Hi all,
I recently picked up a cue made by Dale Patten. Dale has been in the business for a long time and used to sell a line of cues that was endorsed by his brother in law, Ritchie Florence.
The cue was purchased from Dale by the guy I bought it from in 1978. It has a solid ivory joint and rolls straight as an arrow. It even has a set of old yellow Bakelite JP's for the butt and original two shafts (the third shaft is by Patten, too, but was made later on). The cue has that nice, old school feel and hit to it. Solid as a rock with a great "ping" sound.
My first question is that Dale used to use a lot of Szam and Spain blanks. I don't recognize these as either, but wanted to throw it out for your opinions. The colors are a mahogany brown, orange, light orange (or maybe yellow), and natural.
Next question is that the cue is real dirty and alot of the finish has worn thin or off, which has allowed chalk blueing to creep in on the butt around the bottom of the points. There are several player's dings, but nothing horrible. I know with a lot of the big names, you shouldn't refinish the cue unless there is damage, etc. I tried to buy a Patten from Raist Chin before he passed away. He had Proficient refinish his and it looked great, but he felt it hurt the value a little. The guy I bought this cue from took it in to Kerry Zeiler to have refinished, but Kerry wouldn't do it because he felt it would hurt the value.
I would like to get some opinions from you guys. What ya think?
Thanks,
Steve
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