Long story short. I had ordered a Schmelke sneaky with several custom features. This is a great way to go for people on a budget. In my case, I have other sneakies, but I wanted to see what type of quality I would get on a custom order from Schmelke as they supply most of the custom guys with full splice blanks, and they are very reasonable, and still made in the USA 
. I specified a 59" cue, 19.5 oz cocobolo, with a birdseye forend at extra cost, a 3/8 X 10 pin with no collar, and a 12.75mm shaft. The birdseye forend is very nice, and the cocobolo is what you would hope for from a custom cuemaker, really nicely figured but not quite spectacular. They use a LBM ferrule standard now, and that's a plus in my book. I just let them put their standard soft tip on as I really didn't like their selection and I planned to change it later. The cue has a 12" Pro taper and it's exactly what I prefer. Very similar to my Dayton or Jensen cues and should hit medium stiff without binding during the follow through.
The cue is really sweet, but here are my only criticisms. The base cost is about $110. They charged $20 more for a 59" length, and that's my preference, but I think $20 is a rip for one inch extra length. The BEM forend was $20 extra too, as opposed to plain maple. It's very nice and well figured but the spray is dark on the forend, and there doesn't seem to be any on the back of the shaft, so there is a huge color difference that is noticable. The shaft is what I would say is grade -A, not AAA but altogether very acceptable, actually very nice straight grained wood. There is no sugar or mineral streaks and only a little grain run out. My complaint about the shaft, an oversight I'm sure, is that it's 13.75mm when it was supposed to be 12.75mm. I know that they would be only too happy to turn the shaft down but I think I'll make a break cue out of it. The cue feels great to me. It's balanced perfectly and I somehow think that I'd break well with it, being 13.75mm and all. I figure that I need an extra hard tip like a Water Buffalo, a Sumo, or a Tiger break tip. The cue cost me $155 plus shipping, and if I did it again I might try the standard length and forend for $110. Either way it's a bargain. You can get cocobolo, bacote, or rosewood, and I think ebony is a big chunk more, like $40 maybe ?
I'm remiss in not having pics for this little review, and I haven't actually hit any balls with the cue yet. I'm confident that it would play great with that pin and wood to wood joint anyways. Most players would like it but you can get other joints if you choose. I think this is a great alternative for someone who wants somthing better than one of those $18 Terminators, and who doesn't want a Chinese cue either. This is really a nice sneaky ! I hope this helps someone...Tom
. I specified a 59" cue, 19.5 oz cocobolo, with a birdseye forend at extra cost, a 3/8 X 10 pin with no collar, and a 12.75mm shaft. The birdseye forend is very nice, and the cocobolo is what you would hope for from a custom cuemaker, really nicely figured but not quite spectacular. They use a LBM ferrule standard now, and that's a plus in my book. I just let them put their standard soft tip on as I really didn't like their selection and I planned to change it later. The cue has a 12" Pro taper and it's exactly what I prefer. Very similar to my Dayton or Jensen cues and should hit medium stiff without binding during the follow through.The cue is really sweet, but here are my only criticisms. The base cost is about $110. They charged $20 more for a 59" length, and that's my preference, but I think $20 is a rip for one inch extra length. The BEM forend was $20 extra too, as opposed to plain maple. It's very nice and well figured but the spray is dark on the forend, and there doesn't seem to be any on the back of the shaft, so there is a huge color difference that is noticable. The shaft is what I would say is grade -A, not AAA but altogether very acceptable, actually very nice straight grained wood. There is no sugar or mineral streaks and only a little grain run out. My complaint about the shaft, an oversight I'm sure, is that it's 13.75mm when it was supposed to be 12.75mm. I know that they would be only too happy to turn the shaft down but I think I'll make a break cue out of it. The cue feels great to me. It's balanced perfectly and I somehow think that I'd break well with it, being 13.75mm and all. I figure that I need an extra hard tip like a Water Buffalo, a Sumo, or a Tiger break tip. The cue cost me $155 plus shipping, and if I did it again I might try the standard length and forend for $110. Either way it's a bargain. You can get cocobolo, bacote, or rosewood, and I think ebony is a big chunk more, like $40 maybe ?
I'm remiss in not having pics for this little review, and I haven't actually hit any balls with the cue yet. I'm confident that it would play great with that pin and wood to wood joint anyways. Most players would like it but you can get other joints if you choose. I think this is a great alternative for someone who wants somthing better than one of those $18 Terminators, and who doesn't want a Chinese cue either. This is really a nice sneaky ! I hope this helps someone...Tom
