This is from Mike Cernero, no relation to Bernie
He included pictures which I am trying to copy here. There was one as an .art which I could not upload, so if you want a picture of the Bender, pm me and I will copy the email to you (without the address).
Hello Linda,,
Linda I'm currently playing with a "95 Mike Bender". I recently sent this cue to Mike for a new textured black leather rewrap & finish. Mike Bender surprised me & included a new 4+oz quality shaft (free of charge). Mike made me a brand new shaft for free. The cue is a point blank full splice 5 long ebony pointer w/no veneers into a curly maple forearm with Mike's famous railroad style sterling silver rings into black phenolic @ all 5 positions & an ebony butt sleeve. Plain & elegant. Let me see if I can find a picture for you Linda.
58" L (29 + 29)
19oz + -
3 4+oz ivory pointed shafts ranging from 12.5 to 13mm.
W2W flatface joint using a 3/8x14 Platinum pin
Orig Bender Phenolic protectors w/white distinguishable shaft
MIKE BENDER Cues
HC 60 PO BOX 3890
DELTA JUNCTION, ALASKA 99737
907-895-4725
907) 895-1062
Linda I own 6 all very good playing cues + a breakjump
3 are all orig early to mid+ 80s R series full splice Schons (classic 4 ebony points/4 veneers/maple dash rings etc).
1 cue is a 2005 Runde full splice cue (very similar to the Bender except 4 ebony points w/ivory joint & smooth black leather wrap with 2 4+oz ivory pointed shafts, W2W 3/8x10 flatface joint with custom ebony/ivory protectors w/distinguishable shaft (nice cue, again plain & elegant looking). Let me see if I can find a pic of the 2005 Runde.
(FOR SALE)
$1000 firm
2005 hand made Runde
58" 19oz 2 shafts ivory ferrules & joint leather wrap custom protectors
3/8x10 W2W
13mm & slightly under 13mm
The 6th cue is a beat up dinged, chipped, splintered butt end sneaky pete w/1 shaft that I played with for years. I have won more tournaments than I can remember with this old nasty looking beat up sneaky pete. I have beaten US Open Champions using this beat up cheap I don't even never did know who the cue maker was. Looks to be an old inexpensive Meucci sneaky pete with a slightly warped but good shaft. Light weight, great balance, I went thru maybe 3 if not more ferrules. I used the cue to play & break and carried it around in a cheap beat up vinyl case. I had left this cue and case in the hot/humid NJ summer & cold winter, I have used this cue as a hammer. a poker, a fly swatter, a tool to tell the loud ass noisy upstairs neighbors to keep quiet, I used the shaft as a way of chasing a very horny caged male rabbit to stop humping the poor female rabbit (man a rabbit does it 10,000 miles an hour and can keep going hour after hour), I felt so bad for the female rabbit that I CHIPPED a hole in the shaft of this cue by using the shaft to nudge the male rabbit off the female thru the holes of a steel cage.... AND I WOULD NOT GIVE THIS CUE UP AT ALL,,,, I CAN POSSIBLY BE PLAYING THE IPT WITH THIS CUE. Linda I can play just as well if not even better with this old nasty beat up sneaky pete.. If Kevin seen me playing with this cue he may feel bad for me and ask me if i need money for a new cue... The cue plays great Linda. Hey Linda A good player can play with any cue as long as the cue has a good weight, balance, tip and plays solid. I have played some of my very best pool using a house cue off the wall. I owned a level 4 gorgeous G Boti that would easily fetch over 10K today, the cue was one of the nicest looking Gus cues,,,, Linda I sold that cue (Gus was still alive) for 800, 400 less than I paid for it BECAUSE I could not play well with it, A gorgeous G Boti loaded up with ivory inlaids,,, the cue was 59" too long and 20+oz's (many Gus cues are 59" 20+ oz) and WAS too damn back heavy,, the cue had a rearward balance and back heavy. So I sold the cue back to Tony Catucci. I owned a G Balabuska that I sold in 1977 for 175 bucks.. Thats all a plain 4point 4veneer Buska went for back then.. I owned an outrageous simply gorgeous beautiful eye catching early Joey Gold Cognoscenti.. I never owned a cue that had gotten so much attention where ever I went. Women sitting at a bar who had absolutely nothing at all to do with pool, would ask me from their seats at the bar all the way across the rail into the playing area,,, SAY oh what a beautiful "POOL STICK"... Linda I had so many small time collectors ask me if I wanted to sell them the cue. I had picked this Cog up in a 4 cue deal, I had never heard of a Cognoscenti cue at the time (early 90s) and either did most players at the time, I had NO idea what the cue was worth BUT I knew it was a special cue... This one kid who wasn't a real player OR collector kept bugging me and asking if I would sell him the cue... I really didn't want to sell it and I did not need the money... The kid kept bugging me,,, so one day I said 1800 figuring the cue had to be worth that much and never expecting this kid to say yes and spending 1800 on a pool cue from a cue maker who WE both knew nothing about. It was a beautiful cue... The kid said OK and ran out the door. He came back within 1/2hr holding 18 100 dollar bills.... I was Caught and had to sell the cue... I didn't want to look like an ass after telling the kid 1800 and him actually coming back fast with the 1800.... Last yr I called Joey Gold up.. Joey remembered making that cue. It was an early Cog that used a brn looking collar material that was used for the Tiles on the Space Shuttle... Thats what made this cue so unique, this brown checkered looking material that no one ever seen used for a pool cue... Joey told me he could not duplicate that cue today because he could no longer get his hands on that material. Joey said that material was used for the Tiles on the Space Shuttle and the manufacture had sold the company to another manufacture and he could no longer buy that material from the new manuf... Joey told me that cue was worth over 5000 today and couldn't be duplicated... BEST LOOKING cue we ALL ever seen.. I really didn't want to sell that cue (1995), I knew I had made a mistake..
Linda those 3 old orig mid 80s Schons I own.. You don't get any better playing cues... Those early orig Schons were no different from a G Boti... Gus had actually machined some of those parts and had supplied Bob Runde (orig Schon) with some of the BLANKS.... Many do not know this,,,, I own 3 of these old orig Schons... 1 of those cues has the perfect balance for me and light weight... That cue plays dynamite for me. I MAY be playing the IPT with one of the orig Schons I own...
Linda why are you asking these questions anyway? Are these questions for the IPT??? If so please,,,,, say I'm playing the IPT with the Mike Bender cue OK????
Regards,
Mike Cernero
PS: anyone looking to split the cost of a suite on or off site from check in 7/20 to late night 7/30?