I visited Dennis Searing

NewFloridian

NewFloridian

New member
I think that I might have the distinction of being the least competent pool player ever to visit Dennis Searing's shop in Wellington, Florida. We are a family of raw beginners who just got a used Connelly table that came with some house cues. Our billiards instructor told us that the cues needed to be re-tipped and that Dennis Searing, despite having a 12-year waiting list for his $3,500+ custom cues (ranging up to $40,000 for those who are truly passionate/insane), might be willing to rehab our basic equipment. Not only did Dennis do this, but he even suggested that we come on a Saturday morning and pick up in the afternoon so as to avoid two round-trips from Jupiter, Florida (about 35 minutes away). Wellington, in addition to being home to the fancy horse and polo people, is right next to Lion Country Safari, so the kids hit the water slides and looked at the baby rhino for a few hours while the cues were in rehab.

We learned that it takes at least 10 months for Searing to make a cue, mostly because the wood has to age. This is not so that the wood can dry out but so that the “stress” can come out of the wood. Searing is not disdainful of the ignorant and incompetent, as you might expect, but generous about sharing his knowledge and love of craftsmanship. Searing explained to us that if you happened to find a big piece of wood without flaws you could make an excellent one-piece cue. An expert pool player thus might be able to get a very good cue by trying out 25 house cues and picking the best one that just happened to be fabricated from a great piece of wood. The two-piece cues that Searing makes offer some additional options for balance and are easier to transport, but Searing didn’t tell us to throw out the Nick Varner house cues that had come with our table.

It was a great experience and I would highly recommend the pilgrimage to this temple of cueness if you're in South Florida!

(Actually, the experience made me wonder if expert craftsmen in wood will ever become obsolete due to advances in material science. There are already carbon fiber pool cues, right? How do they compare in performance to the best wood cues? Are there other promising materials on the horizon?)
 
NewFloridian said:
I think that I might have the distinction of being the least competent pool player ever to visit Dennis Searing's shop in Wellington, Florida. We are a family of raw beginners who just got a used Connelly table that came with some house cues. Our billiards instructor told us that the cues needed to be re-tipped and that Dennis Searing, despite having a 12-year waiting list for his $3,500+ custom cues (ranging up to $40,000 for those who are truly passionate/insane), might be willing to rehab our basic equipment. Not only did Dennis do this, but he even suggested that we come on a Saturday morning and pick up in the afternoon so as to avoid two round-trips from Jupiter, Florida (about 35 minutes away). Wellington, in addition to being home to the fancy horse and polo people, is right next to Lion Country Safari, so the kids hit the water slides and looked at the baby rhino for a few hours while the cues were in rehab.

We learned that it takes at least 10 months for Searing to make a cue, mostly because the wood has to age. This is not so that the wood can dry out but so that the “stress” can come out of the wood. Searing is not disdainful of the ignorant and incompetent, as you might expect, but generous about sharing his knowledge and love of craftsmanship. Searing explained to us that if you happened to find a big piece of wood without flaws you could make an excellent one-piece cue. An expert pool player thus might be able to get a very good cue by trying out 25 house cues and picking the best one that just happened to be fabricated from a great piece of wood. The two-piece cues that Searing makes offer some additional options for balance and are easier to transport, but Searing didn’t tell us to throw out the Nick Varner house cues that had come with our table.

It was a great experience and I would highly recommend the pilgrimage to this temple of cueness if you're in South Florida!

(Actually, the experience made me wonder if expert craftsmen in wood will ever become obsolete due to advances in material science. There are already carbon fiber pool cues, right? How do they compare in performance to the best wood cues? Are there other promising materials on the horizon?)
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Did he show the cue that a AZ member has been waiting on for eternity??? ;)
 
garczar said:
Did he show the cue that a AZ member has been waiting on for eternity??? ;)
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Could be a problem Cue for maker. Recall year ago placing order with ACA member for pointed Cue.

Ebony, and Amboina Burl, gentleman said he tried to do what I wanted. But Burl was giving fit.

So let’s say I did not get first choice, and I moved on.

Working with some exotic wood can be big problem if it does not want to cooperate.

But the builder did communicate well.

So life was not disrupted by no communication.
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
Could be a problem Cue for maker. Recall year ago placing order with ACA member for pointed Cue.

Ebony, and Amboina Burl, gentleman said he tried to do what I wanted. But Burl was giving fit.

So let’s say I did not get first choice, and I moved on.

Working with some exotic wood can be big problem if it does not want to cooperate.

But the builder did communicate well.

