In response to a claim about Sterling Cases damaging cues

carter1984

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
In a recent post, an AZ forum member claimed that he bought a Sterling 2x3 cue case for his girlfriend and that the case would not hold 2 butts and three shafts, and then somehow the cues were damaged by using the case.

Here at Sterling, we pride ourselves on our products and strive to provide the absolute best quality and value we can, so this claim was very disconcerting, especially since we had not heard this claim from any other customers, despite selling thousands of these cases since introducing the new interiors.

John Barton, who designed these interiors, has put together a video demonstration regarding this claim -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDLJ_6CdmsQ

We do welcome comments or other constructive criticism.
 

CocoboloCowboy

Cowboys are my hero's
Silver Member
You know Carter what I was thinking when I read the report of "DAMAGE" IMHO most people would have been on the telephone pronto to Sterling, or CueSight, asking questions, asking the company to fix their problem, reporting their negative experience, not waiting what was in "90 days" to tell their story on a pool forum. JMHO!
 

ridewiththewind

♥ Hippie Hustler ♥
Silver Member
I haven't been on much lately, so missed the initial post, but would have to throw the BS flag on this claim. I have NEVER had an issue with any interiors that John Barton has designed with regards to them damaging a cue. I am admittedly pretty anal about my cue(s) care and storage...and if there was a problem/potential problem, I would have contacted John about it a very long time ago.

Lisa
 

manwon

"WARLOCK 1"
Silver Member
In a recent post, an AZ forum member claimed that he bought a Sterling 2x3 cue case for his girlfriend and that the case would not hold 2 butts and three shafts, and then somehow the cues were damaged by using the case.

Here at Sterling, we pride ourselves on our products and strive to provide the absolute best quality and value we can, so this claim was very disconcerting, especially since we had not heard this claim from any other customers, despite selling thousands of these cases since introducing the new interiors.

John Barton, who designed these interiors, has put together a video demonstration regarding this claim -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDLJ_6CdmsQ

We do welcome comments or other constructive criticism.



I don't know who you are or what you do at Sterling, but the thing I did not see in the post above was that you have contacted that member. Being in business myself I suspect that resolving the situation or proving the claim is false should be of the up most importance. Nothing against video's but most here already know that John is a competent cases maker. But lets face mistakes happen during mass production that are nothing more than a mistake and that also do not represent a companies products. The only thing that does is how the situation is handled after the situation occurs.

JIMO
 
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Blue Hog ridr

World Famous Fisherman.
Silver Member
I didn't feel it was necessary to include AZ or MonsterMash's name in the video.

John's blog, he called MM an A hole and referred to Lou as Louser.
Not a very professional move on a blog that has your company name
splashed all over it, but I guess its John's blog so he can say what he wants.

I read Lou's question and didn't feel he was being disrespectful to John.
He stated that he would like to see proof.

JBs demons are and have been eating him from the inside out for a long time. These demons create unnecessary stress which leads to potential health risks in the future. In order to love others, you have to love yourself first. In order to have peace with others, you have to be at peace with yourself first.
Its alright to get mad, its alright to be disappointed in others but you have to learn when to let it go and continue with your life.
You can't change others but you can change yourself. John is far away from having this ability.
 
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daigoro

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
i bought one of his cue case the prototype case , for me i bought it because for one reason his case can protect the cues inside.i have used it and it does the job done.

i ordered the 2x3 gray/ green he demo from sterling, same ! no floss no problem.

maybe the problem is the way he/she inserted the cues.

honestly john stood by his product, if given by chance i will order again.

thanks john!
 

carter1984

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
To Manwon -

I am the GM at Sterling Gaming. I have been touch with monstermash privately about the case in question. If he chooses to post about our correspondence then you will know what has been discussed. I replied to him privately with exactly those words..."I would prefer to address your issue in private rather than in a public forum."

