Jeff said:I have a hard time believing people will order fancy cues, with exotic woods and no wraps, with the intention of of using them as "playing" cues.".
Not to beat this to death but... I have been trying to play pool seriously for about 14 months now and play about 5 nights a week. Mostly drills and practice and some 8 ball league.
Early on, a former champion billiards player extoled the virtues of wrapless cues and initially I didn't buy it but I do now and play with one everyday. The wrap cues stay in the closet.
I also just took delivery in the last couple of weeks of my long awaited PFDrexler. (Put some pics in the gallery).http://www.azbilliards.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=24154 Not sure if this counts as fancy but it is now my everyday cue and it is NOT for sale ;-) I love it.
Paul was first rate and did a great job. In reading his post and dealing with him I don't believe his intention was a slam against Benny in any way. His only mistake was probably posting at all. Obviously Paul loves to make the super ornate stuff but I think he also loves building a beautiful cue for a player that is going to use it everyday. That is what he did for me and I thank him.
No slam on production cues, but whenever the locals start talking about $1200 Schon's or Meucci's, I cringe and want to sing the praises of the custom cuemakers. A little more risk I suppose but I think it is worth it.