Modern Day Balabushka

[TATE]

I own 2 original Balabushka's and have hit with several others. The ones I've played with have all played good to great. Then I think about the fact they are 40 years old and I am blown away with how good they are. If a 40+ year old cue is as good as todays standards it must have been something truly remarkable back then. Hit is subjective but the Balabushka's I own are both still dead straight, what does that say about his work....
I think Balabushka's contribution to the history of cues and cue making was huge and helped paved the way for todays work.
Today there are hundreds of cue makers that can make you a fantastic cue. 40 - 50 years ago there were only a handful and George was one of them.

Balabushka's play great. True these older cues tend to have more weight rearward, but that's why they feel lighter than they really are. They were heavier because the balls were dead and the cloth was thick.

The guy that said that Balabushka's hit hard as a rock just needed to have the cue re-tipped. Old cues have dried out well petrified tips that are as hard as a rock.

Maybe not everyone has had a chance to play with a Balabushka. I've hit balls with a few. The closest thing I can compare a Balabushka to is a 1960's Ginacue. If someone has played with a Gina Titlist conversion from the 1960's, they are one heck of a great playing cue and are very similar in many ways to a Balabushka.

Asking who is today's Balabushka is like asking what is today's equivalent of a 57 Chevy. Answer: nothing.

 

[Slim Limpy]

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[classiccues]

OK, let's get this straight --

In any of you would do even the slightest bit of research before posting your unlearned, turd-brained opinions, you could find out for yourselves who the real modern-day Bala Bushka is:

http://drupal.org/user/405965

So there. And he's lonesome. Join the chatsite and send him a PM, for God's sake.

He works at the Dunkin Donuts by my house.

JV

 

[JB Cases]

Does anybody remember the fake Balabushkas that flooded the market in the 80s? Word got around that the Japanese cue collectors were paying upwards of 50k for a Balabushka. That's when cuemakers went to work. No one ever seems to like to talk about those days, when they forever brought the price of the cues down with their phony replicas.

That, ladies and gents, is our illustrious billiard industry. I wonder who was making those cues? I wonder who was selling those cues?

That is ANY industry. Anything that costs a lot is going to be counterfeiter if it's possible to fake it.

Any time there is sudden demand then people rush to fill it before the bubble bursts.

 

[XPLAYHARDX]

Easy

TASCARELLA AND MOTTEYS CONSISTENTLY PLAY BEST THIS WAS A NO BRAINER QUESTION .......JOSSWEST CUES ARE NOT FAR BEHIND IN PLAYABILITY IMHO
I THINK MOTTEYS ARE GOING TO BECOME THE NEXT COLLECTERS AND PLAYERS MUST HAVE CUES :smile:

 

[Spider1]

I've shot with a real Balabushka before. I was somewhat skeptical over how it would shoot, thinking it would be a little 'rickety', like when you are used to a modern car, and then get behind the wheel of an old t-bucket or Model A.

Boy was I wrong!

It shot like a million bucks! Felt completely comfortable, solid, and the hit/feel was as good or better as any cue I've ever shot with before. Kind of an eye-opening experience.


I must say though, that the collector who let me shoot with the cue was sitting there saying "no no no, don't baby it, you're not going to hurt it...Shoot with it!" which might have made a difference between my observation and the "I took 3 or 4 shots and it hit like a rock" stories people posted earlier.

 

[grindz]

I don't know why, but all this talk just makes me want to have a bunch of cues from all the names mentioned. Even though I'm totally happy with my old JW and will never let it go.

Whatever it is, it's contagious, and this place is full of it!!

td