So... back in 1988 I was in the Air Force, living in Germany. As such, I had access to the US Postal System and was able to buy the occasional item from the States at US prices and avoid state tax or international customs. I was a regular Wayne Gunn customer and he'd send me shipments of 6 cues at a time, which were super-easy to sell, both on and off-base...
At one point, a very good friend of mine (German guy named Rainer L) placed a special order and asked me to have a cue made for him from Wayne Gunn. He wanted something that was relatively plain, but with a little more look to it than the sneaky petes he was helping me sell. I called in the order to Wayne in early 1989 (Wayne was working out of Bakers in Tampa at the time) and then picked up that cue in person when I was visiting Clearwater in 1989 and gave it to Rainer, who was very pleased with the "Sneaky Plus" look and the way the cue hit. Rainer loved to gamble and that cue saw A LOT of action.
Sadly, after the next batch or two of SP's I lost touch with Wayne Gunn. He had moved his shop out of Bakers and when I got back to Tampa in 1990 I tried to find him at Bakers and was told he had supposedly gone back to welding full time. I went to college soon thereafter and basically gave up playing competitive pool for almost 15 years. I had sold my last Wayne Gunn sneaky pete in Germany just prior to losing contact with Wayne. So, while a good couple dozen of his cues had passed through my hands, none stuck with me. At the time, the thought never crossed my mind that I'd not be able to get another!
Well, now 24 years have passed since I got out of the USAF and I'm playing pool again. I should also point out that I'm half-German and lived over there a good 18 years of my life and still have a large group of friends there, as well as some family members.
I just got back from a three week vacation to Germany and made a point to see my friend Rainer and play some pool with him again. Since getting out of the military, Rainer went from playing pool to focusing more on snooker (where he was ranked in the European top 30 for a while) and he also owned a pool hall for quite some time. He got really burnt out on pool and doesn't care to play much anymore. When I told him that Wayne had passed away last year, Rainer mentioned that he still had that cue I brought back for him back in the day. In fact, he had to hunt and dig it out from storage when we got together to play. He said he really didn't have any intention of selling it, but since it was me and the cue market in Germany is in the proverbial shitter right now, he was not feeling as sentimental about it as he could tell I was... Plus, he still had a bit of inventory left over from his "for sale" cues from when he had his pool hall. He really didn't need the cue anymore.
Along the way the finish had started to come off in chips along the points and it looked pretty bad. He also mentioned that the micarta ferule got chipped at some point and he had to have it replaced. He did add that a Moori layered tip was put on it with the new ferule and it still played a lot better than it looked. We made a fair deal where both sides felt good about the transaction and I bought the cue.
I refinished the cue the first day back from Germany and did not think to take any before pictures...
This thing still rolls straight (albeit with a very slight taper roll) and hits like a world champ. I have a Joss, several McDermotts, a Schon, an Espiritu, green leaf Dufferin and a couple of unknown maker cues and this has become my go-to.
It is not for sale. I just wanted to share my story and photos of this cue to remember a fantastic cue maker who deserves respect and recognition.
At one point, a very good friend of mine (German guy named Rainer L) placed a special order and asked me to have a cue made for him from Wayne Gunn. He wanted something that was relatively plain, but with a little more look to it than the sneaky petes he was helping me sell. I called in the order to Wayne in early 1989 (Wayne was working out of Bakers in Tampa at the time) and then picked up that cue in person when I was visiting Clearwater in 1989 and gave it to Rainer, who was very pleased with the "Sneaky Plus" look and the way the cue hit. Rainer loved to gamble and that cue saw A LOT of action.
Sadly, after the next batch or two of SP's I lost touch with Wayne Gunn. He had moved his shop out of Bakers and when I got back to Tampa in 1990 I tried to find him at Bakers and was told he had supposedly gone back to welding full time. I went to college soon thereafter and basically gave up playing competitive pool for almost 15 years. I had sold my last Wayne Gunn sneaky pete in Germany just prior to losing contact with Wayne. So, while a good couple dozen of his cues had passed through my hands, none stuck with me. At the time, the thought never crossed my mind that I'd not be able to get another!
Well, now 24 years have passed since I got out of the USAF and I'm playing pool again. I should also point out that I'm half-German and lived over there a good 18 years of my life and still have a large group of friends there, as well as some family members.
I just got back from a three week vacation to Germany and made a point to see my friend Rainer and play some pool with him again. Since getting out of the military, Rainer went from playing pool to focusing more on snooker (where he was ranked in the European top 30 for a while) and he also owned a pool hall for quite some time. He got really burnt out on pool and doesn't care to play much anymore. When I told him that Wayne had passed away last year, Rainer mentioned that he still had that cue I brought back for him back in the day. In fact, he had to hunt and dig it out from storage when we got together to play. He said he really didn't have any intention of selling it, but since it was me and the cue market in Germany is in the proverbial shitter right now, he was not feeling as sentimental about it as he could tell I was... Plus, he still had a bit of inventory left over from his "for sale" cues from when he had his pool hall. He really didn't need the cue anymore.
Along the way the finish had started to come off in chips along the points and it looked pretty bad. He also mentioned that the micarta ferule got chipped at some point and he had to have it replaced. He did add that a Moori layered tip was put on it with the new ferule and it still played a lot better than it looked. We made a fair deal where both sides felt good about the transaction and I bought the cue.
I refinished the cue the first day back from Germany and did not think to take any before pictures...
This thing still rolls straight (albeit with a very slight taper roll) and hits like a world champ. I have a Joss, several McDermotts, a Schon, an Espiritu, green leaf Dufferin and a couple of unknown maker cues and this has become my go-to.
It is not for sale. I just wanted to share my story and photos of this cue to remember a fantastic cue maker who deserves respect and recognition.
