SCHON'S....what do you think??

NINEBALLART

NINEBALLART

NINEBALLART
Silver Member
I have a friend that shoots with a Schon. He has for years. He swears by Schon...The other day he got into a discussion with some players about his Schon..
Basically, what they were saying is that Schon is a "over glorified production cue"...(whatever that means)....They said they were not worth the money they charge for them. They said they don't play good and basically put the Schons down...My friend defended Schon's to the very end.

What do you AZ'ers think about Schon cues??? I don't know much about them so thought maybe some of you that know could enlighten me....Workmanship....Playability. etc......
 
Schon Cues are good cues. They are solid and play well. They are not however "custom" cues. They are high end production cues. There are Bob Runde era Schons that most people who are into such things will say play better than the post-Runde Schons. I have owned both and I prefer the Runde era ones, although I couldn't really quanitify why except to say it's just the way the cue feels.

The story, as I understand it, is that Bob Runde always limited the production to 999 cues a year to insure the quality wouldn't be comprimised. Terry Romine wanted to increase the production to satsify the growing demand. Bob left Schon and Evan Clark stepped in as production manager and the current production is around 5000 cues a year. That's the "story" I heard, I have never bothered to verify it and I am sure I will be corrected if it is not correct.

I think Schon's prices are in line with the cue you get for the money. The resale on them isn't that great but you are getting a super solid playing cue.

I wouldn't go overboard touting them as "custom" cues though. While Schon does build some beautiful cues, they are all mostly the same in construction.

I think your friend's pool room buddies are probably just jealous that he has a Schon and they don't. :-)

I'll never forget my first one. I won $800 the first night I went to the poolroom with it. Bought it from Danny Barouty and had it sent to me in Germany.

John
 
Ask Alex

Alex Pagulayan has played with the same old beat-up Schon for years. Seems to work pretty good for him. Not bad for an old production cue.

Respectfully, Pinocchio
 
Scohns are great cues. However I do think of them as a production cue. I feel that thier older cues were more predictable as far as playability. Today they still make fine cues I just dont believe that they are as consistent as they use to to be in terms of playability. They build a very nice cue that is constructed very well................if rounded cnc points are your thing.
 
Personally think they hit great. Evan told me once that his construction methods now are much better than they were in the past. I believe him, really think that if anything has changed over the years it would be the shafts, and that to me has to do with the quality of wood that is available today. Think it effects everyone, not just schon. I still think schons have a great shaft, and their hit is on par with any production or custom cue made.
 
NINEBALLART said:
I forgot one other thing. They were saying the tips Schon puts on are weird???
Click to expand...

They are just hard WB tips, nothing weird, just a hard tip. And if the tips that comes on cues are the judge of a cue then I'd say they most be new to pool.
 
Think of schon this way, its like buying a custom cue..... but buying it off the rack. Schons are excellent playing cues, as far as the CNC'd points and inlays, everybody knocks schon, but never seem to mention the other cuemakers using it and the ones who use a pantograph which routes out points and inlays the same way a cnc mill does.
If you like a steel jointed cue, a schon with a good tip and preferably an ivory ferrule will play up there with the big named custom makers.
Chuck
 
I had two Schons around 10 years ago. All of the shafts were stiff as a board. There was not the feel for the shot like you get in a cusom cue. Schons were built solid then but were still production cues. I don't know what the plain butt cues are going for now, for example, but its a safe guess that one could find a good custom cue for close to the same price or just a little more.
 
here is a pic of the schon i had.. i paid 1400 for it.. and man.. it played strong! only problem was it was alittle too heavy and it couldnt be lightened any lighter.. i sold it to upgrade to a Paul Mottey cue.. i couldnt be happier with the mottey.. but i do miss my schon.. and would love to buy it back.. i had a few different ones in the past.. they are great cues.. and even though they are considered high dollar production cues, they use the best wood and always use real ivory and they are very high quality.. and are twice the cue most other production cues are on the market.. you cant go wrong with a schon..and if you look hard enough, you will find a great deal on one.. especially one that is slightly used..

chris
 

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I had a Schon Limited for about two years. The place I bought it was having a 1/2 off sale so I got an $1100 Schon Ltd for $550 and I bet he still made money on it. Later my oringinal shaft got lost by the place I was having it retipped at and they replaced it with a matching predator shaft. After a year of playing with the Predator I felt I could not hit some shots like I used to with the original shaft so I sold it on ebay. I picked up a Tim Scruggs sneaky and instantly got better cueball control I felt. I have went through the whole transition up the scale of custom cues...besides getting an expensive custom from a well known maker. heading down this list is how I have had cues:

Big 5 Sporting goods Spalding cue - POS cue
Blue McDermott cue - Low End Production
Schon Ltd - High End Production
Scruggs Sneaky - Low end custom
Local Maker Custom - Higher end custom, just not well known

I think Schons play well. Like someone said they are mostly CNC machined points and so they are rounded. But they still play well and thats what matters if it works for the individual.
 
well this is right off schons website
"Schon Custom Cues came into existence in 1981 and we have been at our Burnham St. location since 1986. We have a miniscule output , sometimes going 2 weeks without actually finishing any cues. I frequently hear the all knowing term “production cue” applied to our cues with an implied sneer. The fact is that we are one of the oldest custom cuemakers in the world with a total staff today of 5 people. I personally design, finish and test every cue myself. Everyone here is a full time craftsman, not telemarketers or corporate hypsters. The only thing we do is make cues...Evan Clarke 1-11-05"
so 5 people makin cues........and sometimes they dont finish one in 2 weeks, so i dont see how they can output 5000 a year if this is true. I would put schon in as a limited production cuemaker is suppose, simply cuz its not just evan making the cues........but they are far from a production cue in my book. Oh and i shoot with a late 80s schon so i guess im biased.
 
I know some people who swear on the BIBLE by Schons

I know some who think they are just over priced production cues

I had a nice Schon LTD that i bought back in jan99 and had it till june of 04, and ended up trading it for a OMEN J/B. I wish i still had my Schon.

I still do the whol IF I KNEW NOW what i knew then, pffft i would have never traded it away.

Now if i could sell all my playing cues for a decent price, and start over, I would buy a Schon and stick with it.

And the nice thing I always liked about Schons, is that even the bare bottom priced Schon plays just like the 2000$ schons, unlike some production and custom cues. Where they always seem to play a lil bit different.

Its mainly just personal preference, but Schons are good for anyone from the average player to the pro's
 
StormHotRod300 said:
And the nice thing I always liked about Schons, is that even the bare bottom priced Schon plays just like the 2000$ schons, unlike some production and custom cues. Where they always seem to play a lil bit different.

Its mainly just personal preference, but Schons are good for anyone from the average player to the pro's
Click to expand...

i dont know about how true that statement is.. after owning a schon many many years ago.. when i bought the ebony one i posted the pic about, i tried many many of my friends schons.. honestly.. some played great.. some played ok.. some played like not as good.. but again thats all opinion.. and it seemed all the ebony ones played lights out... i sold it in 04 at valley forge..

a few months ago.. being a dealer , i bought a schon for my cousin.. a stl-9, and it played really good.. my cousin had the opertunity to sell it and make a profit.. but he didnt sell it because he was afraid if we bought another schon, same model to replace it , it would play different...

so its really hard to say that they all play alike.. in my experience, they dont.. not saying they play bad... but i would say.. try a few different ones and see for yourself if you can see a difference..
chris
 
Those are well balanced cues. But the quality can be a gamble. Not as regular as custom made cues.

I play with a Schon and I wouldn't trade it for the world! maybe...

-Sensation
 
> I was a Meucci fan when I ordered mine in 1990,and got it in 1991,3 days short of a year later. I ran 45 right out of the box with it,and sold the Meucci for 20 bucks with 4 shafts. Since then I've probably hit balls with 500 other cues,the only notables I haven't sampled for myself are ivory jointed Ginas and Herceks. There are only 5-6 cues in that whole group that I'd swap my cue for based on playability. There were maybe 5 more I felt were equal to mine in hit and overall feel. Most of those were similar construction,steel joint with ivory ferrules. As far as overall quality,I've yet to see a bad cue from them,I cant say the same for some of the one-man shops. I'm not saying there aren't any,I just haven't seen any. As far as the playability,the older ones have an edge,but I'm not saying the newer ones are bad AT ALL. I will say that a better playing,higher overall quality cue,even for a plain jane,will cost probably double that from a true custom shop. You also have to remember that they also make a lot of one-off stuff too. At least you haven't seen 40 4 pointers with the same stain and wrap color,like Meucci. Tommy D.
 
Schon is an excellent stiff hitting cue. They come with a fairly strong shaft taper, as opposed to a weak pro taper. The joint diameter is a bit smaller than some but the combination works very well. The tips I believe are WB but Schon treats/presses them and puts on a black fibre pad which puts them in the med hard range.

Because of the joint diameter and butt taper, the butt is a bit smaller than most. This is the only area I don't care for because I like a bigger butt. I bought mine new in the very early 90's with an inlay option. Personally I don't think there is a better playing cue out there and I own quite a few and played with many more.

The answer to your question is does this type of cue suit you. Play with some and you be the judge. Remember the tip and shaft taper are the most critical part of any cue. Any cue may look pretty but you could hate it with the wrong tip and a shaft taper that doesn't suite you. The tip is easy, put on your favorite tip then see if you like the way it plays. It goes without saying the weight and balance point (weight distribuiton) has to be to your liking. If you get those factors right (weight,balance point, tip, shaft taper/diameter and butt taper/diameter then most any cue will do.

A good way to get the cue you want is to have it custom made to YOUR specs. Of course you need to know what you like. I'm not talking about inlays and such. You could order a plane jane from a custom maker and have it made the way you like. Later on if you decide something isn't quite to your liking you wouldn't have a lot invested and it could be sold here on the forum.

Your hands are the only connection, it has to feel right or it isn't for you. Don't be turned off or overly turned on by suggestions here on the forum. Remember those that put down or build up certain cue makers don't feel what you feel. They can't judge what you like, only you can do that.

Rod
 
I play with a Schon and wouldn't shoot with anything else. Having played with Meucci, Heubler, Joss, Pechauer (with a 314 shaft), I just haven't found anything that hits better. I even had a custom cue made (by Paul Dayton). While it's a beautiful cue, it just doesn't compare to the Schon. I like the shaft taper, 13mm diameter and stiff hit. Everything else feels like they go "thud" compared to the Schon.
 
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