BUT DOES HE MAKE THE CUE WITH HIS NAME ON THEM well I wud have to say no,
This is what he said at the end. It was a hard post to follow.
How is Dale Perry able to make such beautiful inlaid cues & sell them for under $150
- Thread starter justinb386
- Start date
BUT DOES HE MAKE THE CUE WITH HIS NAME ON THEM well I wud have to say no,
This is what he said at the end. It was a hard post to follow.
seems he makes at least some in his shop
Reading all the posts it seems likely he makes at least some of the cheaper cues in his shop. Hard to know if he imports some too or not. Somebody that felt ambitious might add up just how many cues he sells in a year. Almost impossible to get under 20 hours in a cue with inlays and a wrap even with all your ducks in a row I would think. Easy to have three times that many hours in one which can't be the case.
Hu
Reading all the posts it seems likely he makes at least some of the cheaper cues in his shop. Hard to know if he imports some too or not. Somebody that felt ambitious might add up just how many cues he sells in a year. Almost impossible to get under 20 hours in a cue with inlays and a wrap even with all your ducks in a row I would think. Easy to have three times that many hours in one which can't be the case.
Hu
He does not work alone.
I bought a DP on this forum for approx $220 - it is straight , nice looking - the only reason I don't use it is I am not too comfortable with the taper (probably should try and get used to it) - but for that price and looks I don't think you would get any better with a production line cue in that price range. It is a matter of personal choice. BTW I have a more expensive Mezz with a wd700 shaft and you can see daylight when you roll it - it has a taper roll but is playable ( really don't care for it either). I use a Lucasi uni-loc just feels right for me.
Do any of them make a good-hitting cue for $150 or less? I've heard of Mezz and Longoni, but never seen or shot with them. Don't mean to hijack the thread, just curious if they're comparable to the lower-end DP in price yet maintain a decent standard.
various reports in this thread
Various reports in this thread including only a two man shop. No idea how large his shop is or how many employees. Comparing the size of his shop and number of personel to the number of cues sold might strongly indicate if the cues are all built there or not. I'm admittedly not curious enough to try to find out. I have seen crap from almost everywhere in the world and seen quality from places I don't consider to supply quality for the most part. Even if some DP cues are imported that doesn't mean that they are lesser quality than the ones built in his shop. Some of the issues mentioned in this thread are often signs of cues built in very humid climates but they are signs of hastily made cues also.
Hu
Various reports in this thread including only a two man shop. No idea how large his shop is or how many employees. Comparing the size of his shop and number of personel to the number of cues sold might strongly indicate if the cues are all built there or not. I'm admittedly not curious enough to try to find out. I have seen crap from almost everywhere in the world and seen quality from places I don't consider to supply quality for the most part. Even if some DP cues are imported that doesn't mean that they are lesser quality than the ones built in his shop. Some of the issues mentioned in this thread are often signs of cues built in very humid climates but they are signs of hastily made cues also.
Hu
In other words...you don't know.
I am determined to get up to his shop soon. I am frankly tired of all the wild speculation when it's so simple to just go meet the man. He's pretty close to me. I'm just too busy. I had an offer from a forum member to come up that way and shoot with one of his cues.
I am determined to make the time to check this out.
.
???
I have always said that I didn't know. Is it supposed to be a brilliant deduction when you say it? Check it out. You still may or may not know the answer to the import question after seeing his operation. As I pointed out, it doesn't really matter a whole lot. Reading this thread it seems that quality and support are both crapshoots. Noting wrong with rolling the dice with their eyes open if somebody wants one.
Hu
In other words...you don't know.
I am determined to get up to his shop soon. I am frankly tired of all the wild speculation when it's so simple to just go meet the man. He's pretty close to me. I'm just too busy. I had an offer from a forum member to come up that way and shoot with one of his cues.
I am determined to make the time to check this out.
.
I have always said that I didn't know. Is it supposed to be a brilliant deduction when you say it? Check it out. You still may or may not know the answer to the import question after seeing his operation. As I pointed out, it doesn't really matter a whole lot. Reading this thread it seems that quality and support are both crapshoots. Noting wrong with rolling the dice with their eyes open if somebody wants one.
Hu
DP's Shop... to ChopDoc
If his shop is in the same location as it was when I stopped in several years back, it is in a medium/small building in a business loop off of Wells road in Orange Park. He had a few machinist's lathes there at that time. That is all I saw from the front entry area.
