Pool cue knowledge in pool rooms

ru4au2

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
How knowledgeable are the people in your pool rooms about cues?...It seems like when Im talking to people about cues if it is not a Predator, Joss, Meucci, or McDermott they have never heard of it....I mentioned I wanted a Tascarella and i pretty sure they thought I was talking about Fonzie's Girlfriend....Now there are a select few but I don't know...Maybe I'm just thinking people who play pool...have been playing pool would know more than they do...Just an observation
 
Custom vs Production

Your real question is "custom vs production".. I travel and play throughout the country and there are a lot of variables within pool halls -- but I wouldn't knock someone that doesn't know Tascarella.. Whatever floats your boat!

(BTW I played with a Tascarella and they hit GOOOOOOD)
 
...I mentioned I wanted a Tascarella and i pretty sure they thought I was talking about Fonzie's Girlfriend....

4dd.gif
 
How knowledgeable are the people in your pool rooms about cues?...It seems like when Im talking to people about cues if it is not a Predator, Joss, Meucci, or McDermott they have never heard of it....I mentioned I wanted a Tascarella and i pretty sure they thought I was talking about Fonzie's Girlfriend....Now there are a select few but I don't know...Maybe I'm just thinking people who play pool...have been playing pool would know more than they do...Just an observation
Custom cues occupy a small, niche market. I know a lot of REALLY good players that couldn't name more than 5-7 cue makers and those are mostly in their region. Unless your a cue nut or collector a lot of the really high-end stuff is unknown to most players.
 
I thin a lot of the knowledge traditionally has been geographically controlled...we had a million an a half big name brands in the mid Atlantic, but then you go to the Midwest and...keep going to the ocean for anything that even approaches the east coasts concentration.

Course, now you got the enternet and I am talking to you and I got no pants on.
 
Your real question is "custom vs production".. I travel and play throughout the country and there are a lot of variables within pool halls -- but I wouldn't knock someone that doesn't know Tascarella.. Whatever floats your boat!

(BTW I played with a Tascarella and they hit GOOOOOOD)

I am not really knocking them....I guess there is a diffrence in playing pool and cue collecting...I guess i get really obsessive and try to know as much as possible as i can about all aspects...Don't get me wrong super nice people...I just want people to talk to about those things....I guess thats why AZB is here
 
>50% of the people know very little other than the cue they bought or someone else's cue on
their team or in the league they participate in.

20-25% know about cue-maker names but understand very little about cue anatomy or the true
differences between cue features from tips to ferrules to joints and shafts & shaft weight etc.

About 1 in 6 to 7 players seem to be more than acquainted about pool cues and cue-making.

However, only about 1 in 10 really know what they are talking about and it does not involve nor
rely upon how much you paid for the cue or the reputation of the cue-maker.
 
>50% of the people know very little other than the cue they bought or someone else's cue on
their team or in the league they participate in.

20-25% know about cue-maker names but understand very little about cue anatomy or the true
differences between cue features from tips to ferrules to joints and shafts & shaft weight etc.

About 1 in 6 to 7 players seem to be more than acquainted about pool cues and cue-making.

However, only about 1 in 10 really know what they are talking about and it does not involve nor
rely upon how much you paid for the cue or the reputation of the cue-maker.
I'm definitely in the 50% :embarrassed2:
 
From my limited experience I have found that contrary to what most would like to believe the majority of pool players don't belong to or know about AZ Billiards

They don' t have exposure to any other type of cue except for the production type cues that most PH carry.

They don't know about or follow the top players in the world, except for very few names that they may have heard about.

If you show some of the local PH regulars a cue such as a SW, Gina, Blue Grass and etc that cost more than $600 they shake their head and will tell you that It is over priced and not worth the money. Many local A to A + players don't really care or know about many custom cue makers. There is one person that has a production cue that is a Eddie Taylor edition. He keeps it locked up and never uses it. He thinks it is worth a ton of money and others will tell him the same. He brags about it all the time.

Very rarely does anyone ever notice or comment on any of my cues except for some one that's is into cue collecting and always looks at other players cue.