Blue Hog -

Yes...you hit the nail on the head. It is John's blog and there is not a lot that can be done when he posts his personal thoughts on his own website. I understand an appreciate the concern regarding the reflection on Sterling Gaming. I would hope that what does not go unnoticed is the work Sterling does (through brands like Milliken cloth and Fury cues) to help promote the game and help support various players, although that never seems to get the ink that anything involving JB does.

I agreed to post the video since it is a Sterling case that brought this up in the first place, and after seeing reactions over the last few years, there are a number of folks that need to see how these interiors work. I have had to perform this demonstration hundreds of times at trade shows and tournaments so that consumers would actually believe what I was telling them. The interiors are very different from what most folks are used to seeing in a cue case, and sometimes a little re-education is needed to show the benefits so they understand why it is different.
 

manwon

"WARLOCK 1"
Silver Member
To Manwon -

I am the GM at Sterling Gaming. I have been touch with monstermash privately about the case in question. If he chooses to post about our correspondence then you will know what has been discussed. I replied to him privately with exactly those words..."I would prefer to address your issue in private rather than in a public forum."

Blue Hog -

Yes...you hit the nail on the head. It is John's blog and there is not a lot that can be done when he posts his personal thoughts on his own website. I understand an appreciate the concern regarding the reflection on Sterling Gaming. I would hope that what does not go unnoticed is the work Sterling does (through brands like Milliken cloth and Fury cues) to help promote the game and help support various players, although that never seems to get the ink that anything involving JB does.

I agreed to post the video since it is a Sterling case that brought this up in the first place, and after seeing reactions over the last few years, there are a number of folks that need to see how these interiors work. I have had to perform this demonstration hundreds of times at trade shows and tournaments so that consumers would actually believe what I was telling them. The interiors are very different from what most folks are used to seeing in a cue case, and sometimes a little re-education is needed to show the benefits so they understand why it is different.



Thanks for your reply, that is best way to handle the situation make the guy put up or shut up.

Thanks for your reply
 

pickngrin

Member
One possible problem is that if shaft #1's joint protector has any significant overhang, it may come in contact with and scratch shaft #2 as shaft #2 is being pulled out. This is a problem with any non-tube type case, not just Sterling, GTF, JB, etc. I remember hearing about some cheap aluminum JP's with large overhanging collars putting serious gouges in shafts being removed from It's George cases.
 

Monstermash

Lock Ness Monster
Silver Member
You know Carter what I was thinking when I read the report of "DAMAGE" IMHO most people would have been on the telephone pronto to Sterling, or CueSight, asking questions, asking the company to fix their problem, reporting their negative experience, not waiting what was in "90 days" to tell their story on a pool forum. JMHO!

It wasn't 90 days. It was only recently that we discovered the problem. My girlfriend had been using the case as a 2x2 and then wanted a Bender that I had so she loaded it into the case to take it with her to go play. While we were at the pool room I noticed the scratch in the finish on the shaft she was playing with. She had no idea where it came from and I didn't think she did so we didn't know what to think at first. Then when I opened the Sterling case when we returned home I noticed that the JP's were touching each other. When I removed the shaft it was very tight and there was another scratch on the shaft from when she loaded it when we were done playing for the night.

So while I can understand why you would question why we didn't say anything at first, now you know the story so I hope it makes sense to you.

I will say that that I wonder about you Cowboy. On one hand you defend Sterling in this thread and in my review thread but on the other hand you send me a private message directing me to see John Barton's blog on his website knowing full well what I'm going to read when I get there. Obviously you also know it's going to piss me off so are you just stirring the pot or........

It seems a bit hypocritical to me. :confused:
 

bboxgrinder

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
In a recent post, an AZ forum member claimed that he bought a Sterling 2x3 cue case for his girlfriend and that the case would not hold 2 butts and three shafts, and then somehow the cues were damaged by using the case.

Here at Sterling, we pride ourselves on our products and strive to provide the absolute best quality and value we can, so this claim was very disconcerting, especially since we had not heard this claim from any other customers, despite selling thousands of these cases since introducing the new interiors.

