I visited Dennis Searing

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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Searing has a 12 year waiting list. The top cuemakers won't become obsolete.
 
CocoboloCowboy said:
Why would you say Dennis don’t have list❓🤯
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OK.. While it may be true that Dennis Searing has a list and just for fun let's pretend it is 12 years.. THE REALITY is that all you have is a name on a list. THERE is NO GUARANTEE you will ever get a cue from a cue maker until he contacts you and takes your order. Even then it has gone sideways many times as members here have spoken about in the past.

NOW as far as Dennis Searing goes with lists. He could build cues for the rest of his life and never finish his list. I have spoken with him a few times and he is great guy and builds an impeccable cue, without a doubt. He will never be able to fulfill all the requests he has. Just imagine how many people have said I will buy anything you build for just about any sum you can dream up, just call me please and a check is on the way..

This is also why some cue makers are not even dealing with lists. They can sell anything they build any time they want so why bother taking orders and monitoring lists??

If you want to get on a list with Dennis go ahead, it does not mean you will get a cue from him, that is a fact... But you can tell people you are on his list. FWIW!

So there it is in plain English for all that do not understand.. How do I know? BEEN THERE AND DONE THAT!
 
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