How custom is a custom cue?
- Thread starter hdgis1
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hdgis1
New member
All interesting points. Particularly Tommie's point about the intangibles. But at what point does a Josey no longer resemble a Josey? Will a cue maker who has developed a reputation for building a cue a certain way be willing to put their reputation on the line to satisfies the customers desires?
Chris
Chris
Chris
Right, there's 2 things going on. One, you can take 2 cues with the same woods, weight, balance point, wrap material, joint material and configuration, shaft taper and tip, built by 2 different makers and they will more than likely feel different.
Two, regardless of what you want in your custom, some makers flat won't build it to your specs. I remember in the first ivory scare in Japan, Ernie Gutierrez had his Japanese dealers begging him to make cues with non-ivory ferrules. Ernie dicked around with that for about a minute and just let them all cancel on him (less sweat to Ernie than most cue makers granted), but for him, his cues are Ginas because of the way he builds them and he's always going to build a Gina, you have to conform your custom to his parameters or he's just flat not going to build it. Tad, same deal.
Thanks
Kevin
Chris there is no way to quantify what you are requesting, Cue Makers are Human Beings just like you. My question to you Chris is can you be satisfied, you see by your questions above you appear to expect perfection when it may not be possible to attain, I hope I am wrong
I think if you ask the questions above to number of cue makers who have a good reputation for satisfying their customers they will not except an order from you. I would hope that none will tell you without any doubt that they can reproduce a cue to the exact specifications and feel / hit you are looking for, and if some one does I would be concerned.
Like I have said and like others in thread have said it may be very difficult or even impossible, but good luck with you search.
JIMO
When you start asking about construction method/configuration changes.
Will a SW be a SW if it had a straight taper ?
Will a Gina be still a Gina if he used horse glue ?
hdgis1
New member
Id say to a certain extent I am a perfectionist. I know there are a few folks on here who can testify to that. I was just telling a buddy of mone the other day that if I could own any cue in the world it woudl be a Black Boar. I dont even give a damn how the cue hits - that guy will not settle for anything less than perfect!
What led to all of this is the fact that I currently own a very nice McDaniel sneaky that to me approaches perfection. Points are dead even, coco is nice and dark, birdseye is stained a nice aged maple color, the weight is just right, nice smallish butt size, and I love the balance point. Though I have to admit the hit is just a bit to whippy for me. I am not attached to the cue from a collector standpoint so when the opportunity to sell it for the right price comes up I'm jumpin' on the wagon!
I realize that having another cue made to the same specs may not give me the exact hit as the McDaniel, but given a set of physical parameters how close can I expect it to be? I'd think you can get close.
That's an interesting comment about cuemakers maybe not taking an order from me. It says volumes about the complexity of cuemaking and it's relationship to human psychology and perception. I wonder to what extent a cue can be tweaked during the process of construction and what combinations of things one would actually tweak?
Chris
What led to all of this is the fact that I currently own a very nice McDaniel sneaky that to me approaches perfection. Points are dead even, coco is nice and dark, birdseye is stained a nice aged maple color, the weight is just right, nice smallish butt size, and I love the balance point. Though I have to admit the hit is just a bit to whippy for me. I am not attached to the cue from a collector standpoint so when the opportunity to sell it for the right price comes up I'm jumpin' on the wagon!
I realize that having another cue made to the same specs may not give me the exact hit as the McDaniel, but given a set of physical parameters how close can I expect it to be? I'd think you can get close.
That's an interesting comment about cuemakers maybe not taking an order from me. It says volumes about the complexity of cuemaking and it's relationship to human psychology and perception. I wonder to what extent a cue can be tweaked during the process of construction and what combinations of things one would actually tweak?
Chris
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That's an interesting comment about cuemakers maybe not taking an order from me. It says volumes about the complexity of cuemaking and it's relationship to human psychology and perception. I wonder to what extent a cue can be tweaked during the process of construction and what combinations of things one would actually tweak?
Cue making is certainly complex, and you are again right human psychology and perception do certainly play a major role in what people think is good or bad with a cue, a tip, a shaft, a wrap, the balance point, or even a customer.
This is why cue makers in many cases stick to a single technique when assembling a cue, each has their own idea's how a cue should be built to some extent. The goal that most try to attain is a quality construction method that will with stand the test of time, and a hit that is reasonable similar in all the cues that they build, because no one can build every cue that will feel exactly the same.
Chris you said that you are a perfectionist, people are like cues none are exactly the same so their perception of what is perfect will also never be the same. It has been said many times before and nothing can be more true, know one will ever please everyone on every occasion, and when cue makers get the vibration that a customer is too difficult to please by their requests and expectations many will pass.
This is not because they have bad customer service, or do not want to satisfy their customers, it is because they have had situations in the past where they have learned that some customers can never be accommodated so it just becomes easier to say no thanks rather than deal with problems that may come.
Chris in most cases any part of cue can be tweaked during construction, however, like I said above many cue makers build cues the way they do because through year's of trial and error they have found techniques that fit's their perception of what is good and bad. This can be difficult to understand to those who do not or have never built a cue, however, even with that said the learning curve for a cue maker never ends, knew things have a way injecting themselves in projects that were never perceived before!!
JIMO
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