New to Forum - Szamboti owner

alydon

alydon

New member
New to the AZB Forum.

I have bought two cues in my life - the first as a Sophomore at Georgia Tech where I learned to play and the 2nd not too long ago.

Both are Gus Szamboti cues. The first cue my close friend and I ordered in mid 1980. We knew a local Atlanta player who owned a Szamboti and he gave us Gus' phone #. We were amateurs, but knew his cues were magic wands. Gus made us call him back after a year to make sure we were serious. We called him a year to the day in mid 1981 to tell him we were still serious about getting cues from him. He told us to call him back in a year to show again we were serious. Another year to the day in mid 1982, we called Gus and said, Yes - we are still serious about getting cues made by him. At that time he asked how much we wanted to spend. We told him about $400 each. Gus told us to call him back in 3 months. Three months to the day, we called Gus again and he said Ok. Never heard another word from Gus until one day in early 1983 Marcus and I each had US Postal parcel slips in our Tech mail boxes! Our cues had arrived.

Of course, we were seniors by then, but we had our Szamboti cues! I had to quickly buy a case since I didn't own a cue. Was told to call Fellini in Texas and bought one they had already made and ready to ship - a kind of ugly orange suede! But it was a Fellini and I had a Gus cue to put in it. Don't have one picture of the cue, but it had four notched MOP diamonds in the butt as well in the base of each of the four points. Two 13mm shafts with ivory ferrules. I never chalked one of the shafts.

I am quite sure I spent more hours playing pool the rest of my Senior year than I did in class or studying. I got a Lou Butera Tip Tapper and some Masters chalk and had a blast with that cue. I was smart to keep the original triangular shipping box and plastic sleeve the cue was shipped in.

Fast forward to around 1994 or so and was financially strapped living in Southern California and reluctantly parted with my one and only Szamboti. Sold the cue, case and original box to a Japanese collector for $3,500. Was sad to let go of it.

Gave up the game for about 20 years until I had the opportunity and funds to buy another cue. Wasn't much of a debate - had to be a Gus cue with a Fellini case.

So, trying to have a little fun and perusing this forum. Brings back some memories.

Al
 
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Welcome to the forum. Are you saying you didn't have input into your original Gus? Just price range and he took it from there?

Have any pics of your current Gus?
 
Had no input whatsoever in the cue, other than how much we wanted to spend. We told him to make whatever he wanted. My friend's cue had 4 maple wndows in the butt but no MOP inlays. His points had red, black, natural veneers. My cue had the MOP notched diamonds in the butt and point bases and my veneer colors were black, green and natural, as I recall.

Will post a couple pics of my current cue - this one is a plain Jane - plain ebony butt and four points with two original shafts - just how I wanted. No frills or fancy inlays - just a player Gus cue.

Al
 
alydon said:
Had no input whatsoever in the cue, other than how much we wanted to spend. We told him to make whatever he wanted. My friend's cue had 4 maple wndows in the butt but no MOP inlays. His points had red, black, natural veneers. My cue had the MOP notched diamonds in the butt and point bases and my veneer colors were black, green and natural, as I recall.

Will post a couple pics of my current cue - this one is a plain Jane - plain ebony butt and four points with two original shafts - just how I wanted. No frills or fancy inlays - just a player Gus cue.

Al
Click to expand...

Was that the norm with Gus and other makers of that era or did you guys just want the surprise?
 
To be honest, we weren't sophisticated enough players to even think about how we wanted our cues to look - we were just thrilled to own one!
 
That is how gus made mine
barry did the same at first

in fact that is the way i bought most of my cues

i can still hear gus saying'i make you a nice cuedon"t worry about it'
 
xianmacx said:
Was that the norm with Gus and other makers of that era or did you guys just want the surprise?
Click to expand...

I know for certain that the majority of Balabushka cues were not custom ordered. You needed to really be someone to get a cue made for you.
 
Cool story! Welcome aboard.

Hope you get a lot of enjoyment with your new Gus!
 
Welcome to the forum!

Great story.

I still have my Joss and the Fellini it came in. Got it second hand in 1985.

It ain't no Gus...but to me it is the best.

I hope you stick around and share some pics and more stories.

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 
I must be someone

ideologist said:
I know for certain that the majority of Balabushka cues were not custom ordered. You needed to really be someone to get a cue made for you.
Click to expand...

