xX-Wizard-Xx
Well-known member
That's really in a nut shell what I am saying ... Doesn't matter how much you spend on something if that isn't you then it isn't you.
Quality of affordable cues...
- Thread starter Matt_24
- Start date
old meucci sneakys were probably as good as any cue back in the days? wood on wood joint, true "sneaky"
xX-Wizard-Xx
Well-known member
A good shaft and decent butt ... For $500 you could have equipment every bit as good as someone's 6000 cue ...
xX-Wizard-Xx
Well-known member
Get prather to build a sneaky pete for you and get a good maple shaft ...That's it ...You're in business
Do you really think people buy $4k cues because they think they will play better with them than $500 cues? A thought experiment: maybe a person who buys a $4k cue likes the way the cue looks better than a $500 cue, and it gives them joy every time they look at the cue and play with it. In addition, maybe they believe that the $4k cue can be sold in used condition in a couple of years for the same $4k they paid for it (or higher), thereby funding their next cue purchase.
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xX-Wizard-Xx
Well-known member
Sure or you take that 4k cue and leave on the table to go to the restroom and its gone ....
Also people have made comments that a high quality cue matters .... I argue it don't ...
Another thought experiment ....The thread was about quality of affordable cues ... Not about obvious aesthetics of ridiculous prices cues
I'm going to a pool room to play pool not worry about somebody lifting my 4k pool cue I didn't need anyway. You can have a 500 cue and just get a new one and not worry about funding for a 4k cue ....or if it retains it's value .. it's a cheap cue and it plays well
My $200 meucci is over 15 years old and looks great plays great... No need to buy another one or worry about buying a hercek or Southwest ... Or any of that. I don't really care about how a cue looks either ... I hope people don't like my cue ...
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g0ds gReeN
Active member
"But if I saw someone driving around in my Pinto, that shit will blow up like The Godfather."
Woody Woodward
New member
Those Valhalla cues are really nice playing cues also. Found two for under a hundred bucks each and am blown away.
You missed a key point. That brand new $25k Rolex isn’t going to lose value and actually, should increase over time.
My Scruggs cue is worth a whole lot more than what I paid. So is my Ed Prewitt cue, Runde Schon and both Owen cues. I suspect my Rauenzahn cues are the same because you don’t see many fancy Jerry R. cues for sale. In my case there are thousands of dollars of potential profit if I decided to dispose of my cues. The way to circumvent the CA ivory ban is to gift my cues to one of my children in another state without any ivory restrictions. I would then negotiate the sale on their behalf which is legal and proper. Or I could travel to Vegas for a APA event and sell my cues.
When you buy smart and choose the right cue makers, you can play with your cues for years, sell them and still make a
tidy profit. You aren’t going to get that outcome with a catalog pool cue or a Timex watch. But my sole intention has always been to collect custom cues that will increase in value over a long time span because my children & grandkids will inherit my cues and 20-30 years from now the cues will be worth a whole lot more than present. The fact you have a different outlook does not diminish that expensive cues can appreciate whereas production cues overall lose value. Anytime you can get what you paid for a cue is a home run. When you make a nice profit, well, that’s just a grand slam.
Gosh, I would have thought that most men would have learned about scarcity and rarity being the driving force behind increasing the value of an item. Not to diminish women but most men are car buffs to some degree or another. Haven’t
you heard or seen Mecum Auto Auctions. Those old cars are selling for more than a brand new car costs. Pool cues are similar. Not every old car in good condition retains or increases in value. The right ones do. The same is true of custom
cues. You have to purchase the right ones and you’ll do well. 20 years ago, Scruggs cue originally cost me $2500. If you have any inkling of cue values, you know it is worth a great deal more now. My custom designed Runde Schon was built in 1985 and cost me $800. And just like my Scruggs cue, it is worth a helluva lot more today. My Prewitt cue is the same.
My Breitling and Omega watches are worth more now than what I paid. So are the custom knives and guns in my collection. I have a 1946 Winchester ‘94 I only paid $300 and pre-64 model 94 Winchesters are collectible and worth more than when it sold new. This is what I know. My pool cues and other collectibles are worth a lot more than I paid. It all comes down to one’s expectations. Now I could be wrong since nothing is guaranteed but history says otherwise. Buy the best you can afford.
