Schmelke vs. Schon/Mezz/Joss, etc.

[brentinps]

Great story... Wish I had a chance to hit all that you did.


OK... I am all for Schmelke, and US made..... ever since they decided that their uniquely designed pin needed to be changed in the 60s??, in order to more ahead in cue history.... but keep us apprised of your happiness in 1 or 2 years.... just kidding....sort of .

I am sure they have plenty of skill and knowledge over there, and the simplicity of design i.e. absent rings and inlays, and top notch materials, pin, etc should prove to do well under any time period. The shaft looks very good.

 

[Robert58]

Have you done a search on Adam cues, on this forum? I think you will find out your cue is a full splice cue, that is well thought of by the people on this forum that know them.

For my money since you are used to a stainless steel joint, I would go on Ebay and buy the best used Schon I could find in your price range. You will never regret it. And it will always be worth pretty close to what you paid for it.

Okay, gotcha. I didn't know if it was due to aesthetics, etc.

I've been eying the Mezz I mentioned. I then saw the Schmelke. I was wondering if it was worth it.

I assume you guys have played them and know. There isn't a big enough pool scene around here for me to find a "trial cue".

I'm currently using an Adam (Japan) manufactured Bushka tribute, and it plays great, but it's tired, and needs another stallion in the corral.

 

[brentinps]

I had to chime in and agree with Robert58.

I was in a position like yourself and ended up buying a Schon.

There is no other semi-custom production cue (they sometimes make something like only 5 cues a month.) that can hold its value better than Schon, esp in this soft market.... ebay is the way to go otherwise schons sell through their distributors. I had to go through a dallas dist. after calling Schon and finding out they had only 1 cue that I wanted.

There are some great values on ebay.. but make sure you buy a Schon that appeals to you aethetically and emotionally. I don't think I could ever buy a cue I was not into. If you do not love your cue your confidence will suffer at the table... I believe that.

Schons are known to have a hard hit, and I sold the original shaft for $130 and bought an LD shaft (Jacoby edge hybrid) in new or barely used condition for about $200 or $220. I spoke to cheapcues and they were very knowledgeable and most of them shoot w schons and jacoby edge shafts.

Also Predator roadlines have a following and sometimes they come w a Z2 LD shaft in the 300$-$400 range I think. There is one on ebay now with that set up.
I have bought some cues since but my first Schon seems to always be my GO TO player.

Older Pechauers (get the pro series not the JP series) are also great) and watching e bay you will see some that just don't sell and relist.

I had one of the top Mezz cues AXI-606 that I bought on ebay for 750 (with both the mezz w700 and their hybrid cue, and a 200$ wrap) I was curious and it was my first wood to wood joint cue. After a while it looked kind of plasticy when I saw the pechauer pro from 2009. Some cuemakers use too much urethane... and that Mezz had turq and ivory looking plastic.

I was extremely lucky to sell that for a profit or at all. I would not get stuck in a Mezz again at any aquistiion price, compared to a Schon which has a bigger following. No Mezz shooting cues for me. They also sometimes are a hard sell when MEzz designs cues that are "too much" to look at, w limited appeal.

I do like the MEzz PB2 though and buying it used is also the way to go.

If your budget is smaller like most of the players on my team, I have gotten them mcdermotts (supposedly the best warrantee in the biz) with G core shafts. I originally bought them on e-bay, but eventually went direct to the seller I befriended.

I have set those teammates up with such cues for about $230 to $245 w a case. At such price you can't really go wrong there.

Sometimes there are deals on Panjo too. My captain on the team needed his 1st cue and I saw a McDermott languishing on there with the owner asking over $400 (I told the captian finally pull the trigger on that deal, but he said he couldn't) and bought a new $875 retail D series w I2 shaft for $245 (which is about what the shaft costs alone). I ended up letting my capt. buy it for that as he loved it.

If a cue is languishing as many do in this market, make the owenr an offer!! That is what happened above. Sometimes you can't believe what they will take if it is not moving.

The bottom line is Schon first..... but the key is finding the deals and I can tell you they are out there.. it is a buyer's market.

Think and buy smart and you will not lose $ if you buy right. Then you can sell later and flip to other cues in the future.

 

[Slasher]

That's the thing about cues, it's personal preference. I tried a few schon's at the shop and did not like them at all, even with a bunch of different shafts, I simply could not play with a cue that made a pinging noise everytime I hit the ball and they all did this.
If at all possible you really need to try out a cue to see if it suits you.

 

[j2pac]

That's the thing about cues, it's personal preference. I tried a few schon's at the shop and did not like them at all, even with a bunch of different shafts, I simply could not play with a cue that made a pinging noise everytime I hit the ball and they all did this.
If at all possible you really need to try out a cue to see if it suits you.

VERY good advice. Different strokes for different folks.