My Nick Varner Joss Is Home Again!!!!!

8-ball Rat

8-ball Rat

I'll eat you alive.....
Silver Member
HEY YA'LL (...YES, MY CAPS ARE ON, AND YES, I'M YELLING.....I'M PRETTY EXCITED!!!) :),

JUST GOT MY NICK VARNER JOSS CUE BACK FROM SCOT AT PROFICIENT BILLIARDS....AND I'M THINKING HE MAY HAVE SENT ME THE WRONG CUE!!! (YES, I'M KIDDING). THE CUE IS EVEN MORE GORGEOUS THAN I HAD HOPED FOR! WHAT I SENT HIM WAS A BLATANTLY OBVIOUS "WORSE FOR THE WEAR" CUE, BUT IT STILL HAD A PHENOMENAL HIT. I WANTED IT TO LOOK AS GOOD AS IT PLAYED, SO I SENT IT HIS WAY TO GET A REFINISH AND REWRAP. WHAT I GOT BACK WAS NOTHING SHORT OF PERFECT!!!!

ALTHOUGH MY CAMERA IS WHAT YOU COULD CALL "LESS THAN STELLAR," (AS ARE MY SKILLS WITH IT) I'VE ATTACHED SOME PICS, AS I PROMISED WHEN I STARTED A THREAD ASKING WHO HAD MADE THE CUE.

ALSO, HERE'S THE REPLY I GOT VIA E-MAIL FROM STEPHEN JANES WHEN I POSED SOME QUESTIONS, AND FINALLY GOT MY CUE'S HERITAGE (AND I QUOTE):

Hi Mark,

Yes we did make that cue.
There were very few made.
It was a model we made for Nick Varner.
On the ebony ring just below the wrap, in white letters it said, “Joss for Nick Varner World Champion”.
It was a model NV-J-1.
The cue was obviously made for Phil Schmit in 1982.
I think it came originally with an off white with light brown spot wrap. 58” long, one shaft with an Ivory ferrule.
I don’t have an original price on the cue because all were purchased by Nick Varner personally and sold by him.
I hope this helps.

Stephen Janes
www.josscues.com

Thanks again to all who got involved with my quest...and thanks again to Scot for making the cue good as new!

Take care, ya'll.

Mark (THE THRILLED RAT)
 

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Yep...the right pics...

While I will be the first to admit that my photography is...shall we say.....lacking, the original size pics are not as "cramped." Windows explorer should give the option to view pic at original size...which will clean up the edges and such.....

Maybe I ought to spend a little less on cues....and invest in a decent camera and some lessons! :eek:

Rat
 
That is one nice NV-Joss you have there! I know Nick didn't always follow the Joss designs on his cues. Nice points and windows. Looks like it was pre-CNC days at Joss?

You should have seen Nick's and Mike's road cues from those days. Just for fun they would mix up the points and butts for there personal cues. I have some old espn shots from those days were Nick had a different cue for each tournament? One had only half points.....

I know Mike used to work at the Joss plant, I have pictures from an old Playboy of him cutting some inlays for a butt with a lot of cues at the bench with him.

Nice find, Bugs.
 
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Saw this cue today in person. It looks like a million bucks!

An interesting feature is that the inner veneers are razor sharp, but the outer ebony veneer is ever so slightly rounded at the tip. The wooden rectangles in the butt are also really sharp.

Mark's JOSS has a very nice balance, and looks more like the older 70's JOSS models, before they started putting out the gold letter versions in the 80's and early 90's. Mark actually let me hit the first ball with it after getting it back from Proficient Billiards (who buy the way did a magnificent job...it looks BRAND NEW) and it played great. I had to tell him to put down his Scruggs sneaky and hit some balls with that Joss. I know it looked too pretty to play with, but it was begging to hit some balls. Finally Mark obliged its requests. LOL
 
Matt_24 said:
Saw this cue today in person. It looks like a million bucks!

An interesting feature is that the inner veneers are razor sharp, but the outer ebony veneer is ever so slightly rounded at the tip. The wooden rectangles in the butt are also really sharp.

Mark's JOSS has a very nice balance, and looks more like the older 70's JOSS models, before they started putting out the gold letter versions in the 80's and early 90's. Mark actually let me hit the first ball with it after getting it back from Proficient Billiards (who buy the way did a magnificent job...it looks BRAND NEW) and it played great. I had to tell him to put down his Scruggs sneaky and hit some balls with that Joss. I know it looked too pretty to play with, but it was begging to hit some balls. Finally Mark obliged its requests. LOL
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Matt,

Thanks for the compliments (although most, obviously, go to Mr. Janes for making the thing, and Mr. Sherbine for making it new...all over again). Just so you know...it was the distraction of having that cue in the back of my mind that made me miss so much today.....and nothing more! :) (that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!)

Thanks for the lesson today....I've, obviously, got A TON of practice ahead of me!

FYI, AZB'ers....Matt is NO JOKE at the table. He took it very easy on me...and yet it was still impressive to see him at the table. If you find your way to the D.C./Northern Virginia area...look him up. He'll give you a game!

Be good, Ya'll.

Mark (Rat)
 
Mark,

Thanks for the compliments.

For a guy who has been shooting for such a short time you've got some game. Keep up the practice, and we will play some more I'm sure.

Take care,
Matt
 
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