I purchased 6 different cues from Balabushka and drew a picture of what
I wanted on each one. My friend Alf Taylor came back from Johnson City
where he had seen one. We both had Paradice cues at that time. His was
Titilest Butt with dots in the butt sleeve. I drew a picture of what I wanted
I wanted mine to be fancier than his. Diamonds in the bottom and a small
black dot over the points. It took about 3 weeks to get it.
I remember DEANOC's first Balabushka . It was ugly as a mud fence.
It had a checker board as the butt sleeve. I asked him " is this what you
ordered". No he says, I told him to do what he wanted. Well there you go.
jack
 
I owned two Balabushka cues in my life. I played with both of them and they played great imo. I sold my last one in Dayton in 1974 for $200. I considered it a plain cue with only four small diamonds in the ebony butt and one small diamond in each of the four points. There were silver rings above and below the wrap and in the joint. Years later (maybe 20) I remember seeing a similar cue that sold for $20,000! I wasn't too sick. ;)
 
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Alydon,
I enjoyed your tale of your first Gus, a good read and well remembered.
Many of us remember how and when we got our first big cue.
It was special, right up there with first car and first girlfriend!

Welcome to AZB, you sound like you are going to enjoy the forums.

Will Prout
 
alydon said:
New to the AZB Forum.

I have bought two cues in my life - the first as a Sophomore at Georgia Tech where I learned to play and the 2nd not too long ago.

Both are Gus Szamboti cues. The first cue my close friend and I ordered in mid 1980. We knew a local Atlanta player who owned a Szamboti and he gave us Gus' phone #. We were amateurs, but knew his cues were magic wands. Gus made us call him back after a year to make sure we were serious. We called him a year to the day in mid 1981 to tell him we were still serious about getting cues from him. He told us to call him back in a year to show again we were serious. Another year to the day in mid 1982, we called Gus and said, Yes - we are still serious about getting cues made by him. At that time he asked how much we wanted to spend. We told him about $400 each. Gus told us to call him back in 3 months. Three months to the day, we called Gus again and he said Ok. Never heard another word from Gus until one day in early 1983 Marcus and I each had US Postal parcel slips in our Tech mail boxes! Our cues had arrived.

Of course, we were seniors by then, but we had our Szamboti cues! I had to quickly buy a case since I didn't own a cue. Was told to call Fellini in Texas and bought one they had already made and ready to ship - a kind of ugly orange suede! But it was a Fellini and I had a Gus cue to put in it. Don't have one picture of the cue, but it had four notched MOP diamonds in the butt as well in the base of each of the four points. Two 13mm shafts with ivory ferrules. I never chalked one of the shafts.

I am quite sure I spent more hours playing pool the rest of my Senior year than I did in class or studying. I got a Lou Butera Tip Tapper and some Masters chalk and had a blast with that cue. I was smart to keep the original triangular shipping box and plastic sleeve the cue was shipped in.

Fast forward to around 1994 or so and was financially strapped living in Southern California and reluctantly parted with my one and only Szamboti. Sold the cue, case and original box to a Japanese collector for $3,500. Was sad to let go of it.

Gave up the game for about 20 years until I had the opportunity and funds to buy another cue. Wasn't much of a debate - had to be a Gus cue with a Fellini case.

So, trying to have a little fun and perusing this forum. Brings back some memories.

Al
Click to expand...
The first custom cue I ever had was a Doc Frye, which was made for me around 1969-70, when I was around 13. We lived in central NJ, my Dad worked in eastern PA, and when he knew I was wanting a pool cue for a birthday or Christmas present, he inquired where he worked, which was near Feasterville, where Doc Frye had his shop in the basement of his home. My Dad took me to Doc's shop, he asked me what I wanted, and Doc had it for me within a few weeks. I liked it so much I ordered another one from him a year or two later. Unfortunately, although I played with his cues into my early 20s, I didn't hold on to them, as I was just unaware of what I had until they were long gone.

