considered the gold standard for Balabushka cues?
Has anyone ever questioned his opinion or does that prettymuch settle it?
This is a serious question for a prospective purchase,please no comments about things you don't really know
considered the gold standard for Balabushka cues?
Has anyone ever questioned his opinion or does that prettymuch settle it?
This is a serious question for a prospective purchase,please no comments about things you don't really know
considered the gold standard for Balabushka cues?
Has anyone ever questioned his opinion or does that prettymuch settle it?
This is a serious question for a prospective purchase,please no comments about things you don't really know
I've had really nitty guys say that cues aren't real Balabushkas even with a Tascarella LOA
considered the gold standard for Balabushka cues?
Has anyone ever questioned his opinion or does that prettymuch settle it?
This is a serious question for a prospective purchase,please no comments about things you don't really know
Not only is his LOA the gold standard, it is rightfully so. I have been involved with 5 Balabushka sales/LOA's with Tascarella with the cues typically being in the $9,000 to $15,000 range. I worked with the cue owners and assisted with the sales, directing them to Tascarella for authentication. One cue could not be authenticated and it was a very costly disappointment. A $6,000 to $7,000 cue becomes a $1500 unknown maker. We had an x-ray that looked right. Tascarella inspected the cue and went to great lengths to authenticate. He did not in the end give his blessing and he went to great lengths to try to authenticate it. The joint was wrong, he did not buy it.
In my opinion, the letter will suffice, but the originality and chain of ownership is also an important contributor to the value. I realize the difficulty of establishing the origin of the cue after 60 years but if it can be done it will enhance the sale.
Basically, in my experience, a Balabushka owner could have a letter from Schick or Ernie saying they think it's a Balabushka, and that is a good thing - these guys know what they're doing and recognize the work, but it's just not as widely and readily accepted as an authentication by Tascarella.
With no disrespect to other people both in cuemaking and cue collecting, Pete is absolutely the gold standard. Please read the About section of the Tascarella page, which is the article I wrote on the Petes. Check the Purchasing a Gold Mine section. To me, I can't understand why anyone would think someone else might be in the same stratosphere as Pete Tascarella and Pete Jr. (and people have tried to tell me exactly that over the years).considered the gold standard for Balabushka cues?
Has anyone ever questioned his opinion or does that prettymuch settle it?
This is a serious question for a prospective purchase,please no comments about things you don't really know
pete became a cue maker bc of balabushka as they were friends and shot pool together, he bought balabushkas equipment and that's what he uses to make his cues from what he learned from balabushka himself, as far as I know that's the story I was told. if hes not the one to authenticate a bushka cue, than I don't know who is. anyone else word take it with a grain of salt unless they dealt with bushka for many years while he was strill alive.
So what happens when the day comes that Tascarella can not do this anymore?
Deano,
I think Pete Tascarella and Also
Billy Schick
Always been very good to id Balabushka cues