John Barton, who designed these interiors, has put together a video demonstration regarding this claim -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDLJ_6CdmsQ

We do welcome comments or other constructive criticism.

I bought one of those as well and noticed it the minute I started inserting my cues. I sold it to a friend looking for a 2 x 2 which is actually it's true space. I have owned the 3 x 6 from Sterling as well and liked the case. I couldn't see how the lining could cause damage unless it was cramed, over packed in the case. It is an odd lining though, seems as if it is air compressed and it sucks upward when a cue is removed. JB has probably explained what it is before but just have not noticed. Decent cases for the money, but by far no better then a porper, pro series, or action.
 

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
I have posted a series of 2x3 cases that we have done for customers, most of whom are AZB members. Some carry very high end cues in them.

http://jbcases.com/caseblog/2011/06/18/the-2x3-padded-interior/

The true size of this case is not a 2x2. That is the size of the Porper/Action style cases because those cases use a foam core molded interior and there has to be a certain amount of wall thickness for the case to maintain it's form and not be crushed by simply gripping it firmly.

For this tube that we use it is possible to actually fit up to 2x5 depending on how the interior is constructed. You can use more or less padding to determine the capacity.

Here is a picture of the interior with 2x3

2x3.jpg


Here is is with cues inside

2x3-full.jpg


And here it is overstuffed with two more shafts.

2x3-overstuffed.jpg


I have done all sorts of experiments making up various versions of interiors to come up with what we now have. If I wanted to I could make a version that would allow for 2 butts and five shafts to fit into this tube with ease and none of the parts would be touching.

I have done this for customers adding a simple single layer of fabric with no padding to allow them to carry a butt and shaft in the same compartment.

If you look very closely at the cavity on the left side of this interior you will see a small sliver of fabric. With this the user can put a butt into that cavity and then a shaft in the same one, thus increasing the capacity from a 3x4 to a 3x5 or from a 2x5 to a 2x6.

chris-v-interiors.jpg


Trust me folks, I don't put out anything that I think is sketchy. I focus on protection and efficiency.
 

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
One possible problem is that if shaft #1's joint protector has any significant overhang, it may come in contact with and scratch shaft #2 as shaft #2 is being pulled out. This is a problem with any non-tube type case, not just Sterling, GTF, JB, etc. I remember hearing about some cheap aluminum JP's with large overhanging collars putting serious gouges in shafts being removed from It's George cases.

Oversized joint protectors can be an issue certainly. Especially for any case where the cavities are efficiently planned out.

However we also use oversized joint protectors when designing our interiors to have some allowance for them.

I think that the main thing is that we cannot possibly design for every possible configuration that a user chooses to use. I have seen people with 3" joint protectors that are like mini-sculprtures and by themselves cost upwards of $500. Sorry but I don't design mass-production cases for that type of use. I don't see any real need for joint protectors that are way oversized and so I won't design for them.

I see and appreciate the market for artistic joint protectors and as long as they are kept in the normal spec range of most joint protectors then I think that there shouldn't be any problem with them and our cases.

Either I or my colleagues have no problem to show any user at shows that our cases will fit a very wide range of cues with joint protectors.
 

bboxgrinder

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have posted a series of 2x3 cases that we have done for customers, most of whom are AZB members. Some carry very high end cues in them.

http://jbcases.com/caseblog/2011/06/18/the-2x3-padded-interior/

The true size of this case is not a 2x2. That is the size of the Porper/Action style cases because those cases use a foam core molded interior and there has to be a certain amount of wall thickness for the case to maintain it's form and not be crushed by simply gripping it firmly.

For this tube that we use it is possible to actually fit up to 2x5 depending on how the interior is constructed. You can use more or less padding to determine the capacity.

Here is a picture of the interior with 2x3

2x3.jpg


Here is is with cues inside

2x3-full.jpg


And here it is overstuffed with two more shafts.

