Philippine Cues

ClownFish

ClownFish

Banned
Reading the Efren question thread it looks like he highly endorsed Pamapanga Cues which to me is a pretty heavy endorsement. Couldn't really find much on them on AZ or anywhere else on the internet.

Does anyone have any experience with Pampanga Cues or any other cues made in the Philippines. I have a friend going there in the summer and I want him to bring me back something.
 
There is a lot here in the forums about them. Search again.

Just search the word Philippine and permutations of it.

Pampanga is a place...many cue makers there making similar cues. Many are just "tourist trinkets" but you can get good cues from PI.

.
 
so there is no official pampanga cue line right.. and he was more or less saying anything from his city.

i guess i can respect that, ton of people here like to buy american.
 
Bought several Audricks and one Perez Cue from eBay. The Perez Cue was well made and had a nice solid hit. I don't know any more about the Perez cue other than a friend of mine talked me out of it for $200.

The Audrick's looked nice but I wasn't crazy about the hit. They also had a slightly smaller butt diameter which I understand is common with cues from the Phillipines. Also, the wraps weren't securely attached and had a tendency to separate from the wrap groove. :cool:
 
OneIron said:
Bought several Audricks and one Perez Cue from eBay. The Perez Cue was well made and had a nice solid hit. I don't know any more about the Perez cue other than a friend of mine talked me out of it for $200.

The Audrick's looked nice but I wasn't crazy about the hit. They also had a slightly smaller butt diameter which I understand is common with cues from the Phillipines. Also, the wraps weren't securely attached and had a tendency to separate from the wrap groove. :cool:
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I have three Audricks from 2007. They play great actually. The wraps and finish are great as well. I consider them keepers.

One of them does not have a steel joint and although it hits OK I do not prefer it. It's the "wife's player", so I keep it. The other two actually play remarkably well, absolutely lively action and solid hit.
 
EightballJunkie said:
As you may know, the majority Cue Makers in the Philippines are located on the largest island of Luzon. Mostly around Manila, the Rizal province and the Pampanga province.

Many of the cues out of the Pampanga province have a reputation for being very low quality, and frankly that's because many are ...but that's not to say all are.

For example, if Efren went to his favorite cue maker in Pampanga and commissioned a new cue, the cue would be probably be built to a different standard than one built to look pretty for eBay :smile:

The higher quality cues out of Pampanga probably won't be found floating around on the net or in the tourist belts. I think most are destined for local distribution - of course there's always exceptions.
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thanks, not looking to pick something up on e-bay, friend is going to be there so just wanted to get an idea on what was out there.

appreciate all the input from everyone.
 
Chopdoc said:
I have three Audricks from 2007. They play great actually. The wraps and finish are great as well. I consider them keepers.

One of them does not have a steel joint and although it hits OK I do not prefer it. It's the "wife's player", so I keep it. The other two actually play remarkably well, absolutely lively action and solid hit.
Click to expand...

The finish on my Audrick cues was well done but two had the linen wrap come loose. It looked like the linen was not pinned down at each end. But they were really nice looking cues.

They didn't hit bad, just not as well as the Perez. :cool:
 
I would personally vouch for Blackpearlcue aka Al Bautista, his cues seriously play amazing! Workmanship and Finishing is top notch and the same as what you'd get from any good american cuemaker. Don't let his origin deter you cos it is seriously a fine cue. I'm actually looking to upgrade the Blackpearl that i'm using now to something fancier...
 
Al Bautista,

I agree with Jive, Al Bautista, cues are very nice.... Black pearl custom cues
Al and his sons seem to be very honest. 100% in my book
I have also heard high remarks on dino perez Red Fury .
MMike
 
Pampanga Cues

Isn't it possible that a Pampanga Cue Company could be making cues in Pampanga, Philippines? :scratchhead:
 
pampanga cues

hi sirs,

to make it all crystal...pampanga is a province in the Philippines which has been the old capital of cuemaking here in the islands...many cuemakers here now started or had a few year stint there in pampanga cue shops...also not so popular is Bulacan...this is the place where some of the best cuemakers started and honed their skill...Bulacan is beside Pampanga province and almost all of them cuemakers knew each other there...other products there is the Pampanga guitar...

almost all of the cuemakers here in the Philippines started in one shop or two...some of them still here like the bautista brothers from (al, tony, tacio and corsino) bebot is another bautista and is not related to the first bautista's...

then there are the mangolare brothers (billy,lando,mackoy and another brother forgot) they are from south of the Philippines (Bohol) a place where also the Bautista's came from...makes bohol a gold mine for cuemakers...billy and lando makes cues exclusively for a Japanese client now.

then there is the southernmost part of the Philippines...Davao...now who would they bring in to the cuemaking world.....Dindo Perez (R.I.P)...buddy and noli alejandro of the great Viatorre Cues...Dindo of course was Edwin Reyes....buddy now is somewhere in Davao doing something but not cuemaking...noli is still making cues...with roger of the closed patrick navarro...then with them is joel liit (joel small) as we call him and joven

and of course allan abong of edwin reyes is still with me doing same old thing he does best...shaft making and finishing of our cues...just like old times...i could say he is the best finisher here never had a single complaint...top man...

of all these mentioned names in cuemaking....almost....all of them had a job either in Pampanga or Bulacan....its the starting point in cuemaking before...but now when these makers were scattered one can find an apprenticeship anywhere they are...

the baustista's are in the north...with JD somewhere in the area too..
Giant in south area...bebot is in eastern part...

