Schmelke information

[troublouss]

Hello all,
I'm new here and wanted to see if anyone could help me with some cue information. I won my cue in 1990 and believed it to be no more than a year old at the time. I've been able to find some information from Schmelke and others, most important, I think, is that it is one of a kind cue. I know it is made of rosewood with 8 points with inlays. It has been in its case for 20 years, and I don't really play anymore. I would like to find the best information and estimate so, for a collector or player, they know what they would be getting. Any help would be greatly appreciative.

 

[Benelli]

I just recently bought a similar Schmelke on an online auction for $40. Mine is wrapless and does not have the baseball wrap like yours.

They're great cues but those joints.... ugh.

Almost none of the points on this cue are even... you have to work to make that happen.

 

[iusedtoberich]

Is it actually a Schmelke? If so, it will say that on the butt cap. Schmelke are not worth anything. They don't have any collector value. Maybe $50 for a used one, because their new ones are only about $100-$200.

If it's not a Schemlke, then it looks like an import cue. Same thing, they are not worth anything, maybe donate to a local club.

 

[Benelli]

Is it actually a Schmelke? If so, it will say that on the butt cap. Schmelke are not worth anything. They don't have any collector value. Maybe $50 for a used one, because their new ones are only about $100-$200.

If it's not a Schemlke, then it looks like an import cue. Same thing, they are not worth anything, maybe donate to a local club.

There are lots of folks that collect old Schmelke's precisely because they're not priced so high you can't afford them.

Great American-made cue whose blanks wound up in significantly higher valued cue maker's products.

Someday they will be there too, just not now...

 

[mikemosconi]

A modern day Schmelke SP with the right set up of woods/ shaft taper/ ferrule / tip - which can be had for about $160 new plays as good as any new SP under $500 in my opinion and experience.
Your cue’s main drawback is the metal joints - just won’t hit too good . Your cue maybe a $100 cue IMO

 

[David in FL]

I don't see anything there that screams Schmelke to me.

More cheap import.

Either way, I think that its value lies in whether or not it plays well for you.

Nothing more than that.

 

[Benelli]

I don't see anything there that screams Schmelke to me.

More cheap import.

Either way, I think that its value lies in whether or not it plays well for you.

Nothing more than that.

out of curiosity what does scream Schmelke to you?

 

[mikemosconi]

The joint is Schmelke style from back at that time - usually the Schmelke name was on the cue butt sleeve. I doubt Schmelke made this cue forearm - may be that they assembled some cues like this at one point from both house made and imported parts during a brief time period - probably 20 to 30 years ago

 

[garczar]

Hello all,
I'm new here and wanted to see if anyone could help me with some cue information. I won my cue in 1990 and believed it to be no more than a year old at the time. I've been able to find some information from Schmelke and others, most important, I think, is that it is one of a kind cue. I know it is made of rosewood with 8 points with inlays. It has been in its case for 20 years, and I don't really play anymore. I would like to find the best information and estimate so, for a collector or player, they know what they would be getting. Any help would be greatly appreciative.

Not trying to mess with you but you might contact Schmelke and talk to David. Good guy.

 

[Benelli]

The joint is Schmelke style from back at that time - usually the Schmelke name was on the cue butt sleeve. I doubt Schmelke made this cue forearm - may be that they assembled some cues like this at one point from both house made and imported parts during a brief time period - probably 20 to 30 years ago

You know Schmeke made Titlist-style Hoppe blanks for Brunswick in the 70's and 80's right and then took over production of the cue before it was farmed out to ADAM but still using Schmelke-made blanks.

These butts, both mine and Troublouss are 100% Wisconsin-made Schmelke cues

I know the joint sucks, I hate it too, but I really don't understand why Schmelke gets shit on the way they do...

 

[David in FL]

out of curiosity what does scream Schmelke to you?

I tend to think mary widows, or simple four pointers without veneers. Not much in the way of inlays, though some of the older ones used to have dots similar to what you see here. The old D line comes to mind

Unless ordered specifically that way, I don't know that I've ever seen one without their name on the butt.

Great cues for the money. Way underrated!

 

[iusedtoberich]

You know Schmeke made Titlist-style Hoppe blanks for Brunswick in the 70's and 80's right and then took over production of the cue before it was farmed out to ADAM but still using Schmelke-made blanks.

These butts, both mine and Troublouss are 100% Wisconsin-made Schmelke cues

I know the joint sucks, I hate it too, but I really don't understand why Schmelke gets shit on the way they do...

We are not shitting on them as far as if it's a good cue, but they are not worth anything. You buying yours for $40 proves that. They are priced so inexpensively brand new, that that used market for them is very low. It's the same with Dale Perry cues. No one says the cues are bad, just they are not worth much used since his brand new ones are $200.

 

[Benelli]

I tend to think mary widows, or simple four pointers without veneers. Not much in the way of inlays, though some of the older ones used to have dots similar to what you see here. The old D line comes to mind

Unless ordered specifically that way, I don't know that I've ever seen one without their name on the butt.

