How many cue makers are there?

[cueman]

There are A LOT of cue assemblers out there. Not many cue builder IMO. less than 100 in the states. There are a lot of guys that can order blanks and finish them, not many guys that can make custom rings, splice their own stuff, etc. Basically there aren't many that can start from bare materials, and build a GOOD cue.

Just my $.02,

Justin

I think your figures are way low. A lot more cuemakers make their own points, rings and such than 100 here in the states. I would say there are a dozen or more just in Georgia that do all that from scratch. Maybe only four or five of us here in Georgia are known nation wide, but believe me there are several more who build stuff from scratch here.

 

[tattoo]

There are A LOT of cue assemblers out there. Not many cue builder IMO. less than 100 in the states. There are a lot of guys that can order blanks and finish them, not many guys that can make custom rings, splice their own stuff, etc. Basically there aren't many that can start from bare materials, and build a GOOD cue.

Just my $.02,

Justin

WINNER FOR ANSWER OF THE YEAR....:thumbup:

 

[classiccues]

Whats not fair about it? You say 20-50, thats probably high. BUT there was 1/10 the serious players that could need a custom cue. There were no collectors that have 20-30 cues, everyone had one cue. Just happens to be out of those 20 cuemakers MOST sought out Bushka. You can't even get 1/10 of the percentage of that number today. To say Bushka was an assembler because he purchased forearms, well IMHO how hard is it to get threaded rod and run a die on it? Its really semantics, and at the end of the day, I guarantee George wanted his cues in the hands of the players, not the guy with the most bank. Today its the opposite with 99.9% of the cuemakers.

The times have changed, in his day, George was a cue builder, today because everyone can get the info on the internet, or buy some pre-made piece of equipment, you can be a superstar in a week. People ask me why George didn't make his forearms, the popular answer is the size of his shop, but I would bet that because he has so much work, he didn't have the time to figure it all out and set it all up. Plus he was buying from guys that made a pretty good blank.

JV

I don't think this is a fair statement. I would classify him as in between, as he could build his own fore arms if he wanted to. I think arguing about Bushka's clientele isn't fair either. When he built cues there were maybe 20-50 true custom cue builders in the WORLD. With options that limited of course you're going to be in high demand if you build a good product. I've never seen a monster bushka I was over the top impressed with. It's not my favorite style of cue, but he did build good stuff.

I think we have had this conversation before about a builder vs. assembler. I can tell you that my builder can build EVERY piece in my cue. In fact, on my next cue, he is making the pin. (left handed threads...)

Either way you look at it, you have to admit there is HUGE difference between builders and assemblers. Every one and there mom can buy blanks and assemble them with a little online help and some practice. It take some serious training to learn how to splice in point PROPERLY, make intricate rings, butterflys, program a CNC machine, make a cue concentric the whole way through, etc. There are a lot of guys that can do all of this, but there are also 10x more that can't, but assemble some nice sneaky petes, plain jane, even some good looking 4 pointers.

I think most people in the know, know the difference between the two.

best,

Justin