I am glad it all worked out. That sure does not look like the same cue I saw in his shop!!
It was an interesting trip. I showed him a cue I had, and he held it for a minute, and said to his wife " I made this cue about 40 years ago", and went on to describe the materials in it. It was worth the trip right there.
Then things got a little strange. I told him I had called him earlier and would like to see what cues he had for sale. I had talked to him on the phone, and he had said to come on down, and that he had cues ready for sale. I was starting to get excited at what he might have, and he motions me to follow him to the back of the small shop. He opens the door to a large closet, and it is full of cues in plastic sleeves. At first I was amazed that he had so many, untill my eyes began to focus on them. They were all imported production cues with nice little gold stickers listing the weight. I saw some crystal leisure cues, etc. I was speechless. My heart sunk. I exchanged a nervous glance with my girlfriend and began to wonder how I would explain this to Eric. He was saying " what weight do you want?' He was trying to sell me a cue for like $40 or something. He was showing me catalogs and such. I let him know that I made the trip down to buy a cue that he had made, not something I could get on ebay ( I did not say it like that to him).
The ironic thing is, he seemed a bit put off by my insistance that I was ONLY interested in a cue made by Abe himself. I would have thought this to be taken as a compliment.
I kept talking to him, and looking around his shop some more. I am thinking that there was not going to be any cues bought today, so maybe I could get a new shaft for my abe rich cue. He tells me he can order one ( I think from a balabushka ( adam) catalog. I again tell him that I was looking for an original shaft. He seems a bit irritated, and finally tries a couple of random shafts that are laying around, no matches.
He then pulls out a plain looking cue that has the right joint and rings and puts the shaft on my cue. I start to check out the cue and ask him what it was. He tells me it was one of his that he had made a while back. I start to perk up a bit. I ask him if it would sell it. He almost seems to mull it over a bit. I started to take pics and contact Eric about what I had found. It was pretty rough and needed some TLC. I had nothing to roll it on, so I sighted down it the best I could. I tried to give the most accurate description I could, but did not want to "sell" it as I know it was not what either of us had in mind. I get the green light to buy it, and Abe almost seems suspicious about the fact that I do actually intend to buy it.
I had already spent more time than I intended, and am going to be late for a county final match an hours drive away. I pull out the money, he won't budge a nickel on the price, AND adds tax. I give him the money, and he is surprised that I do not have exact change. I had close to the right amount, but it would have been in my favor. That was not an option. So I had to wait for an eternity for him to find the change to give me and write a receipt. At this point I practically ran out of there to get back on the road.
All in all, I am very glad to have met him. He is a part of traditional cuemaking history.
Eric,I hope you enjoy the cue. As you say, I believe it is almost certainly the last abe rich cue that he personally sold.
Jw
) directly from Abe. This would entail getting some pictures and prices emailed to me and handling the transaction and shipping the cue to me. I would compensate them accordingly.
Whatever, I got it.
