So having a few cues build......should I take a loupe to it?

billiards_watch

billiards_watch

Well-known member
My buddy told me not to do it and he's not really into cues. He's a sensible person that works with wood too.

He told me to just enjoy it. Since I do like cues and the art of making cues....I thought I take a loupe and do a quick run down of my purchases.

I got this idea from how Dennis Searing use to carry a loupe around and put another maker's cue under the loupe.

There are people at the pool hall that like to show me their cues and I don't like to be bothered when playing. It could be a deterrent if I put their precious cue under a loupe.
 
A loupe can be a good negotiating tool. Very rare a cue is flawless. It is a lot like people magnifying a cue twenty or thirty times on a monitor then bitching about the quality.

The silver Ginacue is one of the most valuable cues in the world, maybe worth a half million or more. It is full of flaws when examined under high magnification.

There are a lot of cheats and slights to make things appear perfect. Veneers, oversized inlays with a gnat's ass of taper, the list is long.

If a person wanted to look at a cue of mine that wasn't for sale with a loupe I would tell them to go away! Most cues are built without magnification during construction and my personal opinion, that is the standard they should be judged by.

Playing around I magnified a polished chrome plated dome shaped piece of metal to the size of a large saucer. It was full of dents and dings and scratches but to the eye, and to the hand, feel, it seemed perfect!

For cues that don't cost tens of thousands, I would call perfect to the naked eye good enough.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
A loupe can be a good negotiating tool. Very rare a cue is flawless. It is a lot like people magnifying a cue twenty or thirty times on a monitor then bitching about the quality.

The silver Ginacue is one of the most valuable cues in the world, maybe worth a half million or more. It is full of flaws when examined under high magnification.

There are a lot of cheats and slights to make things appear perfect. Veneers, oversized inlays with a gnat's ass of taper, the list is long.

If a person wanted to look at a cue of mine that wasn't for sale with a loupe I would tell them to go away! Most cues are built without magnification during construction and my personal opinion, that is the standard they should be judged by.

Playing around I magnified a polished chrome plated dome shaped piece of metal to the size of a large saucer. It was full of dents and dings and scratches but to the eye, and to the hand, feel, it seemed perfect!

For cues that don't cost tens of thousands, I would call perfect to the naked eye good enough.

Hu
Click to expand...
Thanks for the honest response as usual.

I think your explanation and my buddy's recommendation is probably best.
 
jschaefer said:
where is the silver ginacue? half a million, really?
Click to expand...

Still in Ernesto's possession I believe. It was a demo piece to show what he could do as a beginning cue builder. The half million does include the case. Cue and case are almost all silver and ivory on the outside. There were some good pictures of it on AZB but I couldn't find them the last time I looked. I think the half million offer was verified, there are rumors of a full million being offered.

Looks too heavy to play with but if I bought it I would probably ask for a new tip included in the price. Nothing to take out the home but it would look good in my pool room when I get the right six numbers!

Hu
 
The original pictures were posted here, but wherever/however they were hosted must be long gone now, as are the pictures.

kvinbrwr

Thread 'Here It Is The SILVER GINACUE'

Here are some pics of what is arguably the most collectible cue ever made. The way I understand it, the trinity of holy grail cues is the Golden Babushka, the Last Gus and the Silver Gina. Ernie Gutierrez's 69th birthday was yesterday and he celebrated by working all day like he does every day except Sunday. Kam Daswani (Kam here at AZ) was there visiting Ernie's, as was my friend Joe Richland (junksecret here in AZ land). Ernie was kind enough to show the Silver Gina and Joe ran and got whatever camera he had and shot with the light available in Ernie's shop. I was a little surprised that...
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There is a picture in this thread (Post #1):

JCIN

Thread 'Pictures of Ernie Gutierrez's (Ginacue) shop'

I was very fortunate to have the chance to visit Ernie in his shop in North Hollywood, California. He was a very gracious host and took time out of his day to do an interview and show me around his shop. He is a craftsman of the old school and a true gentleman. Thank you very much Ernie.

Here are some pics of his shop:

2681094951_21c8940fd3_o.jpg


Ernie at the CNC machine he built.

2681914778_d860561fc5_o.jpg


The machine he uses to cut rings. An example of the purpose built nature of all the machines in...
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Unfortunately, the camera and focus were poor, so all you really see in detail is the ivory. I tried to enhance it, but with little or no success. The focus is just too off, and it exceeds my skill and knowledge level to do much with it. The original is in the second link above; my (poorly) tweaked image is below.

Blurry Picture of Silver Ginacue.jpg
 
Don’t do it!!!
You do not want to see just how imperfect are all those nice perfect cues…

It like taking a picture and the cropping in and trying to enjoy it while realizing that it’s not in perfect focus, instead it should be printed and viewed from a sensible viewing distance.

Cues should be admired in hand at an arms distance under a pool table light.
 
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