Great cues for the money. Way underrated!

here are the two nicest ones I have. Four-point full splice built on what looks like their Titlist blank that I had refinished by Cody Cash at PK Cues and the other eight-pointer that I got just last week.

God, I hate that joint....

Their full splices are top-notch.

You would think that Proficent could build a side business just on replacing the joints on Schmelke's and Dufferin's....

 

[JPB2]

You know Schmeke made Titlist-style Hoppe blanks for Brunswick in the 70's and 80's right and then took over production of the cue before it was farmed out to ADAM but still using Schmelke-made blanks.

These butts, both mine and Troublouss are 100% Wisconsin-made Schmelke cues

I know the joint sucks, I hate it too, but I really don't understand why Schmelke gets shit on the way they do...

I didn’t know this about Schmelke. I have a Hoppe I had redone that I have been told was an Adam blank from the ‘70’s probably. Not a valuable one. Was that likely made by Schmelke? If so it will be another cue in my small Midwest production cue stable. Not collectible really but I like some of them. Not sure I’ll make it a point to get more but you never know.

 

[mikemosconi]

You know Schmeke made Titlist-style Hoppe blanks for Brunswick in the 70's and 80's right and then took over production of the cue before it was farmed out to ADAM but still using Schmelke-made blanks.

These butts, both mine and Troublouss are 100% Wisconsin-made Schmelke cues

I know the joint sucks, I hate it too, but I really don't understand why Schmelke gets shit on the way they do...

I did not know that - Thanks! I thought that it was all Adam

 

[Benelli]

I didn’t know this about Schmelke. I have a Hoppe I had redone that I have been told was an Adam blank from the ‘70’s probably. Not a valuable one. Was that likely made by Schmelke? If so it will be another cue in my small Midwest production cue stable. Not collectible really but I like some of them. Not sure I’ll make it a point to get more but you never know.

So here is a Brunswick Personal which was their highest end cue after they discontinued the Hoppe Professional. But it was a Hoppe in all but name when compared to that last couple of years of production that was subcontracted out to Schmelke.

This cue is interesting only for the fact that in later production runs the blank was produced by Schmelke and then shipped to Japan and completed by ADAM before being returned to the US and sold by Brunswick. It has the matching identification numbers stamped into the top of the butt and the bottom of the shaft which was used by ADAM to make sure the matched parts stayed together. I have seen other Personals that lack the stamping and those models were entirely built by Schmelke in WI.

Don't want to come across as a Schmelke fanboy because I really don't own that many of their cues but I do consider them one of the great American commercial cue builders. Right up there with Mali, Viking, McDermott, Meucci, and Huebler...

 

[troublouss]

I don't see anything there that screams Schmelke to me.

More cheap import.

Either way, I think that its value lies in whether or not it plays well for you.

Nothing more than that.

Just for clarification, seeing comments seem to be think that my cue is possibly not a Schmelke. On the butt it does say Schmelke, in a dark gold color, hard to show in a picture. Also, I emailed Shmelke a few years ago and they informed me that it was a custom build, mixing a few different available cues at the time. I hear alot of you comment about the metal joint, I have never had an issue with it, like it better than some others I have used. The main reason I posted was to get an idea of what to sell it for, but seems most of you don't have a positive view of them, which is your opinion.

 

[Benelli]

Just for clarification, seeing comments seem to be think that my cue is possibly not a Schmelke. On the butt it does say Schmelke, in a dark gold color, hard to show in a picture. Also, I emailed Shmelke a few years ago and they informed me that it was a custom build, mixing a few different available cues at the time. I hear alot of you comment about the metal joint, I have never had an issue with it, like it better than some others I have used. The main reason I posted was to get an idea of what to sell it for, but seems most of you don't have a positive view of them, which is your opinion.

I think a fair valuation is going to be between $65 and $150 dollars, it would be very unlikely that you would be able to get more than that.

 

[David in FL]

Just for clarification, seeing comments seem to be think that my cue is possibly not a Schmelke. On the butt it does say Schmelke, in a dark gold color, hard to show in a picture. Also, I emailed Shmelke a few years ago and they informed me that it was a custom build, mixing a few different available cues at the time. I hear alot of you comment about the metal joint, I have never had an issue with it, like it better than some others I have used. The main reason I posted was to get an idea of what to sell it for, but seems most of you don't have a positive view of them, which is your opinion.

Actually, for the money they make an outstanding cue.

The reason I leaned towards it not being a Schawlow was because you didn't mention the name on it.

That certainly makes identification a bit easier.

 

[cjl0s]

I still have a Schmelke. It was my first serious cue I bought with my own money. I moved on from it after a year or two but I still own it and take it out once in a while. I even got a second shaft for it at some point. Paid $275 for it new which in the 90's was a lot of money for me. I can appreciate a cue as art but to this day it is still a tool for me. These days I play with a cuetec LOL.