Rating Custom Cue Makers

players choice -gilbert

All things included wait time, ivory, points, 2-shafts- affordable prices Andy Gilbert- I think double the value. playablity No.1 (mark) There's Ernie martinez,Ricky Phillippi,Danny Janes.
 
James said:
Dawg,

I truly believe that if you asked most people this question, the most consisent answer would be:

"Dawg if you played with a Lessons from Scott Lee, you would play better than you do with that lucasi/zshaft combo you got there"

:D
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Thank you I do appreciate that. 3 quick questions and please dont think Im being sarcastic (really dont knOW)

1. who is scott lee ?

2. why do u recommend him ?

3. assuming that scott lee is not a DVD or instructional book... where is scott lee ?
 
Beware_of_Dawg said:
OK so which cues re-sell the best?

For example, I want to spend 800-1000 MAX (and being a recently married man with a 2 month old baby boy this is a CONSIDERABLE investment.) how would that money be best spent?
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Check out a Olivier by Jerry Olivier. You will find a very good hitting cue with real nice workmanship. For the thousand you are looking to spend you can also have a very nice looking cue.---smitty
 
Beware_of_Dawg said:
I appreciate the honesty.



I've been thinking of buying a Josey... I've seen a few and I usta play with a guy named John all the time (big 6'8" guy in Tampa area) whose sister is married to Keith Josey... He let me play with his cues a bunch of times and they seemed nice.

But I guess what I have gleened is that there is no specific cue that anyone can say... Dawg if you played with a ________, you would play better than you do with that lucasi/zshaft combo you got there
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Honestly , I don't think anything is going to make you play noticably better than what your currently playing. Your already playing a modern laminated shaft , which if that is working for you , is not going to play dramatically different on a different butt.

What your getting into , IMO , is things like feel , appearance , perception and perhaps a little psychological influence but really not much raw performance difference.

If your on a tight budget but buying for resale value then I think your making a big mistake regardless.

If your buying for customization , pride of ownership , guaranteed (generally) quality and long term stability/reliability than that is a whole different point. Then your back to looking into as many biulders as you can find , hopefully in person , and trying to figure out who impresses and aligns with what your desires and expectations.

In regards to rankings , I think there really isn't one because pretty much all of the 'major' biulders are who or where they are because they build quality well beyond the average players needs. What your left with then is cost ,wait time and ability to match up with your needs and/or wants.

So . . .

My suggestion , for what it's worth , is to first and formost deal with as local and in person builder as you can. I know alot of people do but personally I can not imagine buying and building a custom "playing' cue sight unseen and completely unfelt.

Figure your price range and be comfortable with that no matter what the value ends up being down the road. That's always the wrong way to approach a 'playing' cue.

And lastly , be patient and be sure before you put down $$. Don't rush into making a mistake. ;)
 
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Beware_of_Dawg said:
Thank you I do appreciate that. 3 quick questions and please dont think Im being sarcastic (really dont knOW)

1. who is scott lee ?

2. why do u recommend him ?

3. assuming that scott lee is not a DVD or instructional book... where is scott lee ?
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Where is scott lee? the real question is probably where are you?! chances are he's on the way. he travels around the country trying to help people with their game
 
Beware_of_Dawg said:
I've looked everywhere and can't find a rating/rankings of the cutom cue makers... Even if it's not perfect I'd like to see them in tiers... I'm thinking of buying a custom cue and with all the tons of cue makers out there I just don't have any idea who is who.

I would also like to see the rankings/tiers of the production cue makers...

Has anyone really come up with a arbatrary rank/ratings of cue makers?? (similar to consumer reports type thing)

~D4\/\/G~
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To find the information you are looking for is truly not a difficult task. While it is impossible to find a Tier system where cue makers are ranked,
(Simply put who could rank them without Bias) you could do the next best thing and research the following.

1. Cue maker wait times for cue building: This may give you a base idea who is the most sought after cue maker. However, this will not necessarily tell you who makes the best cue for you or even who makes the best cue overall, due to how subjective this can be.

2. Experience in the field of cue making: A good start at finding this information would be the Blue Book of Cues. The Blue Book would give you a large number of Cue Makers to look at, and some personal information about each one. Such as, when they started building cues, how they started, who they have worked with, and some additional information on their style and technique of cue building. While this can certainly be hit and miss, it still give you some insight that you may be able to expand upon with more research.

3. Go a trade show, this way you could see first hand the different styles and talk directly to the cue makers and access each person from your own perspective.

Outside of what I have said above, I suspect that bias will have an effect on your decision.

Hope this helps
 
Cuaba said:
There are ways to objectively rank cuemakers:
Years spent making cues
Resale values (and highest price paid)
Awards won at cue shows
Championships won with cues
Full splice vs. short splice vs. inlayed points
Made by hand vs. CNC
Number of active collectors


There also ways to subjectively rank cuemakers (this is where nobody can agree):
Playability
Looks
Cool Factor (usually the result of marketing and player endorsements)

I'm sure I've left many out.

In the end, what someone is willing to pay is more important than their opinion.
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I think you have that backwards. It is people's opinions that count not whether they have a lot of money or not which would heavily influence what they end up buying in spite of their opinions.

But you might as well ask for opinions on religion or politics as what are the best cues from ANY point of view.
Regards,
Jim
 
that is one heckuva sentence!

jus4funbilliard said:
for hit every thing is based off southwest but everybody is diffrent for the money lucasi is great production cue but some people hate the hit feels fine to me most people know players who can pick up any cue and run racks i have just started selling Mike Stacey cues couldnt beleive the hit have shot with hueblers for years just got new one hits good am back to stacey dont like predator contact me if interested in stacey
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wowzerz!

BTW I like Stacey's too
 
Bugz said:
What you are asking for is to bias. One persons opinion and prefrences would be different from anothers. It would be better off asking for tiers of:

Established:
Up and coming:
noteable:
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This is true. However, after seeing you're weapon of choice, I'm gonna throw in a plug for Rick Howard. Fantastic cues.
 
I bought a Jacoby recently and love it. I am sure you can get one with a 314 or Z for well under a grand. My 2 cents
 
where are you located? I have alot of different cues you can hit with. If you're in florida PM me & we can get together.
 
Cues

I would like to invite you to view my website (www.triplecrosscues.com) and learn a little about my efforts. Maybe there will be something there that will encourage you. I am available for questions and am not far away from the Tampa area. If I can be of help let me know. Thanks in advance for visiting.
Tom Gedris, Triple Cross Cues:cool:
 
jasonlaus said:
where are you located? I have alot of different cues you can hit with. If you're in florida PM me & we can get together.
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I'm in Tampa, FL. I'm thinking I will be ready to look into a new cue in mid June (birthday).
 
I should be home in june. may even come over to tampa area sooner, like in the next few weeks. shortly after i get home everything will be for sale except haley's & searing's. I will try to contact you before i start selling. not looking to sell you a cue just trying to help with your decision. I will have gilbert, richard black, southwest, josswest, joss, meucci, mottey, ted harris, bobby hunter, pfd, mcworter, jensen, tad, manzino. In the mean time try to hit with as many as possible, remember that most cues from the SAME maker hit differently so before you buy a cue hit with the cue you are buying. good luck
 
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