2x3-overstuffed.jpg


I have done all sorts of experiments making up various versions of interiors to come up with what we now have. If I wanted to I could make a version that would allow for 2 butts and five shafts to fit into this tube with ease and none of the parts would be touching.

I have done this for customers adding a simple single layer of fabric with no padding to allow them to carry a butt and shaft in the same compartment.

If you look very closely at the cavity on the left side of this interior you will see a small sliver of fabric. With this the user can put a butt into that cavity and then a shaft in the same one, thus increasing the capacity from a 3x4 to a 3x5 or from a 2x5 to a 2x6.

chris-v-interiors.jpg


Trust me folks, I don't put out anything that I think is sketchy. I focus on protection and efficiency.

John I was not intending to put your work down in any way and hope you didn't take it as such. I think you build your product with passion and all intentions of being the best you can provide regardless of where it is made.

I will tell you though and I only say this because I have had the case in my hands. Yes it does fit 2 x 3 but it is TOO TIGHT and certainly can cause damage by having to be crammed in. Now 2 x 2 fits comfortably in that size and I see no way it could cause damage only holding 2 x 2. As for the lining itself I see no way it can cause damage and definatly makes the case lighter as well being "unique" to the others out there.

I may not always agree with how you go about things on the net but I give credit where credit is due. Keep up the good work on your product.
 

JB Cases

www.jbcases.com
Silver Member
John I was not intending to put your work down in any way and hope you didn't take it as such. I think you build your product with passion and all intentions of being the best you can provide regardless of where it is made.

I will tell you though and I only say this because I have had the case in my hands. Yes it does fit 2 x 3 but it is TOO TIGHT and certainly can cause damage by having to be crammed in. Now 2 x 2 fits comfortably in that size and I see no way it could cause damage only holding 2 x 2. As for the lining itself I see no way it can cause damage and definatly makes the case lighter as well being "unique" to the others out there.

I may not always agree with how you go about things on the net but I give credit where credit is due. Keep up the good work on your product.

I understand you but I respectfully disagree. I am sorry but you must be talking about a different case because I can assure you on all that is holy that in our cases which are advertised as 2x3 2 butts and 3 shafts will fit easily and comfortably without cramming them in. In every case we make the shafts and butts can be put into the case gently with just one finger and very little effort.

I have done another video on this showing the Organic Rebound interior which is what is in the case that Monstermash claims he has.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXxYRLKX5Q0

You can clearly see that 2 butts and 3 shafts fit easily, nothing is touching and nothing can be damaged.

The fact of is that many of you do not understand that the amount of pressure needed to cause a cured finish to deform is way greater than you will ever find in one of my cases. In our cases you do not have to ever force anything into it. All it takes is gentle pressure to ease the cues into the case as the foam recedes slightly to form around the parts and hold them snugly and gently.

I can only say that if the Sterling case you had was uncomfortably tight then something was wrong and I would have preferred that we had the chance to see it so that we could repair or replace it. I go to fanatical lengths and get very very very pissed off when our interiors are not made properly. I don't inspect every one of the thousands our partner factories make but I have tried my best to instruct them to build according to my specifications.

But in general the cases do fit 2x3 easily and comfortably with no danger to the cues.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXxYRLKX5Q0

Best,

John Barton
 

dom_poppa

Banned
I think the Sterling cases are very well designed and the lining is different compared to other cases. I had other cases in the past and some of them rattle like Giuseppe's, who also makes a good case for the money.

I know the shafts won't touch each other because of the lining between the shafts. A piece of paper can be between those shafts and technically it's not touching but with the sock lining....it can compress the butts and the shafts to the point that pulling out a shaft out can cause contact with another piece, due to the tight space. This is sort of the downfall with the lining.

Where a tube style, it may rattle, but has enough clearance/space that it won't touch another cue.

Let's just say the accuser, pulled a shaft out from an angle, the lining will bend with the shaft, perhaps causing it to make contact with a joint or a joint protector, depending how the cues were inserted.
 
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