Merlinium said:
Thanks for the PM, I actually emailed the Adam Cue Company and received a reply saying it is from the Helmstetter 86 series, they said they would get back to me with the specific model number.
I am kind of interested in finding out more and so I am glad they are going to send me the model number, the problem I had was that I do not see many 9ball cues and I hadn't seen one like this before so wasn't sure if it was a fake or not.
All the same it was/is a cracking buy especially when you consider I got the 2 cues case and accessories for about $90.
I know very little about 9ball cues so just assumed that Tate's post was to point out that although the cues still bear the Helmstetter signature they are not personally made by Richard Helmstetter (kind of like John Parris snooker cues, most of them are no longer made by Parris himself but they do still carry his namebadge).
That's exactly right. Richard Helmstetter started Adam cue company in the early 1970's. In the mid 1960's, Richard was a cue maker. A few years later he was hired by National Chalk to get them into the cue business. He hired a couple of super star cue-makers, Ricco Cervantes, Craig Peterson, and Bob Meucci to make cues. They produced some very interesting cues in those few years. Craig Peterson went on to became a big league custom maker, and of course you know what Meucci created.
Helmstetter decided to branch off on his own in around 1970 and founded Adam cues. They started making high quality cues in Japan and made some great full splice cues, which were otherwise losing popularity at the time. The made parts for a lot of manufacturers besides just their own lines.
Helmstetter was a talented cue maker but his forte was sales and marketing. He was also good friends with Burton Spain, the foremost full splice cuemaker of those days. My first Adam cue was purchasd in 1984. Adam cues were good cues and a 4 pointer ran about $100 at the time.
The Helmstetter line was Adam's upscale line of cues. Hiow good were they? Burton Spain sold them, recommended them, and tuned them. Guess they were pretty good.
Helmstetter went on to fame and riches. He invented the Big Bertha Driver, which I think was the first big headed driver. Callaway was just a little company at the time. It put Callaway Golf on the map and set the golf industry on it's ears.
Here's a picture of a pretty rare cue. This is a National Cue made by Helmstetter's team. This cue was purchased in 1969 in Los Angeles. It came with the original receipt. It looks like an early Adam cue - and that makes sense.
The Helmstetter line of productions cues were the upscale Adam cues
So there - the whole story. Those old Helmstetter and Adam cues are good ones. And of course you got a great deal.
Chris
