To each their own. Lol
If G. Balabushka were making cues today.
- Thread starter bigshooter
- Start date
To each their own. Lol
Not picking on you in particular, but its the third time this week I've seen someone make a similar statement. So let me clear this up...for the record..
"Premium" cue making, custom cue making, and cue collecting were not "new" in the 40s, or 50s, or 60s, or 70s, or 80s. And the industry was not in its infancy. Many people have never heard of a custom cue before Rambow, so they must not have existed and nobody collected them. But its simply not true.
Someone even said that people back then (prior to say 1940) would have had a hard time finding a decent cue to shoot with. Jeez Peet, it wasn't the dark ages. Woodworking is very literally one of the oldest professions on earth, so I can assure you that very good cues were being made (and collected) well over 100 years ago.
So, do you think most "great" cuemakers plant and harvest their own maple trees?
Would you consider someone a cuemaker that buys their rods from Atlas, their wood from an exotic supply company, and their glues from Home Depot? Their threaded rod from a machine shop?
If so, nearly every cuemaker on the planet is a hack.
Rabbit
Banned
That's not what I said now is it? No! So read again to understand.
A cuemaker today that buys halfsplice fronts and fullsplice blanks is considered a assembler not a builder. Like a prather front.
I didn't say anything about screws or glue or growing trees.
I build cues halfsplice fullsplice butterfly and even make a lot of my own screws from my machine shop. Mr B. Did not and his construction compared to todays gets the 7 from most 2nd yr builders.
At his time sure he was considered great because people liked his style and he was picky on who got a cue from him, and mysterious in how he built them.
Hoppy to explain
Rabbit
Thanks for clearing up. It doesn't change the answer or context however.
Freddie <~~~ quite sure the three people knew this, too
I love this line of logic. So...are you allowed to buy maple blanks from a wood supply company? If so, that's ok. But the second someone splices points into it, now the wood is no longer "yours". Interesting.
Anyone can splice points that has a mill, or a router. It's not rocket science. Now, keeping spliced points even? That's an art. Would I rather have a forearm made entirely by a newbie cuemaker with a couple of years experience tinkering in his shop after work.....or a cue "assembled" by George from a Spain or Szamboti blank? Hmm......I'm thinking......yeah, I'll go with the "assembler" all day long. And night.
And this should not even be an argument lol... I am sure after you seen what goes into an accordian, you could say George could make a blank with eyes closed. Every tom, dick, and harry is doing this now.
It certainly was not a matter of skill, but more a matter of the times. George was not a rich man by no means, he had a very small shop, minimal tools to work with, raising a family, other interests besides making cues, simply just a lover of the game trying to make a living in the times. He had no problem getting blanks, and did not have enough complaints about them to make it worth his wild to make his own.
But I really do feel if he could have seen the future of the whiners on forums calling him an assembler, he would have made a perfect blank , let them lust over it, kindly take it back from them as unworthy, and make a real pool player a cue.
Yep, lot of professionals in that regard....lol
So nobody here would own a newer Balabushka?
No, but he would still be the best cue maker. Same with Gus. There is a certain talent to listening and learning as opposed to showing and telling.
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I doubt it, otherwise they wouldn't have said it.
I don't think so Kevin. He was oddly stuck to his ways. He didn't even trust birdseye. He liked to keep things very simple.
No problem, but please be more specific. Evidence of what?
Funniest post in the thread. Mystery cuebuilder says he can give Balabushka the 7 in cue construction. Since you build all your own stuff you must be in the HoF already. BTW there are at least 12 cuemakers I know building cues using almost the exact same principles that George did, do you think you build better then they do?
JV
JV
Collectibles are funny. Is a 1920s Tiffany mixed metal tea set better at making tea than a modern electric pot from Sears? Definitely not.
Hit and looks and quality where the reasons George's cues developed cache. Its that cache that made them collectible. Its that collectabilty that creates their present value. For sure you can create a pool cue using today's methods and materials far better for playing with than a Balabushka for far less money, but that doesn't devalue the Balabuska any more than the existence of a new aluminum tea set devalues the Tiffany version.
Hit and looks and quality where the reasons George's cues developed cache. Its that cache that made them collectible. Its that collectabilty that creates their present value. For sure you can create a pool cue using today's methods and materials far better for playing with than a Balabushka for far less money, but that doesn't devalue the Balabuska any more than the existence of a new aluminum tea set devalues the Tiffany version.
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What a great question!
I think his real fame stems more from him being an innovator. His quality was good for the times but some things were not as good as they are now simply due to the fact that he didn't have access to the same materials as cue makers today have. (light better clear coat)
I think he would still be at the head of the class.(physical limitations aside) I would be very interested to see if his style evolves or stays the same over the course of 50-60 years.
P.S. I don't think his cues would be quite as valuable today though if he were still alive.