In your opinion who are the best up and coming cue makers...

The King

The King

Here's Jimbo....
Silver Member
There are the guys that have made it in the cue business ... The ones that are legends like Searing ... Balabushka ... Szamboti ..Gina ...etc ... Then there are guys like Scruggs ... Eric Crisp that are maybe a level two below these guys ... What I'm looking for are up and comers who you think could make the next step up ...Little known guys out there working hard to make a name for themselves and thier work ... Guys that 20 or 30 years down the road may be in Cue Makers Hall of fame if there were such a thing beside the statues and name plates of guys guy like Searing , Balabushka and Szamboti ... Kind of like a young Hanley Rameriz looking to join the statues of The Babe and Lou Gerhig ... Lou Brock in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame for baseball... Ok this may be reaching out there in fantasy land for a Cue makers Hall of fame but I think you get the idea ...

List who you think could make that jump ... If possible show some of thier work... And explain why you feel they will be there .... I'll go first ...
 
My picks ...

My two choices go to ...

Leon Sly ... Just talking to Leon he has that confidence thing going on ... He lives up there by Searing and Scruggs and draws from thier knowledge all the time ... He even has some of Scruggs equipment in his shop... It is hard to find pictures of Leon's work he seems to delete them or something once the cue is sold . He don't post here much but prefers to let customers do the talking for him... I have had one of his cues and he is making me another ... I plan to own several they are monster players that are well constructed ... His customer service is excellent and is easy to talk to ... He cares about his product and the people he buildsl cues for ... Yes I could see Leon in that Cue Makers Hall of fame one day ...

My Second Choice would be Jimmy Lee of J&D customs... This is one of the nicest people you will ever talk to ...Again customer relations is one area Jimmy excells at... He goes out of his way to make his customers happy. He has been building cues for 15 years plus now ... He performs high quality work much like Leon does ... Like Leon he can build about anything you want ... Also he seems to be able to get his hands on any material you may want in your cue ... His business is picking up as he recently quit his day job to go into building cues full time ... So things for Jimmy are headed in the right direction... Yep I could see Jimmy in that Cue makers Hall of fame also these two guys have two concepts to thier business that points them in that direction ... They do high quality work and they have excellent customer service and are supper nice people to talk to...

Here is a link to some of Jimmy's work ...

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=87979

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=99422


So tell me who do you think can make that next step ....
 
Eric Crisp, Mason Houghland, Joey Bautista, Hill, and I think Chad Carter makes a great cue with Excellent customer service.

Eric...his cues play great
Mason...picks great wood combo's, cues play great, working out of a excellent cuemakers shop
Joey.....Believe he strives to make the best hitting cue, not the fanciest woods, just great hit.
Hill...I just like how his work looks
Chad....makes a nice cue at a good price and his customer service is second to none
 
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Hmmm...

I know who Eric Crisp is ... And figure you are talking about Darrin Hill... Who are the other guys ... Can you tell me anything about them... I don't want to seem ignorant but I've not heard these names and I'm trying to learn all I can about the cue business ... I love pool and part of that love is cues ... I love them.. I've always heard there are no stupid questions only stupid people to stupid to ask questions ...
 
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Based on what I've seen and heard on the forums MasonH and JoeyinCali are going to be stars in the cuemaking business. Hopefully I will see for myself one day. Eric Crisp isnt up and coming anymore. He is established.
 
Thanks Joe.
But, HALL OF FAME?

Paul Fanelli for his innovative cues get my vote.
John Davis for his fullsplice blanks.
 
JoeyInCali said:
Thanks Joe.
But, HALL OF FAME?

Paul Fanelli for his innovative cues get my vote.
John Davis for his fullsplice blanks.
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well if you'd get your wife here, retire from regular job, make cues full time...sure why not.
 
Besides the names already mentioned that goes into my choice like Eric Crisp(qbilder), Joey Bautista(JoeyInCali) and Mason Houghland(Masonh), I will include Dave Albrecht(nbll01), Kelly Paterson(Kelly_guy) and Kevin Varney(Varney). All very nice people to deal with.
 
IMHO, MasonH is a "can't miss" cuemaker of the future. I have no experience with his cues but I can read between the lines on this forum and see pictures of his work to form my opinion. He is looking ahead for better and better building techniques and will someday build full-spliced cues from scratch that will put him in the "Elite" class. Mark my word.
 
The King said:
There are the guys that have made it in the cue business ... The ones that are legends like Searing ... Balabushka ... Szamboti ..Gina ...etc ... Then there are guys like Scruggs ... Eric Crisp that are maybe a level two below these guys ... What I'm looking for are up and comers who you think could make the next step up ...Little known guys out there working hard to make a name for themselves and thier work ... Guys that 20 or 30 years down the road may be in Cue Makers Hall of fame if there were such a thing beside the statues and name plates of guys guy like Searing , Balabushka and Szamboti ......
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Tough question considering how many phenomenal cue makers are out there.

