Playing with an old Balabushka cue
- Thread starter cuejoey
- Start date
Someone correct me if i am wrong, but doesnt " Lucky " have a Original Bushka that he plays with?
I cant remember if it was him or someone else who goes around snatching up all the super expensive custom cues.
dave
I cant remember if it was him or someone else who goes around snatching up all the super expensive custom cues.
dave
> A few years ago,there were 2 older guys that were regulars at High Pockets in Memphis that owned Bushkas. One of them was a very plain 4 point with the steel joint,and looked to be one of his newest/last cues. The other was ivory jointed,and had a few inlays. The steel jointed one was by far the better of the 2,it had a very similar hit to an original Gus with ivory ferrules. The ivory jointed one hit horrible and made so much noise I told him I thought it was broke. Tommy D.
PoolSleuth
Banned
StormHotRod300 said:
If I had Lucky's money I would play with what ever I wanted to play with.
PoolSleuth
Banned
Gerry said:I'm gonna play with a Bushka......as soon as I find one at a garage sale!!!
we all have dreams......G
That "Dream" could come true if you go to enough Garage Sales.
Guy I know went to a Garage Sale, found a like newWill Hoppie Titleist for $15.00. He was looking at the Ivory Ring that had a small crack, and the owner say something like. Yes it has a crack, would you pay $10.00.
As the new owner is walking to his car, the seller is yelling Sir Sir. Seller says you forgot the Care, and give him a “Like New” 1 x 2 Leather Its a George Case.
Yes all that for $10.00
The Bamboozler
Banned
That would be like playing with a persimmon golf club versus a Big Bertha metal driver. Technology has improved so much, it would be senseless to play with an antique cue, unless you wanted to start conversation.
Flex said:
No, it makes it a mis-matched cue, which is the opposite of what custom cues are about, in my opinion. What he's saying is if you take a cue that was carefully designed to hit a certain way with a certain shaft, all bets are off as far as how well it will hit if you change the shaft.
I you take a cheap cue that wasn't carefully designed to have any particular type of hit at all, all bets are already off as far as how well it will hit, whether you change the shaft or not.
-Andrew
So, when the shafts wear out, and the original crastman is dead... my cue is dead in the water, huh? Crap. Better throw my Bushka out. < CLANG!! >
And I just had a new ferrule and tips put on my Szamboti... Not original any more! Awwww! < CLANG!! >
And I just had a new ferrule and tips put on my Szamboti... Not original any more! Awwww! < CLANG!! >
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Andrew Manning said:
I don't think Balabushka carefully designed cues to hit a certain way, he was just a guy in a garage building cues. I have two, I used to have four but sold two to Rick G., and they are not really anything special. I used to play in tournaments with one just for the novelty of it but it attracted the wrong kind attention. I still hit some balls at home from time to time with them. I only have two original shafts by the way. Szamboti made me new shafts and rewraped the cue I liked to use. It probably hurt the value but back then no one really cared about Balabushka cues, you could buy one for a few hundred. COLOR of Money I think changed all that and the collectors began wanting them driving up the value. I actually traded one for a Szamboti and gave the guy an additional $200. the Szamboti was worth more at the time and this was when Szamboti was still alive.
I played with mine for a couple of months, and I felt it hit as good as any cue I've played with. It has the original shaft and I think that in itself makes a huge difference. No buzzing or thunks, or any other noise I've heard some people talk about. It hits real solid and a Joy to play with.cuejoey said:
TommyT
Andrew Manning said:
Actually, I did just that, had Ed Young make a shaft for my Meucci. In spite of the VERY stiff taper of the new shaft, the Meucci hits about the same as before, but plays very differently. When I put the Ed Young shaft on my sneaky, it retained the excellent, lively feel of the sneaky, with all the benefits of the super stiff shaft. It's my favorite combination now. The hit really seems to come from the butt, and gives me the kind of feedback and playability I love.
Flex
BillYards said:
Now I didn't say dead in the water. You'd be playing with a cue that looks like (and half of it IS, of course) a Balabushka... and hits like whatever the guy who made your new shaft made it hit like. You still get the status symbol, the resale value, and the envy of your pool-playing peers, but I don't think you can claim you get the same hit.
Also, although not really relevant since you were being facetious, I think changing the ferrule and tip affects the hit quite a bit less than changing the whole shaft.
But don't throw your Bushka and Szamboti away. I'll take them off your hands for 50 bucks each. I'll even pay the shipping!
-Andrew