Joss Pool Cues: A Labor of Love

[JAM]

With all the sad state of affairs with newspapers filing for bankruptcy, the online print media seems to be doing just fine.

October 2012, The Dark Room section of the online Baltimore Sun came out with an article about Joss Cues. This is what they refer to as "visual journalism," with its 13 very cool photos of the cue-making business at Joss.

Why would a man with the last name of Janes, call the pool cue company that he helped found, Joss Cues?

The name, Joss, came from the 1966 book “Tai-Pan,” by James Clavell that Dan Janes read while starting the company in a two-car garage with a partner in 1968. “In the book, ‘joss’ is a Chinese word that means good and bad fortune…happiness and unhappiness,” says Dan. “It’s a good overall word saying you are in charge, you are in control of your joss. And it seemed like a good name for a cue.”


Once a jet aircraft mechanic, Dan Janes realized that he could make a better pool cue when returning from a pool trip in the 1960′s with player Ed Kelly of Baltimore.

Joss Cues is the oldest continually operating family-owned pool stick maker in the United States, personally hand-crafting cues with the assistance of computer-assisted cutting and carving. They ship to customers throughout the world and their cues are used by some of the top professionals in the sport of billiards.

Read more about Joss Cues ---> HERE [Retrieved 30 September 2013]

From left, Stephen Janes with his parents Debbie and Dan Janes, the founder of Joss Cues, pose with their creations at Joss Cues. Dan started Joss Cues with a partner in 1968. In 1972 Dan took full control of the business and continues to make the original Joss Cue.

 

[JAM]

Anyone who hails from Maryland knwos that No. 8, Cal Ripken, is Maryland royalty. Everybody loves Cal. I even have a few Cal memorabilia. I was tehre at teh game when he broke Lou's record. Paid over a thousand per ticket to sit in the front row for the history-breaking game. It was beautiful!

Here is ann inlay, created for a cue made for Hall of Famer Cal Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles at Joss Cues.

 

[JAM]

French veneers of different colors are only 1/20,000th inch thick, at Joss Cues.

By the way, all of these cool pool photos in the vidual photographic journal are by Karl Merton Ferron of Baltikmore Sun.

 

[JAM]

For the cue connoisseurs, purple heart and cumaru rest beneath curly maple wood for handles at Joss Cues.

 

[JAM]

It's a wrap -- linen wrap, that is. What color is your favorite? I like the green. After all, it is considered "Irish" linen wrap, right?

 

[JAM]

An inlay resembling an arrow, designed to follow the specifications of a customer, at Joss Cues Wednesday. I wonder who bought this cue with the arrow inlay.

Where is the LIKE button?

 

[AlexandruM]

This is why I bought my Joss, great cue for the money.

 

[Cracktherack]

Too bad Joss doesn't warranty any of their cues that develop a severe warp two months after being new. It becomes a worthless piece of wood and makes you question just what kind of workmanship and materials goes into a Joss cue, if your Joss cue warps like a China made Dufferin.

 

[mrjobe]

Too bad Joss doesn't warranty any of their cues that develop a severe warp two months after being new. It becomes a worthless piece of wood and makes you question just what kind of workmanship and materials goes into a Joss cue, if your Joss cue warps like a China made Dufferin.

I've owned many Joss cues and have never had a problem.

Beutiful cues and great players.

 

[Icon of Sin]

They are 10mins from my house, yet I have never been there. Really should stop in one day and grab a sneaky from them or something.

 

[sfleinen]

I've owned many Joss cues and have never had a problem.

Beutiful cues and great players.

Same here. My Joss is a Model CR29-828 that I won in a raffle at a beginning-of-2009-year Turning Stone -- about 4 years ago. (Typically, cues donated by the manufacturer to the tournament director to raffle off are "factory seconds" -- usually having some defect with aesthetics, like an inlay slightly out of alignment, or a cut of wood that didn't quite look as good after finish was applied, etc.)

My Joss CR29-828 has an inlay in one of the points that is slightly out of alignment, but I can tell you that the cue definitely plays like a Joss -- the feel and hit are unmistakeable. And after four years, the cue is still dead-straight (rolls without wobble, either assembled or disassembled), even though I'd made the mistake of leaving it in my car trunk for a couple of very hot days.

For an everyday player, it's very difficult to beat a Joss for price, craftsmanship (other than factory seconds' aesthetic issues, of course ), playability, and durability. I'd definitely look into buying a Joss if I were in the market for a new cue.

-Sean

 

[Tramp Steamer]

I thought Prather was the oldest cue making family.

 

[dnixon]

I ever had any issues love all my joss cues/sorry to hear about yours

 

[TheNewSharkster]

IMO you get the most bang for your buck with a Joss cue.

 

[Hunter]

I recently sent them a couple of custom Joss/Janes cues for pics, provenance, and cleaning. I have nothing but good things to say about my entire experience with Dan and Debbie!

I talked to them via phone and email and they are not only efficient, but genuinely nice people. Even with their busy schedules, they were never too busy to return a call.

They had my project completed in the exact time frame that they had initially estimated and they packaged the cues and sent them via overnight mail along with a little thank you gift.

I have dealt with a lot of cuemakers over the years and I don't know how it could get any better than my dealings with Dan, Debbie, and all the crew at Joss! They will certainly get more of my business in the future.

Steve Feld
Phoenix, AZ

 

[putt-putt44]

Joss Guys,!!!

Great people and they always have annecdotes about the Great Players of the Past,!!!

Alan Ende.....

 

[bdorman]

French veneers of different colors are only 1/20,000th inch thick, at Joss Cues.

[/I].

Methinks the reporter got it wrong on the thickness of the veneers. 1/20,000 would mean a stack 20,000 sheets of veneers would measure one inch in height. 1/20th would be more like it. Slight less than 1/16" thickness.

The reporter is probably a recent graduate who was taught The New Math.

Neat article though.

 

[bstroud]

Dan has always made great cues.

Bill S.

 

[Donny Lutz]

One bad cue?

Too bad Joss doesn't warranty any of their cues that develop a severe warp two months after being new. It becomes a worthless piece of wood and makes you question just what kind of workmanship and materials goes into a Joss cue, if your Joss cue warps like a China made Dufferin.

As you refer to the warping cue experience as "it", I assume you had one cue that warped. Even if you had more than one, extrapolating to suggest that all Joss cues lack workmanship and quality materials is not logical.

I doubt that any cue maker in history has achieved satisfaction on every cue they or their employees built. Until I start seeing a multitude of complaints I'll go along with the folks who express their appreciation for Joss cues...and I'm among them.

 

[Wedge]

One of the good ones

Dan along with Debbie and their son are three of the finest people in pool I have ever met! I have known Dan since 1973 when I bought my first Custom Joss (My friend Jimmy Matz was playing with a Joss and loved it). I still stop over to Dan's shop once in a while and talk about the old days. Dan has plenty of great stories to share.

Speaking of sharing...thanks for the thread JAM!!! I emailed the link to the thread to Dan, I am sure he will read it and appreciate it!

Frank