xX-Wizard-Xx
Well-known member
Scarcity and rarity isn't a big deal when there are other things that do the same thing .... I get what I need for the best price I can and invest the rest .... For the same price of the cues you have sitting around you could take that same money and multiple several times over in shorter amount of time and not have to worry about finding a nut to buy them or if they warp or if someone drops them on the ground and puts a dent in them .... Rarity and scarcity only matter when they matter... And watches and cues or cars or any of those things.... Don't really matter .... Other people can go buy that stuff
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xX-Wizard-Xx
Well-known member
Coin collecting rare penny ... $40 bucks ... When I was a child I might give $40 bucks for a "rare" penny but now I think other wise ... Let someone else do that foolishness .... If give $40 bucks for that penny after I get it ... I still just have a rare penny who cares ... I'd rather have the 40bucks and invest it somewhere else
xX-Wizard-Xx
Well-known member
Still though you hear people all the time on here talking about investing in cues is a losers proposition they lost on most of the deals you have to love it ... Sure you might get lucky but .... Nah ... I don't want some piece wood I have 4 to six k or more in sitting some potentially gonna warp on me .... That can happen no matter how well think you store them ...
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You really do concoct strange scenarios. The more you write, the more it seems you have a burr under your saddle about expensive cues. Take that money and invest it elsewhere. I have plenty of investment money. These cues represent walk around money. Do you know what that term means. I could have lost that much playing poker but fortunately I stop if I lose several hundred dollars. Not because I couldn’t afford to lose more. r I’ve lost $1100 in a card game 2 years ago. But I’ve won a lot more than that ever since. My finances are my business and none of yours.
Be that as it may, nw you have me allowing people to just come pick up my cue to ….what? Certainly not to play with it
without my permission. No one touches my cues without my consent and they face very serious confrontation if and when they do. No body fuc_s with my stuff…..NO ONE. But you imagine a scenario of people handling and dropping my cue causing damage. Never has happened and hopefully, never does. If you times with my stuff, then I am going
times with you and local players have seen this in action. It only happens once and any offender never does it again.
People dropping one of my cues…..get real. Warping…….not gonna happen. I take care of my equipment. My Runde Schon was completed in early 1985. It is still straight as a tautly pulled string after 40 years. Gosh, I better go see if It warped over this past weekend. Hmn….just checked, and it’s okay. Not gonna happens with the cue makers I picked.
Jerry Rauenzahn let his glued veneers sit for 10-12 weeks. He was meticulous, careful and his workmanship shows it. Nope, warping isn’t a issue nor of any concern to me with the great cue makers I chose.
Now you hit the nail on the head in your last sentence. Pool cues aren’t important to you because the value of the cue,
as long as it is not expensive, does not matter in the slightest. And know what? It’s just the opposite with lots of us.
You get what you pay for. So if you can afford it, just buy only one cue from a heralded cue maker and you should not lose money if and when you sell it as long as you bought smart and took care for your equipment. This approach isn’t suited to you but there are lots of players that feel as I do. And we can afford to spend the money or else we wouldn’t.
Let’s get this straight once and for all…….pool cues are not a smart investment. The yield is unpredictable as well as being subject to the influence of general economic indicators. If & when money gets tight, people don’t want to spend.
I never bought a cue for an investment and never would. However, it is undeniable that there are many thousands of dollars of potential profit sitting in my collection if I liquidated it. I am not going to lose money on my cues but I never acquired the cues as an investment. I bought these cues because I wanted them to be built and could afford the price.
Credit it to happenstance or whatever, I got lucky and bought cues from cue makers that have a great reputation. I paid
their asking price which I could easily afford and it turns out that the cues haven’t lost any value. Thanks for pointing out all the bad things that could happen to my cues. Fortunately, I am very protective of my cues as local players have learned. You do not want to handle up my cues without my permission or there’s going to be a quarrel and likely, a very bad outcome.
I never bought a cue for an investment and never would. However, it is undeniable that there are many thousands of dollars of potential profit sitting in my collection if I liquidated it. I am not going to lose money on my cues but I never acquired the cues as an investment. I bought these cues because I wanted them to be built and could afford the price.
Credit it to happenstance or whatever, I got lucky and bought cues from cue makers that have a great reputation. I paid
their asking price which I could easily afford and it turns out that the cues haven’t lost any value. Thanks for pointing out all the bad things that could happen to my cues. Fortunately, I am very protective of my cues as local players have learned. You do not want to handle up my cues without my permission or there’s going to be a quarrel and likely, a very bad outcome.
Even if that rare penny was worth a $100, not $40? It’s akin to owning gold ingots. The price of gold going up doesn’t mean you made a profit. It’s only the price you realize if you do sell the gold. Collectible coins…..and cues….are similar, as much as the other curios and collectibles already mentioned. This has reached the point of inane chit chat. Just buy what you like and can afford. That pretty much pertains to anything but your opinion, and approach, to cue ownership is also very suitable.