I went to school with one of his old employees. He was a machinist and said that Dale did all of the design & inlay work (at the time he worked for him maybe 5 years ago?) and my friend did things like tapers, joint pins, etc...wraps.
A Google Earth search would give you an Idea about how large the building is... you could save some time that way and also see if other businesses are in the same building.
Everyone I have talked to about his cues while out at at the local halls here in Orange Park pretty much has a dislike for his "personality." They weren't fond of his cues either. I had 2 bad impressions of Dale when I spoke to him... once when he was selling cues at the mall at Christmas, and the other at his shop for a quote. I will never take my business to him based off of that.
To try and keep things fair,
His early work is nice and he has done things for the cue-maker's associations (founding member type stuff if I remember correctly).
I saw a cue he did that was featured on the cover of a magazine
(I want to say Billiard's digest, but couldn't find a pic sorry).
The inlays and ring-work were superb. One of the guy's at Predator (also in Jacksonville) had it commissioned, and he showed me the cue when I was in their shop getting a shaft replaced/fitted.
That cue was made well before Dale geared his business to the lower end market. It seemed to be made very well and the owner was very happy with the quality. He was pissed that the value went down when Dale's prices dropped.
Chop Doc...Best of luck to you on your trip.
Please post a review of your experience. Maybe I just caught Dale on a bad day...
If his shop is in the same location as it was when I stopped in several years back, it is in a medium/small building in a business loop off of Wells road in Orange Park. He had a few machinist's lathes there at that time. That is all I saw from the front entry area.
I went to school with one of his old employees. He was a machinist and said that Dale did all of the design & inlay work (at the time he worked for him maybe 5 years ago?) and my friend did things like tapers, joint pins, etc...wraps.
A Google Earth search would give you an Idea about how large the building is... you could save some time that way and also see if other businesses are in the same building.
Everyone I have talked to about his cues while out at at the local halls here in Orange Park pretty much has a dislike for his "personality." They weren't fond of his cues either. I had 2 bad impressions of Dale when I spoke to him... once when he was selling cues at the mall at Christmas, and the other at his shop for a quote. I will never take my business to him based off of that.
To try and keep things fair,
His early work is nice and he has done things for the cue-maker's associations (founding member type stuff if I remember correctly).
I saw a cue he did that was featured on the cover of a magazine
(I want to say Billiard's digest, but couldn't find a pic sorry).
The inlays and ring-work were superb. One of the guy's at Predator (also in Jacksonville) had it commissioned, and he showed me the cue when I was in their shop getting a shaft replaced/fitted.
That cue was made well before Dale geared his business to the lower end market. It seemed to be made very well and the owner was very happy with the quality. He was pissed that the value went down when Dale's prices dropped.
Chop Doc...Best of luck to you on your trip.
Please post a review of your experience. Maybe I just caught Dale on a bad day...
Hey, I know. Maybe he has that little troll, Rumpleforeskin. He comes to work in the morning and the cues are already made for him.
Oh yes...a wildly brilliant observation.... LOL!
Naw man, just sayin it....that's all.... :smile:
EDIT:
Oh, and of course I may not be able to "see" evidence of importing when I visit his shop, but I plan to flat out ask the man and ask for a tour of his shop.
Personally, I am trying to keep an open mind about this, but I can't help but think that it is all hype and he does not import cues...it's just what I think based on everything I have read.
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I have already researched the building/premises and the business both on things like Google maps as well as in public records searches.
I am a research junky.
When I get up there I will certainly post here about the experience.
All you need to do is go on Ebay and check out Dale Perry's feedback. It doesn't get much better.
Compared to Joss and Meucci, Dale Perry doesn't even come close to making that many cues. I don't see many bad feedbacks on ebay for a Dale Perry Cue.
A Dale Perry Cue is the best deal on Ebay. If you win one on Ebay, don't forget to let him know the weight and shaft diameter when you check out.
I really do believe they are an excellent value. But I put about as much faith in Ebay feedback as I do iTrader ratings here...which ain't much.
To me such things indicate little. The quality of the transactions is hidden in a complex pseudo-political conflagration of BS.
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To me such things indicate little. The quality of the transactions is hidden in a complex pseudo-political conflagration of BS.