🎱
 
How knowledgeable are the people in your pool rooms about cues?...It seems like when Im talking to people about cues if it is not a Predator, Joss, Meucci, or McDermott they have never heard of it....I mentioned I wanted a Tascarella and i pretty sure they thought I was talking about Fonzie's Girlfriend....Now there are a select few but I don't know...Maybe I'm just thinking people who play pool...have been playing pool would know more than they do...Just an observation

In my main room, there are quite a few regurals that know custom cue makers, maybe not many of them but a bunch can probably name half a dozen, and a few of them are fairly involved in cues and could name many of the major makers (one of them had a Tad, and a few other higher end cues).
 
99% in our rooms couldn't name a cue that cost more than $200.
Most of their cues were chosen on the basis of color. (I'll take the purple one.) lol
 
99% in our rooms couldn't name a cue that cost more than $200.
Most of their cues were chosen on the basis of color. (I'll take the purple one.) lol

Yes I understand....I was showing someone my cues and they said you ain't got no McDermotts or Players....I said nope not yet
 
I am not in the habit of going around and checking peoples cues but i so know a few apa.players that know a little about cues and cue makers

Just a few cues I have seen in apa players hands are

Richard black

Mike bender

Alex brick

Woodworth

Phillipi

The guy who used to work for meucci who's name escapes me right now

And a guy who's name also escapes me......seems to mw like it was a Spanish or Italian name.

Probably a couple of more
Cues I have forgotten about.

As far as production cues goes meucci seems to be the most predominate....understandable since he is local. Most seem to go buy directly from the factory.

2 ND would be predator I think as I see quite a few of them.

A few pechaurs

A few schons
 
Most players around here know a nice cue when they see one but also most dont know about many of the cuemakers around the country. They are more familiar with the local makers.
 
I grew up in an area that has produced a gaggle of great makers & those cues are well known as the makers were local to the area. Amazingly enough these same makers were popular with "players" all over the country after a time. Joss, Scruggs, Lambros, Cochran, Frey, Sly & several others.

Yes I'm aware of the maker adored by many that named his cues after a particular colored pig. I'm not of the same opinion as many on the playability of his cues though.
 
Many good and interesting responses here.

In my experience, it depends on room whether there are people knowledgeable about non-production cues.

I wholeheartedly agree that many players do not frequent AZ or the Facebook pages. IMO, the overwhelming majority of players purchase production cues and purchase them new.
 
>50% of the people know very little other than the cue they bought or someone else's cue on
their team or in the league they participate in.

20-25% know about cue-maker names but understand very little about cue anatomy or the true
differences between cue features from tips to ferrules to joints and shafts & shaft weight etc.

About 1 in 6 to 7 players seem to be more than acquainted about pool cues and cue-making.

However, only about 1 in 10 really know what they are talking about and it does not involve nor
rely upon how much you paid for the cue or the reputation of the cue-maker.

Problem is this applies to cuemakers also:eek:
 
There is also a big danger to those with custom/nice cues that are not all fancy, pool hall staff and other customers grabbing your cue and putting it on the wall or using it as a house cue! I have a Ned Morris with no inlays, just some points that are similar to the main cue wood and at least 6 times I had to find it on the wall racks or find some kids at another table using it LOL Not knowing about cues can do that. One dark wood cue looks like another one to someone that does not know anything about cues.
 
pool hall staff and other customers grabbing your cue and putting it on the wall or using it as a house cue! <snip> Not knowing about cues can do that. One dark wood cue looks like another one to someone that does not know anything about cues.

It didn't take me long to find out that leaving cues unattended is a poor idea.
 
It didn't take me long to find out that leaving cues unattended is a poor idea.

I feel safe in my regular few rooms with my cue, but amazing what can happen in the time you go to grab a drink or bathroom. I've only lost two cues in my 30 yr pool life, one was stolen at some place while my wife was at an APA match (I was not there and she was using my cue) and a break cue went missing when my son forgot to put it back in my bag when using it at a league match in a bar when I realized it was missing the next day. Never lost a cue from my regular rooms.
 
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