photos;......added excitement........and when the finish line starts to come into sight, you really become anxious to receive your cue........and if you forge a friendship with your cue-maker as most of us try to do, when he remarks about how how your cue is turning out, when he expressed pleasure over the design in its various phases.......it only increases your overall satisfaction and excitement.
I have two cues underway right now.......both should be completed within the next 100 days........now it is really getting exciting since these are the last ivory joint cues I can order since I reside in California. So these two cues are my last hurrah.....my last shot at having a custom cue built the way I want the cue made......rest assured, it only makes both of these cues all the more special, at least for me. If you can afford to have a custom cue built, do yourself a favor and indulge yourself.......if you don;t have the cash right now, start a fund and a few years from now, or hopefully sooner, you'll own that custom you've always wanted. And if you've never lusted for such a cue, count your blessings because once you start.....it's hard to stop as so many other Azers will attest.
Matt B.
I agree, I like both. I have a linen wrap, leather wrap and no wrap. I use based on how I feel... but if's humid, I'm going linen
None of them are custom. All my customs are gone. I like my OB Sneaky Pete, Brunswick Willie Hoppe Pro Model, and my Schmelke, all of which have OB shafts
Agreed, I love linen wraps.
I think wrapless cues can look great but I have sweaty hands and I don't like the feel after shooting for a while.
Smooth black leather looks really nice and I like the feel better than wrapless, but again once my hands get really sweaty it isn't my favorite.
Other types of textured or exotic leathers I can do without...almost always dislike the look of it on a cue except for a very few rare cases where a lizard wrap looks really good on a fancy cue (thinking of Black Boar and the like). Have never seen an elephant wrap that I think looks good...but others seem to like it.
But linen...oh linen....always feels just right for me and helps with my sweaty hands. And I just like the look too, very classic. I prefer white/green but others look good too, especially all black which I think is a nice clean look if you don't like white based wraps.
The only leather wrapped cue I ever owned felt alright to me, but it never had the same feel as linen. It was a cue that Richard Black made for me back in 1981 and it was pig leather.
Pig leather is one type I've never tried but would be interested to. I have a small knife pouch made from pig leather and it has a really nice feel to it. Not sure I'd like it, but if there was a leather wrap I would like that might be it.
With a production cue, you'll actually get it not long after you order it.
I love Cortland ......passionately.......but it's so hard to get and so few choices.......eventually it will disappear.
Of my 2 cues underway, one will have Cortland #9 like my other cues have but the other cue doesn't have linen. There aren't any linen wraps I've seen of comparable quality to Cortland and #9 was a bad fit for my cue design and alternative linen brands are just unacceptable as I have yet to find any I have liked, aside from Blue Mountain & Penn that also went our of business. I am always on the lookout for old Cuttyhunk Linen fishing lines.
Choosing a leather wrap isn't easy. The best feel I've experienced was a Kangaroo leather cue wrap but I couldn't get it in the color I needed. The EE on my Prewitt is not to my liking so I was in a stymie until jazznpool came along to my rescue........got my fingers crossed the wrap Martin selected for me is a good match for the cue design. Gotta say Martin has gone out of his way over recent years to assist me and also other Azers with advice, referrals, great cue offers, and just a willingness to lend a helping hand where needed. He connected me with a source for Cortland Linen #12 a couple of years ago and has given me very good counsel over recent years.
Matt B.
Of my 2 cues underway, one will have Cortland #9 like my other cues have but the other cue doesn't have linen. There aren't any linen wraps I've seen of comparable quality to Cortland and #9 was a bad fit for my cue design and alternative linen brands are just unacceptable as I have yet to find any I have liked, aside from Blue Mountain & Penn that also went our of business. I am always on the lookout for old Cuttyhunk Linen fishing lines.
Choosing a leather wrap isn't easy. The best feel I've experienced was a Kangaroo leather cue wrap but I couldn't get it in the color I needed. The EE on my Prewitt is not to my liking so I was in a stymie until jazznpool came along to my rescue........got my fingers crossed the wrap Martin selected for me is a good match for the cue design. Gotta say Martin has gone out of his way over recent years to assist me and also other Azers with advice, referrals, great cue offers, and just a willingness to lend a helping hand where needed. He connected me with a source for Cortland Linen #12 a couple of years ago and has given me very good counsel over recent years.
Matt B.
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I have never tried a Cortland linen wrap but I really want to sometime. Seems tough to find these days so I'm guessing it's expensive when it can be found. If it's really that nice though it sounds like it'd be worth it.
I have all the respect in the world for a cuemaker that builds his cues with the joint and construction he feels is the best.It means he's studied, spent some time and perfected a certain style and construction.. If I want a flat faced big pin cue I know who to call, if I want an old school piloted stainless joint, I know who to call. It's not going to be the same guy.
I think there's plenty of decent cues to be had for under a grand by custom makers. I think some productions cues hit good, some bad. however, some of the worst hitting cues I've ever held were out of a custom shop, looked good, played (IMO) horrible. My main knock is I don't want a cue like someone else has. When you buy a production cue you know there's more out there. you can only hope your custom is a 1 of 1. Other than that, buy what hits good, play with it everyday.
"With a production cue, you'll actually get it not long after you order it." that is true but man is it great to get a box you've been waiting a few year or 2 for, plus it can be real fun working with a cue maker designing a cue, picking woods, rings , ect
I think there's plenty of decent cues to be had for under a grand by custom makers. I think some productions cues hit good, some bad. however, some of the worst hitting cues I've ever held were out of a custom shop, looked good, played (IMO) horrible. My main knock is I don't want a cue like someone else has. When you buy a production cue you know there's more out there. you can only hope your custom is a 1 of 1. Other than that, buy what hits good, play with it everyday.
"With a production cue, you'll actually get it not long after you order it." that is true but man is it great to get a box you've been waiting a few year or 2 for, plus it can be real fun working with a cue maker designing a cue, picking woods, rings , ect
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