So life was not disrupted by no communication.
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coco
its the communication thats the problem with dennis
 
He answered the phone himself twice when I called, once to find out how it would work and once to make an appointment for Saturday. Then he called me in the afternoon when the cues were done, just as he promised. So, at least in our personal experience, he is actually a great communicator! Every other business that I call puts me on hold for 20-60 minutes while a recording explains that the lack of customer service is due to COVID-19.
 
bbb said:
coco
its the communication thats the problem with dennis
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Well I have heard that rumor, and bad communication is no excuse for a business person, or Cuemsker.

Dennis’s problem could be resolved with paid helper. Better that having bad reputation.

Jmho
 
Thanks for sharing your positive experience, but fair warning as you're new, this thread could dissolve into another dumpster fire. The man makes a cue without peer but seems to have a checkered past with service and favoritism.
 
axejunkie said:
Thanks for sharing your positive experience, but fair warning as you're new, this thread could dissolve into another dumpster fire. The man makes a cue without peer but seems to have a checkered past with service and favoritism.
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I wonder if the issue is that he is not trying to maximize revenue and profit. Given the multi-year backlog, it doesn't make sense for him to be doing any rework on cues that he didn't make (at $25 per cue!). Nor would it make sense for him to take time to explain things to a minivan full of kids on their way to Lion Country Safari. An MBA would double the shop size and hire three woodworkers to power through the lucrative backlog in a couple of years. But plainly Mr. Searing has some motivation other than profit, which can be a confusing thing from a customer's point of view. He was actually wearing a Showman Cues T shirt on the day that we arrived. If he were chasing the last dollar, would he wear a competitor's T shirt? Anyway, I was very impressed by the man and the shop. If I wanted a cue to use for next week, though, I'd get it from Amazon :-)
 
Well in defense of some who have dream job or business.

Beats hell out of going to some manufacturing plant where the only thing to look forward too is 30 year pension, and chesp watch saying 30 years if service to employee who hates your Union, and you because a Union member.
 
NewFloridian said:
Separately, nobody has answered my question about carbon fiber cues! Will wooden cues become obsolete?
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Carbon Fibre is hear to stay like Predator shafts.

I am sure someone scientist or pool inventor is seeking the next great thing.

My Cues, and Shafts are wood, when I am playing well. They are Magic. Truth is it not the tool, it’s the man or women using it that is the artist.

Remember years ago work on a Diamond Willow Tree Limb, turn it into a beautiful cane for friend. Only toolI used was broken glass in different sizes to cut & scrape away wood,

Sand paper finished project all done with no power tools.
 
NewFloridian said:
I think that I might have the distinction of being the least competent pool player ever to visit Dennis Searing's shop in Wellington, Florida. We are a family of raw beginners who just got a used Connelly table that came with some house cues. Our billiards instructor told us that the cues needed to be re-tipped and that Dennis Searing, despite having a 12-year waiting list for his $3,500+ custom cues (ranging up to $40,000 for those who are truly passionate/insane), might be willing to rehab our basic equipment. Not only did Dennis do this, but he even suggested that we come on a Saturday morning and pick up in the afternoon so as to avoid two round-trips from Jupiter, Florida (about 35 minutes away). Wellington, in addition to being home to the fancy horse and polo people, is right next to Lion Country Safari, so the kids hit the water slides and looked at the baby rhino for a few hours while the cues were in rehab.

We learned that it takes at least 10 months for Searing to make a cue, mostly because the wood has to age. This is not so that the wood can dry out but so that the “stress” can come out of the wood. Searing is not disdainful of the ignorant and incompetent, as you might expect, but generous about sharing his knowledge and love of craftsmanship. Searing explained to us that if you happened to find a big piece of wood without flaws you could make an excellent one-piece cue. An expert pool player thus might be able to get a very good cue by trying out 25 house cues and picking the best one that just happened to be fabricated from a great piece of wood. The two-piece cues that Searing makes offer some additional options for balance and are easier to transport, but Searing didn’t tell us to throw out the Nick Varner house cues that had come with our table.

It was a great experience and I would highly recommend the pilgrimage to this temple of cueness if you're in South Florida!

(Actually, the experience made me wonder if expert craftsmen in wood will ever become obsolete due to advances in material science. There are already carbon fiber pool cues, right? How do they compare in performance to the best wood cues? Are there other promising materials on the horizon?)
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You were fed a gigantic load of bs.
 
i can think of many customers that should take their business to someone who cares.

but anyone on here knows what to expect, so really do not have any right to complain ,just need to kick themselves in the butt.
 
maha said:
i can think of many customers that should take their business to someone who cares.

but anyone on here knows what to expect, so really do not have any right to complain ,just need to kick themselves in the butt.
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Yes are correct but some people will put artists personalities to have their art.


Then you have those who want to be treated like customers who are the persons bill payers.

Customer are the people who keep business alive, unless person is trust fund kid,
 
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