And, I'm not sure about your Hall of Fame comment, but there already is cuemaker Hall of Fame. There might be two of them. The ACA and the ICA. s

And, as much as I like Searing's work, he's not in either of the Hall of Fames. And in my humble opinion, he's not going to be there any time soon. This is not a knock on him, as he makes some of the most technically perfect cues out there. But, there are other cuemaker before him that need to get in for their contribution to the industry AND their work.

So, who are the current young or new cuemakers that are the future for cuemaking? Travis Nicklich and Cory Barnhart come to mind. In fact, I put them at the cream of the new crop.

For best cuemakers that aren't yet household names (but should be), Ron Haley and Bill Webb top my list.

Fred
 
Raven Custom Cues

Michael Wagner of Raven Cues seems to remain totally under the pool cognoscenti radar and I suspect he is happy with that status. Formerly a custom golf club maker, he made custom cues for customers but got fed up and decided to make only cues he designed and you can basically take it or leave it with some mods. Check out the website and warranty. I waited over a year for my last sp cue and love it. He has a great little shop. Seems to be a man and wife operation similiar to SW in LV but located in the midwest.
 
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Darrin Hill is the best up coming cuemaker in the world right now. #1 in a cue built for playability (balance & correct shaft tapper). His fit & finish is so perfect and clean. For sure he has the very best point work in the country no ifs ands or butts. Check out out his latest work for (08).:)
 
I would have to Say Billy Webb, although Billy has been around for awhile he has never really tried to be recognized. However, his building techniques, his hand Spliced Points, his Hand Splice Butterfly Points, are second to none.
 
Cornerman said:
For best cuemakers that aren't yet household names (but should be), Ron Haley and Bill Webb top my list.

Fred
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I think of both of them as established, been around kind of guys. Haley is already very sought after, and doing some incredible work. Murray Tucker would be another cuemaker that isn't a household name. Interesting that Haley and Tucker both build cues as a hobby instead of as a business.
 
cajunbarboxplyr said:
Unbeleiveable Mike Johnson of Jenson cues was not mentoined!!
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another one that I don't think of up and coming, but already here. Jensons are great cues, under rated most certainly.
 
I like to think these two are couple that will be, Cory Barnhart and Travis Nicklich. In fact, I put them at the cream of the new crop.
 
Future Greats

I have absolutely no doubt that Andy Gilbert with be among the greatest cuemakers. His talent, work ethic, care for quality and respect for the cuemaking tradition makes him stand out in my mind.
Gilbertsetfronts1.jpg


Ed Young is also turning out some superior cues. He works closely with David Kersenbrock and I expect will further that precious experience into Hall of Fame distinction down the road.
DSCN0287.jpg



As for unknown cuemakers, there is a former road player turned cuemaker named Garten Bierbower whos cues play out of this world. I have owned many cues from the best and this unknown Ohio cuemaker's work can hang with anyone. For playability, Bierbower cues are the best kept secret I have ever seen. On the strength of the first two cues he made for me, I ordered six more.
 
Scott Whistler of Mesa, Az. makes some beautiful full splice cues. His half-splice cues are pretty nice too. Very easy to work with, great finished product, and many assorted options to choose from.

Known and respected in the southwest region, just hasn't made many waves in the national arena yet.

You can see his work at http://www.whislercues.com/index.html
 
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Cornerman said:
Tough question considering how many phenomenal cue makers are out there.

And, I'm not sure about your Hall of Fame comment, but there already is cuemaker Hall of Fame. There might be two of them. The ACA and the ICA. s

And, as much as I like Searing's work, he's not in either of the Hall of Fames. And in my humble opinion, he's not going to be there any time soon. This is not a knock on him, as he makes some of the most technically perfect cues out there. But, there are other cuemaker before him that need to get in for their contribution to the industry AND their work.

So, who are the current young or new cuemakers that are the future for cuemaking? Travis Nicklich and Cory Barnhart come to mind. In fact, I put them at the cream of the new crop.

For best cuemakers that aren't yet household names (but should be), Ron Haley and Bill Webb top my list.

Fred
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Thank you I did not realize there was a real cue makers Hall of Fame ... Now I know there is indeed one ... Me and a freind were sitting around talking about cues and this subject came up ... He mentioned the Cue Makers Hall of Fame and I did not know if he was serious or not... Thanks again you learn something new everyday ...

Masonh and JoeyinCali ... I know the usernames it is thier true names that threw me off ... I have looked at several of Masonh's cues him and a guy named Chris Bryne I remember seeing thier work posted here it has always stood out in my mind ...I remember seeing a ebony cue with Turqious veneers and Ivory like inlays in it that Chris made for the expo that cue was so pretty I don't think I will ever forget it ... What I would'nt give to own that cue or one like it ...
 
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