I've Been to the Mountain Top (Ginacue)

kvinbrwr

kvinbrwr

Skee Ball Monster Playa
Gold Member
Ernie is not in love with me sharing his secrets here on AZ, so I'll be cool, but I have seen his progress on his 50th Anniversary Edition cues and they will befit the honor of being the only (I think) 50th Anniversary Cues ever built.

Lots of ebony, ivory, silver and gold and about a million precision inlays. I can see Ernie is driving himself crazy with this project (much like the incredible project the Cathedral Cues turned out to be).

He's totally in his element, retooling ,designing, building and using new machines and tools to process some of the repetitive tasks.

Ernie is an incredible talent. He is near the end of a storied career filled with innovation and success and I'm humbled to know him and amazed every time I see him engrossed in a project (and this one has him completely consumed).

Kevin
 
kvinbrwr said:
Ernie is not in love with me sharing his secrets here on AZ, so I'll be cool, but I have seen his progress on his 50th Anniversary Edition cues and they will befit the honor of being the only (I think) 50th Anniversary Cues ever built.

Lots of ebony, ivory, silver and gold and about a million precision inlays. I can see Ernie is driving himself crazy with this project (much like the incredible project the Cathedral Cues turned out to be).

He's totally in his element, retooling ,designing, building and using new machines and tools to process some of the repetitive tasks.

Ernie is an incredible talent. He is near the end of a storied career filled with innovation and success and I'm humbled to know him and amazed every time I see him engrossed in a project (and this one has him completely consumed).

Kevin
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He probably has them all sold too. Can't wait to see a pic of one.
 
TATE said:
He probably has them all sold too. Can't wait to see a pic of one.
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I don't think he has actually taken an order or quoted a price yet (although that might have changed as we didn't discuss the economics on my last visit).

Lots of work in these cues,

Lots. The rings alone are unique and complex.

I was in his work areas and he was showing me his progress and the machinery he engineered and I was all "I'll just snap a pic here for AZ" and, you know, that just WAS NOT happening.

Kevin
 
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kvinbrwr said:
Ernie is not in love with me sharing his secrets here on AZ, so I'll be cool, but I have seen his progress on his 50th Anniversary Edition cues and they will befit the honor of being the only (I think) 50th Anniversary Cues ever built.

Lots of ebony, ivory, silver and gold and about a million precision inlays. I can see Ernie is driving himself crazy with this project (much like the incredible project the Cathedral Cues turned out to be).

He's totally in his element, retooling ,designing, building and using new machines and tools to process some of the repetitive tasks.

Ernie is an incredible talent. He is near the end of a storied career filled with innovation and success and I'm humbled to know him and amazed every time I see him engrossed in a project (and this one has him completely consumed).

Kevin
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Kevin,
EXCELLENT POST
Ernie is definitely one of the Good Guys in cue making History
Can't wait to see His cues
 
Duane Remick said:
Kevin,
EXCELLENT POST
Ernie is definitely one of the Good Guys in cue making History
Can't wait to see His cues
Click to expand...

Duane

I was trying to get him to let me take pics of the joint and ring claiming that if he would let me post them there would be knock-offs out there before he even finished the cues, but no dice.

Go figure.

Kevin
 
2013 and still creating masterpieces.....WOW

In the late 60s and early 70s, Gina was rated over Balabuska by many
serious players.
 
pt109 said:
2013 and still creating masterpieces.....WOW

In the late 60s and early 70s, Gina was rated over Balabuska by many
serious players.
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71 or 72 and completely GRINDING. 6 days a week, 10 hours a day. The guy is like the machines he loves so much.
 
I'm not a big fan of custom cues, but a friend let me use his Gina for a few hours about 5 years ago and I fell in love with the looks and feel of it. I backed off and went back to my Viking when he told me how much it cost. Great cue though IMO. Johnnyt
 
Ernie is a guy I would love to just get a plain Jane from... Just a simple player that I'll actually play with.

I've been unable to get in touch with him and kind of doubt he'll make any more merry widows but I wish I could have gotten one the last time he made them.


Love his work.
 
ddadams said:
Ernie is a guy I would love to just get a plain Jane from... Just a simple player that I'll actually play with.

I've been unable to get in touch with him and kind of doubt he'll make any more merry widows but I wish I could have gotten one the last time he made them.


Love his work.
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That's a 19A and you are right he doesn't make cues of that level anymore. Matter of fact, there's no telling what he will build when he's done with his 50th. I don't believe he has taken any orders beyond that (I might be wrong), but its possible this is the end of the road. He made some noise about maybe building 1 or 2 cues a month and you know if he goes that way, they will be monsters.
 
kvinbrwr said:
That's a 19A and you are right he doesn't make cues of that level anymore. Matter of fact, there's no telling what he will build when he's done with his 50th. I don't believe he has taken any orders beyond that (I might be wrong), but its possible this is the end of the road. He made some noise about maybe building 1 or 2 cues a month and you know if he goes that way, they will be monsters.
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It just is kind of upsetting that the majority don't get played with.


I heard him commentate a match and it really seems like he wants ALL of his cues to be played with.

I play with a pretty big cue (relatively speaking, as its the biggest cue this maker has done) and see no real reason not to play with the cues I get.


I understand some are investments but let them do what they were made to do every once in a while!


If I had a Gina made to my specs FOR me I'd play with it every day unless for some reason I didn't like it when I got it. I play 5 hours a day or so lately. My cues don't get beat up. I take caution with them...
 
ddadams said:
It just is kind of upsetting that the majority don't get played with.


I heard him commentate a match and it really seems like he wants ALL of his cues to be played with.

I play with a pretty big cue (relatively speaking, as its the biggest cue this maker has done) and see no real reason not to play with the cues I get.


I understand some are investments but let them do what they were made to do every once in a while!


If I had a Gina made to my specs FOR me I'd play with it every day unless for some reason I didn't like it when I got it. I play 5 hours a day or so lately. My cues don't get beat up. I take caution with them...
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Well he certainly intends all his cues to be played. I went to the pool room with him when he test hit each of the 4 Cathedral Cues. I was all "lets get a Brinks truck" but there he was after his test hits, playing me some races to 7 with 400K of cues in a case in the corner.
 
kvinbrwr said:
Well he certainly intends all his cues to be played. I went to the pool room with him when he test hit each of the 4 Cathedral Cues. I was all "lets get a Brinks truck" but there he was after his test hits, playing me some races to 7 with 400K of cues in a case in the corner.
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What a guy....

If I ever am fortunate enough to meet him I'm going to beg him to build me a merry widow lol.


Thats an awesome story.
 
I play daily with my ebony and snake wood Gina. Before that, I played with a maple and snake wood Gina. It's been about 10 years since I decided his is the one for me.

Ernie is the best, IMO.

Btw, I've owned every maker, from searing to bushkas.
 
NYC cue dude said:
I play daily with my ebony and snake wood Gina. Before that, I played with a maple and snake wood Gina. It's been about 10 years since I decided his is the one for me.

Ernie is the best, IMO.

Btw, I've owned every maker, from searing to bushkas.
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Awesome.

I'd love something like an ebony/bem/ebony merry widow. Basic as it gets but I'd love it.

Or pink ivory/bloodwood. Something less common.
 
Can't wait to see what he comes up with this time!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours Kevin. Wishing you the best this coming year.

Dave
 
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