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Dale Perry cues
ok, here are facts about which I am sure. I moved outside Jacksonville in 1996. Read the write up in The First Encyclopedia of Billiard's, it is very positive on Dale as a cue maker on the rise. He had cues featured in the Pool magazines. I visited his shop. Realize this was then, when he was making better cues. Most of what is said, if not all about his personality is fact. Despite this, I wanted him to make me a really special cue. 48 ivory inlays, ivory joint, ivory ferrules and butt cap, snakewood and ebony 8 pointer. The shaft taper was not he standard pro taper, he did not like my call out that the taper was not to my liking, but it was on my spec. Reluctantly he retapered the shafts. Before I knew this, I also ordered a Jump break cue made from him, so it was in process. After, the retaper, I still thought it too stiff, so I had two more shafts made, same taper, a couple mm thinner. The cue is excellent and plays well, but by the time it was right, I found a titlist conversion and for many years the cue was for an occasional guest. So, I paid, $2500, ( WOV), IN 1996 for this 1/1, plus $180 for each extra shaft over the initial two, and $600 for the J/B. Dale made a decision to do volume and dumped his customers who helped establish him. I feel like the guy who bought the nicest, highest sticker EDSEL. BTW, WOV means without vasoline!
ok, here are facts about which I am sure. I moved outside Jacksonville in 1996. Read the write up in The First Encyclopedia of Billiard's, it is very positive on Dale as a cue maker on the rise. He had cues featured in the Pool magazines. I visited his shop. Realize this was then, when he was making better cues. Most of what is said, if not all about his personality is fact. Despite this, I wanted him to make me a really special cue. 48 ivory inlays, ivory joint, ivory ferrules and butt cap, snakewood and ebony 8 pointer. The shaft taper was not he standard pro taper, he did not like my call out that the taper was not to my liking, but it was on my spec. Reluctantly he retapered the shafts. Before I knew this, I also ordered a Jump break cue made from him, so it was in process. After, the retaper, I still thought it too stiff, so I had two more shafts made, same taper, a couple mm thinner. The cue is excellent and plays well, but by the time it was right, I found a titlist conversion and for many years the cue was for an occasional guest. So, I paid, $2500, ( WOV), IN 1996 for this 1/1, plus $180 for each extra shaft over the initial two, and $600 for the J/B. Dale made a decision to do volume and dumped his customers who helped establish him. I feel like the guy who bought the nicest, highest sticker EDSEL. BTW, WOV means without vasoline!
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I have a Dale Perry cue that is definitely worth the money I paid for it. I used it for several hours just yesterday and it plays good.
I bought it several months back and I talked to Dale prior to buying it on e-Bay. I have talked to him several times and even though he may sound like he is rushed on the phone, he always took the time to answer any of my questions. He also gave me some very valuable information on having a cue restored, even though it wasn't him I was having to refurbish the cue.
I haven't looked at, or priced, any of the newer brand production cues lately, but I'd think you would have a hard time beating one of his cues for the price he charges...especially one made in the USA.
I've had lots of people see my cue and they couldn't believe what I paid for it...they all thought it cost several times what I got it for.
I bought it several months back and I talked to Dale prior to buying it on e-Bay. I have talked to him several times and even though he may sound like he is rushed on the phone, he always took the time to answer any of my questions. He also gave me some very valuable information on having a cue restored, even though it wasn't him I was having to refurbish the cue.
I haven't looked at, or priced, any of the newer brand production cues lately, but I'd think you would have a hard time beating one of his cues for the price he charges...especially one made in the USA.
I've had lots of people see my cue and they couldn't believe what I paid for it...they all thought it cost several times what I got it for.
visiting Dale's shop
I was there a number of times in 1996. He always seemed annoyed, except the day I was ordering and giving him 50% deposit. Chopdoc, I think you will regret driving there and spending the time. It it looks like it, smells like it, chances are it will taste like it. I doubt that you will be treated well. My 50% deposit in 96 was $1250.. how many could I get today?
I was there a number of times in 1996. He always seemed annoyed, except the day I was ordering and giving him 50% deposit. Chopdoc, I think you will regret driving there and spending the time. It it looks like it, smells like it, chances are it will taste like it. I doubt that you will be treated well. My 50% deposit in 96 was $1250.. how many could I get today?
Well I guess I will find out. It's not fa rat all, so no big deal. It's just hard for me to make time for such things. I don't have any illusions or big expectations so it would be hard to be disappointed by such a visit.
As far as people upset about the value of their cues...if they were planning on selling I guess I understand, but the cue one bought back then is the same cue still and didn't suddenly become a bad cue when his prices went down.
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I think chopdoc would agree with me,
Getting first hand knowledge about something that interests you, regardless of the outcome of that information, is always to be valued.
Hell, if I was close enough, I'd ride along and pay for the gas . . .:grin: