SCHON'S....what do you think??
- Thread starter NINEBALLART
- Start date
I like modern Schons as players. To me, everything about them is "just right".
The old Schons were really good. The shafts were dense maple with perfect taper.
The joint was made the way a piloted joint should be made, where the tenon fit the joint and cinched firmly.
The points were milled, the workmanship was A+, and the inlays were sharp. It's hard to find a better cue.
Chris
The old Schons were really good. The shafts were dense maple with perfect taper.
The joint was made the way a piloted joint should be made, where the tenon fit the joint and cinched firmly.
The points were milled, the workmanship was A+, and the inlays were sharp. It's hard to find a better cue.
Chris
Gerry said:It's all about feel. I sold Schon cues for about 3 years as my high end cues. I never had anyone want to give em back. What I used to do was bring the cue to the pool room along with 6 or 8 shafts. I just tell them to try different shafts til they find the one they like. Funny thing is one guy would say....that shaft is too stiff.....next guy would love it!Everyone liked my system, and I would even swap tips out if they wanted to try something different. Most times they went with a LePro an a pad, which seemed to work real well on the Schons. The other thing I did to my shafts was pull the taper back about 1.5" to soften it up a bit.
I only have one Schon now......but man it hits sweet!
Gerry
Gerry,
No offense, but please test pics before you put them in a thread.. Everyone has to scroll back and forth to read all the posts now..
Russ
Thats what I like about this forum....You guys are great. Always ready to respond and very knowledgeable. If someone has a question or a doubt, your always there to help....This forum is very helpful and informative...Thanks AZ'ers.....
I've got an '83 plain jane Schon. The shaft on that cue hits so great that I've always called it "the magic shaft", and just about everyone who has ever used it agrees. Now I've got a pair of Mike Webb's on order. In addition to his shafts, he's going to swap out the joint ring on the magic shaft so I can use that with the Webb butts (though I may prefer Mike's shafts).TATE said:
Cory
I've always liked Schon cues. Call 'em a custom cue, call 'em a production cue, they are what they are. I think you get a lot of bang for your buck in some of the fancy Schons myself. I shot with a Schon before my Southwest and now my Mottey, and I loved the cue.
A month ago I got a new schon STL8 for $400 CDN.
I love the hit, and teamed up with a Predator 314-2, I think I have a great combination!!
I love the hit, and teamed up with a Predator 314-2, I think I have a great combination!!
Cheez Dawg......check your P.M.s
This is where the terms of "custom" and "production" get so confused by the layman that somehow saying one over the other has become an insult. And it shouldn't be like that.NINEBALLART said:
It is true that Schön in general makes a catalog line of cues, but they make their cues with as much attention to detail and to materials as any custom cue maker out there. So, yes, they make a production cue in the sense that they build a catalog cue on speculation. But, they're not a mass producer that blasts through wood like that Falcon video. Their workmanship is exactly what a conscientious cue buyer should be looking for.
Fred
I can't believe they make 5000 a year. I would think you'd see more of them in pool halls. Plus, Evan told me how many they make a year and though I can't remember the number, 5000 would have been easy to remember. I believe it's less than a thousand.onepocketchump said:
Fred <~~~ could be wrong
That's the one -- I think we both knew how well it played when I bought it. Unfortunately, you're about two weeks too late to buy it back. As I posted, the magic shaft is being modified to go on my forthcoming Webb cue. The remainder of the R1 is sold (I'm having the butt refinished, a new wrap put on, and changing out the joint ring on a newer Schon shaft to match the R1 and then selling it to a teammate).longhair said:
Cory
Last edited:
Schon LTD 411
I have a Schon LTD 411 cue and of the 12 made, I've seen five. Each and every one of them was slightly different. I've asked Evan about it and he said that on some of the LTD cues he makes small changes so that they are one of a kind. He made all of the 411 cues this way. Pretty hard to call them production cues. Although I've never used the 411, I've shot with another Schon LTD and it's great. I tried a Predator shaft on it and like the Schon shaft better.
Regards,
Dr. C
I have a Schon LTD 411 cue and of the 12 made, I've seen five. Each and every one of them was slightly different. I've asked Evan about it and he said that on some of the LTD cues he makes small changes so that they are one of a kind. He made all of the 411 cues this way. Pretty hard to call them production cues. Although I've never used the 411, I've shot with another Schon LTD and it's great. I tried a Predator shaft on it and like the Schon shaft better.
Regards,
Dr. C
I have been playing with a Schon SP #15 cue for over 20 years. Originally paid $300 for it. The cue plays great, still looks great, and I will never get rid of it. I have acquired other cues over the years and sold some off. But the Schon is a keeper.
Schon cues in my experience is a tremendous value in custom cues. You get alot of cue for your money. And while they do a standard line of cue designs which are distributed by a couple of major distributors they still produce some wonderful ltd edition designs and unique 1 off designs. And whether a Schon cue is an older model such as mine or a more recently produced cue, when I have shot and compared I have not been able to tell much difference in the hit. They seem very consistent to me and my experience.
Calling Schon cues a production cue company is wrong in my opinion. I work in a pro shop and sell alot of cues every year to customers in our area. And I basically educate customers as part of my approach on selling cues to get the customer in the right cue at what they can afford. In that approach I basically break cue makers down into several categories. And those categories are the following:
Mass Manufacturers
(Players, Action, J&J, and any other import that sells for under $100 and whose monthly production is in the 10's of thousands of cues. Which is fine if your starting out, not sure how serious you want to take your playing interest, and dont want to spend a great deal of money.)
Production
( for American cue brands, that includes McDermott, Viking, Joss, Meucci, Schmelke. If your producing 10K+ cues A YEAR and those cues are all standard design models for catalog & distribution then your a production company. In general McDermott & Viking each produce around 50K cues a year. Joss I believe is similar in production. That's alot of cues, but those companies investment in employees, technology, equipment and sticking to standard set of catalog designs ensures scale of production to produce a top quality cue at reasonable prices. That's what production does. Which is a lot better in my view then a Mass Manufacturer if your primary concern is getting the best dollar value for both quality and price. These are for the players that have taken their playing comittment up another notch by starting to play tournaments or getting involved in leagues. And their game skills have become more advanced. Expect to spend $150 or more at this level.)
Custom Shops
( This is where Schon comes in. Their cues are not mass manufactured, they are not even a production company. Think about this. If Schon's annual production is 1000 cues a year, then that's 50 times less than either McDermott or Viking. If they actually did reach 5000 cues in a year, which I don't believe at all, then they would still be 10 times less in size than McDermott or Viking.
The scale of production that Schon finds itself in has to ensure that they are putting more time and attention to detail to every cue they make then the production company. with only 5 employees working on Schon cues I feel like your going to get more focus & care on individual cue quality. But the scale of production that a custom shop does, has to also effect the starting price of their most basic models. For Schon cues that starting price on a new cue is around $600. Look at the prices they charge for their LTD and UNIQUE cue models and I personally do not see their prices being out of line for what is offered.
And Schon is not the only quality custom shop out there. Pechauer is excellent, along with Jacoby cues, AE cues, Ray Schuler cues, Coker cues and Samsara cues. If any of them even got their annual production in the 2K to 3K range that would be pushing things a bit. Nova cues when they were in business produced no more than around 400 cues a year. So in my book when I think of custom shops I see a group of 2 to 6 employees working together to produce somewhere between 100+ to 1000+ cues a year.
Actually producing 5000 cues in a year has got to take more than 5 employees. But if someone actually produced cues in that range I would have to classify them as a Super Custom Shop. But not a production company.)
Custom Cue Makers
(The pinnacle of custom cue making. The 1 man shop. Where every step of the cue making process is the responsibility of 1 person. The buck stops at the Cue Maker. This is where you get what you want exactly as you want it if you know what works best for you. The list of quality cue makers is long.
Alot of these individual cue makers have very well defined ideas of what they think makes for a quality cue in terms of playability. Which effects how they personally construct their cues. And some of them have very well defined styles of design to distinguish them from their competition.
Most custom cuemakers should be limiting their annual production to anywhere from 12 to 100+ cues a year. Personally, my favorite custom cue makers in this category for their design style and quality include, Richard Black, Ginacue, Bill Schick, Jerry McWorter, Thomas Wayne, Paul Drexler, Richard Phillipi, Richard Chudy, Tim Scruggs. You really cant go wrong with any of these cuemakers, and there are alot of excellent up & coming cuemakers as well that can be looked at. It's a matter of time & money. Can you afford any of them? And are willing to wait the necessary time to receive your custom cue order?)
At the end of the day, the selection of a cue by anyone has to be based on what their budget will allow, and what their level of experience at the pool table tells them what works best for them. Everyone's sense of hit & feel is different and unique to them. And someone who count's their playing time in their entire life in minutes is not going to have the same experience as someone who has played thousands of hours in their life.
I never downgrade anyone's choice of cue. And in my book, no one should. The selection of a cue is very much a personal choice matter. And alot of issues have to come into play in the selection process. So test shooting alot of cues is essential in the buying process. For the advanced player, an understanding of construction issues and production quality and how that ties into playing performance becomes more of an issue as that player upgrades their cue selections. More so than the beginning player that is just getting started and does not yet have enough experience to tell much difference in types of hit & feel.
And so that's my 2 cents.
Schon cues in my experience is a tremendous value in custom cues. You get alot of cue for your money. And while they do a standard line of cue designs which are distributed by a couple of major distributors they still produce some wonderful ltd edition designs and unique 1 off designs. And whether a Schon cue is an older model such as mine or a more recently produced cue, when I have shot and compared I have not been able to tell much difference in the hit. They seem very consistent to me and my experience.
