Opinion on new custom cues

Post in the "Cue Gallery" section

I think the "Cue Gallery" section would be the place to post pics of your new cue. You could place these pics and the maker without any comments. For those of us who have or will be ordering cues it is so nice to have examples of cues by makers we are considering.

Pete
 
I think you should tell everyone. If he built the cue and let it leave his shop like that with his name on it then EVERYONE has a right to know what maker it is. He put is work and name out there for everyone to see. There is no need to try to make it right first. If he wanted it right you would have gotten a cue that looked 100 times better.
 
I think one reason a maker should be revealed is because there are others out there with pending orders with various makers. Some of them could be waiting for cues from this same maker. I know I would be seriously pissed off if I too got something like this for my hard-earned dollars, and it could have been prevented.

If it were me, I would definitely feel obligated to warn others.

Lisa
 
I'd like to ask the OP just two things.
Why didn't you confront the builder first, before coming here?
Do you see what you've unleashed by not giving priority to the first question?

There's only one thing wrong with Lisa's argument to reveal identity.
Those people with pending orders, if there are any, haven't gotten their cue yet. Therefore, they have no knowledge of what their finished cue is going to look like. Are you all, ready to make the assumption that everything that this builder produces has inlays of this caliber?
There are a world of facts not yet known.
To reveal the builder's identity at this point could and possibly will have devastating consequences, the depth of which will certainly out-weigh the value of this cue or 10 like it.

Let the quest for a suitable tree delay until the OP contacts the builder.
In your heart, you know that's the right thing to do.
 
I agree with KJ. Of course, my curiousity kicks in and who wouldnt want to know. But if this is a reputable well known builder, I would hate to see their career tarnished or ruined over one mistake. Mistakes happen to everyone, but I hope the builder resolves this problem quick bc that cue is unacceptable.
 
I agree with KJ. Of course, my curiousity kicks in and who wouldnt want to know. But if this is a reputable well known builder, I would hate to see their career tarnished or ruined over one mistake. Mistakes happen to everyone, but I hope the builder resolves this problem quick bc that cue is unacceptable.

I agree with KJ to a point, but this is not one mistake here. One or maybe two small errors on inlays may be acceptable, but this entire cue is trash! KJ has done work for me, and he is top notch all the way, and there is no way in hell he, or any good cuemaker for that matter, would ever look that work over and say "Yep, it looks good enough to me". If he/she let one or two like this go out the door, they will certainly let more go out the door in the future. The cuemaker MUST be outed!


Joe
 
???????

I would just like to know myself, did you try to contact the cuemaker and what did he say ???? That is the question... And if he does nothing out him as he deserves. Thats alot of money for that kind of work... <<ED
 
doing your research on makers

great points so far, but i'd like to add a couple things.

i have been thru a similar situation long time ago, being excited for a custom cue, not really knowing the process and wanting it asap.

10wk for a cue, in my mind and many others, is WAY TOO SHORT. if he can turn a cue in 10wk, he either has a tsunami of wood in various stages, which i doubt or he's rushing things. and by the looks of things he's rushing things.

so, in this case, no offense @peace, because i've done the same thing, but that's kinda your fault for not seeing red flags in how quickly he promised your cue. oh, forgot, another possibility is that it could have been in trash pile but he "resurrected" it especially for you, which is the fault of maker.

it's obvious that the maker, in this particular case, embarrassed himself and didn't provide a quality product to you.

but, for your price tag of how much you wanna spend, doing your research (which i'm not doubting that you did, like i said, i've done the same thing) and talking to other AZers could have saved you all of this.

i feel for you (i've been wondering if i should post my experience but have held out).

good luck w/ maker hopefully he makes it right and bravo to you for with holding his name until he as chance to make it right.
 
I guess I should have talked with the maker before posting, I didn't anticipate the worry it could create for people with customs in the works.
The shop was going to be closed until Monday or I would have already talked with them, not having much experience with cues I just wanted opinions from others with more expertise.

On one hand I see the point that he let them leave the shop putting his reputation at risk but this maker has a very good reputation (which is very puzzling with what you see in the pictures) and I do not want to give him a lot of bad press at least until I here his explanation.

I did not rush the order and in fact told him I was fine to wait but he said he really wanted to get them out before the holiday.
 
I guess I should have talked with the maker before posting, I didn't anticipate the worry it could create for people with customs in the works.
The shop was going to be closed until Monday or I would have already talked with them, not having much experience with cues I just wanted opinions from others with more expertise.

On one hand I see the point that he let them leave the shop putting his reputation at risk but this maker has a very good reputation (which is very puzzling with what you see in the pictures) and I do not want to give him a lot of bad press at least until I here his explanation.

I did not rush the order and in fact told him I was fine to wait but he said he really wanted to get them out before the holiday.


This whole thread is BS He put his rep on the line the second he shipped that cue. Hope there is not any other pending orders from others...
 
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@peace, you have nothing to apologize for.

I guess I should have talked with the maker before posting...

If you are new to the world of custom cues and are (were) unsure if you are being too critical, than posting these pictures and asking your questions here is a completely reasonable course of action.

Now that you have heard a unanimous chorus of opinion regarding the quality of workmanship on these cues, you can confidently voice your displeasure to the cuemaker.

I hope that the guy does right by you. Like many others, I believe that you are perfectly well entitled to name the cuemaker even before you give him a chance to fix things. You've chosen not to do this, and are again well within your rights. It is your decision.

I would encourage you to make the name public if you get ANY kind of resistance to refunding your money or otherwise making this right-- it might save your fellow AZers from a similarly unpleasant experience.
 
This is a good example to show why cues cost as much as they do. It is not as easy as some people think to make one.
 
Only a ten-week wait? That doesn't seem long to me at all....
That's what I was thinking.
10 months is more like it.

Send it back. He can get his investment back easy and he knows it. He's got his time and maybe $150 in materials.
 
That's what I was thinking.
10 months is more like it.

Send it back. He can get his investment back easy and he knows it. He's got his time and maybe $150 in materials.

Yep my wait time on my Gilbert is right at 10 months. Which is good for me because I put 25% down and get to pay off the rest as I go. :grin: I think soon as I get this one I will be ordering another Players cue. Unless I find one before then.
 
Even though custom cues are very difficult to make and it is a skill I will never pocess, if its their profession that kind of work should not be leaving the shop.

Have you received a response regarding these cues yet?
 
I'm not even sure I understand what you're trying to say? :rolleyes:

What I mean is that cue is crap. Not worth $1100. Makes you appreciate a well built cue and why they do cost as much as they do. That cue shows what a well built cue should not be.
 
Wait a minute. There might be a good reason for less time. What if the cue was already in-progress? We sell in-progress cues so the customer can find one they like and buy it as is, but finished, or have inlays put in, depending on how close to finished they are. To order a custom cue that isn't yet begun, that would be a few months for completion, depending on the kind of cue, the extent of design wanted, whether all the materials are already in stock, etc..

If you ordered that cue built from scratch, then yes, I would say anything less than 9 months was probably too soon. If it was already in progress, it would depend on how near completion the cue was, when you bought it, because 10 weeks could be a good time for completion.

If someone has already mentioned this, forgive me for repeating it. But, I wasn't sure.
 
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