Pampanga has sadly lost its glory...efren had to say its the best because he is of course from Pampanga...

but still the Philippines has many many cuemakers here i forgot to list and some i don't know yet...but in time maybe i could complete a shortlist and some more of who and where they came from and where are they now...

forgot to mention steve urate my friend is still making cues....

thanks and regards...

ron
 
nice read ron! i am always interested in more information about PHI cues.

in my book one of the best cuemakers is master linds. :smile:
not sure if he still makes cues, but i saw some tables lately...

any more information about nimrod cues?
i was able to play the old cue made for carlo and it played very well.
i think he's located in QC.

thanks & best regards
 
theredfury said:
hi sirs,

to make it all crystal...pampanga is a province in the Philippines which has been the old capital of cuemaking here in the islands...many cuemakers here now started or had a few year stint there in pampanga cue shops...also not so popular is Bulacan...this is the place where some of the best cuemakers started and honed their skill...Bulacan is beside Pampanga province and almost all of them cuemakers knew each other there...other products there is the Pampanga guitar...

almost all of the cuemakers here in the Philippines started in one shop or two...some of them still here like the bautista brothers from (al, tony, tacio and corsino) bebot is another bautista and is not related to the first bautista's...

then there are the mangolare brothers (billy,lando,mackoy and another brother forgot) they are from south of the Philippines (Bohol) a place where also the Bautista's came from...makes bohol a gold mine for cuemakers...billy and lando makes cues exclusively for a Japanese client now.

then there is the southernmost part of the Philippines...Davao...now who would they bring in to the cuemaking world.....Dindo Perez (R.I.P)...buddy and noli alejandro of the great Viatorre Cues...Dindo of course was Edwin Reyes....buddy now is somewhere in Davao doing something but not cuemaking...noli is still making cues...with roger of the closed patrick navarro...then with them is joel liit (joel small) as we call him and joven

and of course allan abong of edwin reyes is still with me doing same old thing he does best...shaft making and finishing of our cues...just like old times...i could say he is the best finisher here never had a single complaint...top man...

of all these mentioned names in cuemaking....almost....all of them had a job either in Pampanga or Bulacan....its the starting point in cuemaking before...but now when these makers were scattered one can find an apprenticeship anywhere they are...

the baustista's are in the north...with JD somewhere in the area too..
Giant in south area...bebot is in eastern part...

Pampanga has sadly lost its glory...efren had to say its the best because he is of course from Pampanga...

but still the Philippines has many many cuemakers here i forgot to list and some i don't know yet...but in time maybe i could complete a shortlist and some more of who and where they came from and where are they now...

forgot to mention steve urate my friend is still making cues....

thanks and regards...

ron
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Thanks for this info Ron. It took me some time but I finally found a good playing cue made by Bebot. I keep it over there so I don't have to carry one on the plane. There are definitely good cues to be found over there and the prices are quite reasonable. I paid 10,000p (about $240) for my cue and am very happy with it.

The one problem I've seen there is finding good shaft wood. We are fortunate here to have Canadian maple readily available to us. I'm not sure where you get your shaft wood (Indonesia?) but some cue makers are using some low grade stuff from what I've seen. As you know a good shaft is just as important as a well made butt. Thanks again
 
Al Bautista (BlackPearlCues) is a great builder and craftsman. He's the only Pinoy cuemaker I've had experience with...and have been very pleased to say the least. I've owned three of his cues, two of which I eventually sold to friends that wanted a great cue at a very fair price. The other one I had custom made to my specs, and it's a keeper...a cue my nephews can fight over when the time comes :grin:

Al told me it would take a year or so to complete, which it did...which also means it was on time...unlike MANY other cuemakers(and a certain casemaker) that keep putting things off. That speaks volumes to me...and the butt and both shafts are straight as a steel rod to this day.

I wouldn't hesitate ordering another, and plan on it once my financial situation improves :o
Good luck on your quest :thumbup:

Clint
 
I have a Viatorre cue from Jackson Tan (now retired). I know they are no longer making cues, but it is one of the best playing cues I have held. I haven't played with it for a while, but it will be staying with me.

I don't think all PI cues are the best quality, but that can also be said about cues from anywhere. I can state for a fact that there are some very good cue makers there.
 
EightballJunkie said:
I think most of the CMs there are using North American Sugar Maple. Of course the grades can vary greatly, so it's ultimately up to the CM to decide what's used and what's not - just like anywhere.

There was a picture posted around here recently of a shaft out of Pampanga. It wasn't maple, looked more like Gonystylus or Mersawa (Palosapis). Both woods I think are native to the region.

EDIT: BTW, here's a macro of a shaft Steve Urate set me up with while I was living there. 15-16 GPI, grain runs pretty straight through the entire shaft. Pretty nice IMO.

dscn0855-38404464.jpg
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That shaft looks good, but I've seen many that did not.
 
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