I do have a Gus from the late 70s, which I've had since around 1981. A casual player friend of mine had researched who made a good custom cue and I guess Gus was luckily recommended to him, as we lived in the northeast. He ordered one with 2 shafts, ivory ferrules, waited whatever time to get it, and had it for just a few years, hardly ever used, before giving up pool and offering to sell it to me for likely around the same price he'd paid for it, since he knew I was an avid pool player with a table. Neither of us knew at the time it was anything special. I never found out until a number of years later, when playing at a tournament somewhere, someone told me it was a Gus Szamboti, quite valuable, and tried to buy it off me. Luckily, I still have it.

For a short time, I started collecting a few cues, purchasing a really nice Southwest and a Tad while at Valley Forge around 20 years ago. I've since sold both of those, but luckily I still have the Szamboti, although I haven't played with it in 25+ years - way too much deflection for someone who has played with Predator shafts for 20+ years. I'm currently playing with a very nice Pechauer butt with a Predator Vantage shaft. I tried the Revo for about 6 months last year, loved the accuracy, but just never could get used to the sound or the feel of the shaft, so I recently switched back.
 
ChrisinNC said:
The first custom cue I ever had was a Doc Frye, which was made for me around 1969-70, when I was around 13. We lived in central NJ, my Dad worked in eastern PA, and when he knew I was wanting a pool cue for a birthday or Christmas present, he inquired where he worked, which was near Feasterville, where Doc Frye had his shop in the basement of his home. My Dad took me to Doc's shop, he asked me what I wanted, and Doc had it for me within a few weeks. I liked it so much I ordered another one from him a year or two later. Unfortunately, although I played with his cues into my early 20s, I didn't hold on to them, as I was just unaware of what I had until they were long gone.

I do have a Gus from the late 70s, which I've had since around 1981. A casual player friend of mine had researched who made a good custom cue and I guess Gus was luckily recommended to him, as we lived in the northeast. He ordered one with 2 shafts, ivory ferrules, waited whatever time to get it, and had it for just a few years, hardly ever used, before giving up pool and offering to sell it to me for likely around the same price he'd paid for it, since he knew I was an avid pool player with a table. Neither of us knew at the time it was anything special. I never found out until a number of years later, when playing at a tournament somewhere, someone told me it was a Gus Szamboti, quite valuable, and tried to buy it off me. Luckily, I still have it.

For a short time, I started collecting a few cues, purchasing a really nice Southwest and a Tad while at Valley Forge around 20 years ago. I've since sold both of those, but luckily I still have the Szamboti, although I haven't played with it in 25+ years - way too much deflection for someone who has played with Predator shafts for 20+ years. I'm currently playing with a very nice Pechauer butt with a Predator Vantage shaft. I tried the Revo for about 6 months last year, loved the accuracy, but just never could get used to the sound or the feel of the shaft, so I recently switched back.
Click to expand...

Doc Frye used to stop by all the Philly rooms and I remember him stopping in my home room a couple of times around 1969. I think his sticks went for about $100 back then. That was a very nice present you received. A hundred buck was a bunch back then.
 
philly said:
Doc Frye used to stop by all the Philly rooms and I remember him stopping in my home room a couple of times around 1969. I think his sticks went for about $100 back then. That was a very nice present you received. A hundred buck was a bunch back then.
Click to expand...
I don't even think it was that much - likely in the $70 - $80 range. It's just so coincidental that like 10+ years later I unknowingly lucked in to purchasing a Gus Szamboti cue, who I much later learned was initially taught his cuemaking skills by Doc Frye.
 
ChrisinNC said:
I don't even think it was that much - likely in the $70 - $80 range. It's just so coincidental that like 10+ years later I unknowingly lucked in to purchasing a Gus Szamboti cue, who I much later learned was initially taught his cuemaking skills by Doc Frye.
Click to expand...

I believe Gus lived in Ardmore, a suburb of Philly, on the Main Line and Doc lived in Langhorne, also a suburb of Philly. Doc was actually a Pharmacist and had a Pharmacy in Germantown, a neighborhood in Philly.

About 3 years ago a guy came on here asking anyone if they knew of any stories of Doc. He was married to one of Doc's grandaughters and living in Colorado. He went by "Silverminer" as he was a retired mining engineer. Nice guy.

To make a long story short, when he came into town I took him around to the local rooms here in Philly and we came across a lot of guys that knew Doc and had stories to tell. At Pete Fusco's room in Langhorene they have doc's old lathe in the back room and it is still in use.

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?389636&p=5072935#post5072935
 
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