Calling Schon cues a production cue company is wrong in my opinion. I work in a pro shop and sell alot of cues every year to customers in our area. And I basically educate customers as part of my approach on selling cues to get the customer in the right cue at what they can afford. In that approach I basically break cue makers down into several categories. And those categories are the following:
Mass Manufacturers
(Players, Action, J&J, and any other import that sells for under $100 and whose monthly production is in the 10's of thousands of cues. Which is fine if your starting out, not sure how serious you want to take your playing interest, and dont want to spend a great deal of money.)
Production
( for American cue brands, that includes McDermott, Viking, Joss, Meucci, Schmelke. If your producing 10K+ cues A YEAR and those cues are all standard design models for catalog & distribution then your a production company. In general McDermott & Viking each produce around 50K cues a year. Joss I believe is similar in production. That's alot of cues, but those companies investment in employees, technology, equipment and sticking to standard set of catalog designs ensures scale of production to produce a top quality cue at reasonable prices. That's what production does. Which is a lot better in my view then a Mass Manufacturer if your primary concern is getting the best dollar value for both quality and price. These are for the players that have taken their playing comittment up another notch by starting to play tournaments or getting involved in leagues. And their game skills have become more advanced. Expect to spend $150 or more at this level.)
Custom Shops
( This is where Schon comes in. Their cues are not mass manufactured, they are not even a production company. Think about this. If Schon's annual production is 1000 cues a year, then that's 50 times less than either McDermott or Viking. If they actually did reach 5000 cues in a year, which I don't believe at all, then they would still be 10 times less in size than McDermott or Viking.
The scale of production that Schon finds itself in has to ensure that they are putting more time and attention to detail to every cue they make then the production company. with only 5 employees working on Schon cues I feel like your going to get more focus & care on individual cue quality. But the scale of production that a custom shop does, has to also effect the starting price of their most basic models. For Schon cues that starting price on a new cue is around $600. Look at the prices they charge for their LTD and UNIQUE cue models and I personally do not see their prices being out of line for what is offered.
And Schon is not the only quality custom shop out there. Pechauer is excellent, along with Jacoby cues, AE cues, Ray Schuler cues, Coker cues and Samsara cues. If any of them even got their annual production in the 2K to 3K range that would be pushing things a bit. Nova cues when they were in business produced no more than around 400 cues a year. So in my book when I think of custom shops I see a group of 2 to 6 employees working together to produce somewhere between 100+ to 1000+ cues a year.
Actually producing 5000 cues in a year has got to take more than 5 employees. But if someone actually produced cues in that range I would have to classify them as a Super Custom Shop. But not a production company.)
Custom Cue Makers
(The pinnacle of custom cue making. The 1 man shop. Where every step of the cue making process is the responsibility of 1 person. The buck stops at the Cue Maker. This is where you get what you want exactly as you want it if you know what works best for you. The list of quality cue makers is long.
Alot of these individual cue makers have very well defined ideas of what they think makes for a quality cue in terms of playability. Which effects how they personally construct their cues. And some of them have very well defined styles of design to distinguish them from their competition.
Most custom cuemakers should be limiting their annual production to anywhere from 12 to 100+ cues a year. Personally, my favorite custom cue makers in this category for their design style and quality include, Richard Black, Ginacue, Bill Schick, Jerry McWorter, Thomas Wayne, Paul Drexler, Richard Phillipi, Richard Chudy, Tim Scruggs. You really cant go wrong with any of these cuemakers, and there are alot of excellent up & coming cuemakers as well that can be looked at. It's a matter of time & money. Can you afford any of them? And are willing to wait the necessary time to receive your custom cue order?)
At the end of the day, the selection of a cue by anyone has to be based on what their budget will allow, and what their level of experience at the pool table tells them what works best for them. Everyone's sense of hit & feel is different and unique to them. And someone who count's their playing time in their entire life in minutes is not going to have the same experience as someone who has played thousands of hours in their life.
I never downgrade anyone's choice of cue. And in my book, no one should. The selection of a cue is very much a personal choice matter. And alot of issues have to come into play in the selection process. So test shooting alot of cues is essential in the buying process. For the advanced player, an understanding of construction issues and production quality and how that ties into playing performance becomes more of an issue as that player upgrades their cue selections. More so than the beginning player that is just getting started and does not yet have enough experience to tell much difference in types of hit & feel.
And so that's my 2 cents.
high dollar production cue. rounded cnc points are a sell out to me,,,,,,,,,,,cost effeciant to them
Ive got an old Barry Szamboti ,,,,,,,was less at time i got it and plays better
Ive got an old Barry Szamboti ,,,,,,,was less at time i got it and plays better