StraightIn
Registered
I am a new member on this forum but have been reading posts for many years. I have been playing pool for many years and still have my custom made Palmer, Meucci Rug Beater, and Joss cues along with Felini case from the 70s. I love the game and have played off and on for all of those years. I am currently working with my teenage sons and trying to pass on my passion for the game. I purchased a 9' table 4 years ago but in the last year four of the rails became hard as wood. The table was used for some tournaments many years ago and had fairly tight pockets but the balls tended to hang in the corners making certain shots very difficult to consistently pocket.
I took a chance and called Mark Gregory and asked if he could change the cushions and also look at the corner angles after explaining the ball hanging issues. Mark explained what had to be done to the rails and what he could do to make sure the pockets were of the proper dimensions. After discussing the cost of these repairs, I asked Mark what he would do if he had this table as far as the repairs went. Mark told me that he would do whatever I asked but if it was him he had some used Gold Crown IVs that would be a better option. He told me to think about the options and get back to him. I decided to purchase the Gold Crown IV (at a very fair price) and asked if he would re-cloth the rails if I purchased the Simonis cloth from him. Well when I went to his shop to pick up the table, Mark had redone all of the angles on the GC IV corners, perfectly installed the rail cloth, buffed the rails, polished the castings and made sure all of the pieces were with the table. He also gave my oldest son some pointers on playing pool, a set of centennial balls along with a couple of instructional dvds.
I also had a lot of questions for Mark on how to set up the table since it was too far for Mark to travel for the table setup. I had setup a few tables in the past but am not as proficient as many of the great mechanics on this forum. Mark not only explained all of his techniques but also showed how to perform the procedures. I asked him what type of shims he used and he said he used special hardwood shims and gave me a handful for the install. The shims worked great. He also showed me the glues he used along with the seaming material. He explained how to level the frame and then the slates. He showed me how to install the cloth and I had also watched the Simonis dvd (very good video and procedure to follow) and the install went without issues. Mark also said if I had any issues during the install to just give him a call. I called him I think 3 times and he always had the answer I needed.
I was not in a hurry so it took about 4 afternoons to complete the install but the table plays like new. There sure are a lot of bolts and pieces to a Gold Crown IV.
Also I had a chance to tour Mark's shop and all of the pool tables and parts in progress. There were Gold Crowns, Centennials, bar boxes and table rails on shelves in various states of progress. The polished metal on a couple of his near completed Centennials were just eye-popping. The shop is setup to handles all types of repairs and table building. Some of the machines I had never seen before and he explained how he used them to make his repairs more solid and consistent.
Thank you Mark Gregory.
A very satisfied customer.
I took a chance and called Mark Gregory and asked if he could change the cushions and also look at the corner angles after explaining the ball hanging issues. Mark explained what had to be done to the rails and what he could do to make sure the pockets were of the proper dimensions. After discussing the cost of these repairs, I asked Mark what he would do if he had this table as far as the repairs went. Mark told me that he would do whatever I asked but if it was him he had some used Gold Crown IVs that would be a better option. He told me to think about the options and get back to him. I decided to purchase the Gold Crown IV (at a very fair price) and asked if he would re-cloth the rails if I purchased the Simonis cloth from him. Well when I went to his shop to pick up the table, Mark had redone all of the angles on the GC IV corners, perfectly installed the rail cloth, buffed the rails, polished the castings and made sure all of the pieces were with the table. He also gave my oldest son some pointers on playing pool, a set of centennial balls along with a couple of instructional dvds.
I also had a lot of questions for Mark on how to set up the table since it was too far for Mark to travel for the table setup. I had setup a few tables in the past but am not as proficient as many of the great mechanics on this forum. Mark not only explained all of his techniques but also showed how to perform the procedures. I asked him what type of shims he used and he said he used special hardwood shims and gave me a handful for the install. The shims worked great. He also showed me the glues he used along with the seaming material. He explained how to level the frame and then the slates. He showed me how to install the cloth and I had also watched the Simonis dvd (very good video and procedure to follow) and the install went without issues. Mark also said if I had any issues during the install to just give him a call. I called him I think 3 times and he always had the answer I needed.
I was not in a hurry so it took about 4 afternoons to complete the install but the table plays like new. There sure are a lot of bolts and pieces to a Gold Crown IV.
Also I had a chance to tour Mark's shop and all of the pool tables and parts in progress. There were Gold Crowns, Centennials, bar boxes and table rails on shelves in various states of progress. The polished metal on a couple of his near completed Centennials were just eye-popping. The shop is setup to handles all types of repairs and table building. Some of the machines I had never seen before and he explained how he used them to make his repairs more solid and consistent.
Thank you Mark Gregory.
A very satisfied customer.