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The Old Jaybird
Well-known member
My Cue History.....
In the mid 1990s, I was going to Vegas for BCA/VNEA eight ball tourneys, one year I hit a $2500 jackpot on a nickel slot, bought a Schon STL16.
Year or 2 later, in Vegas, entered a vendor's raffle for a Schon STL9, and won it.
So I have two very nice cues, that I would have never bought, for a total investment of less than 10 bucks.
Then about 2 weeks ago, I bought a COM Joss....because I always wanted one. It and the Schons will go to my sons and grandson.
I have a bunch of other cheaper cues, break cues, a jumper, odds and ends I have picked up along the way.
My other 2 main playing cues, a Meucci and an Espiritu were sold years ago as I moved on.
In the mid 1990s, I was going to Vegas for BCA/VNEA eight ball tourneys, one year I hit a $2500 jackpot on a nickel slot, bought a Schon STL16.
Year or 2 later, in Vegas, entered a vendor's raffle for a Schon STL9, and won it.
So I have two very nice cues, that I would have never bought, for a total investment of less than 10 bucks.
Then about 2 weeks ago, I bought a COM Joss....because I always wanted one. It and the Schons will go to my sons and grandson.
I have a bunch of other cheaper cues, break cues, a jumper, odds and ends I have picked up along the way.
My other 2 main playing cues, a Meucci and an Espiritu were sold years ago as I moved on.
I posted that for under $450, you can get a great SP butt (choice of woods) and Kielwood shaft from
Schmelke and it should play great. I bought a Schmelke SP cue from Mike Mosconi and the cue really
is nice. It is all you need for functionality. Kielwood shafts do perform better if they are the right weight.
The cue’s appearance has nothing to do with how it plays, however, the cue’s anatomy absolutely does.
Bottomline is this……universally true for all cues…….it is the cue maker’s skills that ultimately decide how
great, or poorly, a cue performs. There is much more to a pool cue than just screwing two halves together.
Component symmetry, construction, wood selection, cue making knowledge are really important factors.
Even a highly talented cue maker could make a lemon, although it’s very unlikely because they are experts.
p.s. And a great pool player could take that lemon of a cue and win a tournament on their skills & abilities.
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xX-Wizard-Xx
Well-known member
I think a production cue spinning on a lathe is not much different than one spinning on a cue makers lathe. .... Only difference is you can make requests for this or that ... Ultimately that tip touches the cue ball milliseconds ... Shaft ferrule and tip most important rest of it is expense from a custom cue maker..... A cheap production cue can be as good or better than a custom cue .....
I think the most impressive aspect of cue building is splicing such as 360s ... The 360s are really amazing
So I bought one .... Now I have it and it's just a thing in the cue case ... Doesn't really play any better than my production cue ... It cost way more and now I rarely even shoot with it ....
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The_Brit_Pool_Player
Member
My own experience playing again after 25 years.
Got the bug again at a local pool hall and for a few weeks used any decent cue off the rack. When I realized I really did want to get back into the game I ended up buying a Mali cue from a 'for sale' cabinet at the pool hall. 1985, beautiful cue for $150. Played well and I felt my game improved and became more stable.
However, I couldn't get out of my mind the lovely ash cue I played with in the UK. Both pool and snooker. There were a few people at the pool hall with 'snooker cues' as they called them.
So I purchased a 2 piece from Ebay, $120. 10mm tip, brass ferrule. First thing I did was put a decent tip on it.
It was a learning process dealing with the bigger, heavier balls but I was determined to stick with it and get through the miss cues and missed shots and not blame the cue. 3 months later I am doing well in tournaments and my game is improving every week.
Got the bug again at a local pool hall and for a few weeks used any decent cue off the rack. When I realized I really did want to get back into the game I ended up buying a Mali cue from a 'for sale' cabinet at the pool hall. 1985, beautiful cue for $150. Played well and I felt my game improved and became more stable.
However, I couldn't get out of my mind the lovely ash cue I played with in the UK. Both pool and snooker. There were a few people at the pool hall with 'snooker cues' as they called them.
So I purchased a 2 piece from Ebay, $120. 10mm tip, brass ferrule. First thing I did was put a decent tip on it.
It was a learning process dealing with the bigger, heavier balls but I was determined to stick with it and get through the miss cues and missed shots and not blame the cue. 3 months later I am doing well in tournaments and my game is improving every week.